Homing Attack

Homing Attack (, Homing Attack) is Sonic's neutral special move and is a basic attack in many of his games.

Overview
Sonic curls up into a ball, hovers momentarily while slowly moving upwards, then shoots towards the opponent closest to him, causing damage when it connects. The move can be charged and released in several phases, with more damage dealt the longer the move is charged. Starting in Ultimate, a reticle appears around the targeted opponent as visual confirmation of where Sonic is going, though this does not guarantee the attack will connect. If there are no characters within range of the attack, instead of homing in on the closest target, Sonic will simply shoot downwards at a diagonal angle. Whether or not the move hits or misses, Sonic will stall after it is used, leaving him open, making it easily punishable in team battles or even in a one on one if it connects on an opponent at low damage percentages.

In Brawl, this move can be used an unlimited amount of times in the air, thus making it a good move to use against anybody who tries to edge guard Sonic, as well as making a good edgeguarding tool itself. Starting in Smash 4, Sonic can only use homing attack once while airborne, greatly reducing its exploitablity. This is especially apparent with Kirby, who can jump several times after a homing attack, but is unable to do another one until touching the ground again. If two Sonics (or s with Sonic's ability) attack each another with this move, they will slowly jump upwards until they reach the top of the screen, in a manner similar to the Luigi Ladder.

In Brawl, homing attack possesses a unique quality in that it tries to hit the opponent's side facing away from Sonic by traveling over them. This property means that it only hits effectively when the opponent is moving away from him on the ground, or traveling towards him in the air. This was changed in Smash 4 so the Homing Attack prioritizes the shortest distance to the opponent, which often leads to attacking their front side. In Ultimate, the move is much stronger and has much more utility. The player can execute the move significantly faster, making it excellent at extending mid-air combos. In addition, the player can alternatively charge the move much longer, greatly increasing the damage near 20%, doing more shield damage, and even KOing at very high percentages.

In Brawl, the Homing Attack can be used to stall indefinitely underneath platform stages by shooting into the underside of the stage. When Sonic is about to use Homing Attack, tap the control stick or d-pad left or right, depending on the way the player wants to go, and then press the special move button. Sonic will change his direction, and attempt to home on an enemy in that direction, or, if there is no enemy in range, dash downwards at a diagonal angle. As this constitutes stalling, usage of this technique for this purpose is banned in most tournaments.

Customization
Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the variations:


 * 1) Homing Attack: Default.
 * 2) Stomp: Jump into the air before slamming straight down with a meteor smash.
 * 3) Surprise Attack: A faster Homing Attack with less range and power than normal. When not locked on to a target, it rises upwards slightly.

Origin
The Homing Attack made its debut in Sonic Adventure as a way to attack enemies, and became a staple move in the series and one of Sonic's go-to and most iconic moves. It is Sonic's new main method of dealing with enemies and solving puzzles. Sonic had a similar attack in Sonic 3D Blast, known as the Blast Attack, which he obtains after collecting a Gold Shield. With the Gold Shield, Sonic could home in and charge towards enemies. Unlike the Homing Attack, it does not lock on to the target.

Years later and after Sonic's introduction in Brawl, Sonic Lost World added the ability to charge a Homing Attack to increase its power, although this is done by standing still on the ground in front of an enemy rather than while spinning in the air.

Starting with Sonic and the Secret Rings, a reticle appears when Sonic is in the air and near an enemy, indicating which one he would hit if he performs the attack. This reticle appears when Sonic performs the special move in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with the reticle’s design being from the Nintendo 3DS version of Sonic Generations.

One of Sonic's custom moves, Stomp, is a reference to a move of the same name that debuted in Sonic Unleashed, and reappeared in Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations. As its name implies, Sonic dives downward with a double-foot stomp at a fast speed. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, however, Sonic performs it by slamming the ground with a Spin Attack, making it more similar to the Bounce Attack from Sonic Adventure 2.

Trivia

 * In Ultimate, if any of Sonic's stats, including movement, defense, attack or otherwise, are updated during or at the start of charging the homing attack, he will stop rising upwards during the charge. Most notably, in early versions of the game this occurred if Sonic performed a Homing Attack on the ink from Inkling's Splat Roller. Sonic wouldn't ascend during the Homing Attack and will stay on the ground, due to his move speed being updated as soon as the move was activated. While this particular issue was patched out, the underlying bug remains.
 * In Home-Run Contest, this attack does not home in on the Sandbag because, unlike in Melee, it is functionally an item, not a character.
 * The player can slightly ascend if two or more players collide with this move simultaneously. This may be a subtle reference to Sonic games like Sonic Heroes or Shadow the Hedgehog, where the same effect would occur.
 * If the player were to fight the Peppy Hare spirit, go to the right side of the Corneria stage and use Homing Attack, Sonic would stay in place and not move.