Alright I’m rebooting this thread so that people who actually enjoy playing playing the hedgehog can actually have something proper to go too, instead of something that started with a question on whether he was garbage or not.
First thing is I’m going to post this vid that was donated by Zoogstin. This basically details the Homing Attack and how it works pretty well in general as well as gives a few little tricks that could be quite useful.
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Sonic’s moves that have been known to K.O.: (when I say higher percentages…I’m talking about closer to the 200% range)
Forward smash
Down Smash
Up Smash at the higher percentages
Up tilt at the higher percentages
Up throw at the higher perecentages
Back air
Forward air depending upon certain circumstances (I.E. aerial pursuit, spring pursuit)
Up Air depending upon certain circumstances
Sonic’s worst matchups:
Metaknight
Ice Climbers
Wolf
Slight Uphill (usually these characters have 1-3 things that sonic needs to get around):
Pit
Falco
Wario
Ike
Dedede
Snake
Best matchups:
Bowser
Ganondorf
General Info:
First off…let’s get this out of the way. Most of sonic’s moves don’t really knock out at the same percentages as say Snake, MK, or any of the other heavy hitters. This is completely fine…it just means Sonic has to be patient and wait for the right opportunity…which he’ll get in due time. In my honest opinion, most of the time you’re playing sonic you need to be going for damage…if you’re 95% sure that you can get a K.O. then go for it. Otherwise, just attack and don’t worry so much about getting the kills while keeping yourself alive.
Up throw is Sonic’s most damaging throw so when all else fails and you feel that so and so has been alive for a bit too long…go for an up throw when they get to the right percentage.
Apparently it’s not really guaranteed to do an up tilt or up air after an up throw at 0%…but again it’s all going to be dependent upon upon where and if the opponent DI’s to.(from ski)
Sonic can be nabbed out of most of his spins if the opponent times things correctly so be careful not to be predictable. Although Sonic’s dash attack is good for doing small damage and keeping the opponent off guard, if it’s not spaced and done properly some characters can actually punish him afterwards if they’re completely ready for it.
Forward tilt is a really good poke…and also usually comes out faster than whatever your opponent has planned after being nailed with a dash attack
Down tilt actuall comes out pretty quick and moves sonic forward. It also has a good possibility of causing a trip. Often at really low percentages if you do a down tilt then an up tilt is almost assured to connect. Also dtilt has throw setup at low percentages with certain characters. Dtilt knocks the person slightly up in the air and before the character can do anything else perform a jab if he is range to stop whatever it is that they’re going to do next. They should land right in front of you to be thrown.
Sonic’s Up air has the most priority on it during the part of the animation where his hands are completely outstretched and his toes are pointed up at the tip. I’ve witnessed it beat out Game and Watch’s key in that manner. This is definitely something to consider when using spring pursuit against a who has decent priority on their moves…especially their down air.
Stutter stepping his forward smash increases the distance of the attack which can be done either normally without the c stick or done with the c stick. Basically what it does is move sonic forward a bit before he does the forward smash…so you smash the analog stick forward and instead of hitting the button immediately, you wait for a little more than half a second before pressing it. In order to do it with the c-stick it’s about the same thing except for hitting the button you’re moving the c-stick. This can help when you need just that extra nudge to get into distance for his smash and you’re just outside of another characters smash range…like marth’s.
If you happen to nudge an opponent off the stage with a dash attack then try using an up tilt to catch them as they try to jump. This can also be applied if they blocked the dash attack and sonic recovers just behind the opponent by tilting the control stick towards the opponent in a steep up diagonal, sonic should turn around before he does the 2 kicks.
Even though Sonic supposedly has little to know priority on his attacks…you’d be surprised what his Forward B can eat through. Update: Apparently Sonic’s forward B spin actually has small bit of invincibility frames once you let it go…I wish I could post up a video showing this but It can go clean through Marth’s Final Smash…this is not a viable tactic and I wouldn’t reccommend it but this is useful info.
Things that I’ve witnessed Forward B cut through:
Pit’s arrows
Snake’s Nikita
Metaknight’s tornado (once…never happened again lol)
Link’s Arrow and boomerang
most projectiles…that aren’t Falco’s or Wolf’s laser
The rule about most of sonic’s rolls to keep in mind is that his spins seem to lose priority the longer that they’ve been out. In example, 2 Sonic’s rev up their forward b’s and release them at the same time then they should cancel each other out. However, if one sonic let’s go of the forward b and the other sonic wait’s till the very last second before the spin hits him, then his should beat it out.
Spring can be quite useful. Not only is it good for pursuing after knocking someone high in the air for a surpise aerial…but it can also be used to bonk people on the head who think chilling on the ledge all day is cool. Make sure to give them a quick wake up call and drop that shit on their heads. Another tactic I like to use for people who think they can jump down and regrab the ledge all day is simply running off the ledge and quickly doing a back air to slam them up against it. SURPRISE ASSHOLE!
Cancel Shenanigans:
Sonic can cancel his Forward b spin and cancel the landing of his aerial down b spin on landing with shield. This makes for some interesting throw setups. (One thing to note…You can cancel the forward b spin anywhere during it’s rev up animation but as soon as it’s finishes, then you lose the chance to cancel it. Forward b spin can also not be canceled in the air but if you start it in the air and then land before the rev is finished, then it can be canceled)
1: dash attack fake- Simple as running forward and quickly doing a forward b into shield. In that manner you get the sound and the look of sonic about to run in and do a dash attack but instead you end up in a shield state that slightly moves you forward. This can work wonders on characters who usually have to fully commit to something to try to catch sonic as they end up hitting the shield and getting grabbed or wiff entirely. Often times you can catch someone off guard if you cancel at the perfect distance right out side of their attack range and belt them in the face with a forward smash or do a down smash if they’ve been dodging and rolling a lot.
2: dash attack fake into a roll- I use this often when it seems certain people just won’t stop trying to hit me on my way in regardless of how many times I fake. Run in and make sure to measure to measure the distance properly for your roll. Do the forward b cancel but immediately tap forward again to roll. This could be even more convincing since Sonic is still moving forward and you get the sound of the spin. If spaced properly you can get completely around to the other side of the attack and counter whatever it is they tried to hit you with or grab them if they’re shielding. If you do it properly it should all come out as one fluid motion and you don’t even see the shield before the roll, which is best to keep it as convincing as possible. I’m also not entirely sure but it often looks like doing this perfectly extends the distance of his roll a tad.
3: aerial down b spin cancel- Jump once rev it up a few times quickly and let it go, according to ski you can actually just hold the shield button after you’re done to land and cancel the spin before you take off. Done correctly with spacing and what not and you can land right in front of someone and end up grabbing them if they think you’re gonna hit.
One thing to note though is if you’re holding a direction upon landing and holding the shield, you instantly go into a roll in the direction you’re holding.
Speed Trap:
I don’t exactly remember who coined the name for this but it isn’t anything in particularly special…it’s basically Sonic tech chasing his opponent to death lol. Since Sonic is so fast there is a certain distance where it becomes hard to see what he’s going to do next so the opponent just has to choose. The distance is generally about the same distance as where your opponent is after a down throw. After doing a Down throw, the opponent either can attempt to do something fairly quick, jump, tech, or air dodge before they hit the ground, or just land on their backs on the ground. Sonic should be able to react to whatever it is that they’re going to do in this situation and even with the forward b fake…force them to do certain things depending upon character and player.
Ice Climber’s stage is the worst stage for sonic because he has no traction. It cuts his effectiveness back by about 50% because of it. It is banned however…so out of the banned stages sonic is probably going to have the hardest time on Hanenbow. Short platforms cut down down his ground game.
Character specific match ups:
Meta Knight:
I figured I’d start with him since this guy is Sonic’s thorn in the side. 95% of the shit Metaknight does will beat out Sonic’s stuff…no contest. It’s pretty frustrating trying to get in on this guy as at the start of the round everything seems to be going in his favor and Sonic ends up ‘trying’ to become a turtle. I say try because MK is probably one of the only characters I’ve fought against with sonic where I’ve been surprise grabbed frequently…aka you’re chillin a few feet away and you’re in the blocking mind set and you’re so set on blocking the next attack that you end up getting nabbed. MK can reeeeeally keep sonic off balance and not allow him to work his stuff so the best thing I can tell you as an overall tip is to chill out and be calm. Identifying certain situations will be the key to staying alive as long as possible and giving this fucker hell.
Most metaknights do this combination of moves: Down throw, f-air, up b. DO…NOT EAT ALL OF THIS…PERIOD. That shit owns sonic for free if you get caught in it. Things that can be done to avoid it is DI ing away from Metaknight so he doesn’t get the f-air and he’ll have to to try to readjust. Using your spring to get out it as well but that’s a lesser safe option if you’re off the stage.
If Metaknight is ever below you and slightly off to either the left or right and he’s pursuing you in the air…automatically assume that he’s trying to go for an up b and dodge accordingly. Even if he’s trying to bait out the dodge if you’re fast falling yourself down during the course of the dodge then whatever else MK has planed for you to eat will probably be the lesser of the 2 evils…This doesn’t count if MK is on the ground as eating a forward smash is probably just as bad as eating an aerial up b.
A general rule that I’ve come to realize in this match up concerning Metaknight’s spammable specials (drill, tornado) is that you usually get one free shield and that’s it…you either need to retaliate or run off to get some room in case he’s going to try again. A full powered shield can take on the wrath of a full tornado…but it cannot withstand it again. Always keep this in mind through out the entire match.
The tornado while spammable and is a big ass whirlwind of priority has it’s weaknesses. If you’re fighting a Metaknight that love’s to tornado all day try to smack him with a forward smash right at the start up of it if you can. Other situations…block the tornado and quickly punish it with anything that can reach him at the moment. Tornado has a bit of recovery after it and any good MK player knows this…so often they’ll breeze themselves over to you for a bit then try to breeze back out. Sonic ain’t having that shit. Sonic should be able to run over and smack Metaknight wherever he is before he can start up another tornado. It doesn’t matter what you punish it with…just DO IT. Even the small damage of the dash attack will do just to make MK stop his attacks for just a moment.
Metaknights who spam down smash all day are able to eat a quick forward b roll in the face. Because of the way how metaknight’s down smash is, Sonic’s forward b is perfect at the right distance to hop over the sword and smash into him.
Homing Attack should be used very sparingly in this match up as it could possibly do more harm than good most of the time. Only do it to throw meta off his game for a brief moment.
If Metaknight is doing his A spam and he continues to do so for a bit, quickly hit him with a forward smash or a forward tilt just out side of the range of the blade. I actually just tested it out in training mode just to make sure. If you’re just outside of the blade range Forward smash smacks him right in the face, no clashing no sonic getting nipped by the blade. Forward tilt is faster and a bit more reach but there’s a greater possibility of getting clipped. And actually just testing it now…down tilt also seems to work just as well as the forward smash just outside of the blade’s range. I wouldn’t advise trying to roll around it as MK tends to have a few hit boxes behind him if not spaced properly but I have done a dash attack fake roll and gotten behind him cleanly. If you happen to find yourself caught in it…don’t fret and just DI out of it and attempt to either forward smash or down tilt in case he’s still doing it when you get out.
Doing dash fakes to a grounded Metaknight will often tempt him to do something to clip you while standing his ground…Running towards MK and then suddenly stopping just outside of his sword’s range and swinging out a forward smash can work wonders.
If Metaknight is airborne then most of the time I wouldn’t suggest trying to challenge his attacks unless you’re fairly sure you can get to him before he can get his attacks off. Running and doing a short hop f-air does a pretty good job for pursuit.
If you get caught in an aerial drill, try DIing somewhere towards the direction of metaknight. I’ve often slipped out of it by doing this and that helped to avoid taking to much damage from the move.
Overall this matchup is probably Sonic’s toughest matchup…It’s going to be long and tedious if you’re looking to win it so good luck, If something else comes up I’ll be sure to update this section.
Ice Climbers:
ahhh…these lil bastards. I wasn’t expecting these guys to be that much of a problem…but I realized something was wrong when I first went up against them…and this was against an inexperienced Ice Climbers.
First off, I’m gonna start off by saying something quite obvious…they have hammers. Yes… big duh but guess what? Because they have 2 of em this cuts a lot of Sonic’s grab game out. You try to grab either one of these parka wearing punks with the other around and you better be prepared to feel some pain. Not to mention that the hammers > most of sonic’s attacks.
If you know the Ice Climbers then you know you don’t wanna get grabbed by them…I’m repeating this because most of the time during this match up you’re probably going to want to do his dash attack a lot. If they get hit it does a pretty good job of separating them at times…especially since Nana doesn’t immediately block as fast as the player controlled popo. Make sure you space the dash attack right and spam a good deal with it but don’t get too predictable. Most of this fight you’re really trying to damage nana so you can have a nice long conversation with just Popo later.
Ice Cubes are an annoyance and can easily mess up sonic’s ground game if they’re on the ground between him and them. Luckily you can actually attack the Ice Cubes to send them back…Ski actually helped with this. He suggests using a forward tilt to push them away. Though when you send them back it doesn’t do any damage to the ice climbers…it should cancel out the next set of Ice Cubes that would be coming. Forward B roll is also a possibility through the cubes if let go at the right time. Be careful of the distance if you’re going to do that though as if the ice climbers see that roll coming…they may try to quickly forward smash you out of it.
Homing attack also has a pretty good chance of separating them again from Nana’s delayed shielding so it may be a good idea to do it every so often. However be wary of up tilt…and well timed up smashes if they predict your timing correctly.
I haven’t fought the Ice Climbers entirely too much so this is mostly what I have from my analysis of previous matches…I"m sure more info will develop as it goes on.
Wolf:
I have XsamuaraiX to thank for thoroughly kicking my ass with this guy online. Wolf is IMO Sonic’s second worst match up. Wolf’s aerial game is no joke…I’m almost halfway suggesting don’t even try to challenge his aerial game…PERIOD. I am not joking.
Sonic has a hard time getting around Wolf’s laser spam. He can’t Forward b through it and he can’t attack it to send it back. He can try to jump over it to get to wolf but the problem in that is that it puts you in the air…and Wolf likes that. Online it’s even worse with the very small delay in inputs and what not. It’s easier to deal with offline because of perfect shielding and being able to move forward some before the next laser. Supposedly using a quick homing attack is another option and I imagine it probably works pretty well at certain distances.
Forward Smash in combination with laser spam ruins Sonic’s play time. Just when you’ve finally made your way to a certain distance after blocking a laser…You mistakenly let go of that block button and BAM! You’re socked and sent back out again to repeat the process. Almost reminds me of having to deal with Sagat lol. The best thing you can do in this situation is memorize how far Wolf’s forward smash can go and have it engraved in your memory…once you get in that far you’re going to have to rely on your instincts on whether Wolf’s going to forward smash, do another laser, or spam down smash a few times just on the chance of you rolling to try to avoid the first 2 options.
If you manage to get Wolf off his balance, quickly try to take the fight to him anyway you can before he has a chance to set up his laser wall again. Wolf can be put in throw mixups but Sonic always has to be weary of his claws clipping him on his way in. Wolf’s forward tilt does a pretty good job of this and has good reach for the speed it has.
Instant Ledge grab I imagine would work pretty well against him since Wolf has a hard enough time trying to get back on the stage.