The Homing Attack is Sonic's Standard Special Move in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. When used, Sonic curls up into a ball, rises into the air, then dashes towards the opponent closest to him.

OverviewEdit

This move can also be used an unlimited amount of times in the air, thus allowing him to recover if opponents try to edgeguard him. If Homing Attack is used when no opponent is nearby, Sonic dashes forward at a downward diagonal angle. If Sonic does not hit anybody with it and hits the ground, he will stall for a second, leaving him open. Sonic may aim his Homing Attack once performed. Also, pressing the attack button will make him use the attack faster. It will, however, slightly decrease its accuracy.

It also 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 them in the air, making it a effective recovery gimping, and combined with his naturally good recovery, it gives Sonic a large edgeguarding potential, giving him the chance to disrupt their movement possibility.

Homing Attack

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OriginsEdit

The Homing Attack's origins go back to early Sonic the Hedgehog games, wherein Sonic would need a Fire Shield to use it, but it originally appeared in Sonic 3-D Blast. The attack has become more frequent in 3D Sonic games like Sonic Adventure and Sonic Heroes and has been given a "lock-on" feature, which is used in Brawl, wherein Sonic homes in on whomever is nearest, hence its name.

StallingEdit

It should be noted that the Homing Attack can be used to stall indefinitely and/or travel underneath stages by jumping into the ceiling of an impenetrable platform, then using this ability to ricochet off of it at will. This is done by tapping the control stick left or right when Sonic is about to use Homing Attack, depending on the way desired to go, and then pressing B. 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. Repeatdely using this technique under a stage is banned in most tournaments.

TriviaEdit

• In Home-run Contest, this attack does not home on the Sandbag because in Brawl it is functionally an item, not a character like in Melee.
• If two Sonics (or Kirby/ies with Sonic's ability) continue to use Homing Attack against each other, they will slowly jump upwards until they reach the top of the screen, in a manner similar to the Luigi Ladder.
  • This can also be seen in Shadow the Hedgehog's and Sonic Heroes' 2 Player mode.
• Mr. Game and Watch's Up Tilt and Mario's Cape both have interesting effects on Sonic's Homing Attack.
• This is Sonic's only Special Move not to start with an "S".
  • His other special moves also have a "p" as the second letter.

External LinksEdit

• http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/gamemode/various/various38.html