Sonic (SSBU)

Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Sonic the Hedgehog
Other playable appearances	in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Super Sonic
Tier	S+ (2)

Sonic (ソニック, Sonic) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. His return to the series was confirmed on June 12th, 2018. As in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sonic is an unlockable character instead of being a starter character. Sonic is classified as Fighter #38.

As in Super Smash Bros. 4, Sonic's voice clips from Brawl were repurposed for the Japanese version of Ultimate, while his voice clips from Sonic Generations and the Mario & Sonic series were repurposed for other versions of Ultimate.

All of the voice actors' portrayals of Sonic are as follows:

• Roger Craig Smith in English.
• Jun'ichi Kanemaru in Japanese.
• Alexandre Gillet in French.
• Renato Novara in Italian.
• Marc Stachel in German.
• Jonatán López in Spanish, in place of his current Spanish voice actor Ángel De Gracia. Ultimate is López's last game as Sonic's Spanish voice actor prior to his death in February 2020.

Sonic is currently ranked 2nd out of 82 on the Ultimate tier list, sharing the S+ tier alongside Steve. This is a slight improvement from his 7th/8th out of 54 placement in Smash 4 (where he was tied with Fox), makes him the highest ranking base-game character, and marks his best placement in the series. Sonic's biggest strength is his speed, which allows him to utilize a hit-and-run playstyle. Complementing this speed is his massive array of burst options with a wide window of unreactable range thanks to moves like Spin Charge and Spin Dash, which are regarded as some of the best neutral options in the game. This grants Sonic unparalleled mobility over the stage as he is able to weave around enemy defenses, bait out approaches, and control the overall pace of the game. In addition, Sonic can also play offensively, as his speed allows him to chase opponents across the entire stage while his great recovery also allows him to place pressure on the opponents offstage. All of this allows Sonic to rack up damage fast while keeping damage done towards him at a minimum.

However, Sonic has some noteworthy flaws, most notably his KO potential. Many of his best KO moves either require proper positioning to be most effective or have noticeable starting and ending lag; this can lead to opponents surviving up to high percents if Sonic is unable to secure an early KO. In addition, some of Sonic's moves, such as Spin Charge and his up aerial, can occasionally have trouble connecting, which can render situations where the opponent may inadvertently escape one of his combos. Lastly, Sonic’s endurance has been decreased noticeably from his previous incarnation making him more prone to getting KOed.

Overall, Sonic is a character that can rack up damage fast and pressure opponents both on and offstage. However, he can often have a tough time closing out stocks if his opponents space him effectively. While initial impressions on Sonic were rather lukewarm, it has since improved dramatically following the online era and the changes to the metagame. Sonic has since seen competitive success thanks to the efforts of KEN and Sonix, and he is widely considered to be one of the best characters in the game, if not the best.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Sonic being the 17th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Mario or anyone in his unlock tree, being the 1st character unlocked.
• Have Sonic join the player's party in World of Light.

Sonic must then be defeated on Green Hill Zone (the Ω form is used in World of Light).

Attributes

Sonic is a lightweight who, staying true to his home series, has outstanding mobility. He unsurprisingly possesses the fastest dashing speed in the game by default (which is surpassed only by Hero while using Acceleratle), the 7th fastest walking speed, the 12th fastest air speed (which tied with Mario, Donkey Kong, Little Mac, and Inkling), and the highest traction in the game (surpassed only by Winged Form Sephiroth). When combined with his above-average falling speed and jump heights, these attributes allow Sonic to move across the stage at a blisteringly quick pace, even in spite of his average gravity and low air acceleration. To round out his attributes, Sonic is also capable of wall jumping.

Sonic's special moves are quite useful. Spin Dash and Spin Charge allow him to travel across stages at varying speeds, inflict damage on contact, and follow up into an aerial attack or uncharged Homing Attack. Despite appearing very similar aesthetically and mechanically, they both have different strengths and uses for various different situations.

Spin Dash allows Sonic to jump around the stage while charging or holding the charge of the move and can be released in the air, and the hop at the start of the move allows Sonic to "spin shot" on ground as well as in the air, with it being the side special making it more ideal for aiming the spin shot to recover. The initial jump can also help Sonic avoid certain things like projectiles by hopping over them, it, however, loses this initial hop if fully charged. Spin Dash also has a moment of intangibility on startup, which can bypass even Wonderwing. The intangible fully charged version can pass through most grounded attacks but will clank with projectiles and aerial attacks.

The non-fully charged version with the hop though can bypass if not beat out almost anything due to being aerial. The fully charged version of Spin Dash will also be intangible whenever Sonic turns the move around. Due to the number of branching choices Sonic has when starting Spin Dash, it is his most reliable attack in neutral and one of his best approach options overall. From jumping into cancellation, charging it to alter its timing, switching directions after releasing, and utilizing the spin shot, Spin Dash plays an extremely important role when attempting to play mind games versus Sonic's opponent.

While Spin Dash is a one-hit move that mostly knocks opponents into the air, Spin Charge, on the other hand, hits multiple times, carrying the opponent, and moves a little faster, making it a good alternative for dashing. Jumping out of Spin Charge also has Sonic hop while spinning, making him a jumping hitbox. Also, due to charging up by pushing the Special Move button repeatedly, it can be charged up to full power faster than Spin Dash. Spin Charge can also perform a "spin shot", although it can only be done while airborne and can't be reversed.

Both give Sonic additional protection when recovering and combo into other moves. The mobility of both in tandem with Sonic's already impressive speed makes him capable of quickly adding on damage to unprepared opponents from anywhere on the stage, and they can clank and cancel out the effects of certain moves (such as C4 or Egg Roll). Both moves also have Sonic's hurtbox extend beyond the attack's hitbox. Both moves can be blocked by shield, making them a bit unsafe and committal or predictable, as Spin Dash can only be canceled with a jump and Spin Charge can only be canceled by jumping or stopping pressing the Special Move button. However, they can bypass shields if fully-charged and jump over them on initial contact.

Homing Attack deals a varying amount of damage, homes in on the nearest opponent and is good for punishing laggy moves and edge-guard breaking. Its uncharged state also has the potential to combo and its charged state has a small amount of KO potential at higher percentages. Spring Jump is a useful recovery that grants intangibility at the start, goes very high, and is one of few recovery moves that do not cause a helpless state, enabling Sonic to attack and dodge during his descent and even extend his recovery with a directional air dodge. The spring that is dropped can be useful both on-stage and off-stage by allowing him to pressure and gimp opponents, respectively.

Sonic also has a powerful air game. Neutral aerial is a great combo starter when SHFF'd, as a result of its long-lasting hitbox, low landing lag, and launching angle. Forward aerial is useful for edge-guarding and, in certain instances, it can combo into itself on-stage at low percentages thanks to its generous auto-cancel window and Sonic's fast air speed. Up aerial's auto-canceling window makes it a useful and deceptively safe combo starter when SHFF'd. Back aerial's clean hitbox is very powerful, to the point that it is one of Sonic's most reliable KO options. Lastly, down aerial is a stall-then-fall that has noticeably less ending lag compared to other stall-then-falls. When coupled with its initial hitbox's ability to meteor smash airborne opponents, down aerial can potentially gimp an opponent, if not KO them outright, and yet still allow Sonic to recover immediately afterward, even if he misses.

Sonic's neutral attack, tilt attacks, and throws have mediocre damage outputs, yet their quick speed can make them difficult to punish. His grab game is decent overall: while none of Sonic's grabs excel in speed and each of them have average ranges, they are still fairly easy to land thanks to his outstanding mobility. Sonic's pummel is also quick and has an average damage output, allowing him to rack up a fair amount of damage before throwing an opponent. Down throw is a semi-spike that has high base knockback, which makes it excellent for setting up edge-guards and tech-chases. Back throw also has high base knockback and KOs much earlier than his other throws, especially if it is used while near the edge. It also moves Sonic backward, which makes it useful for setting up an immediate edge-guard attempt. Up tilt can be reversed on startup and hit opponents through platforms above Sonic, and his forward smash has a bit of a deceptively large range due to him stepping forward during the punch.

Up throw is a reliable combo starter, having decently damaging combos beginning at 0%, as well as Spring Jump-assisted aerial combos beginning at medium percentages. It also has KO potential, although it only KOs reliably at very high percentages when used on high platforms, such as Battlefield's top platform, as well as stages with low upper blast zones. Lastly, forward throw is his least useful throw, as its primary utility is for forcing the opponent away from him and setting up an edge-guard.

Mastering Sonic's running game is crucial to Sonic's ability to perform at high-level play; thanks to Sonic having the fastest dashing speed, Sonic mains can take advantage of a variety of dash or dash-related techniques. Dash-dancing is extremely useful for mindgames, such as by running in one direction and then quickly turning the other way around to bait an opponent or catch them off-guard. The ability to use any attack out of a dash further compliments this strategy, as Sonic can retaliate almost immediately to an opponent's attack after dash-dancing. As such, it is often regarded by Sonic players that it is better to run away from the opponent and run back than to use rolls to avoid opponents.

This allows the player to avoid damage, not be as easily punished, have more control over their actions, and be able to punish their opponent's attacks. Dash-dance pivots (consisting of fox-trotting away from the opponent, then quickly dash-dancing backward) are particularly effective for this, as they can cause almost immediate turnarounds and allow for easy grabs. In general, Sonic arguably has the easiest time winning the neutral game due to his unmatched speed and maneuverability on-stage, and attacks that not only come out fast but can also be used to approach with.

Despite the plethora of strengths, Sonic has some weaknesses however, the most noticeable being his KO potential. It is held back by his best KO moves (his smash attacks and clean back aerial) requiring good positioning and having noticeable startup and ending lag. His forward and up smashes are also burdened with low base knockback, which forces them to be used for KO attempts later instead of earlier, and his down smash, although it has decent startup, has high ending lag, making it easy to punish if missed. While Sonic's damage-racking ability is formidable, his ability to reliably close out stocks is among the worst in the game, which oftentimes results in his opponents surviving beyond 150% and even 200% if he is unable to score an early kill, forcing him to rely on hard reads in order to reliably take stocks at high percents. Despite his outstanding mobility, Sonic may struggle to land due to his very low air acceleration, leaving him susceptible to juggling.

Sonic can also have difficulty dealing with camping, since any ground-level projectile can severely limit his movement options. While Homing Attack and Spin Dash are his best options in getting through said projectiles, they can be reacted to and even predicted. Some of his attacks are also very punishable should they miss, and thus allow openings for opponents to punish him. Homing Attack can miss if his opponent is moving too fast or is in the middle of an attack when Sonic releases the move. His recovery is also predictable with Spring Jump as his only vertical recovery option, as its linearity makes him susceptible to gimps even at relatively low percentages. Finally, Sonic can be susceptible to early KOs due to being a lightweight.

In all, Sonic has a great offensive play, a strong neutral game, a good off-stage presence, and can very rapidly damage his opponents. However, like other characters of his archetype, he has some trouble KOing and can be difficult to keep track of, even for the player using him, which sometimes leads to accidentally putting him at a disadvantage or even inadvertently self-destructing. Although Sonic's attributes make him a hit-and-run character most of the time, his prowess for using mindgames and switching up tactics encourage multiple playstyles to succeed, which give him a higher learning curve but allows him to match up well against nearly every character in the cast.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Like most other top tier characters, Sonic was often regarded as one of the most potent characters in SSB4 (tying with Fox for 7th out of 55 characters); this was due to a combination of an outstanding ground movement and Spin Dash granting him a powerful neutral game, and encouraged a borderline oppressive hit-and-run playstyle that benefitted from time out strategies after gaining a stock/percentage lead. Likely as a result of this, Sonic was given a mix of buffs and nerfs in his transition to Ultimate, though while initially considered to be nerfed overall, universal gameplay changes, metagame shifts and game updates have allowed Sonic to keep up with the rest of the cast. All in all, Sonic has been slightly buffed overall.

Several of Sonic's key strengths and moves from SSB4 have been toned down considerably. Arguably his biggest nerf was towards his Spin Dash, as it can no longer be shield canceled and can no longer go through shields unless it is fully charged; this noticeably hinders Sonic's infamous camping ability and mindgames from SSB4, forcing Sonic to rely more on his pure speed to play defensively. Up aerial, known for its status as a strong KO option off of moves like Spring Jump and Spin Dash, has received angle and knockback adjustments to the first hit that worsen its ability to connect into the second hit as reliably, no longer managing to follow Sonic's momentum when he jumps and hindering its effectiveness and consistency for combos. Up throw, previously able to combo into Spring Jump-assisted setups, now has increased ending lag, effectively removing most of Sonic's Spring Jump-assisted combos off of it. Lastly, Spring Jump's spring now sends opponents at a more horizontal angle, toning down its edge-guarding potency, and has much less intangibility frames, making it easier to intercept Sonic during his recovery. His much lighter weight also worsens his endurance, and combined with his faster falling speed, he is more vulnerable to combos and KOs if the opponent is able to catch up to him.

However, Sonic has been granted notable buffs as well, particularly towards his less impressive attacks. In particular, Homing Attack has been buffed significantly, with faster startup, less ending lag upon hitting an opponent, better accuracy, and the ability to be charged for longer; this has lead to the move becoming a much more viable combo tool as well as a potential option in the neutral game. His down tilt launches opponents at a higher angle now, granting it combo potential. All of his smash attacks were improved, with forward smash gaining more range, and up and down smash having better KO potential. Despite their nerfs, some of Sonic's better moves have been compensated for in various ways. Spin Dash now has the ability to be jump canceled, alleviating some of Sonic's potential mix-up options. Spring Jump now grants Sonic slightly more distance, buffing his already impressive recovery. Several of Sonic multi-hitting attacks (sans up aerial) now link into each other more reliably, including Spin Charge, up smash, forward aerial, and forward tilt.

Sonic also enormously benefits from Ultimate's universal mechanic changes, moreso than any other returning veteran. His already unmatched mobility has been improved even further, with an even faster initial dash and run speed as well as more serviceable aerial and falling speeds; this notably heightens his camping abilities via simply running away, which nearly fully compensates for the nerfs to Spin Dash. The introduction of dash-canceling also allows Sonic to take advantage of his phenomenal ground movement to mix-up his approach. Known for having high landing lag on his attacks in SSB4, Sonic now possesses much less landing lag on all of his aerials (although still above average relative to the cast); notably, this grants neutral aerial increased combo potential. Finally, the changes to air dodge mechanics improve Sonic's edge-guarding game while not compromising him much thanks to his great recovery, while the reintroduction of directional air dodges allows Sonic to gain a little extra distance after using Spring Jump.

Overall, Sonic still retains many of his powerful attributes and combo game, though several of his most powerful tools from SSB4 have either been worsened or removed altogether and his worse endurance has given him a newly defined weakness. This has lead to a less oppressive and polarized character, his playstyle shifting into a more offensive and creative one than before where Sonic now makes greater use of his standard moveset and newly buffed Homing Attack instead of relying on Spin Dash and Spin Charge to compensate for his underwhelming attacks, and must now take advantage of Ultimate's reworked mechanics, which have proven to be extremely benefitial to him. In the end, Sonic has retained his viability in competitive play, and given the nerfs to the previous game's top tiers and in spite of the introduction of powerful DLC characters in game updates, he performs better relative to the cast than he did in SSB4.

Aesthetics

• Sonic's design is largely the same as it was in SSB4, although his model features a more subdued color scheme due to the aesthetic used in Ultimate. His fur is now lightly detailed, similar to his appearance in the Sonic Boom animated series and Sonic Forces artwork, his gloves have more detailed fabric, and his shoes appear more polished.
• Like most other returning characters, Sonic is slightly more expressive than in Smash 4. He now has a sly grin while dashing and frowns during his up tilt, forward smash, forward throw, and when shielding. His eyes are also slightly more emotive. However, he still isn't as expressive as in Brawl, as he doesn’t grow impatient during his foot-tapping idle pose and doesn’t grin during his finger-wiggle idle pose.
• Sonic's head quills have greater independent physics, resembling how their movement was in Brawl.
• The Chaos Emeralds that appear in Super Sonic and Sonic's up-inputted victory pose now appear less reflective and have matte colors.
• Two of Sonic's victory poses have been tweaked:
  • His left-inputted victory pose now has the camera appears fixed on where he appears, showing him sprinting off-screen twice before appearing. He also grins when he gives a thumbs up instead of smirking, akin to Brawl.
  • His up-inputted victory pose now has him running up to the Chaos Emerald before grabbing it. The Chaos Emerald also floats closer to Sonic's fingers.
• Although Sonic still has an animated mouth in his victory poses, the ending poses switch back to the standard model so that its movement appears more natural.
• Sonic’s seventh and eighth alternate costumes have swapped placements.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Sonic's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 5).
• Sonic walks faster (1.375 → 1.444).
• Sonic dashes faster (3.5 → 3.85).
  • His initial dash is significantly faster (1.5 → 2.31), now being the fourth fastest in the game.
• Sonic's traction has been massively increased (0.06 → 0.138), now being the highest in the entire game. This makes it much easier for him to punish out of shield.
• Sonic's air speed is faster (1.15 → 1.208).
• Sonic falls faster (1.45 → 1.65), his falling speed now being above average instead of below average.
  • His fast falling speed is faster as well (2.32 → 2.64), which improves his air mobility and leaves him less susceptible to juggling.
• Sonic is considerably lighter (94 → 86), now making him a lightweight instead of a middleweight, weighing slightly more than Zelda and being lighter than Little Mac, worsening his endurance. While this change would also make him less susceptible to combos, this is prevented by his faster fall speed.
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-15 → 4-14) and has more ending lag (FAF 28 → 29).
• Back roll has more ending lag (FAF 28 → 34).
• Spot dodge has more startup (frame 2 → 3).
• Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 2-25 → 2-26).
• Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 31 → 51).
• The reintroduction of directional air dodges improves Sonic's recovery more than other characters', as due to Spring Jump not causing helplessness, he can get additional distance with a directional air dodge after using it.
• Sonic takes a slight amount of damage per second when swimming. He shares this trait with Charizard, Inkling, and Incineroar.
  • His swimming animation is also changed, showing him constantly in a panicked state (as opposed to only being in one when drowning).

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first and second hits have different angles to keep opponents closer to Sonic (hit 1: 92°/60°/361° → 361°/180°, hit 2: 80°/60°/48° → 361°), akin to other neutral attacks, and deal less knockback (18 set/100 scaling → 20 base/20/15 scaling (hit 1), 20/15 base/20 scaling (hit 2)), but have gained hitstun modifiers (0 → 8 (hit 1), 4 (hit 2)). This allows them to connect more reliably, and the second hit to lock opponents.
  • Consecutive uses of the first hit are faster (13 → 10 frames).
  • The first hit transitions faster into the second hit (frame 9 → 7), which transitions faster into the third hit (frame 8 → 6).
  • The third hit launches at a lower angle (50° → 361°), allowing it to force opponents offstage more effectively and set up tech-chases.
  • All hits have a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.6× (hit 1), 1.2× (hit 2), 2× (hit 3)), giving opponents more time to SDI each hit and DI the last hit.
  • The first hit has had its three large hitboxes replaced with four smaller ones (3u/3.5u/4u → 1.4u/1.4u/1.6u/1.6u). The second and third hits have smaller hitboxes as well (4u/3.4u/3u → 2.3u/2.3u/2.8u (hit 2), 3u/3.5u/5u → 2.6u/2.6u/3.6u (hit 3)).
  • The second hit deals less damage (2% → 1.5%).
  • The third hit has a shorter hitbox duration (frames 4-6 → 4-5).
  • The third hit has a slightly different animation.
• Forward tilt:
  • The first hit has drastically reduced knockback scaling, but increased base knockback (60 (base)/70 (scaling) → 80/3) and has been moved farther from Sonic (Z offset: -1.6u → -0.7), allowing it to connect into the second hit more reliably.
  • The second hit's outermost hitbox has been moved further outwards (X offset: 4.9 → 6) improving its range.
• Up tilt:
  • Both hits have less startup lag (frame 7 → 6 (hit 1), 18 → 13 (hit 2)).
    • However, the move's total duration was not fully compensated (FAF 40 → 36), giving it one more frame of ending lag.
  • The first hit's late portion no longer uses the autolink angle (365° → 95°).
  • The first active hitbox is slightly smaller (5.5u → 5.2u).
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt launches at a more upward angle (361° → 73°) and deals more knockback (30 base/80 scaling → 40/100), improving its combo potential.
  • Sonic no longer slides forward after using the move, making it safer to use for spacing.
    • However, this completely removes its ability to be used as a pseudo crawl.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has been changed to only consist of a lunge kick, with the Spin Attack portion beforehand being removed. As a result, it no longer hits multiple times.
  • It has much less ending lag (FAF 62 → 46).
  • It deals more damage (6% → 8% (clean), 4% → 6% late)).
    • The knockback on the now lone hit has altered knockback to compensate for its increased damage (80 (base)/125 (scaling) → 91/63 (clean), 96/60 (late)). The clean hit deals slightly more knockback overall, while the late hit deals less.
  • It has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 0.75× for the clean hit, and 1.05× for the late hit. Combined with its reduced ending lag, higher damage, and the increased shieldstun for ground attacks, this makes both safer on shield, despite the clean hit having a below-average multiplier.
  • It launches at a lower angle (70° → 60°), hindering its KO potential.
• Forward smash:
  • Sonic's arm stretches out further during the punch, improving its range.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash has less startup (frame 19 → 14). While its total duration is one frame longer by comparison (FAF 66 → 62), it retains the same ending lag due to the first hit being separated one more frame from the subsequent hits.
  • It grants more intangibility frames (frames 18-20 → 14-18).
  • The first hit launches opponents towards Sonic (90° → 110°) with more set knockback (70 → 120), while the looping hits have a lower SDI multiplier (0.6× → 0.5×), and both use weight-independent knockback, allowing them to connect more reliably.
  • The looping hits are larger (4u/4u/4u/4u → 4.2u/4.2u/4u/4u), slightly improving its range.
  • The last hit has increased knockback scaling (165 → 170), improving its KO potential.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash's front hit deals much more knockback (55 base/63 scaling → 50/80), matching the strength of the back hit.
  • It has a new animation where Sonic's feet extend greatly. As its hitboxes were not adjusted, this results in the move no longer being disjointed, with it now failing to fully cover Sonic's feet.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (16 frames → 10 (neutral), 26 → 16 (forward), 30 → 15 (back), 21 → 13 (up), 38 → 21 (down)).
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial's multi-hits consist of one large hitbox instead of four smaller ones (2u → 5.5u), which uses the autolink angle (130°/60°/200°/340° → 367°) and has more set knockback (30 → 40), allowing them to connect more reliably. They also have a lower hitlag multiplier (1× → 0.7×), making them harder to SDI out of.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial's late hit has much less knockback scaling (100 → 76), significantly hindering its KO potential.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial's first hit has much less knockback scaling (100 → 50) and launches at different angles (100°/118° → 110°/123°). As a result, its knockback fails to follow Sonic's vertical momentum when used in a jump, worsening its linking ability into the second hit.
  • The second hit deals more damage (6% → 8%), with knockback scaling compensated (82 → 68).
  • The second hit has an additional hitbox below Sonic, mitigating some of the linking issues caused by the aforementioned changes to the first hit.
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial only possesses a clean hit and late hit, with the early hit being removed (frames 17-18/19-22/23-32 → 17-19/20-32).
    • Its meteor smash hitbox is slightly larger (3.5u → 3.6u).
    • This allows for the aerial meteor smash to be landed much more easily.
    • However, this reduces the clean hit's duration against grounded opponents.
  • The late hit deals more knockback (80 base/70 scaling → 75/80).
  • The late hit has gained a sourspot that deals less damage (7% → 5%) without compensation on knockback.

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • All grabs have more ending lag (FAF 31 → 38 (standing), 38 → 48 (dash), 37 → 40 (pivot)).
  • Standing and pivot grab have slightly more startup lag (frame 6 → 7 (standing), frame 10 → 11 (pivot)).
  • Standing and dash grab have less range (Z2 offset: 9.7u → 8.7u (standing), 11.1u → 10.4u (dash)).
• Pummel:
  • It deals less damage (2% → 1.3%).
  • It deals more hitlag (4 frames → 14), but has much less startup (frame 4 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 16 → 7).
  • It has a slightly different animation.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw sends opponents at a more horizontal angle that is desirable for edgeguarding (70° → 45°).
  • It releases opponents faster (frame 12 → 11), but with its total duration unchanged, increasing its ending lag.
  • It has more knockback scaling (70 → 75), but significantly less base knockback (100 → 70), no longer KOing at high percents.
• Up throw:
  • Up throw releases opponents faster (frame 28 → 23), but with its total duration unchanged, increasing its ending lag. This reduces its combo potential, despite Sonic's faster jumpsquat and jump speed, and in combination with the faster knockback physics, it severely worsens Spring Jump-assisted followups, no longer being guaranteed.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw's release deals more damage (4% → 5%), with its base knockback compensated (80 → 75).
• Edge attack:
  • Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 9%).

Special moves

• Homing Attack:
  • Homing Attack can be charged for much longer, with Sonic ascending much higher during the charge (frames 22-34 → frames 15-82).
    • It has less startup when uncharged (frame 22 → 15), allowing it to be comboed into from other moves.
  • It deals more damage especially when charged (5%-12% → 7%-20%), with knockback not fully compensated (45 base/90 scaling → 55/65), improving its KO potential at high charge levels.
  • It launches Sonic at a straighter trajectory towards opponents, improving its accuracy.
  • It incurs less ending lag upon hitting an opponent (FAF 34 → 27), allowing it to combo into other moves at certain percentages.
  • It has larger hitboxes (3.5u/3.5u → 5u/5u).
  • It has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 0.5×, thus dealing less shieldstun than in Smash 4, despite it being increased for moves other than smash attacks and aerials. This makes it relatively less safe on shields.
  • It launches at a slightly lower angle (55° → 53°).
  • The move shows a reticle on the opponent right before Sonic is about to strike, as in games from Sonic and the Secret Rings onward. The reticle resembles its design in the Nintendo 3DS Version of Sonic Generations.
• Colliding with a wall while moving on the ground with Spin Dash or Spin Charge now has Sonic bounce off it, using the same animation when rebounding off the ground with Homing Attack.
• Spin Dash:
  • A grounded charged Spin Dash can be released in the air while keeping its charge.
  • The first jump hit deals slightly more damage (4% → 5%) and has a bigger hitbox (2u → 3u).
  • Its charge can no longer be canceled by shielding, removing its usefulness for faking out approaches.
  • It can no longer be held indefinitely, instead being unleashed automatically if charged for more than two seconds. However, this can be somewhat circumvented by starting the move on the ground, then jumping out of it and charging it in the air, in which case the automatic release does not happen until Sonic lands.
  • The move stops upon hitting an opponent's shield, and cannot cross up unless it is charged enough, reducing its safety.
  • The trail changes from purple to yellow when fully charged.
  • Sonic does not hop if the move is released at full charge.
  • Sonic no longer loses his double jump after landing with an aerial Spin Dash or Spin Charge.
• Spring Jump:
  • Sonic gains slightly more height from Spring Jump, matching the move's height from Brawl.
  • The aerial version's Spring launches opponents at a higher angle (361° → 48°), hindering its edgeguarding ability.
  • It grants significantly less intangibility (frames 5-13 → 5-7), leaving Sonic more vulnerable to edgeguards.
  • Using the move incurs 10 frames of landing lag.
  • Grabbing onto a ladder no longer causes Sonic to become helpless whenever he lets go or falls after climbing to the top.
• Spin Charge:
  • Spin Charge's hits launch at a more horizontal angle (60° → 9°), and have more base knockback (40 → 70), but drastically less knockback scaling (60 → 15), as well as lower hitlag and SDI multipliers (1× → 0.5×). This allows them to connect much more reliably.
  • It can no longer be held indefinitely, instead being unleashed automatically if charged for more than three seconds.
  • Like the Spin Dash, it stops upon hitting an opponent's shield, and cannot cross up unless it is charged enough, reducing its safety.
  • It changes the color of the trail to indicate charge strength, going from blue, to cyan, to yellow.
• Super Sonic:
  • Super Sonic's functionality has been changed. Instead of being fully controllable, he moves automatically across the horizontal axis at a drastically increased speed, and only his vertical position can be controlled.
  • When reverting from Super Sonic, Sonic deals damage and knockback if he makes contact with opponents while flying back to his starting point.
  • Super Sonic's damage output is significantly weaker than its previous iterations, and it lasts for a much shorter time period. The more limited controls also make it less possible for him to secure an early KO.

Update history

Aside from glitch fixes, Sonic was buffed via game updates. Update 2.0.0 improved his forward tilt's consistency and decreased his back aerial's landing lag, while update 3.0.0 ensured that Sonic retains his double jump upon using Spin Dash or Spin Charge on a platform. Update 7.0.0 enlarged Sonic's shield as part of a near-universal buff, and significantly improved his up smash's reliability against an opponent standing on a platform, the latter of which was shared with Roy and Chrom's up smashes.

However, update 9.0.0 brought about Sonic's most significant buffs. His up tilt and dash attack had their ending lag decreased, while the latter's poor damage output was also increased. As a result, both moves are safer on shield. Up smash gained more intangibility, its overall lag was decreased, and its first hit's angle and knockback were adjusted; altogether, these changes improved its consistency and safety. Lastly, up aerial's second hit received another hitbox below Sonic, which improved the move's somewhat infamous inconsistency.

Overall, Sonic fares better than he did at the launch of Ultimate, and he continues to achieve excellent results in both offline and online tournaments.

1.1.0

• The animation for crouching when holding an item has been adjusted.
• The animation for swinging with a battering weapon has been adjusted.

2.0.0

• Forward tilt's first hit connects more reliably in the second (60 (base knockback)/70 (scaling) → 80/3).
• Forward aerial's firt 5 hits have less hitlag, making the hits connect faster (1× → 0.7×).
• Back aerial has less landing lag (18 frames → 15).
• Super Sonic has a higher knockback multipler when used via FS meter (x0.62 → x0.71).
• The instant KO glitch involving Ridley has been fixed.

3.0.0

• Sonic no longer loses his double jump after performing Spin Dash or Spin Charge on a platform.
• Super Sonic has more range and deals more knockback if used via FS Meter (0.71× → 1×).
• Climbing a ladder after using Spring Jump no longer causes Sonic to become helpless once he lets go or climbs to the top.

4.0.0

• Down aerial no longer has its downward movement disabled when used out from of hitstun.
• A glitch created where upon recovering with Spring Jump then landing, the landing lag animation would play more slowly.

7.0.0

• Overall shield size has been increased by 1.1×.
• Up smash's meteor smashing hitboxes have received a -100% trip chance, preventing them from tripping opponents on platforms and causing the last hit to miss due to the trip's intangibility.

8.0.0

• Super Sonic has more range and slows opponents more during startup.

9.0.0

• Up tilt has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 36).
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has less ending lag (FAF 50 → 46).
  • It deals more damage (6% → 8% (clean), 4% → 6% (late)), with knockback compensated (88 base/80 scaling → 91/63 (clean), 93/80 → 96/60 (late)).
  • It has lower shieldstun multipliers (1× → 0.75× (clean), 1.57× → 1.05× (late)). However, it is still safer on shield due to its increased damage and lower ending lag.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash has less startup (frame 18 → 14), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 66 → 62).
  • It grants longer intangibility (frames 18-20 → 14-18).
  • It modifies Sonic's jostle area on frame 13, making it less likely for opponents to get pushed out of the move's range.
  • The first hit's lower hitbox launches more inward (95° → 110°) with higher set knockback (70 → 120), allowing it to lead into the looping hits more effectively.
• Up aerial's second hit has an additional hitbox below Sonic, allowing it to connect more reliably from the first hit.

Moveset

• Sonic can wall jump.
• Sonic continuously receives damage while swimming. This trait is shared with Charizard, Inkling, and Incineroar. This is a reference to the classic Sonic the Hedgehog games where Sonic is unable to swim, and needs to constantly collect air bubbles or else he drowns and die instantly.

For a gallery of Sonic's hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		P / PP / PPK	2%	Sonic's Punch and Punch-Kick from Sonic the Fighters. Its first and second hits are capable of jab locking. Holding the attack button will have Sonic perform the first hit repeatedly.
			1.5%
			4%
Forward tilt		Horse Kick (馬キック)	4% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2 feet), 5% (hit 2 legs)	Sonic's Horse Kick from Sonic the Fighters. It hits twice, has minimal start-up lag, and can be angled. Altogether, these traits make it useful for spacing, starting tech-chases, and as an out of shield option.
Up tilt		Double Air Kick (ダブルエアキック)	2% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	A 540 kick, similar to Captain Falcon's up smash. Its decent vertical range makes it a fairly useful anti-air attack, although it has poor horizontal range. It resembles Sonic's Skip Kick from Sonic the Fighters.
Down tilt		Leg Hitter (レッグヒッター)	6%	A legsweep. Unlike in Smash 4, it launches opponents diagonally, which enables it to start combos at low percentages. Its most reliable follow-ups are forward aerial and up aerial. It resembles Sonic's Leg Throw from Sonic the Fighters, and his Foot Sweep from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and Sonic Unleashed.
Dash attack		Dash Kick (ダッシュキック)	8% (clean), 6% (late)	A flying kick. A decent follow-up from a down throw, although this requires a read. While its very minimal start-up lag can allow it to pressure unwary opponents, its considerable ending lag makes it quite punishable.
Forward smash		Wind-Up Punch (ぐるぐるパンチ)	14%	The Wind-Up Punch, one of Sonic's attacks from Sonic the Fighters. It has high knockback growth and deceptive range, and it can be angled. It's also disjointed and beats several hitboxes because Sonic doesn't have a hurtbox on his hands. Altogether, these traits make it one of Sonic's best KO moves, if not his absolute best one. However, it has low base knockback, and thus should be used for KO attempts later instead of earlier. It also has noticeable start-up (frame 18) and ending lag (28 frames), making it risky if used unwisely.
Up smash		Short Spin Attack (ショートスピンアタック)	5% (hit 1), 1% (hits 2-7), 3% (hit 8)	A jumping Spin Dash. It has moderate start-up (frame 14) and noticeable ending lag, making it risky if used unwisely. It hits multiple times, with the last hit having extremely high knockback scaling but merely average base knockback. As a result, it should be used for KO attempts later instead of earlier. It is also excellent at shield poking, thanks to its somewhat large hitboxes.
Down smash		Split Kick (スプリットキック)	12%	A split kick, similar to Fox and Falco's down smashes. It has the lowest amount of start-up lag (frame 12) out of Sonic's smash attacks and hits both in front of and behind himself simultaneously, which make it useful for punishing rolls. It is also a semi-spike, which makes it very useful for edge-guarding. However, it lasts for only 2 frames and, like his other smash attacks, it has considerable ending lag.
Neutral aerial		Air Spin (エアスピン)	12% (clean), 8% (late), 5% (latest)	Sonic's Air Spin from Sonic the Fighters. In addition to being a reliable follow-up from Spin Dash, Spin Charge, and Spring Jump-assisted combos, its launch angle makes its clean and late hitboxes useful combo starters at low to medium percentages when SHFF'd.
Forward aerial		Sonic Turn (ソニックターン)	0.8% (hits 1-5), 3% (hit 6)	A corkscrew battering ram, similar to Pikachu's forward aerial. It is tied with up aerial for the lowest amount of start-up lag out of Sonic's aerials, coming out on frame 5. When coupled with the last hit's very high knockback growth, it is quite useful for spacing and edge-guarding. It can also combo into itself in certain instances, thanks to Sonic's very fast air speed and the move's fairly large auto-cancel window. It resembles Sonic's Emerald Dive from Sonic the Fighters.
Back aerial		Back Spin Kick (バックスピンキック)	14% (clean), 10% (late)	A hook kick. Its clean hitbox's impressive damage output and high knockback growth make it one of Sonic's best KO moves, especially while edge-guarding. The move is also one of the more powerful of its type when hit clean and has low ending lag. However, it does have moderately high start-up lag (frame 13) for a back aerial, which can make it somewhat challenging to hit with.
Up aerial		Air Scissors (エアシザース)	3% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2)	A scissor kick. Its very generous auto-cancel window and fairly low landing lag make it deceptively safe, as it autocancels as soon as the hitboxes cease, which is actually due to a coding error that wasn't fixed from the previous games. In addition to being a reliable follow-up from Spin Dash and Spin Charge, it is a useful combo starter when SHFF'd. Due to its first hit's adjusted launching angles and much lower knockback growth, it is noticeably less effective than it was in Smash 4 as both a follow-up from Spring Jump and as a KO option.
Down aerial		Shooting Star Kick (流星キック)	8% (clean), 7%/5% (late)	A diagonal flying kick. It is a stall-then-fall, but unlike the majority of other stall-then-falls, it is relatively safe to use off-stage thanks to its noticeably lower ending lag in comparison. Its clean hit also meteor smashes aerial opponents at the beginning of the attack, but not grounded opponents. It resembles Sonic's Stomp Dive from Sonic the Fighters, and his Sonic Rocket from Sonic Battle.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—	Clinches the opponent.
Pummel		Grab Kneebutt (つかみニーバット)	1.3%	A knee strike. A fairly fast pummel.
Forward throw		Close Kick (クローズキック)	1% (hit 1), 6% (throw)	A stretch kick. Due to its launching angle and overall knockback being noticeably lower than in Smash 4, it now functions as a serviceable edge-guard set-up at the very negligible cost of its almost nonexistent KO potential. It resembles Sonic's Top Kick from Sonic Battle.
Back throw		Spin Throw (スピンスルー)	7%	Quickly backflips repeatedly with the opponent in tow before performing the tomoe nage,[1] a judo throw. Sonic's strongest throw by far, and his only one that KOs at reasonable percentages.
Up throw		Hedgehog Needle (ヘッジホッグニードル)	1% (hit 1), 5% (throw)	Heaves the opponent overhead and then stabs them with his quills to launch them upwards. It can combo into neutral aerial, up aerial and inputted Homing Attack at low percentages. Due to its ending lag being increased since Smash 4, its Spring Jump-assisted follow-ups less consistent. It also has KO potential, albeit only at very high percentages and when used on highly positioned platforms, such as Battlefield's top platform.
Down throw		Spinning Gear (スピニングギア)	1% (hits 1-3), 5% (throw)	Pins the opponent to the ground and then Spin Dashes onto them. Due to being a semi-spike, it is reliable for tech-chasing and setting up edge-guards. It resembles Sonic's Double Spin from Sonic the Fighters.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Spin Dashes in a circle before getting up.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Performs a legsweep while getting up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Performs a legsweep while getting up.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Spin Dashes forward while climbing up. It resembles the Cliffhanger Flip from Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball.
Neutral special		Homing Attack	7%-20%	Curls up into a ball while briefly ascending, homes onto the nearest opponent, and then rams into them. Pressing the special button will execute the move earlier at the cost of it inflicting less damage. It can be used as a follow-up from various moves if executed early.
Side special		Spin Dash	7%-10.9% (dash), 5% (initial jump), 3% (jump)	Curls up into a ball, performs a short jump, and then starts rolling toward the opponent quickly. Holding the special button charges it up and increases its speed. In addition to granting 5 frames of intangibility after the charge is released, it boasts impressive combo potential, thanks to its ability to be followed up with any aerial attack. However, if uncharged, it stops when it hits a shield, making it very unsafe if shielded. When it is charged, however, the move is very safe on shield. It also boasts horizontal recovery potential when it is jump-canceled immediately upon releasing the special button; this turns the dash into a "Spin Shot", a quick, long-ranged short hop that can be performed either on the ground or in the air. Sonic can only hold the charge for two seconds when his Spin Dash is fully charged, but as the move can be jump-canceled, he can still charge it on the ground, cancel the charge with a jump and release it in the air while still keeping its charge.
Up special		Spring Jump	— (jump), 4% (spring)	Bounces off of a Spring. When used on the ground, it remains in place for a few seconds, allowing Sonic and any other character to keep bouncing off of it until it vanishes. Although Spring Jump is used primarily for recovering, it is also useful for partaking in combos. It grants intangibility at the start, while the Spring itself can also be used to gimp recovering opponents underneath Sonic.
Down special		Spin Charge	1.5%-2.4% (loop), 4% (last), 6% (jump)	A Spin Dash that hits multiple times and has more momentum. It also has slightly different aesthetics compared to Spin Dash, and requires button mashing in order to charge. However, it lacks a short jump at its beginning, cannot be canceled in any way, and it can only become a "Spin Shot" when used in the air. Its charge can only be held for three seconds after Spin Charge is fully charged.
Final Smash		Super Sonic	12% (Chaos Emeralds), 6% (ram), 10% (launch)	Gathers the Chaos Emeralds and uses them to attain his Super Transformation from the Sonic the Hedgehog games. When activated while very close to an opponent, the Chaos Emeralds will damage the opponent. Upon being activated, Sonic is invincible during its duration, and flies around rapidly horizontally and can change his vertical position. Any opponents that are near Sonic when he returns to normal will be damaged.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump Height	Double jump Height
Value	86	2.31 – Initial dash 3.85 – Run	1.444	0.138	0.01	1.208	0.01 – Base 0.04 – Additional	0.09	1.65 – Base 2.64 – Fast-fall	3	35 - Base 16.89 - Short hop	35

Announcer call

This article could use additional or higher-quality audio files. The editor who added this tag suggests: Needs announcer calls from other languages. If you have a good audio file for this article, upload it here.

• English/Japanese/Chinese

• French

On-screen appearance

• Spin Dashes onto the stage from the foreground and strikes a pose.

• 

  Sonic's on-screen appearance.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Somersaults and then crosses his arms with his index finger pointing out, one of his signature poses (most notably from Sonic Adventure), while making a "tsk" sound three times.
• Side taunt: Performs the Super Peel Out, a technique that debuted in Sonic the Hedgehog CD, while grinning and saying "Sonic Speed!" ("遅すぎだぜ！", You're too slow!)
• Down taunt: Performs the windmill, a breakdancing move, while saying "Come on!"

• 

  Sonic's up taunt.

• 

  Sonic's side taunt.

• 

  Sonic's down taunt.

Sonic also uses his English lines if the language is set to Dutch or Russian, and uses his Japanese lines if the language is set to Chinese or Korean. His taunt voice lines in other languages are as follows:

	Side	Down
French	"Vitesse Sonic !" (Sonic Speed!)	"Allez !" (Come on!, lit. Go!)
Italian	"Velocità supersonica!" (Super Sonic Speed!)	"Andiamo!"
German	"Lichtgeschwindigkeit!"	"Los geht's!"
Spanish	"¡Velocidad sónica!" (Sonic Speed!)	"¡Vamos!" (Let's go!)

Idle poses

• Looks at the camera for a moment while tapping his foot impatiently. It is his idle animation from the Sonic the Hedgehog games for the Sega Genesis.
• Looks at the camera and wiggles his finger in a patronizing manner while smirking. It resembles the animation he performs after clearing an Act or defeating a boss in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic Mania or his introduction in many 2D Sonic the Hedgehog games and in the three American DIC Entertainment cartoons as well as the animation he does before jumping offscreen in Sonic CD if the game is left idle for three minutes.

• 

  Sonic's first idle pose.

• 

  Sonic's second idle pose.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	So - nic!	Go! Go! So - nic!	Sooooooo - nic!	Gooooo - Sonic!	Allez So - nic!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Sooooooo - nic!	Sooooooo - nic! Sooooooo - nic! Este Sonic! Este Sonic! E! E!	So - nic! *claps 3 times*	So - nic!

Victory poses

• Left: Sprints off-screen and then sprints back on-screen before giving a thumbs up while saying "That was almost too easy!" ("モタモタしてると置いてくぜ!", Lag behind and get left behind!). It is possibly a reference to the Sega logo at the opening of the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
• Up: Runs up to the camera and grabs the blue Chaos Emerald, then poses with it while saying "Piece of cake!" ("A piece of cake! 楽勝だぜ!", A piece of cake! An easy win!). His Japanese line comes from Sonic Heroes and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) after battles.
• Right: Performs a break dance move that resembles his Sonic Flare from Sonic Battle, then strikes a pose and says "Let's do that again sometime!" ("Hey guys! また遊んでやるぜ!", Hey guys! I'll play again next time!). His Japanese line comes from Sonic Adventure after defeating a boss.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)'s orchestrated remix of the tune that plays when a character has passed an Act in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, entitled "Mission Clear", albeit with a slightly abridged ending.

• 
• 
• 

Sonic also uses his English lines if the language is set to Dutch or Russian, and his Japanese lines if the language is set to Chinese or Korean. His victory quotes in other languages are as follows:

	Left	Up	Right
French	"C'était presque trop facile !" (That was almost too easy!)	"Du gâteau !" (Piece of cake!, lit. Some cake!)	"Faudra se refaire ça un jour !" ([We] need to do that again sometime!)
Spanish	"¡Pero que fácil!"	"¡Chupado!"	"¡A ver si lo repetimos!"
Italian	"Persino troppo semplice!"	"Un gioco da ragazzi!"	"Rifacciamolo presto!"

In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Sonic players (SSBU)

•  KEN - The second-best Sonic player of all-time, and the definitive best from 2019 to 2021. He was the first Sonic player to win a major, doing so at Sumabato SP 6.
•  Peli - The best Sonic player in Europe. He was the first European player to eliminate Glutonny at a national-level European tournament, doing so at the superregional VCA 2021 and winning the event in the process. He has also seen several strong results at majors, including 5th at e-Caribana and 7th at VCA 2022.
•  Sonido - One of the best Sonic players in the United States. Placing well at several events, including 5th at Come to Papa 3 defeating Samsora, 9th at the major DreamHack Atlanta 2019, and 17th at the supermajor CEO 2019.
•  Sonix - One of the Four Horsemen and is the best Sonic player of all-time, and one of the best players since 2023. He won the major CEO 2022 and the supermajors Get On My Level 2023 and Port Priority 8, making him the only Sonic player to ever win a supermajor.
•  Taikei - The second-best Sonic player in Japan who consistently places highly at Japanese events, including 5th at the major Seibugeki 12 and 7th at the major KOWLOON 5.
•  Wrath - The best Sonic player in the United States. Although his activity is lower compared to other top Sonic players, he has placed highly at most events he attended, including 5th at the supermajor Frostbite 2020, 7th at the major DreamHack Atlanta 2019, as well as a win at the superregional MomoCon 2024.

Tier placement and history

Upon the release of Ultimate, Sonic was initially seen as a far less viable fighter than he was in Smash 4 due to a number of changes to his moveset, particularly to Spin Dash and Spin Charge, that nerfed his biggest strengths from the previous game. On the other hand, Sonic retained his superb mobility and long-distanced recovery, while his combo game remained mostly useful. As a result, despite being weaker compared to his previous iteration, Sonic's "hit-and-run" playstyle still remained viable, allowing multiple top players to resort to time out strategies. Although early opinions placed him as a mid-tier, as a result of retaining his notorious playstyle as well as results from players such as Sonido, Wrath, and especially KEN, opinions on the character have shifted towards being a high-tier by the time of the online metagame.

The community's perception on Sonic began shifting even further during the online metagame due to the meteoric rise of Sonix, who became one of the metagame's best players. Sonic also received buffs to his moveset, most notably an additional hitbox to his up air that made the move more consistent, improving his KO power. These positive changes to Sonic's representation were brought into the offline metagame, as Sonix and KEN saw strong performances at many majors and supermajors. These players often utilized Sonic's hit-and-run playstyle to its fullest, with their sets often going to or close to a time-out. On the other hand, Sonix has also showcased Sonic's more oppressive nature, such as overwhelming his opponent or utilizing Sonic's speed and strong recovery to relentlessly edgeguard opponents. Due to all of this, the general consensus has since reassessed Sonic as a top tier character, with several players believing he could be the best character in the game. This was reflected in his placement on the first tier list, where he is ranked 4th, with eleven panelists ranking Sonic as 1st.

Opinions on Sonic only further improved following the first tier list as Sonix established himself as one of Ultimate's Four Horsemen. In addition, players began realizing that Sonic was likely one of the best counters to Steve, the highest-ranking character in the game, as Sonic's ability to overwhelm opponents exploits Steve's poor mobility. This became more evident with Sonix's track record against Steve players, which includes dominantly defeating acola at Port Priority 8 and Watch The Throne. Finally, the metagame began heavily favoring a campier, more patient playstyle that was perfect for Sonic players. As a result, many players now consider Sonic to be the second-best character in the game, which led to Sonic's rise to 2nd, ranking alongside Steve in the S+ tier.

Classic Mode: At the Speed of Sound

Sonic's congratulations screen.

Sonic's opponents reference characters from a variety of Sonic the Hedgehog games. Each Round also proceeds in the chronological order of each console generation to feature Sonic, starting from the 4th generation (Sega Genesis) to the 8th generation (Wii U), complete with Rounds 1 through 6 playing music from the Sonic the Hedgehog series (regardless of what universe the stage originates from). The title of Sonic's Classic Mode route also references a portion of the lyrics of "Escape from the City" from Sonic Adventure 2.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Fox	Green Hill Zone	Green Hill Zone	Fox references Miles "Tails" Prower, a fox who is Sonic's best friend and sidekick.
2	Captain Falcon	Figure-8 Circuit	Super Sonic Racing	Captain Falcon, the stage, and the music all reference Sonic R, a racing game.
3	Giant Metal Sonic	Fourside (Ω form)	Open Your Heart	The stage and the music likely reference the boss battles against Chaos in Sonic Adventure, particularly the one against Chaos 0. Giant metal Sonic and the stage could also reference the Metal Sonic boss fight at the end of Stardust Speedway Zone in Sonic CD. Giant metal Sonic will also use Sonic's default appearance, albeit while clad in metal, even if the player is also using Sonic's default appearance.
4	Kirby (×3)	Halberd	Sonic Heroes	The Kirbys represent the character types in Sonic Heroes: Speed (Blue), Flight (Yellow), and Power (Red). The stage likely references Final Fortress, the final level of said game.
5	Sheik	Mushroomy Kingdom	Seven Rings in Hand	Sheik, the stage, and the music all reference Sonic and the Secret Rings, which has an Arabian setting.
6	Giant Incineroar	Windy Hill Zone	Wonder World	Giant Incineroar references Zavok, the leader of The Deadly Six, who debuted in Sonic Lost World.
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand (Less than 7.0 intensity) Master Hand / Crazy Hand (Intensity 7.0 or higher)	On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Sonic has Live & Learn accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Sonic in World of Light

Sonic was among the fighters summoned to the cliffside to assist in defeating an army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene, Sonic was present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. While attempting to run away, Sonic noticed Pikachu doing the same and reached his hand out to Pikachu in an attempt to save it. However, before Sonic could grab a hold of Pikachu, both were vaporized and placed under Galeem's imprisonment alongside the rest of the fighters, excluding Kirby.

Sonic was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He appears in the Sacred Land sub-area as one of the fighters that block the Master Sword, making him one of the obligatory unlocks.

Sonic is later seen standing next to Mario as the other heroes prepare their last stand against Galeem and Dharkon.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
38		Sonic	Attack	9,800	Green Hill Zone (Ω form)	Green Hill Zone

Spirits

Sonic's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Sonic has been unlocked. Unlocking Sonic in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with his artwork in Ultimate.

Additionally, Sonic makes an appearance in a few primary spirits in other forms.

• 

  775. Sonic the Hedgehog

• 

  778. Super Sonic

• 

  796. Sonic the Werehog

In Spirit Battles

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
778		Super Sonic	Sonic The Hedgehog Series	•Gold Sonic		13,700	Windy Hill Zone	•Sudden Final Smash	•The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash	Live & Learn
780		Metal Sonic	Sonic The Hedgehog Series	•Metal Sonic (100 HP)		4,600	Windy Hill Zone	N/A	•Timed stamina battle (2:00) •The enemy is metal •The enemy starts the battle with a Rocket Belt	Sonic Heroes
782		Chaotix	Sonic The Hedgehog Series	•Sonic •Pichu •King K. Rool		1,600	Windy Hill Zone	•Invisibility	•The enemy is invisible	Sonic Heroes	Espio the Chameleon
788		Shadow the Hedgehog	Sonic The Hedgehog Series	•Sonic		9,100	New Pork City (Battlefield form)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Shadow) •Item: Timer	•The enemy's dash attacks have increased power •Hostile assist trophies will appear •The enemy is easily distracted by items	Live & Learn	Sonic the Hedgehog
795		Silver the Hedgehog	Sonic The Hedgehog Series	•Sonic		3,600	Green Hill Zone	•Item: Throwing Types	•The enemy starts the battle with a Black Hole •The enemy is easily distracted by items	Rooftop Run
797		Infinite	Sonic The Hedgehog Series	•Metal Sonic (140 HP)		4,400	Big Blue	•Hazard: Screen Flip	•The screen will suddenly flip after a little while •Stamina battle •The enemy is metal	Fist Bump
848		Able Sisters	Animal Crossing Series	•Sonic		9,100	Town and City	N/A	•The enemy starts the battle with a Drill	Outdoors at 7 p.m. (Sunny) / Main Street - Animal Crossing: New Leaf	Labelle, Mabel, and Sabel
1,262		Dillon	Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers	•Sonic		9,800	Midgar (hazards off)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Dillon)	•The enemy's special moves have increased power •Hostile assist trophies will appear •The enemy favors special moves	Frontier Battle
1,285		Rayman	Rayman Series	•Sonic (160 HP)		9,100	The Great Cave Offensive (Battlefield form)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Sukapon)	•The enemy's physical attacks have increased power •Stamina battle •Hostile assist trophies will appear	Sunset Heights

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
776		Dr. Eggman	Sonic The Hedgehog Series	•Roy •Metal Sonic		13,200	Green Hill Zone	•Bob-omb Festival •Item: Shooting Types	•Bob-ombs will rain from the sky after a little while •The enemy's shooting items have increased power •Items will be pulled toward the enemy	Green Hill Zone	Metal Sonic
1,087		Nico Fire Nico Flame	StreetPass Mii Plaza Series	•Ness •Fox •Sonic		1,500	Big Blue	•Uncontrollable Speed	•All fighters move faster and can't stop quickly	Wii Sports Resort	StreetPass Cats

Alternate Costumes

Gallery

• 

  Sonic artwork, as posted on the official Japanese Sega Twitter account.

• 

  Sonic's fighter card.

• 

  Sonic's unlock notice.

• 

  Sonic idling on Wrecking Crew.

• 

  Running on Mushroomy Kingdom.

• 

  Attacking R.O.B. with his up tilt on Skyworld.

• 

  Coming to a halt before a Shy Guy on Figure-8 Circuit.

• 

  Attacking Shulk with Spin Charge on Mario Galaxy.

• 

  With one of Bayonetta's butterflies on Skyworld.

• 

  Running with Falco on Prism Tower.

• 

  With Olimar, Pac-Man, and Mario on Gaur Plain.

• 

  Sonic and Villager getting hit by Robin's down smash on Wily Castle.

• 

  Sonic holding Death's Scythe on the Bridge of Eldin.

• 

  Sonic and Knuckles posing on Palutena's Temple.

• 

  Sonic and Knuckles posing on Garden of Hope.

• 

  Idling on Distant Planet.

Trivia

Sonic recreating his Ultimate render pose in the 2020 Sonic the Hedgehog film.

• One of the in-game tips for Sonic states that using his down aerial after a jump and Spring Jump in succession can allow for "no landing delay". However, this is incorrect, as Spring Jump actually incurs 10 frames of landing lag, which persists even if Sonic auto-cancels his down aerial by using it from high enough as stated by the tip.
  • This tip is recycled from Super Smash Bros. 4, where it is correct, as Spring Jump in said game does not incur additional landing lag.
    • It could, however, mean that no landing lag persists from the aerial move itself, and only occurs from Spring Jump, which was possibly added due to the universal landing lag reductions in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
• Sonic's stock icon in Ultimate bears a striking resemblance to several logos and icons in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, namely:
  • The logo on the box art of Sonic & Knuckles.
  • The logo for Sonic Team.
  • Sonic's character icon in some Sonic the Hedgehog spin-off games.
  • The life icon and 1-ups in Sonic Unleashed (when Sonic is not in his Werehog form), as well as the 1-ups from Sonic Colors.
    • It is also one of six to show the character's eyes, the others being R.O.B., Kirby, Meta Knight, Zombie, and Enderman.
      • This is not counting Captain Falcon and Larry, as the eyes depicted for the former are not his actual eyes, and the latter lacks his irises.
• Sonic is one of three third-party fighters in Ultimate with more than one home stage representing their series, the others being Cloud and Sephiroth.
  • Sonic is the only sole third-party fighter with this distinction.
• Sonic and Mega Man are the only third-party fighters whose respective series features more than one assist trophy.
• Sonic's shoes and cuffs in his Player 7 and Player 8 alternate costumes were swapped in the transition from Smash 4 to Ultimate, but his fur color was not.
• Unlike other installments in the Super Smash Bros. series, Sonic slowly receives damage if he falls in any body of water, which is a nod to his inability to swim in his own series.
  • This makes Sonic the only third-party fighter to have this trait.
• Ultimate is the first game where Sonic was the first third-party character announced. Snake was announced before him in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Mega Man was announced before him in Smash 4.
• Sonic is one of only four fighters to face a metal opponent in Classic Mode, facing a giant metal version of himself. The others are Bowser (who faces Metal Mario upon normal Mario's defeat in the Final Round), Kazuya (who faces a metal version of himself upon defeating his normal self in the Final Round), and Sora (who faces a metal version of himself in the Round 6).
• Interestingly, Little Mac is absent from Sonic's Classic Mode route despite possessing the 3rd fastest dashing speed in the game.
• Sonic is the only fighter who travels to Green Hill Zone and Figure-8 Circuit in Classic Mode.
• Prior to update 2.0.0, there was a glitch that allowed Ridley to instantly KO Sonic. On 2D stages, if Ridley grabbed Sonic with his Space Pirate Rush while Sonic was recovering from a Homing Attack near the edge, Sonic would be instantly sent into the horizontal blast line.
• As is the case with Smash 4, Sonic's snoring and surfacing voice clips are taken directly from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in which he was voiced by Jason Griffith, despite otherwise being voiced by Roger Craig Smith.
  • Also, like in Smash 4, Jason Griffith is uncredited in the credits.
  • These voice clips are also used in the French, Italian, German, and Spanish versions of the game, as Sonic was not voiced in these languages in Brawl.
• Sonic is the only third-party veteran to have his victory theme changed in some way, being slightly sped up and abridged at the end.
• The Chaos Emerald that appears in Sonic's victory pose is oddly more solid and less crystalline than the models used for his Final Smash and the one used by Shadow the Hedgehog as an Assist Trophy.
• Sonic's pose in his official Ultimate render has been referenced in at least three later sources of media:
  • In the 2020 film, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic avoids one of Dr. Robotnik's attacks while striking a very similar pose to his official Ultimate render. According to Sonic's voice actor in the film, Ben Schwartz, this was an intentional reference.
    • This pose is additionally referenced in the 2022 sequel film, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, in a dance scene.
  • In a promotional image of the collaboration between the Sonic the Hedgehog series and the 2020 action game Ninjala, Berecca (who wears a Sonic costume) strikes a pose identical to Sonic's official Ultimate render.
• In World of Light, Sonic is the only fighter unlocked in The Dark Realm with a power level lower than 10,000.
• When Sonic gets KO'd in Stamina Mode, his downed pose is similar to the pose he strikes in his 3D games when he is hit by an enemy while lacking Rings.
• When fighting off the fifty puppet fighter army as Master Hand in World of Light, Sonic is one of the eight fighters fought there, being affiliated with Dharkon.
• If Sonic's size changes due to a Super Mushroom, Poison Mushroom, or something else while charging Homing Attack, Sonic will no longer gain height.
• In Steve's reveal trailer, Sonic's forward smash launches Mario through blocks into a Minecraft cave (transitioning to a cinematic), which led to many jokes and memes about Sonic being able to "punch people into Minecraft". The official Sonic Twitter page referenced this meme when an official Minecraft collaboration with the Sonic the Hedgehog series occurred.

Notes

1.^ translates to "Circle Throw"