Sonic (PM)

Sonic in Project M and Project+
Universe	Sonic the Hedgehog
Base game appearance	Brawl
Moveset inspiration	Sonic (SSBB)
Alternate costume	Jet Set Sonic

Sonic is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. He has been buffed for his Project M showing. Sonic is currently ranked 20th out of 41 characters on the Project M Tier List, near the top of B tier, and a slight improvement over his placement in Brawl, where he was 22nd out of 38.

Attributes

Sonic's Jet Set Radio costume in Project M.

True to his series, Sonic is the fastest character in the game, having the fastest dash speed and a fast air speed. These traits make him able to rack up damage very easily and execute combos across the stage. His strengths include extremely fast and tricky movement, a great combo game, good edgeguards, and one of the best recoveries in the game. He has been given the option to moonwalk as a result of the game's return to Melee physics, which can help mix up his approach. He also now has the ability to dash jump, which almost doubles his already fast air speed. Sonic also sports a plethora of recovery options, as all four of his special moves can help him recover in some capacity.

While Sonic was known in Brawl for his high speed and movement, he was held back by his poor KO potential due to his extremely weak attacks and few finishers, all of which were unreliable and ineffective. This has been addressed in Project M, as he has been given more KO power in his moveset, making him stronger than before.

Sonic's flaws include having poor range on most of his moves (in addition to a lack of projectiles), poor hitbox placements, and weak horizontal and vertical endurance due to being light with only an average falling speed (even floatier characters like Samus take less vertical knockback due to her extra weight), while also being very susceptible to juggles despite generally not being easy to combo. As such, while Sonic can combo easily due to his maneuverability, he himself is very easy to K.O. at lower percents, as attacks with high power can send him flying off the stage for good despite his multitude of recovery options, and his low range and lack of projectiles compel him to come close to his opponents rather than heckle them from afar. As such, Sonic must make use of his speed and movement options in order to open up opponents and compensate for his weaknesses.

Changes from Brawl to PM

Sonic was buffed in transition to PM, with an even faster dash, more KO power, a new up tilt and a new forward air.

Sonic's new up taunt in Project M.

Sonic's new forward aerial.

Aesthetics

• Up taunt now features a horizontal spin and finger wag. Additionally, all of Sonic's taunts can be held indefinitely by holding down the taunt button.
• Sonic can now taunt cancel all three of his taunts.

Attributes

• Dashing speed was increased (3.5 → 4).
• Sonic is significantly lighter, drastically worsening vertical and horizontal endurance (95 → 82).
• Grab release glitch from Brawl has not been removed.

Ground Attacks

• Jab combo does more damage.
• Forward tilt is now a single hit, while still dealing the same damage, and does the same damage even from far away unlike Brawl, and slightly more KO potential.
• Up tilt is now a flash kick with a single hitbox instead of a double high kick, which acts better as a launcher, with overall less lag, and is based off of Sonic Up Draft from Sonic Battle.
• Forward smash does more damage and is a better KO move.
• Up smash has much less ending lag and only has two hitboxes; the first is weak, while the second is much stronger and produces more knockback, making the move harder to avoid and improving its KO potential dramatically.
• Down smash changed to a multi-hitting "break-dance" move reminiscent of his Heavy Attack, the Sonic Flare, from Sonic Battle. It acts similar to the original, but has faster start-up and deals higher damage with much more knockback and can punish shielding or crouch canceling foes.
• Dash attack does more damage, and deals higher knockback.
• Down tilt's IASA frames are later.
• New up tilt has less damage potential.
• Sweetspots of neutral aerial and up smash now have a slash effect, and the former has a new look inspired by Sonic 3.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral aerial does much more damage and has stronger knockback and has a larger hitbox.
• Forward aerial is now a faster front-flip kick, based on the Sonic Eagle from Sonic Battle. It has much more utility, covering a wider area in front of Sonic and meteor smashing at the heel of his foot, which when combined with his enhanced air speed gives Sonic a deadly Ken Combo.
  • New forward air has less damage potential.
• Back aerial does more damage and is a stronger KO move.
• Up aerial has faster start-up, links better, does 4-5% more damage, the hitbox at the tips of his shoes has stronger knockback, and the initial hitbox is a spike
• Down aerial does more damage and has more knockback on its sweetspot, has significantly faster startup, and is now better at starting aerial combos when L-canceled.

Grabs and Throws

• Up throw sends for better follow-ups.
• Down throw is faster, giving the opponent less time to DI.
• Up throw does less damage.

Special Moves

• Homing Attack can hit even when facing the other way and has much faster startup and fires straight at the opponent, now homing on them much more consistently in addition to juggling them at medium percentages.
• Side special is now Somersault: a fast-starting spin attack with a variable height jump depending on how long is the special button held. Pressing the attack button turns the attack into a sliding kick similar to that of the Sonic Advance games. Both attacks cancel upon falling off a ledge. This gives Sonic a new multi-hitting quick attack to efficiently rack up damage and then launch foes, rather than a move almost identical to his down special. It also sweetspots ledges when used in midair, improving Sonic's horizontal recovery.
• Down special is still his Spin Charge, but has gained most of the nuances the original Spin Dash had while retaining all of its own properties. It can additionally damage opponents when being charged.
• Homing Attack has a slightly decreased detection radius, and gives less distance when there is no opponent in range, and has less KO potential. Additionally, if Sonic does not hit a wall or at least target anybody, he will go into helpless state.
• Spring Jump gives slightly less vertical distance, and Sonic can no longer air dodge after performing the move; also, using it causes Sonic to lose all of his momentum as a result of the move resetting.
• Spin Charge can no longer be held indefinitely.
• Pressing the attack button during the startup of Homing Attack lets Sonic use the Blast Attack, which is a faster Homing Attack with less ending lag, though it has less range and doesn't track the opponent. Sonic now strikes a pose after successfully hitting with a Homing Attack.
• Falling animation after using Spring Jump is now identical to his helpless animation, though without the black overlay. Sonic now additionally spins horizontally during the rising portion of the move in a manner similar to Sonic CD.

Revisions

v2.5b

• Forward tilt is now one hit, has less endlag, and much more knockback growth.
• Forward smash hit duration extended and has a weak hit added during that time.
• Neutral air is slightly faster, stronger, and has larger hitboxes.
• Back air adjusted in knockback, and is stronger at lower %s.
• Up air 2nd hit comes out slightly faster, sweetspot does a little more damage, and knockback slightly adjusted.
• Up air autocancels much earlier and IASA is a bit earlier.
• Homing Attack IASA is earlier.
• Aerial Somersault can grab ledges.
• Spin Charge can be B-reversed.
• Spin Charge startup is faster.
• Up smash is two hits instead of many multi-hits, and the knockback on the last hit is stronger.
• Jump startup is slightly faster.
• Gets more horizontal momentum from grounded jumps.
• Down air initial hitbox spikes on both grounded and airborne opponents.
• Somersault can no longer be jump canceled immediately, and the invincibility is completely gone.
• Aerial mobility is slightly lower.
• C-Stick up while shielding now correctly jumps instead of up smashing.
• Up tilt has a new animation.
• Down tilt moves forward and back, and the hitboxes and animation were adjusted.
• Down tilt sends foes up and behind him.
• Forward air has slightly faster startup with endlag and knockback adjusted.
• Down air no longer has disabled air mobility, and can be fastfalled to change the dive speed.
• Homing Attack on-hit cancel is removed.
• Homing Attack can be shortened by pressing Attack before he homes-in, this is called Blast Attack.
• Homing Attack hit animation is now reversible.
• Somersault initial hitbox sends outward, and halfway through aerial Side B it will send upwards.
• Somersault can only be used once per recovery, he must land on the stage or grab the edge to regain Side B usage in the air.
• Grounded Somersault goes into a multi-hit somersault instead of a spindash.
• Grounded Somersault somersault is jump cancelable, and if you press Attack Sonic will perform a slide kick.
• Grounded Somersaults somersault and slide kick are both edge cancelable.
• Spin Charge releases into spindash sooner.

v2.6b

• Up aerial's first hit has increased knockback, matching Brawl Sonic's values. The tipper sweetspot on the second hit is now easier to land.
• Forward smash's knockback was decreased.
• Forward smash's weaker lingering hit has notably decreased hitbox sizing and knockback.
• Forward aerial's damage and knockback were notably decreased, but no longer degrade at the end of the kick.
• Somersault's hitboxes can no longer clank other moves and have increased hitlag.
• Somersault's jump-cancel window starts later.
• Sonic can no longer airdodge after performing Spring Jump, even if he performs an aerial in between.
• Spring Jump can no longer be canceled with a walljump, or wall jump after using Spring Jump.
• Spin Charge's hitboxes can no longer clank other moves and have increased hitlag.
• Spin Charge's spin jump can no longer be canceled with any special or airdodged from, and has a five frame-lock on performing aerials.
• Sonic's jump squat animation carries over more momentum, allowing for more range during his jump cancel grab.
• Forward tilt tipper hit angle raised and homogenized amongst angled variants.
• Forward tilt damage is now based on angle like other forward tilts (12 hi, 11 med, 10 low), and knockback was compensated to match 2.1 Sonic.
• Neutral aerial's hitbox sizing and placements reverted to match 2.1 Sonic, but no longer shrink during the move's duration>
• Neutral aerial's active duration is faster.
• Neutral aerial's initial damage was matched to Brawl Sonic's values, and the knockback compensated to match the last hit of Brawl Sonic's forward aerial.
• Forward aerial starts up faster and now hits while Sonic's leg is further above him. Cooldown was increased slightly.
• Forward aerial's shoe sweetspot now sends at a diagonal angle during the first two active frames.
• Back aerial's initial damage and knockback stats weakened slightly, and his torso hitbox was made into a flub with notably less damage. The lingering hit was strengthened to match Brawl Sonic's values.
• Down aerial's lingering hit angle was raised to match other diagonal sending moves>
• Down aerial's dive no longer slows down when fast-fell.
• Homing Attack has a longer window to acquire a homing target, and a slightly longer start-up.
• Homing Attack's hit rebound animation has a later interrupt window.
• Homing Attack's hit angle is notably higher.
• Somersault's hits earlier with a new graphical cue before the move goes into the hop or tumble. This can allow it to hit twice with the hop. Somersault's initial damage and knockback were reduced to compensate.
• Somersault's previous momentum now has a large effect on the hop's height, making when you use the move more important.
• Somersault's grounded tumble hitboxes have less time between hits, but end faster.
• Spring Jump no longer has invincibility, but can be interrupted with an aerial earlier.
• Spring Jump's turnaround window is slightly longer.
• Spring's hitbox comes out slightly later, and has a more diagonal hit angle with lower base knockback but increased knockback growth.
• Spin Charge's jump inputs now properly recognize the tap-jump setting.
• Spin Charge's charging hitboxes no longer deal additional shield damage, but now drag targets in whatever direction Sonic is moving.
• Spin Charge's charge now sends Sonic into spindash if you fail to mash quickly enough, and the mash requirement increases the longer you stay in charge. A quick white flash indicates that the mashing requirement has gotten harder.
• Spin Charge's charge can no longer be canceled in any manner but by releasing into spindash, or holding shield to enter the spin stop cancel.
• Spin Charge's spindash can no longer be shield canceled at any point in the move. Pressing shield will now cause Sonic to skid to a stop.
• Spin Charge's spin jump and spin turn now have a fifteen frame delay on their hitboxes if Sonic has hit with spindash or spin turn in the last nine frames.
• Spin Charge's spin jump and spin turn have reduced damage with compensated knockback, but can now hit multiple times.

v3.0

• Sonic’s aerial mobility was slightly increased.
• Neutral air hits one frame sooner and stays strong slightly longer. The initial hitboxes were slightly increased in size, and knockback on all hits tweaked to aid in comboing and late-percent kills.
• Neutral air now has a small initial sweetspot that deals 15% damage with strong knockback and has neutral frame advantage on block.
• Back air has increased start up reminiscent of Brawl’s, and increased damage and knockback on all hitboxes. IASA window starts two frames earlier.
• Up air's knockback trajectory slightly raised to be straight vertical. Both sweet and sour spots have increased knockback growth.
• Spin Dash knockback stats and trajectory tweaked to aid in comboing.
• Spring Jump use is now reset if Sonic is grabbed.
• Forward air’s early sweetspot has reduced knockback growth.
• Homing attack lock-on range reduced by about 1/3.
• Neutral air animation tweaked for polish.
• When Homing or Blast attack collides with a floor, Sonic rebounds instead of flattening to the stage.
• Spin Maneuver’s Jump-cancel frame-lock no longer resets upon landing mid-move. Sonic also flashes when the frame-lock ends>

v3.5

• All of Sonic's forward tilt hitboxes last longer.
• Sonic's forward tilt, up tilt, forward aerial, and down smash no longer increase Sonic's foot size, limiting range.
• Forward tilt, up aerial, and down aerial has more endlag.
• Up aerial's second hit now lingers for less time.
• Spin Charge no longer has a hitbox when turning (and for a second afterwards).
• Spin Charge now has longer startup.
• Spring Jump has faster startup.
• Glitch fixed where Sonic could airdodge out of Spring Jump.
• Homing Attack can now grab ledges faster, and has 25% larger detection size.
• Homing Attacking in the air without it finding a target now puts Sonic into special fall.
• Somersault can no longer be edge cancelled immediately, cannot be cancelled for a longer amount of time, and the held version can't be jumped out of until it hits the ground.
• Spinshot distance reduced by about half.
• Super Sonic damage and knockback weakened, and now leaves Sonic helpless.
• Homing Attack's ending animation is now affected by gravity.
• The first hit of his up aerial weakened to link better.
• Down aerial's falling speed was reduced by 10%.
• Somersault now has one less hit.

Moveset

Up to date as of version 3.6.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	Two punches followed by a side kick.
			3%
			4%
Forward tilt	↗		12% (feet), 10% (legs)	Sonic stands on both hands and kicks out both legs at the opponent. This move can be angled up or down.
	→		11% (feet), 9% (legs)
	↘		10% (feet), 8% (legs)
Up tilt		Sonic Up-Draft	11% (foot), 9% (leg)	Sonic performs a bicycle kick. Based on the Sonic Up-Draft move from Sonic Battle.
Down tilt			6%	Sonic throws his leg out and does a sweep kick.
Dash attack			8% (clean), 4% (late)	Sonic curls into a ball to rush at any opponent in his path.
Forward smash			16% (clean), 12% (late)	Sonic winds up his fist, then throws a punch forwards. This move can be aimed up or down.
Up smash			2% (hit 1), 14% (hit 2)	Sonic jumps up and curls up into a spiky ball. This move hits twice, with the first hit linking onto the second hit. Sonic himself is intangible while the first hitbox is active.
Down smash		Sonic Flare	15% (hit 1), 12% (hit 2)	Sonic does a double-hitting "break-dance" kick. Based on the Sonic Flare move from Sonic Battle.
Neutral aerial			15% (clean center), 11% (clean sides), 8% (mid), 5% (late)	Sonic curls up in a ball and spins around to generate a sharp "shield" around him, similar to the "Insta-Shield" seen in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. A useful move to send opponents flying and is a good combo finisher.
Forward aerial		Sonic Eagle	11% (foot), 9% (leg)	Sonic flips forward and sends his heel downward in an axe-kick fashion. Acts as a meteor smash upon impact on Sonic's foot. Based on the Sonic Eagle move from Sonic Battle.
Back aerial			16% (clean leg), 12% (clean body), 9% (late leg), 6% (late body)	Sonic performs a backwards roundhouse kick that deals fairly strong knockback.
Up aerial			4% (hit 1), 13% (hit 2)	Sonic flips upside down and performs an upwards scissors kick. One of his stronger aerial attacks.
Down aerial			10% (early hit), 9% (fall)	Sonic stalls for a brief moment, then shoots downwards foot first, via a stall-then-fall move. The move's initial hitbox can spike opponents.
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Knees the opponent.
Forward throw			3% (hit 1), 6% (throw)	Sonic kicks the opponent forward.
Back throw			8%	Sonic performs a high speed multi-flip version of the tomoe nage, a Judo throw. Deals decent knockback.
Up throw			3% (hit 1), 5% (throw)	Sonic throws the opponent up and sharpens his quills to stab the opponent. An excellent combo starter.
Down throw			1% (hits 1-3), 5% (throw)	Sonic pins the opponent on the ground to spin-grind on top of them.
Floor attack (front)			6%	Does a quick spinball sweep.
Floor attack (back)			6%	Does a quick foot sweep.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Does a spin kick while getting up.
Edge attack (fast)			8%	Gets up onto the stage with a spinball attack.
Edge attack (slow)			4% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2)	Sonic slowly climbs up and kicks forward twice. This is the only edge attack move that can hit twice.
Neutral special		Homing Attack / Blast Attack	8%	Sonic curls up into a spiky ball while ascending, aims for the nearest target, then crashes into them. He'll perform a pose if he hits. If he fails to aquire a target and doesn't hit a wall or some other obstruction, Sonic will become helpless.
Side special		Somersault	4% (startup), 8% (jump), 1% (rolling hits) Slide kick: 9% (clean), 6% (late)	Sonic leaps a small distance in the air while in ball form, then performs a couple of somersault when he lands. This move can be linked into a sliding kick or canceled by jumping, making it a powerful mix-up option.
Up special		Spring Jump	4%	Summons out a spring from the Sonic the Hedgehog games and uses it to leap into the air. The spring acts as a projectile when used in mid-air. Useful for both recovery and edge-guarding. All of Sonic's momentum is reset when the using the spring. He can't use special moves again until returning to the ground, getting hit, or getting grabbed.
Down special		Spin Charge	1% (charging hits), 6-11% (dash), 4% (jump)	Sonic curls himself into a spiky ball and dashes forward. This move can be charged by rapidly pressing the special button while holding down, making it both faster and stronger. Unlike in Brawl, this move cannot be charged infinitely.
Final smash		Super Sonic	18% (startup), 16% (ram)	Transforms into Super Sonic, from the Sonic the Hedgehog games. The player can use the control stick or other movement buttons to make him fly in any direction they choose and ram into other foes. The transformation lasts for about 15 seconds. Ending the transformation while airborne will cause Sonic to become helpless.

In competitive play

Notable players

Active

•  AriYo - Has wins over SK92 and JPeGImage.
•  Aion - Ranked 42nd on the PMRank 2016, the best active Sonic main; has notable wins over Sosa and Jose V.
•  GabPR-The best Project M player in Puerto Rico. Placed 33rd at The Bigger Balc after defeating Hungrybox.
•  Gooley - Has wins over Aidan, Flipp, and Jose V. Is currently ranked 5th on the Connecticut Project M Power Rankings.
•  Guerrilla - Has a notable win over Dakpo
•  Jfyst - Has wins over Dirtboy, N0ne, Venom. Placed 17th at The Bigger Balc and 2nd at CEO 2015. Is currently ranked 3rd on the Florida Project M Power Rankings.
•  JJLinyard - Has wins over Fuzzyness, Jolteon and Alpha Dash.
•  Mapmark - Has wins over Tantalus, Omni, EE, and BaconPancakes.
•  N810 - Placed 25th at FinalBOSS. Formerly ranked 10th on the Arizona Project M Power Rankings.
•  Solharath - Best Midwest Sonic main. Placed 25th at The Big House 4.
•  Star - Best Australian Sonic main. Ranked 3rd on the Australian Project M Power Rankings.
•  Zenokids - Placed 5th at FinalBOSS and 25th at Paragon Los Angeles 2015.
•  Zeus - Has wins over Denti and SparkingZero. Placed 7th at Don't Sleep.

Inactive

•  Wizzrobe - Widely considered the best Sonic main before his retirement. 2nd at CEO 2014, 1st at Tipped Off 10, 5th at The Big House 4.
•  Karma
•  Nazo

Alternate costumes

Sonic's colours have been changed to be significantly more obvious, improving his readbility in team battles. The non-default colours are all references to other Sonic characters, while his alternate costume is based on another series that was created by SEGA, Jet Set Radio.

Sonic's alternate costumes in PM

• Blue
• Red, a reference to Knuckles the Echidna
• Purple, a reference to Big the Cat
• Green, a reference to Jet the Hawk
• Black, a reference to Shadow the Hedgehog
• Yellow, a reference to Miles "Tails" Prower
• Grey, a reference to Silver the Hedgehog
• An alternate costume based on Beat from Jet Set Radio.

Interestingly, if Sonic is using his Silver or Beat costumes, his running animation and side taunt animation revert to him wearing his signature red shoes, though this was fixed in a later revison.

Trivia

• One of the poses Sonic performs when using the Homing Attack shows a strong resemblance to his pose in the box art of Sonic Adventure

External links

• Star's Sonic Guide