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Spring

From Sonic Retro

The SpringMedia:Sonic3D MD US manual.pdf[1]Media:SonicColours Wii US manual.pdf[2] (スプリング)[3], also referred to as a SpringboardMedia:Sonic1 MD US manual.pdf[4] is a common gimmick that has appeared in many games in the Sonic the Hedgehog series that gives the player a sudden boost in a certain direction when they get in contact with one.

Types of springs

16-bit games

In the 2D Sonic games of the 16-bit era, springs can face any of the 8 main directions, and they come in two colors: yellow and red. Red springs are usually more powerful than yellow ones. They have been thoroughly present in almost all the zones from Sonic 1's Green Hill Zone to Sonic & Knuckles' Death Egg Zone.

Game Red,
Closed
Red,
Open
Yellow,
Closed
Yellow,
Open
Sonic 1
S1RSC.png
S1RSO.png
S1YSC.png
S1YSO.png
Sonic 2
S2RSC.png
S2RSO.png
S2YSC.png
S2YSO.png
Sonic 3
S3RSC.png
S3RSO.png
S3YSC.png
S3YSO.png

In Sonic 3D there is only one kind of spring instead.

Game Red,
Closed
Red,
Open
Sonic 3D
S3DRSC.png
S3DRSO.png

8-bit games

In the 8-bit games, most of the springs are actually drawn in the level layout itself instead of being sprites because of the low sprite limit of the Sega Master System and the Sega Game Gear; because of this, they're not animated unlike their 16-bit counterparts. Furthermore, their color is likely to change according to the palette of the level they're placed in (for example, the springs in Sonic 2 (8-bit)'s Under Ground Zone are gray, while the ones in Sky High Zone are green). However, despite the sprite limit, in Sonic Chaos and Sonic Triple Trouble a spring object exists. These spring objects are normally invisible, hidden in the ground or on the top of a palm tree or other scenery elements, and they pop up, complete with the springing animation, when Sonic comes in contact with them. Due to the high number of color variations, the springs pictured below don't cover all the kinds existing in the 8-bit games.

Game Spring
Sonic 1 (8-bit)
S1spring.png
Sonic 2 (8-bit)
S2spring.png
Sonic Chaos
SCspring.png
Sonic Triple Trouble
STTspring.png

Others

Sa2 spring.png

In Knuckles Chaotix, along with yellow and red springs, there are also blue springs which are even more powerful than the red springs. These are used to get to high heights with the Combi system.

From Sonic Adventure onward, the springs are now only one type of spring, a red spring with a star on it. The spring power varies with each individual spring.

Sonic Unleashed has a variation of the new spring that is blue instead of red. It is used to start off a series of QTE points.

References

Items in the Sonic the Hedgehog Game Series
Collectibles   Ring | Special Ring | Rich Ring | Heal Ring | Red Star Ring | Number Ring | Silver Moon Ring | Sonic Medal | Sun Medal | Moon Medal | Sun Tablet | Moon Tablet | Planet Tablet | Secret Item | Red Orbs | Blue Orbs | Green Orbs | Emblem | Chaos Drives | Special Stage Key | Material | Portal Gear | Memory Token | Vault Key | Red Seed of Power | Blue Seed of Defense | Dream Orb
Power-ups   Shield (Water, Lightning, Fire, Gold, Magnetic) | Invincibility | Power Sneakers | Rocket Shoes | Propeller Shoes | Hyper Heli-Tails | Eggman Mark | Super Ring | Combine Ring | Forcejewel | Power Core | Light Cores | Special Combination
Level Objects   Item Box | Dark Energy Key | Spring | Spikes | Checkpoint | Time Warp Plate | Signpost | Goal Ring | Hidden Treasure Ring | Giant Ring | Dash Ring | Rainbow Ring | Capsule | Button | Door | Bumper | Speed Booster | Crane Lift | Air bubbles | Chao container | Item Panel
Powerful Items   Chaos Emeralds | Super Emeralds | Master Emerald | Time Stones | Chaos Rings | Precioustone | Sol Emeralds | Jeweled Scepter | World Rings | Excalibur | Phantom Ruby | Reverie | Dream Core
Weapons   Piko Piko Hammer | Chaos Energy Cannon | Caliburn | Wispon
Devices   Remote Robot | Combi Confiner | Mother Computer | Nega's Camera | Arks of the Cosmos | Miles Electric
Other   Chili Dog | Fortune Cards | Speed Down Boots | Chao Egg | Scepter of Darkness | Cacophonic Conch