Spin Dash

Sonic the Hedgehog performing a Spin Dash in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

The Spin Dash, which debuted as the Super Dash Attack in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit) and the Super Spin Dash in Sonic the Hedgehog CD (and is called a Turbo in Sonic the Comic), is the ability of Sonic and various other playable characters to dash off from a standstill. The character crouches, curls into a ball, spins to rev up and gain potential energy, and finally takes off at great speed. As at any other time the character is in a ball, if they hit an enemy (e.g. a badnik or Dr. Eggman) they deal damage to them. The Spin Dash is faster and can be more useful than the spin roll.

While Sonic CD featured the first move named Spin Dash, the most famous move by this name debuted in Sonic 2 and has appeared in most Sonic games released since. In 2D side-scrolling games the move is performed by holding and pressing a jump button. Most 3D titles have the spin dash assigned to a single button.

In Sonic 2 and subsequent 2D games

Knuckles the Echidna about to demonstrate the technique on a helpless Sparkle in Sonic 3's Carnival Night Zone.

The most famous form of the Spin Dash debuted in Sonic 2 as the Super Dash Attack, works almost identically in Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles in which it is called the Spin Dash Attack, and is usable in all subsequent 2D games. Holding and pressing Jump (, or ) will charge up a Spin Dash; releasing will send the character zooming forwards at high speed. By repeatedly tapping the button, the launch speed increases.

A trick that requires quite careful timing allows the player to blast off diagonally into the air. They must charge up the Spin Dash then, a split second after releasing , press and tap Jump. If timed correctly, the character will rapidly blast off both forward and upward, which is useful in areas with steep terrain.

Back-porting to Sonic 1

This version of the Spin Dash has been retroactively added to the original Sonic the Hedgehog game twice officially, and many times by fans through ROM hacking.

In Sonic Jam: When Sonic the Hedgehog 1 was ported to the Sega Saturn as part of the Sonic games compilation Sonic Jam, the Spin Dash was added as an optional feature. This allowed the player to finish levels in much quicker time, but created a potential problem in Green Hill Zone by slightly increasing the chance of triggering the S-tunnel scrolling bug, in which the screen does not scroll quickly enough to keep up with Sonic and he dies on hitting its bottom (as if it were a pit).

In Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis: The Spin Dash is present in Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis and works much the same as in Sonic 2, though when charging up Sonic is vulnerable to damage.

In ROM hacks: Originally, adding the Spin Dash to a hack of Sonic 1 was considered technically impressive. In chronological order:

• Esrael ported its code from Sonic 2 Beta.
• drx wrote his own code.
• Hivebrain ported its code from Sonic 2 (final version), as part of his hack Sonic 1 Plus.
• Stealth ported the move (along with the entire Knuckles the Echidna object) from Knuckles in Sonic 2, as part of his hack Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog. This implementation was also included in Sonic the Hedgehog Megamix.
• Cinossu wrote his own code, in the style of Sonic CD (see below), for his hack Sonic the Hedgehog Extended Edition.

Nowadays, due to widespread assembly language usage and the existence of a Spin Dash porting guide, most recent Sonic 1 hacks feature a Sonic 2-style Spin Dash.

In Sonic CD

Sonic the Hedgehog CD was released before Sonic 2, and so technically marks the move's debut (as the Super Spin Dash, but here it functions differently to that in the latter and subsequent 2D titles. Revving up does not confer invulnerability to attack, and must be completed by holding Jump for a sufficient time, otherwise Sonic will stand up instead of blasting off--which, in any case, he always does at the same speed, because the launch speed is not scalable.

This version has been implemented in some Sonic 1 hacks, though much less often than the Sonic 2 version. Conversely, the hack Sonic CD Plus Plus replaces the source game's Spin Dash with the more famous Sonic 2 version.

In 3D games

Since Sonic 3D Blast, the Spin Dash is performed by pressing a single dedicated button (usually from a standstill, as in the 2D games) rather than pressing and Jump, because the directional controls are used to move Sonic around the floor.