Homing Attack

Sonic performing a series of Homing Attacks to take out Bubbles in Splash Hill Zone.

The Homing Attack is a special move principally used by Sonic the Hedgehog that allows the character to swerve during a spin jump, automatically zeroing in and striking a nearby enemy. It was first featured in Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island, where the instruction manual called it the Sonic Blast Attack; not an intrinsic ability of Sonic at this point, it required the Gold Shield power-up to use.

The technique became a standard move in Sonic Adventure and has been included in all 3D and several 2D Sonic games since. In Sonic Heroes, it was part of the repertoire of all Speed type characters, so other users include Amy Rose, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Espio the Chameleon. Usually activated by pressing in mid-jump; if no enemies are within range, use this move to have Sonic perform a jump dash (in Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic would instead go straight down). In this way it often replaces Sonic's earlier double-tap jumping move, the Insta-Shield.