Sonic HQ | Game Info | Game Index | Sonic Heroes

General Gameplay Notes
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
  

Moves
General Moves
Speed Formation
  • Homing Spin (press A while jumping) - Home in on an enemy or object. If the other team members are right behind the speed character, all 3 do a Homing Spin, so you can do triple damage if you time it right.
  • Triangle Jump (aim a homing attack at a wall, and press A after landing) - A wall kick. The speed character jumps horizontally and forward off a wall. You can jump again after landing on another wall. It’s generally used to cross gaps by jumping between 2 nearby walls. To hop off the wall instead of doing a triangle jump, press B.
  • Rocket Accelerator (hold B until team moves together) - This is basically equivalent to the spin dash used in most Sonic games, but it charges faster. The speed character spins into a ball while the rest of the team rolls him forward. Release the button and the speed character will separate from the rest of the team while dashing.
  • Special Attack (press B while away from the team) - Varies by character. Speed characters can use this move to attack enemies or break wooden crates.
  • Tornado (press B while jumping) - Blow ground enemies into the sky or stun flying enemies. Some enemies take damage from this move. If a ground enemy has a shield or helmet, a tornado removes it. Speed characters can use a tornado to break wooden crates. This move is slightly different on each team.
  • Tornado Shield - A yellow shield of wind forms around the speed character, and hitting an enemy or a pole with it has the same effect as hitting an enemy or a pole with a tornado (except it doesn’t stun flying enemies). You get this shield when using Rocket Accel, flying off a pole with Tornado Jump, or doing a level 3 Homing Attack.
  • Tornado Jump - Use a tornado on a vertical pole to spin to the top (or bottom).

    Level 0: Homing Spin usually does 1 point of damage.
    Level 1: Homing Spin usually does 2 points of damage. Running speed and Homing Spin range increase.
    Level 2: Homing Spin usually does 3 points of damage. Running speed and Homing Spin range increase.
    Level 3: Homing Spin usually does 3 points of damage and makes a Tornado Shield. Running speed and Homing Spin range increase.

    There are other level up features (still working on them).
    • Fly Formation
  • Flight (hold A while in midair)
  • Quick Ascent (press A while in midair)
  • Thunder Shoot (press B) - Kick a spinning teammate at targets. This is a long range, electric attack and stuns most enemies. The teammate homes in on enemies and can also bounce off objects to hit multiple targets. Flying enemies fall and take damage when stunned. You can also use Thunder Shoot to hit floating target switches and break wooden crates.
  • Special Attack (press B without team) - Varies by character.
    Flight characters can use this move to attack enemies or break wooden crates.
    Level 0: Thunder Shoot usually does no damage except when a flying enemy falls. However, there are exceptions and certain enemies can be damaged by Thunder Shoot even at level 0.
    Level 1: Thunder Shoot bounces more effectively so you can hit more targets and its range increases.
    Level 2: Thunder Shoot usually does 3 points of damage, bounces more effectively so you can hit more targets, and its range increases.
    Level 3: Thunder Shoot usually does 3 points of damage, bounces more effectively so you can hit more targets, and its range increases. You can often hit 4 enemies at a time.
    • Power Formation (Basics)
    There are 2 very different styles of power formation. The similarities are listed here.
  • Bash - Any power attack (other than just jumping and hitting an enemy with a spin attack) can break wooden crates, steel boxes, cages, some enemy shields, and various walls, objects, and obstructions that may block your path. Power attacks can also light torches, move sliding walls, open doors, and move flapping targets that launch the team through the air.
  • Auto Homing - In normal mode, teammates automatically do Homing Attacks when near an enemy. If the speed character is at level 3, the Homing Attack removes shields.
  • Glide (hold A while jumping) - An aerial move that allows the team to glide or to ride air currents. Gliding into an enemy is equivalent to jumping on it with a Spin Attack.
  • Short Attack (press B) - A short range basic attack.
  • Remote Attack (press B after a Forward Attack) - A secondary attack. Varies by character. You’re almost invincible while doing this move.
  • Wide Power Attack (press B after a Remote Attack) - (Not available at level 0) An attack that covers a wide area.
  • Fighting Pose - When you do a Forward Attack, the power character carries the other teammates. They go back into normal power formation when you land from a jump or do a wide power attack.
  • Special Attack (press B while jumping in normal mode) - Varies by character. See the 2 different styles of power formation.
  • Jumping Fire Throw (press B while jumping and carrying teammates) - Each power character can toss spinning teammates as fireballs. The teammates home in on nearby enemies and make wide blast areas if they hit the ground.

    Leveling up makes Fire Throws more powerful and better at homing and dramatically upgrades Wide Power Attacks. Fire Throw does 3-6 damage at level 0 and 6-12 damage at level 3. I haven’t quite figured out the exact numbers, but they seem to fluctuate. Wide Power Attack upgrades are very different for each character, so see the character descriptions for more details.
    •   

    Team Sonic
    Differences
    (Medium difficulty) Team Sonic has large levels with an average number of enemies. The most noticable unique moves are the Light Dash and Fireball Jump.
    Sonic
  • Light Dash (press B next to a ring and hold the control stick in the direction you want to move) - Dash along a line of rings. This move allows you to quickly collect rings and take shortcuts through a level. Usually, you don’t actually have to hold the control stick, but sometimes the rings aren’t very close together and you’ll fall if you aren’t holding it. This seems to confuse a lot of players because the in-game help just tells you to press B.
  • Blue Tornado (Sonic’s Tornado) - Sonic spins in a circle, forming a tornado. If you’re close to an enemy, he’ll automatically spin around it.
  • Flying Kick (Sonic’s Special Attack) - This oddly named move is a kick that slides along the ground and does 3 points of damage. You can use it to toss some enemies into the sky.
    • Tails
    Dummy Ring Bombs (Tails’ Special Attack) - Tails tosses 3 fake rings that stun and sometimes damage enemies.
    Knuckles
  • Triangle Dive (Knuckles’ Glide) - The team glides with a skydiving maneuver. Gliding into an enemy is equivalent to jumping on it with a Spin Attack.
  • Dash Punch (Knuckles’ Forward Attack) - Knuckles slides forward while punching. It’s possible to do a lot of punches in a row by pressing the B button instead of comboing into a Remote Attack if you time it right.
  • Spinning Back Punch (Knuckles’ Remote Attack) - A spinning punch that makes a trail of fire around Knuckles.
  • Volcanical Dunk Level 1 (Knuckles’ Wide Power Attack) - Knuckles hops and pounds the ground, making a small explosion and an earthquake that can damage some nearby enemies.
  • Volcanical Dunk Level 2 (Knuckles’ Wide Power Attack) - The explosion is bigger.
  • Volcanical Dunk Level 3 (Knuckles’ Wide Power Attack) - The explosion is even bigger and fireballs fly out of the ground, hitting enemies for 1 point of damage per hit.
  • Fireball Jump (Knuckles’ Special Attack) - Teammates spin around Knuckles in a wide radius. The most important use of this move is that Knuckles can use it to "load" Fire Dunk in midair without having to be in Fighting Pose first.
  • Fighting Pose - Knuckles carries Sonic and Tails with his hands, using them to punch. When you jump, they spin around Knuckles in a short radius and return to normal power formation when Knuckles touches the ground.
  • Fire Dunk (Knuckles’ Fire Throw) - When Sonic and Tails are spinning around him, Knuckles can toss them. They bounce back and spin around Knuckles again as long as he’s in the air, so you can do many attacks in a row.
    • Team Blast - Sonic Overdrive
    Knuckles whirls Tails around, and Tails kicks Sonic at enemies. After the Team Blast, Sonic can do Light Speed Attacks at enemies by pressing B in midair while the Team Blast gauge is emptying.
      

    Team Dark
    Differences
    (Hard difficulty with emphasis on fighting) Team Dark has large levels with extra enemies, and you generally meet more powerful versions of enemies more often. Occasionally, their levels are even longer than Team Sonic’s. The object placement is also different, and generally harder, than in Team Sonic’s levels. Shadow and Rouge play identically to Sonic and Tails. Omega is very similar to Knuckles, but it has clunkier control during punches and much better Wide Power Attacks.
    Shadow
  • Light Dash (press B next to a ring and hold the control stick in the direction you want to move) - Dash along a line of rings. This move allows you to quickly collect rings and take shortcuts through a level. Usually, you don’t actually have to hold the control stick, but sometimes the rings aren’t very close together and you’ll fall if you aren’t holding it. This seems to confuse a lot of players because the in-game help just tells you to press B.
  • Black Tornado (Shadow’s Tornado) - Shadow spins in a circle, forming a tornado. If you’re close to an enemy, he’ll automatically spin around it.
  • Flying Kick (Shadow’s Special Attack) - This oddly named move is a kick that slides along the ground and does 3 points of damage. You can use it to toss some enemies into the sky.
    • Rouge
    Dummy Ring Bombs (Rouge’s Special Attack) - Rouge tosses 3 fake rings that stun and sometimes damage enemies.
    Omega
  • Triangle Dive (Omega’s Glide) - The team glides with a skydiving maneuver. Gliding into an enemy is equivalent to jumping on it with a Spin Attack.
  • Dash Punch (Omega’s Forward Attack) - Omega charges forward and does a swinging hook punch. Be careful when doing this near ledges because it’s very easy to dash off.
  • Spinning Back Punch (Omega’s Remote Attack) - Omega’s top chassis swings wildly in a punch that leaves a trail of fire. Again, he slides a lot during this move, so be careful.
  • Omega Arm Level 1 (Omega’s Wide Power Attack) - Omega’s top chassis spins as it fires machine guns in a circle.
  • Omega Arm Level 2 (Omega’s Wide Power Attack) - Replace machine guns with flamethrowers.
  • Omega Arm Level 3 (Omega’s Wide Power Attack) - Replace flamethrowers with missile launchers. The missiles are drill bombs that make large explosions.
  • Fireball Jump (Omega’s Special Attack) - Teammates spin around Omega in a wide radius. The most important use of this move is that Omega can use it to "load" Fire Launcher in midair without having to be in Fighting Pose first.
  • Fighting Pose - Omega carries Shadow and Rouge with its hands, using them to punch. When you jump, they spin around Omega in a short radius and return to normal power formation when Omega touches the ground.
  • Fire Dunk (Omega’s Fire Throw) - When Sonic and Tails are spinning around him, Knuckles can toss them. They bounce back and spin around Knuckles again as long as he’s in the air, so you can do many attacks in a row.
    • Team Blast - Chaos Inferno
    Rouge lifts Omega, who fires a giant blast. Shadow uses Chaos Control to put the enemies in blast range. This Team Blast also stops the timer for 15 seconds while the Team Blast gauge is emptying. While the timer is off, most objects and enemies are frozen.
      

    Team Rose
    Differences
    (Easy difficulty) Team Rose has short levels with fewer enemies and simpler object placement. With Team Rose you get a slower team with safer special moves, including hovering, a projectile tornado, and a different style of power formation.
    Amy
  • Propeller Hammer (hold A while jumping) - After reaching the height of her jump, Amy can hover for a few seconds.
  • Triangle Jump - Amy doesn’t have one. Doing a homing attack into a wall has no special effect.
  • Running - Amy is also slower than the other speed characters.
  • Tornado Hammer (Amy’s Tornado) - Amy does a hammer swing in the air, shooting a tornado forward a short distance.
  • Swinging Hammer Attack (Amy’s Special Attack) - Whack the ground with the hammer. Press the attack button rapidly and you can do a hammer whirl.
    • Cream
    Chao Attack (Cream’s Special Attack) - Cream sends Cheese after enemies. It can cling to them too.
    Big
  • Umbrella Descent (Big’s Glide) - Taking a page from Totoro, Big can use his combo fishing rod / umbrella to glide.
  • Umbrella Attack (Big’s Forward Attack) - Big whacks with his umbrella. Unlike other forward attacks, this doesn’t slide forward.
  • Fire Knock (Big’s Remote Attack) - Launch spinning teammates as fireballs with Big’s fishing rod / umbrella while standing. You can do this twice before reloading with Umbrella Attack or using Big Fishin’.
  • Big Fishin’ Level 1 (Big’s Wide Power Attack) - Big twirls a fishing lure around in a circle with his fishing rod.
  • Big Fishin’ Level 2 (Big’s Wide Power Attack) - Big twirls an innertube.
  • Big Fishin’ Level 3 (Big’s Wide Power Attack) - Big twirls an urchin.
  • Body Press (Big’s Special Attack) - A downward body slam. Big can use this to bounce up to platforms that are higher than jumping range. You can bounce off enemies to do several attacks in a row.
  • Fighting Pose - Amy and Cream ride Big, ready to do 2 Fire Knock attacks (standing, jumping, or both). If you jump and don’t attack, they return to normal power formation when Big touches the ground.
  • Fire Dunk (Knuckles’ Fire Throw) - Jump while in fighting pose and Big can launch spinning teammates as fireballs.
    • Team Blast - Flower Festival
    Amy and Cream dance on Big’s umbrella and a lot of flowers fly around. This Team Blast levels up all 3 characters and makes them invincible for a while.
      

    Team Chaotix
    Differences
    (Hard difficulty with emphasis on gameplay) Team Chaotix has what could best be described as in-depth gameplay. Levels can be full-length or short. Missions include item collection, setting switches, reaching a goal without being detected, levels with more challenging terrain, and several other variations. Enemy formations are generally harder than Team Sonic’s but easier than Team Dark’s, while object placement is often more complex than in other team’s levels. Team Chaotix has the most unique set of special moves in the game, including invisibility, teleporting, and a different style of power formation.
    Espio
  • Leaf Swirl (Espio’s Tornado) - Espio makes a leaf-filled tornado in midair. This allows him to perform Konoha Gakure, a ninja technique that translates to foliage hiding. While invisible, enemies ignore him and he can run through lasers. Since he separates from the team, he can also use shurikens easily.
  • Shuriken Stars (Espio’s Special Attack) - Throw a shuriken that can bounce off walls and does 1 point of damage. Press forward to slide while throwing.
  • Wall Stand - Espio can stick to walls while Triangle Jumping.
    • Charmy
  • Stinging Tail (Charmy’s Special Attack) - Charmy zooms forward slightly and attacks with his stinger.
  • Flowers* (Press B next to a closed flower) - Open a flower. Flowers usually contain teleport points to other flowers, but they can also act as platforms. Sometimes a platform flower contains an item box or grows when opened.
    • Vector
  • Bubble Gum Descent (Vector’s Glide) - Vector glides with a bubble gum bubble.
  • Jaw Attack (Vector’s Forward Attack) - Vector slides forward while biting.
  • Fire Ball (Vector’s Remote Attack) - Shoot spinning teammates as fireballs while standing. You can do this twice before reloading with Jaw Attack or using Vector Breath.
  • Vector Breath Level 1 (Vector’s Wide Power Attack) - Vector whirls and sings shots shaped like musical notes in a circle. Each shot does 3 points of damage.
  • Vector Breath Level 2 (Vector’s Wide Power Attack) - A circular fire-breathing blast.
  • Vector Breath Level 3 (Vector’s Wide Power Attack) - The shots are large bubble gum bubbles that explode after floating a while or when hitting enemies. They can bounce off walls and you can push them.
  • Hammer Down (Vector’s Special Attack) - A downward hammer punch. Vector can use this to bounce up to platforms that are higher than jumping range. You can bounce off enemies to do several attacks in a row.
  • Fighting Pose - Vector carries Espio and Charmy in his mouth, ready to do 2 Fire Ball attacks (standing, jumping, or both). If you jump and don’t attack, they return to normal power formation when Vector touches the ground.
  • Fire Ball (Vector’s Fire Throw) - Jump while in fighting pose and Vector can shoot spinning teammates as fireballs.
    • Team Blast - Chaotix Recital
    A musical attack. Vector uses a microphone, Espio plays the guitar, and Charmy plays the drums. This Team Blast gives the team rings (in sets of 5, 10, or 20) for every enemy it hits. Note that the rings you get recharge the Team Blast gauge, so Team Chaotix can use Team Blast more often than other teams.
      

    Items
    Rings
    Rings are Sonic’s staple diet - get a single one of these to avoid being killed when you are hit. When hit, you drop rings, but you can re-collect them. Get 100 for an extra life.
    Item Boxes & Balloons
    Most levels are filled with clear boxes and balloons with item symbols inside. Touch the boxes and balloons to collect the corresponding items, listed here:
  • Ring Box: What’s better than a ring? A bunch of rings! These come in 5-ring, 10-ring, and 20-ring varieties.
  • 1-Up: Jump on a box sporting Sonic or Tails’ mug to get a useful extra life.
  • Invincible: Jump on the star design monitor to get a handy burst of invincibility.
  • High Speed: These new shoes give you a temporary boost of speed.
  • Fly Charger: This wing item fully charges your fly meter.
  • Team Blast: An item with a speed/fly/power logo on it fully charges your Team Blast meter.
  • Barrier: Boxes with a green circle on them give you a shield that protects you from damage for one hit without losing any rings or your life.
  • Blue Power Core: Level up the speed character.
  • Yellow Power Core: Level up the flying character.
  • Red Power Core: Level up the power character.

    Enemies sometimes make floating Power Cores when defeated.
    • Check Point
    These gates act as markers in the levels. Run through one and your position in the level and the timer will be saved. You also get a Power Core for your current formation. Lose later, and you’ll return to the Check Point instead of the start of the level, with the same timer, no rings, no items, an empty Team Blast guage, and all 3 characters at level 0.
    Springs
    Springs launch you high into the sky, helping you reach upper parts of the level. Light all 3 stars on a 3-way spring to get an item, usually rings.
    Special Stage Keys
    Special Stage Keys, as you might expect, allow you access to the Special Stage when you finish a level with them. There are 2-3 of these in each level, inside a hidden cage. Use power attacks to break the cage and collect the key. If the cage is flying with a propeller, use Thunder Shoot in fly formation to knock it down. You only need 1 key to access the Special Stage, but if you get hit without a Barrier you lose your key.
    Chaos Emerald
    The Chaos Emeralds, handy plot devices that they are, are super powerful gems that can be collected in the special stages. Collect all seven to get the game’s true ending.
    Goal
    A giant ring that you touch to finish a level.
    Formation Signal
    A sign that suggests which formation to use for a certain part of a level. Sometimes it’s necessary to switch to that formation, and other times it’s just a suggestion. A lot of the time you CAN use a different formation to proceed.
    Formation Change Gate
    It changes your formation automatically when you run through it. This is generally found only in Sea Gate (the tutorial level), Seaside Hill, and Ocean Palace.
    Hint Ring
    Touch this question mark icon (it doesn’t look like the gold rings you collect) to get a hint about how to handle a certain area of a level.
      

    Enemies
    Egg Pawn
    Debut: Seaside Hill

    These robots look a lot like Eggman and come in many varieties throughout the game. A full list is under construction.
    Flappy
    Debut: Seaside Hill

    A Flappy looks like an Egg Pawn with wings. The different types are color coded. A full list is under construction.
    Cameron

    A turtle robot that fires a slow-charging but very wide energy shot. Only power attacks can damage it when it’s right side up, but the speed character can flip it over by making a tornado, doing a level 3 Homing Attack, kicking (Sonic and Shadow), or running into it while flying off a pole with a Tornado Jump.

    Green: The normal Cameron (Debut: Grand Metropolis)
    Gold: Power attacks don’t work on it when it’s right side up (Debut: Power Plant)
    Japanese name: Klagen
    This flying robot has huge arms that generate an energy field to catch the lead character. Destroy it to retrieve them. Dummy Ring Bombs damage it instead of just stunning it.

    Blue: Holds its position after catching the leader (Debut: Grand Metropolis)
    Gold: Flies off after catching the leader (Debut: Power Plant)
    Japanese name: Falco Debut: Robot Carnival

    Falco looks like a miniature Egg Albatross. It flies in a set path and may drop other enemies. A Thunder Shoot, even at level 0, defeats it in 1 hit.
    ???

    A HUGE robot that looks like an Egg Pawn with a hammer. It has 2 attacks - pounding the ground with the hammer, and swinging the hammer around in a circle. Stay away during its swing attack, because it lasts quite a while and can hit you multiple times. After swinging the hammer, it loses its balance, and if you hit it you can knock it down for a while. While it’s knocked down, you can attack it, but watch out for the hammer. Normal: Only power attacks damage it. You can use Fire Throws at a distance, but that’s slow because your teammates will get hit every time, and you’ll have to wait for them to get un-stunned. The fasted way to destroy it is to come in close with Wide Power Attacks. Stunning it with Thunder Shoot first makes this safer. (Debut: Lost Jungle)
    Armored: You can only damage it after using a tornado (but not a level 3 Homing Attack) to remove its helmet. Even with the helmet off, only its head can be attacked, and only with power attacks. (Debut: Mystic Mansion)
    ???
    Debut: Hang Castle

    This versatile flying robot has multiple personalities. As a white mage, it can heal all nearby enemies completely (including itself) . When it heals, all nearby robots have a musical note in a word balloon next to them. As a black mage, it can turn wide areas of the floor into traps that steal your rings if you stand in them. It switches modes when flipped over, either by a switch or a speed character’s tornado.
    E-2000 (that’s the name of the gold version, anyway)

    A tall, rocket powered flying robot with a shield and a huge laser. It looks like the badnik version of a fighter jet. When it aims at you and folds into a square shape, get out of the way! Its laser is very wide and has unlimited range, and can hit you multiple times if you’re not careful. The most annoying thing about this enemy, though, is that it uses its shield to become invincible after every attack that damages it, which makes fighting it tedious. Thunder Shoot doesn’t knock it down, and a tornado only drops its shield rather than removing it. These moves do stun it, though, so you can use them to get extra attacks in.

    Red: The normal version (Debut: Egg Fleet)
    Gold: Faster and has more energy (Debut: Final Fortress)
      

    General Strategies
    UNDER CONSTRUCTION
      

    Stats & Stuff
    UNDER CONSTRUCTION