I'm going to copy, paste and edit slightly something I was discussing with Puffball earlier about Sonics speed, and some subtleties about it. It isn't anything major, but I think its important enough that people should be aware of it. There is a TL;DR at the botoom:
I mentioned it briefly in the fox matchup thread, but I'll reiterate; Sonic's running speed has an important effect on what the player can actually see on screen and focus on at a time. If sonic is constantly on the move, it forces the camera to have to pan and zoom rapidly, and sometimes it simply can't catchup well enough, and as a result your opponents brain has to spend extra time and energy figuring out his location, and is less able to focus on Sonic's own location, movement, and action.
Your opponent is sent flying running to the right side of the screen, and by the time the camera readjusts to show both characters clearly, Sonic is already in your opponents face. This is why I think such a dynamic and fluid style is needed for Sonic to truely succeed. Even if your not doing anything important, just run around and move around.
For some proof, watch Puffball's vid here, with a grab chase;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jEtEQDFj08&feature=user
Start about 1:04. At 1:05, he does an fair sending MK across the main platform. If you pause at 1:06, you will see that MK is almost off right side of the screen, and Sonic at the center. Are you seeing what I'm getting at? MK is at the edge of the screen, and the camera, because of Sonic's speed, is having trouble adjusting to show both characters onscreen at the same time.
Furthermore, and more importantly, if you are the MK player, and you just got hit, your eyes will be focused on your character, or you will be focus on trying to understand the position of your character. By the time the opponent establishes well where he is on the screen, Puffball is already there grabbing and pummeling.
To get a better understanding, imagine you're watching that small 3 second clip, and this time you are MK. You just got hit, and now you are focusing only on following MKs trajectory. Try it! You can vaguely see Sonic running there, but you can't tell what he's going to do, because your brain and eyes are trying to focus on locating/tracking your character that was just sent flying. This effect is much more noticeable when you are watching on a real, full size TV, rather than this tiny youtube window =P. Basically, you're focusing on MK, and Sonic is more towards your peripheral vision. Most characters give you enough time to adjust and react, but Sonic is just too quick. By the time you regain mental control, you're like WTHECK howd he get there so fast/!? =P
Let say you, as the metaknight player, instead choose to focus on Sonic running at you. Then fine you are aware of Sonic, but now you aren't fully aware of your own MK's location. So now lets say you try to look quickly back and forth between the characters. Ok, so youve got a footing now on where the characters are in relation to eachother, and what Sonic might do. But wait. I'm already being grabbed? Shooot! How come? Because all of this happened in a
single second. Your brain has to do extra work to process where your character is, since you were sent flying and you are nearly offscreen, and then it has to interpret where Sonic is, and what he or she is trying to do, and then you have to determine the best course of action to either retaliate, or remain safe. Then you have to input the buttons. You have to do that all in less one second. Good luck.
Of course you can argue that the player might react out of reflex. But what will he or she do most likely? Airdodge, lol. Or perhaps an aerial, which is shield grabbed easily enough.
Simply put, a large percentage of the time, if not most, the opponent being hit will not be able to accuratelydiscern where both characters are on the screen in relation to one another, and as such will often not take the best course of action as a defense. The Sonic on the other hand, because he is the one in control and the one centered on the screen, knows where to go and when to be there, and has the clear advantage.
So I'm trying to say that even if you play a defensive Sonic, you should try to keep yourself in motion most of the time, whether that be danshdancing, running around for no purpose, or whatever. And chase your opponent whenever it is safe to do so, or the reward is worth the risk. Just by plain human ability, your opponent might have trouble making out whats going on in the screen when they are facing a Sonic.
It isn't anything revolutionary, but its a subtle thing I wanted to point out to my fellow Sonic mains. It may sound stupid and like I'm really just trying to dig up reasons for Sonic being awesomme, but I'm not. Its not something I would bring up in a matchup discussion, At most I'd say, Sonic can tech chase well. But its a simple mental advantage the Sonic main has over his opponent, one that is quite unique to Sonic. I just want people to realize this more and exploit it.
TL;DR
If Sonic sends an opponent flying across the screen, Sonic is really the only character than can consistently chase his enemy to regrab or attack before your enemy even discerns where he is, where Sonic is, or both. The game's camera often/usually does not zoom out and pan quickly enough for your opponent to clearly see his character centered on screen before Sonic can get to him. In addition to this, the opponent's eyes need to absord alot of stimulus, and his brain has to process alot of information after being hit, and by the time he or she has processed this, chances are he or she is already being grabbed by Sonic, or it is too late to react. This is why Sonic can be great at applying pressure, because his running speed allows him to reach your opponent before your opponent has time to react appropriately.
BEST TL;DR EVURR:
Sonic is quick. Use his speed.
