This article concerns the gimmick from Sonic Heroes and Sonic Generations. You may be looking for the Eclipse Cannon or the Chaos Energy Cannon.

The Cannon (大砲, Taihō^?) is a gimmick from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit), Sonic 3, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1, Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic Heroes and Sonic Generations. It appears in Seaside Hill, Ocean Palace, Bullet Station, Egg Fleet, and Final Fortress in Sonic Heroes, and in Seaside Hill, Crisis City Act 1, Rooftop Run Act 1, and Planet Wisp in Sonic Generations.

Genesis eraEdit

The cannons found in Oil Ocean Zone in Sonic 2 work very differently than most others.  Sonic and Tails break open a cork on top of certain furnaces, propelling them into a floating checkered cannon that shoots them into another one and another and so forth u

ntil they end up in another part of the Act, much like the pipes in Chemical Plant Zone.  

The cannons in Carnival Night Zone are typical circus cannons that automatically swivel 180 degrees whenever Sonic or Tails enter one.  This makes it tricky to aim their launch correctly, and oddly enough these cannons make no noise when they fire.

In Sonic 4's Casino Street Zone, the cannons work like the ones in Carnival Night Zone, except they are manually aimed by the player.

Sonic Heroes/Sonic GenerationsEdit

It usually must be used to reach the goal. Whenever Sonic approaches a cannon, he automatically leaps into it as the cannon swivels toward its target. In Sonic Heroes, it automatically launches itself. In Generations, however, a button appears onscreen. Once the player presses the button shown on the screen, the cannon will fire, propelling Sonic into a new area. As Classic Sonic, the player must use the cannon to launch Sonic into the foreground or background, opening up new paths.