Videogame Dashing

In many newer action games characters will have the ability to rocket forward or backward with their legs trailing after them as if firing a jet-pack horizontally, though they usually aren't wearing one. When doing this they will be able to travel a distance many times the length of their body in a split second, better than any Real Life combat lunge. This move tends to be triggered by tapping or flicking the same direction more than once but some games have a dedicated 'dash button'.

The occasional upgrade or power-up may allow a character to do this in mid-air, a move usually known as air-dashing. It can also be done before a jump for a longer trajectory, which is called dash-jumping. Very rarely a character may be able to dash on walls or ceilings, a wall-dash.

As with the Unnecessary Combat Roll, expect this maneuver to take the place of simple running if there are no limits on its use. Note that while printed media or shows with Limited Animation tend to portray a regular lunge in this fashion, it is usually due to characters being shown in mid-lunge with the startup omitted.

Examples of Videogame Dashing include:

• This is a notable feature in the Mega Man X series and its spin-offs, with all the above-mentioned variants present in at least one game. The regular ground dash is a modification of the sliding tackle from the first Mega Man series and even shares the property of passing under certain enemy attacks.
  • Mega Man X Command Mission justifies this by putting booster rockets on X's boots and back, which flare up when you dash.
  • The Mega Man Legends series replaced this ability with a continuous forward boost and the Unnecessary Combat Roll.
• Rocket Knight Adventures uses this extensively because Sparkster is actually wearing a jet-pack.
• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is (in)famous for the backwards variant, but later Castlevania games have characters who can dash in multiple directions.
• Dante can do this when using the Trickster fighting style.
• A lot of modern fighting games allow doing this, such as Guilty Gear, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom or even Jump Super Stars.
• Some of the adventurers in Recettear are able to dash by doubletapping the movement keys. They amount of movement they retain varies (e.g. Charme the Thief can still strafe, Nagi damages enemies she runs into). Some also have a Dash Attack which cause them to jump straight forward and damage anyone in the way.
• Ratchet obtains a power up in the game called the Charge Boots, which allow him to dash across short distances.
• Maple Story has some skills which allow character to do this, though limited animation often forces them to stand upright from start to finish.
• One of the basic movement abilities in Dragonica, with dash-jumping also implemented.
• This occurs in Robot Unicorn Attack (original and Heavy Metal version) when the X button is pressed.
• Sonic Unleashed has an air dash that can be upgraded to cover more distance when used.
• A few characters in Super Smash Bros. can do this as an attack. Fox, Falco and Wolf, most notably, but Ike also has a chargeable dash attack.
  • Don't forget about wavedashing in Melee. Despite being controversial and having various exploits, it looks like standard videogame dashing. Except for Luigi, who just slides ridiculously far.
• Mages in World of Warcraft can do this with the "Blink" spell, savvy Mages can even use it midair to circumvent taking falling damage if cast just before landing. Using it on very rugged terrain is unpredictable and not recommended; the spell obeys line of sight and walls, thus a small plateau could result in the spell stopping just short of the normal distance, a potentially deadly outcome for the mage if the spell's use was intended to create distance from a dangerous foe. There are also several enemies that can move this way, like the Ethereals.
• Prototype has a movement upgrade called the Air Dash, which allows you to shoot forward in the direction of your movement key. It's capable of receiving a boost in effect as an upgrade. Then there's the Double Air Dash and its subsequent boost upgrade.
  • A lot of fully charged melee attacks will send Alex lunging several paces forward. By the time you finish a melee combo with each attack fully charged, Alex may have moved the length of about a car to a couple of them.
• Jett Rocket's main form of attack.
• Non-video game example: the main characters of Samurai Pizza Cats can continuously run like this. However, it doesn't apply in their Famicom game, which uses anime-style Wheel-O-Feet for running animations instead.
• A powerup in the first Wario Land game gives Wario a hat with horizontal jet boosters, which send him rocketing forward when he uses it (land and air alike).
• Alice: Madness Returns improves upon the first game by introducing the Dodge move, allowing Alice to "phase" into an ethereal flutter of butterflies while propelling her several yards in one direction before finally materializing again.
• Henry's quick dash is one of his basic moves in No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. Several must be linked together for faster motion.