Accelerators

The acceleration may be instantaneous or gradual, but often much faster than what anything is capable of on their own.

Commonly seen in less realistic racing games along the race tracks, in other games to aid with jumps across wide chasms or to accomplish otherwise impossible tasks such as traversing a loop without falling off prematurely (or even failing to climb the initial rise).

These rarely exist to block passage, but may be used to kill or otherwise endanger the player character by sending them faster than intended towards some hazardous elements.

Accelerators become jump pads when the force they apply is away from the surface they're attached to rather than along it.