Power-up
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In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character. This is contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player. Although often collected directly through touch, power-ups can sometimes only be gained by collecting several related items, such as the letters of the word 'EXTEND' in Bubble Bobble. Well known examples of power-ups that have entered popular culture include the power-pills from Pac-Man and the Super Mushroom from Super Mario Bros.
Items that confer power-ups are usually pre-placed in the game world, spawned randomly, dropped by beaten enemies or picked up from opened or smashed containers. They can be differentiated from items in other games, such as RPG, by the fact that they: take effect immediately, feature designs that don't necessarily fit into the game world (often used letters or symbols emblazoned on a design), and are found in certain genres of games. Power-ups are mostly found in action-oriented games such as maze games, run and guns, shoot 'em ups, first-person shooters, platform games, puzzle games, and vehicular combat games.
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[edit] Types of powerups
Power-ups can be classified according to the type of benefit they give the player.
[edit] Offensive ability
Gives a new weapon, or transforms the player character into a more aggressive form that increases its attack power or makes some enemies vulnerable. This also includes "smart bombs", which are weapons that destroy every enemy on the screen at once; these are prevalent in many different genres including vehicular combat, run and guns, and platform games. The effect can be time-limited, last until the player is hit, last until the player is killed, or last until game over.
Examples:
- Mega Man: The weapons earned from the Robot Masters upon defeating them. The weapons are kept until the game is turned off (unless a password is available which can bring you back to a point after you acquired the weapon) or when the game is completed.
- Donkey Kong:
The hammer that Mario can use to destroy barrels and fireballs. This effect lasts for approximately twenty seconds. - Pacman: Ghosts can be attacked after Pacman is transformed (temporarily) via power pills. This makes Pacman temporarily invulnerable, so the effect can be also considered defensive.
- Super Mario Bros: The player is transformed into Fire Mario and can shoot fireballs after picking up Fire Flowers. The effect lasts until Mario is hit.
- Contra series:
The various rifles that come from the power-up balloons. This effect lasts until the player is killed.
[edit] Defensive abilities
Typically consists of items like shields (usually a "force field") surrounding the character that reflects projectiles or absorbs a certain amount of damage, or invincibility/invulnerability. In the case of invincibility is nearly always granted as a temporary bonus, because otherwise it negates the challenge of the game.
Invincibility comes in two main forms - either the player character merely becomes intangible to harmful things, or can also damage enemies by contact. Invincibility is also sometimes called 'invulnerability'. In many games, invulnerability is also temporarily granted after the player gets hit or loses a life. The effect is commonly indicated by making the player character flash or blink.
Examples:
- Sonic the Hedgehog: The "Barrier", a spherical force-field which surrounds the player character, protecting them from one hit (after which it disappears).
- Mario:
The Starman, an item that grants temporary invulnerability for a period of twenty seconds.
[edit] Evasive abilities
Items which help the player avoid or escape enemies or enemy weapons. This category includes speed boosts and other power-ups which affect time, which can be temporary, permanent, or cumulative, and invisibility power-ups which help the player avoid enemies.
- Rainbow Islands: The shoe power-up, which makes the player character move more quickly.
- R-Type: The 'S' icon, which increases the player's speed every time one is collected.
- Unreal Tournament: The Invisibility power-up, which turns the player into an indistinct wireframe.
[edit] Access abilities
Items which help the player enter new or previously unaccessible areas, or "warp" to another level. Access abilities, depending on the game, can be required to progress normally or be entirely optional.
Examples:
- Super Mario Bros. 3: The warp whistle, which allows player to warp to different levels, and the hammer, which allows players to take shortcuts on the overworld game map.
- Mega Man series: The Rush power-ups, which allow the player to attain power-ups not possible by any other means. The most common are Rush Jet, Rush Coil, Rush Marine, and Rush Search.
- "The Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker": The song "Ballad of Gales" that you may play after defeating the God of Winds allows you to warp to specified areas in the game map.
[edit] Health and life reserves
Typically consists of Health (most typically in med. kits, food, or as energy) or 1-ups (which give an extra chance to continue playing after losing, commonly called a 'life').
Examples:
- Super Mario Bros: The Super Mushrooms and 1-up Mushrooms that give Mario the ability to take an extra hit and extra lives (respectively).
- Wonder Boy: Fruits recharge the continuously dwindling player energy.
- Doom: First aid kits restore part of the player's health.
- Legend of Zelda: The heart containers permanently extend to the player's total health.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Pizza pies, which fully restore the player's health.
- Yashichi:
a health power-up in many Capcom games - Jazz Jackrabbit: Grabbing a Floating Jazz head earns Jazz an extra life, while the carrots replenishes Jazz's health.
[edit] Trick power-ups
These power-ups try to trick the player into grabbing them, only to result usually into damage, removed abilities, or player death.
Examples:
- Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels: Poison mushroom, which will kill/hurt the player most of the time, has a slim chance of also acting as a regular Super mushroom.
- Bonk's Revenge: Fake power-up containers that actually release an enemy.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Fake power-up containers that cause damage to Sonic (pictured).
- Metroid Fusion: Some Energy or Missile Tanks become enemies, and usually lead to a room with the real power-up.
[edit] Attaining power-ups
There are many different methods of attaining power-ups:
- In many games, particularly platform games, there is one prevalent object scattered throughout each level that serves as a container for power-ups. In the Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden games this object is a candle or lantern, while in the Mario games, the opt-used container the is the "question block". In beat 'em up games, level-themed objects such as crates, barrels, or mailboxes serve as containers.
- In many games, such as the Mega Man series, power-ups can be attained through the elimination of enemies.
- It is common for games to also just leave the power-ups within plain view, such as in R.C. Pro-Am. It is also typical for games to require the player to travel a certain way or perform a specific action in order to attain said power-up, such as bombing through specific blocks in Super Metroid.
- Power-ups can also be attained by interacting with certain objects at specific points in the level, e.g. the tractor-trailer truck in Spy Hunter.
[edit] Power-ups in shoot 'em ups
Shoot 'em up games have several unique aspects regarding power-ups that contrast it from other genres. Firstly, power-ups come from different sources than in other games. In some games, particular kinds of enemies or ground structures need to be annihilated to reveal powerups. Another common method of revealing power-ups is through the successful destruction of entire formation of enemies; usually the enemies are similarly colored or shaped. A power-up mechanic specific to shoot 'em ups is one that allows the player cycle through various types of abilities, either automatically or when shot. This allows the player to pick it up when it is of the type they want; this mechanic is used in many games, including 1943, Alpha Mission, and Side Arms.
Common Power-ups in shooter games include:
Companion fighter: A small object that follows the character and fires whenever the character fires. Usually, the companion fighter has the same weapon as the character. In Gradius, the character's companion fighters are called options. Capcom's Forgotten Worlds game allowed the character to purchase companion fighters called satellites, though in this game each satellite had its own unique weapon (like homing missiles or napalm bombs). In Tyrian, Companion ships are available as a sidekick weapon, with a different weapon that the player's.
Directional shot:Fires additional shots behind and/or to the sides of the character.
Flamethrower: Generally a powerful weapon with a short range, flamethrowers sometimes allow the player to fire continuously by holding down the button. In some games, the flamethrower can destroy incoming shots.
Force field: Temporarily protects the character from harm.
Guided missile: A shot that homes in on the closest target.
Laser: Usually a powerful single beam that only travels in a strait line away from the character. In some games, like Konami's Gradius, lasers will travel through several enemies.
Multi-directional shot: A weapon that fires several shots (usually three to seven). These shots usually fan out in front of the character and cover a wide area. A good example is the Spread gun in Konami's Contra series. In games that feature ships, like Stinger and Star Soldier for the NES, multi-directional weapons can extend to cover the character's rear.
Power shot: Makes the character's shots more powerful. The arcade classic Gauntlet contains a power up that makes the character's attack stronger. In Tyrian purple orbs and metal bars increase the power of the front and rear guns, usually resulting in greater rate of fire, changes in appearance of the beam or blast, increase of the number of bullets shot all with an increase of power. Some Tyrian weapons can even pass through enemies and scenery. In the Super Arcade Modes of Tyrian 2000, if you grab a weapon pod of the same colour two or more times in a row, immediately powers that weapon up and also gives you an extra life until the weapon is at maximum power.
Rapid Fire: Allows a faster rate of fire.
Reflecting shot: This power up makes the character's attacks bounce off solid surfaces. This is another power up found in the Gauntlet games.
Wide shot: The power up increases the number of shots the character fires. Rather than causing the attacks to spread out, the number of forward facing shots increases. In Capcom's 1942, a common power up doubles the number of shots the character fires, going from two to four.
[edit] Power-up Crates
Power-up crates are small boxes that appeared in Real-Time Strategy games, most noticeable the Command & Conquer series, whereas when touched by one of the player's units, gave the player a random power-up. The power-up might give the player a free unit or it might upgrade the unit that picks it up. The power-ups included at first a Nuke, better Speed, Invincibility, Healing, Reveal Map, etc. Later games upgraded the unit further by promoting it, enhancing power, more armor, etc. In the game Red Alert 2, power-ups also appeared in the water because it is the only game in the series where the player can build ships. In the earlier games, there were fake crates. When the player's unit touched the crate, a bomb would explode and destroy all units within range, much to the players' dismay.
[edit] Selection bar
Instead of having the player collect a power-up that is "instantly" activiated, an alternative means of powering up a player is to allow them to select which power-ups they want to utilize. This is method is commonly implemented through a 'selection bar which contains a number of power-up effects. To access the bar, the player must collect power-up items; the more they collect, the further along the bar they can access. The more powerful power-ups are traditionally placed further along the bar, so that more effort is required to obtain them. The selection bar was first used in Konami's 1985 hit, Gradius.
[edit] Origins of the term
"Power-up" and "1-up" are examples of a common form of wasei-eigo (Japanese pseudo-Anglicisms), in which the word "up" is prefixed by some desirable quality. The general meaning of X-up in Japanese is "this will increase your X" and this construction is regularly used in areas such as advertising. This is similar to another phrase, X get!, as seen in Super Mario Sunshine's Japanese version's "Shine Get!" phrase.
[edit] See also
- Category:Computer and video game items
