Talk:Big Amp

Biribiri Ball

Is there any proof that they are the same enemies in New Super Mario Bros. U? The internal filename is simply because it was during developement. Also, what are the mentions in the Prima guide? Or they should be treated like how the Big Pokey currently is? -- FanOfYoshi at 09:32, May 11, 2019 (EDT)

I'd say it's harmless to treat it as the game's Pokeys. From a conceptual standpoint, they are the same exact thing, with the facelessness a design choice like several other enemies (even Amp). To answer the question about the Prima guides, the Super Mario Galaxy 2 one only generically refers to them as "electric balls" (or just "balls") on page 178. As far as I can tell, neither Amps nor their big variants are mentioned elsewhere in either guide, generically or by name. LinkTheLefty (talk) 17:36, May 11, 2019 (EDT)

While this discussion hasn't been open since, i'd like to talk more about it. The Mario Party ones were unnamed, and are almost undistinguishable from the original Amps. Unlike Koopas, which have actual iterations of big variant, with official names, or other enemies, this one seems undistinguished. As for the Super Mario Galaxy ones, i'd say that it being an Amp was an early concept, and has been changed to a generic, electric ball, since... The ones i really doubt on being actual iterations of a big Amp are the Mario Party ones. -- FanOfYoshi at 13:27, October 9, 2020 (EDT)

In Mario Party 5, I'm pretty sure it's safe to refer to them as just Amps, since the size difference is barely noticeable and the mini-game text implies they're just Amps too. Not sure about Mario Party 6 and 10, though. Ray Trace^(T|C) 13:36, October 9, 2020 (EDT)

The thing about that is that, with few exceptions, "Big" (or equivalent/synonym) enemies are one of the things generally too self-explanatory to split hairs over - if the same enemy appeared in a size bigger, the simple solution is for it to share the same article, regardless if it's unnamed. LinkTheLefty (talk) 11:26, October 16, 2020 (EDT)

Handling it the same way as the anime Cheep Cheep? -- FanOfYoshi at 13:18, October 25, 2020 (EDT)

Rather how unnamed appearances of big enemies are handled in general. LinkTheLefty (talk) 21:00, October 25, 2020 (EDT)

What about the SMG ones? I did explain my thoughts on it, above, but i think just handling it like the Bull's Eye Bill would be an alternative. -- FanOfYoshi at 13:24, October 26, 2020 (EDT)

My thoughts haven't changed - if Dharma Sambo and Coco Sambo are considered Pokey and Big Pokey, respectively, then same for Big Amp, which is the same in Super Mario Galaxy games for all intents and purposes. LinkTheLefty (talk) 09:13, October 27, 2020 (EDT)

Split Zap Ball from this article

This talk page proposal has already been settled. Please do not edit this section or its subsections. If you wish to discuss the article, please do so in a new section below the proposal.

split 5-2
Let's get this thing down! While i do know files do indicate it was intended as a larger variant, and while we treat large ennemie by listing 'em in the same article, the Zap ball is more of a Mine situation honestly... Filename does not always mean final thing. And since Mikey Mine had split, so should this. I don't really know what to say of Dharma Pokey nowadays ATM (i will say Fuck my past self), but like i said, we split the Mines... Also, the above is a 5-ish year old conversation, it might therefore not reflect current thoughts/stances about the matter.

Proposer: FanOfYoshi (talk)
Deadline: March 29, 2025, 23:59 GMT

Amp it up! (Support)

1. FanOfYoshi (talk) per
2. Nintendo101 (talk) I agree that while these are related enemies, they are not the exact same thing.
3. Camwoodstock (talk) For us, the real call sign is, like Mikey Mine/Space Mine, the face. Namely, Zap Ball lacks one, whereas ordinary Amps do appear in Galaxy, and have a face. If these things had faces, it would've been a very easy "that's just an Amp, and Zap Ball is a weird misnomer", but considering they lack the one thing that distinguishes an Amp from, well, just a sphere...
4. Sorbetti (talk) Per Camwoodstock
5. Power Flotzo (talk) Per all.

Get Zapped! (Opposé)

1. LinkTheLefty (talk) For all intents and purposes, these are the same thing but with a simpler design (possibly alluding to simple SM64 entities), as mentioned in early/alternate names. The designers probably either forgot or didn't know that Big Amps already existed in Mario Party games, given they didn't appear by name.
2. PrincessPeachFan (talk) Per LTL. It wasn't until NSMBU that these smiley zappers actually got a consistent name in Japan.

An Electrifying Talk! (Comments)

Can this lead to a Pokeynut proposal? Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 23:26, March 14, 2025 (EDT)

I mean, the flame thrower used to be a faceless object in Mario 64, before Mario 64 DS turned it into a Flame Chomp. rend (talk) (edits) 05:39, March 15, 2025 (EDT)

It goes like this: The MP guys don't have a Japanese name at all. The SMG ones go back and forth and NSMBU finally grants them a consistent name. PrincessPeachFan (talk) 07:30, March 15, 2025 (EDT)

@LinkTheLefty I already explained how/why this isn't a Dai/deka/kyodai situation, and how it is closer to Mikey mine... -- FanOfYoshi at 10:01, March 15, 2025 (EDT)

Isn't it, though? The alternate name puts it within the "kyodai" naming scheme, which (mostly, as far as platformers go at least) morphed into the "deka" one. Several of the added deka enemies in the sequel were about to be kyodai, with only the Boo keeping the difference. (Also, the main Japanese name is shared with Electric Ball, so doesn't this open the door for another merge anyway?) LinkTheLefty (talk) 10:25, March 15, 2025 (EDT)

I don't really understand the relevance of Mikey/Space Mines. Don't those appear in the same game as each other? Hewer (talk · contributions · edit count) 13:25, March 15, 2025 (EDT)

Strange new details: not only does it look like Zap Ball later took on Electric Ball's name, but I think Zap Ball was at one point intended to be Galaxy's only (or main) Amp, and the simpler design may be a holdover of that. First, notice that the filename is a bit unusual in that 'Big' is first instead of appended at the end like most big variants do for categorization ease. Second, according to the object database, Zap Ball's config name is simply Birikyu - Amp's Japanese name - while Amp's is BirikyuWithFace. That sounds like the smaller, less plain Amp was designed later. There was certainly something going on here. LinkTheLefty (talk) 21:05, March 16, 2025 (EDT)

Interesting... -- FanOfYoshi at 00:49, March 19, 2025 (EDT)