Talk:Red POW Block

Would POW Blocks in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope count as Red POW Blocks?

POW Blocks in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope have small explosions just like Red POW Blocks. The icon of it looks red as well!

Should coverage of the POW Blocks in the game be moved onto this page? Sparks (talk) 19:04 (EST), October 14, 2023

Consider the POW Block item in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope to be a Red POW Block

This talk page section contains an unresolved talk page proposal. Please try to help and resolve the issue by voting or leaving a comment.

Current time: Monday, March 3, 2025, 13:06 GMT

In Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, there is a POW Block item. It allows a hero to carry it and throw it in front of them, dealing damage to enemies and cover in a small radius around it upon impact. Additionally, the item also resembles a Red POW Block! Have a look!

The issue though, is that the game simply describes it as a POW Block, not a red one. It looks and functions exactly like a Red POW Block, so I'm creating this proposal to have the information for the item here instead of the POW Block article.

UPDATE: Here is a GIF of the POW Block item.

Proposer: Sparks (talk)
Deadline: March 12, 2025, 23:59 GMT

Merge! (Support)

1. Sparks (talk) Per POWposal!
2. Camwoodstock (talk) For us, the use animation really seals it. A visible shockwave in a small, circular radius bursting out before visibly tapering off on-screen, with a shake effect concentrated on the impact, rather than jostling the entire screen evenly. While yes, the ordinary POW Block functions differently based on game, the "fixed area of effect based on radius, rather than what's on screen" is a distinctly Red POW Block mechanism.
3. PopitTart (talk) The designs of POW Blocks and Red POW Blocks had certainly been standardized by the time M+R came out, yet they chose to use a red and yellow design that happens to correspond with its short-range function.

Oppose

1. Hewer (talk) If it's both the only POW Block in the game and is named simply "POW Block", I lean towards no. As the Red POW Block page explains, "there have been instances of regular POW Blocks being colored red in some games". For example, fellow RPG series Paper Mario also has POW Blocks that are red and damage multiple enemies. I'm also not sure what you mean when you say it "functions exactly like a Red POW Block", considering all the Red POW Block appearances currently on the page are in platformers.

Comments

In the discussion from before the proposal, when you say the POW Block in SoH has a "small explosion", do you mean it happens in a visibly finite radius a-la the Red POW blocks in the 2D platformers, and are there weapons/items in SoH that happen board-wide to contrast this with? We're not very familiar with the + Rabbids games. ~Camwoodstock (talk) 19:24, February 26, 2025 (EST)

The POW Blocks have a visible range and are very comparable to Red POW blocks. Normal POW Blocks usually affect the entire screen. Let me upload a GIF to showcase this. Sparks (talk) 19:36, February 26, 2025 (EST)

I've admittedly only played the first Mario + Rabbids game, but I personally feel like the explosion thing is more of a translation of the standard POW Block function of POWing into a completely different genre. I'm not sure how a weapon affecting the whole screen would work in these games, especially since what's on the screen would depend on the camera angle, which is a factor that doesn't need to be considered in a 2D platformer. Hewer (talk · contributions · edit count) 03:03, February 27, 2025 (EST)

With what we know of the & Rabbids games, we assume a "full screen" weapon would likely be translated into a "full board" effect, rather than being made into a very finite radius; after all, a finite radius is moreso a Red POW Block thing. ~Camwoodstock (talk) 03:09, February 27, 2025 (EST)

Mario Kart Wii previously adapted the blue POW Block to a game with a freeform camera angle by making it a full course effect. I think they certainly could have done the same here.--PopitTart (talk) 03:27, February 27, 2025 (EST)

Might be worth noting that the giant decorative POW Block in Kingdom Battle is also red. Nintendo otherwise has mostly stuck to blue POW Blocks since the Wii era. -- Too Bad! Waluigi Time! 21:57, February 26, 2025 (EST)