Question Of The Month Reader Responses: Issue #223

by Jeff Marchiafava on Oct 11, 2011 at 07:06 AM

A few months ago we asked readers what their favorite video game power-up is, and why. The latest issue of Game Informer contains a variety of answer, but they were only the tip of the ice burg. Here are more responses from your fellow gamers.

Invincibility Star FTW:

I gotta give it to the star from Super Mario Bros. There are many obvious reasons, but its the only power-up I can think of that has its own theme music and that is some powerful sh*t!

Brett Burrows
My favorite video game power-up would have to be the star power-up in the various Super Mario Bros. games as well as Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The Star power-up gives you invincibility. Invincibility really helps you win in a fight (whether it's against Bowser and his minions or against multiple opponents in Super Smash Bros. Brawl). If you can avoid taking damage you can easily win. The Star helps with that.

Kyle Allen
For my video game power-up, I would choose the classic star from Mario. Why? Not because it grants invincibility but because it makes you flash like colorful rave lights and music starts playing off you're freaking body!

Brady S.

More Classic Power-Ups:

Does any power-up compare to the Tanooki Suit? The suit gains the ability of the Super Leaf and can be combined with the P-Wing for flying enjoyment. Turning into Tanooki Mario gives the power of temporary immunity and the pleasure to play the role as a Thwomp. It's a force to be wreckin' with in the Mario universe.

Billie Cox
My favorite video game power-up would have to be the P-Wing from Super Mario Bros. 3. The game on its own was hard enough, especially Worlds 7 and 8, so the awesome ability to fly over a level with no risk of death helped me pass annoying levels that without this power-up would have caused me to crush the game.

Will
My favorite power-up has to be the morph ball in The Metroid series. Being able to boost around and hit jumps provided me with hours of fun. Plus the bombs made for some cool trick shots.

Tanner
My favorite video game power up-always is Mario's Hammer Bro. suit. I do not believe it was used in any other Mario game other than Super Mario Bros. 3, which I still think is one of the best Mario games to date. All he had to do is duck when he used it and he was invincible, and the hammers went through anything to hit whatever target you were aiming for.

Robert Koch
My choice power-ups would be the mushroom in the Mario Brothers games and the running shoes from Sonic the Hedgehog. The fact that a little Italian guy gets bigger when eating a mushroom has always gotten a giggle from my "enlightened" friends. Sonic on the other hand is all about speed, and the running shoes, or speed boost, in those game help you get to the end faster. If you're not careful they can also spell your doom if you happen to run out into a pit of spikes, lava, etc.

William R Garcia
My favorite game power-up is the one in Altered Beast (Sega Genesis) because when you get it you hear "Power Up!" Awesome!

Derek Rudisill

Killing Time:

My answer has to be Quake III: Arena’s Quad Damage. There’s just something about hearing “Quad Damage” and knowing you’re about to waste a few people -- or you’re going to end up splattered against the wall if you come around the wrong corner.

David Strate
My favorite power-up is Call of Duty Zombie's Insta-Kill. Besides making any measly knife or pistol able to defeat a zombie in a single shank or shot, it can really get you out of a pinch when cornered by zombies and low on ammunition.

Devan Whitney
I believe that the best video game power-up by far is COD Zombies' insta-kill. Insta-kill is basically putting your characters on steroids so you can go an a thirty second-long knifing spree while you listen to your character spit out one liners about eating steel and things of that nature. I realize that some people may prefer fire sale, max ammo, or nuke, but when you knife zombies you receive more points than when you use bullets, especially if you get a double points power-up at the same time. This rare and lucky occurrence is usually followed by an extended trip to the almighty mystery box.

Mike Celletti
In Half-Life 2 when the game steals almost all your guns and gives your gravity gun a super strength upgrade, it becomes the most destructive and fun weapon in video game history. Who doesn't want to throw electrocuted alien soldiers at other not yet electrocuted alien soldiers!!! Both times that weapon is given to the player, you know a huge can of whoop ass is about to be opened up on the combine.

Alex Rubin
My favorite power-up would have to be the PHD Flopper Perk-a-Cola in Black Ops' zombie mode. It allows you to create a huge explosion by simply jumping from a high ledge, as well as removing falling and explosive self-damage. However, I must give Half-Life's HEV suit a mention, though it is not technically a power-up, it is a bullet/radiation/fire resistant armor suit that can hold loads of weapons, and you get it for the whole game!

Addison R
My favorite power-up is Brick's special from Borderlands. If anyone has not used this character yet, you are missing out on some fun. All you have to do is shoot everyone in sight until you get swarmed by bandits and other Borderlands monsters. Then, when all hope seems lost, you use Brick's power-up and charge right at them and punch them. I just hope you get to join sides with him in Borderlands 2.

Camden Fisher

Shields 'R Us:

My favorite video game power-up is the Overshield from Halo: Combat Evolved. Upon collecting this power-up, you gain three seconds of invulnerability plus a 3x boost to your shielding system. A player can survive two pointblank rocket blasts and a plasma grenade stick with this power-up. What more could you ask for in a Halo game?

Michael Webb Jr.
My favorite video game power-up is the Overshield in Transformers Dark of the Moon. I like it because it gives you bonus points and when enemies shoot you, you don't take damage.

Nicholas Simonelli

Man's Best Friend:

The first power-up that came to mind was Dog Mode from the 1995 game Rise of the Triad: Dark Wars. It was a unique take on God Mode where you were basically invulnerable and killed with one hit, but you had the first-person view of a dog's snout and his paw slashed out when attacking.

Stephen Williamson
This may be an odd choice, considering my age, but my favorite power-up is the Rush Adaptors from Mega Man 6. Rush was useful in the previous games, but the fact that you can use Mega Man's battle partner in actual battle in this game makes it stick out in my mind.

T.J. Davenport

Feel The Power:

My favorite video game power-up is from Meg Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Gregar/Falzar. Though it may not be considered a power-up at all, I'm referring to the Beast Mode you get to enter when merged with the beast from your respective game. Being in that mode makes me feel so powerful, and I'd tend to use it even on the simplest of enemies just to crush everything in my path. The way the story explains it, Mega Man is now part of this legendary creature, making him one super powerful unstoppable being -- so even the game talks about you like you're a god!

Bobby Haight
Out of all the games with power-ups at your disposal, my favorite would have to be the Limit Breaks (or overdrives for Final Fantasy X) in the Final Fantasy series. Anytime I was in a tight spot those special moves were there to pull me out of trouble. You also had the ability to level them up and make them better and stronger. I mean you have Braver to Omnislash or Boost Jump to Highwind. For fans of FFX, Dragon Fang to Tornado (though Banishing blade is my personal favorite). Final Fantasy power-ups are, and will always be, my favorite.

Chris Adkins
My favorite video game power-up is the golden mushroom in Mario Kart Wii. I know it sounds lame, but I think it's the best one in the entire game because it allows me to pass all the other players and be in first...before I get hit by a blue shell, anyway.

Kyrstin Stoneking
Hands-down it's the Black Hole in The Darkness. There's a reason you obtain it near the end of the game. After all, what could top wielding the most destructive, powerful force in the universe? Just ask Uwe Boll: He has sucked the life out of many a budding movie franchise.

Kyle Wadsworth

Jokes and Jokes and Jokes...:

My favorite is the Starman power-up In Lee-Lees Quest, which turns you naked and gives you a goatee. The enemies don't know what on earth to do.

Chris Arnold
I'm going to have to go with whatever the corner man in the classic NES game Ring King does to your boxer between rounds.

Jose Rivera
Best power-up for a game? That's easy: peeing into a toilet or urinal in the Old Duke Nukem to recover some energy. Even all these years later, I sometimes say, "Ah, that's better" when I pee. Who could beat that?

Scott Ferree

Not Winning "Boyfriend Of The Year":

Mine would have to be the "Pre-Nup Power-Up." This perk is so powerful that while in play, it disables the ability for my girlfriend to take everything I own.

Jesse Meehan