Amp
Amp | |||
---|---|---|---|
![]() In-game artwork from Dr. Mario World | |||
First appearance | Super Mario 64 (1996) | ||
Latest appearance | Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV (2025) | ||
| |||
|
Amps are metallic balls that produce electricity. They first appear in Super Mario 64, though they resemble the Super Mario Bros. 2 rendition of the earlier Spark enemy. They are usually depicted as spheres with joyful eyes and a smiling mouth, though their exact appearance varies. Their original design from Super Mario 64 depicts them gray with red eyes, gray lips, white "cross-popping" veins, and a red mouth. Since Super Mario 64 DS, they are black with wider yellow eyes, a larger mouth with a tongue, and no veins. Their original design was last used in Mario Party Advance. They are depicted as smaller black orbs with simplified red eyes and mouths in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2. While the Amps in Dr. Mario World and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit are gray, they are otherwise like their design introduced in Super Mario 64 DS.
History[edit]
Super Mario series[edit]
Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS[edit]

Amps are invincible enemies that move in quick, wide circles in various areas of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS, usually around objects. Touching an Amp takes away a unit of the player character's health and makes him unable to move briefly. Shifting Sand Land also has two Amps that uniquely spawn from the air before chasing Mario if he is nearby, though Super Mario 64 DS gives these Amps their standard behavior instead.
Appearances[edit]
New Super Mario Bros.[edit]
Amps are enemies found only in World 3-Tower, World 4-
Tower and World 7-
Castle in New Super Mario Bros., usually in groups. They can now be defeated from either a Mega Mushroom or Starman. Amps lose their electricity briefly from shocking Mario or Luigi, though those on fences disappear after shocking him.
Super Mario Galaxy[edit]
Amps are invincible enemies in Super Mario Galaxy, though they are among the enemies that the second player can freeze. Amps move either back and forth or around the boundary of a planet, and should two hit each other, they move the other way while producing a few extra sparks. Amps also have a more common faceless variety, Zap Balls.
Appearances[edit]
marks missions where they are completely absent.
marks missions where they are loaded and may be visible, but cannot be encountered directly.
Domes | Galaxies | Missions | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Terrace | Good Egg Galaxy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() | |
Fountain | Battlerock Galaxy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Kitchen | Buoy Base Galaxy | ![]() |
![]() | |||||
Garden | Deep Dark Galaxy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() | |
Dreadnought Galaxy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
New Super Mario Bros. Wii[edit]
Only six Amps ever appear in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, only in World 3-Tower. They function like in New Super Mario Bros., but the player character can now freeze them using ice balls or throw an enemy at them,[1] both defeating them, as well as a Super Star.
Super Mario Galaxy 2[edit]
Amps return in Super Mario Galaxy 2. They are the same as in Super Mario Galaxy but can now be defeated using a Rainbow Star.
Appearances[edit]
marks missions where they are completely absent.
marks missions where they are loaded and may be visible, but cannot be encountered directly.
Worlds | Galaxies | Missions | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
World 1 | Sky Station Galaxy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Spin-Dig Galaxy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() | |
World 5 | Space Storm Galaxy | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
New Super Mario Bros. 2[edit]
Amps are found in the levels World 4-B and World Flower-
Warp Cannon in New Super Mario Bros. 2. They work mostly the same but now also move on lines akin to Fuzzies.
New Super Mario Bros. U[edit]
Amps and Big Amps both appear in Snake Block Tower and in Ludwig's Clockwork Castle reappear in New Super Mario Bros. U. They behave like in the predecessor, except touching them on the Wii U GamePad in Boost Mode takes away their electricity, leaving them vulnerable to a stomp. The game adds the similar Bowser Stunners, which conduct electricity with each other. Amps do not appear in New Super Luigi U.
Mario Party series[edit]
Amps appear in various games in the Mario Party series, either serving as obstacles in minigames or as usable items.
Mario Party 3 / Mario Party Superstars[edit]
Amps are the main obstacles of Motor Rooter in Mario Party 3 and its reappearance in Mario Party Superstars. Their electrical current covers various areas of the path, slowing players who touch them.
Mario Party 4[edit]
A sticker of an Amp named the Sparky Sticker appears in Mario Party 4, and it can hide in spaces and take away ten coins from whoever passes, including the effects of the Mini Mushroom and Mega Mushroom.
Mario Party 5[edit]
Amps are the main obstacles in the minigame Shock Absorbers of Mario Party 5,[2] so touching one or the electricity they produce eliminates the player.
Mario Party 6[edit]
An Amp is part of the Zap Orb in Mario Party 6, taking away five coins from the player character every space they move for the remainder of their turn. Both stationary and moving Amps are obstacles in Circuit Maximus, increasing in number as players pass through more rooms.
Mario Party Advance[edit]
- “Beat this game and I'm ohm free!”
- —Amp, Mario Party Advance
An Amp is found at Town Game Room B in Shroom City mode in Mario Party Advance. He is a gambler who is short-tempered[3] and tends to speak with electricity-related puns. Amp keeps losing in Match 'Em, so if the player helps him win, by ending with one more coin than what they began with, Amp believes that his luck will begin to turn around, which is suggested by the ending.[4]
Amps are hazards in Amplifried, Cloud Climb, and Broom Zoom, damaging the player character either on contact or with their electricity. Amplifried revolves around avoiding Amps and their lightning bolts,[5] and they move around, unlike in Cloud Climb and Broom Zoom.
Mario Party 7[edit]
Amps retain their role in the form of the Zap Orb in Mario Party 7, except the player loses three coins per space instead.
Mario Party 8[edit]

An Amp is one of the enemies in Specter Inspector in Mario Party 8, where it hides on the table.[6] The two-player version of Puzzle Pillars features Amps as heazards, and selecting columns with them briefly stuns the player.
Mario Party: Island Tour[edit]
Amps are featured in the minigame Amp My Style, where players try to avoid them and their electrical lines. They are also among the possible tiles in Match Faker and Tap Dash as well as a possible constellation in Starring Artist.
Mario Party 10[edit]
Two pairs of Amps appear in the minigame Bowser's Wicked Wheel of Mario Party 10, producing electricity on the left and right sides of the running wheel.[7] Big Amps also appear in the minigame Kamek's Rocket Rampage, though Amps do not.
Mario Party: Star Rush[edit]
Amps are obstacles in two minigames of Mario Party: Star Rush: Corkscrew Climb, where players jump over them while climbing a tower,[8] and Jewel Janitors, sometimes stunning players on contact. Amps are also hidden in Challenge Tower, where the player gets a game over upon touching one.
Super Mario Party[edit]
Amps are obstacles in the minigame Half the Battle of Super Mario Party, where touching one stuns a player briefly.
Super Mario Party Jamboree[edit]
Amps are hazards in a few minigames of Super Mario Party Jamboree, including Scare-ousel and Shuttle Scuttle, disqualifying players who touch them, as well as sometimes in Jr.'s Jauntlet. They are also in the Koopathlon minigames Lane Change and Sky-High Cannons, with the mode also featuring an Amp item that shocks the player in front for a few seconds.
Mario Sports Superstars[edit]
Amps are obstacles while battling the Big Yellow Magikoopa in the Road to Superstar mode in Mario Sports Superstars, being spawned and thrown by him.
Dr. Mario World[edit]
Amps appear in Dr. Mario World as assistants. Their body is now silver like in their debut appearance in Super Mario 64, while still having their modern eyes from Super Mario 64 DS onwards. In both stage mode and versus mode, their effect is to transform an object, mainly a virus, into an exploder when the stage starts, where the chance of activation is higher at higher levels (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% from levels 1 to 5 respectively).
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit[edit]
Amps are featured as gates in Lightning Lagoon, Glazed Gardens, and Windswept Prairie in Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, zapping drivers on contact and slowing them briefly.
Mario Golf: Super Rush[edit]
There are trick Golf items based on Amps in Mario Golf: Super Rush, titled Amp Balls, though Amps are not physically present. Amp Balls create a shock that knocks out several zones within range, and a Dead-Aim Bonus is rewarded should every zone be knocked out.
Profiles and statistics[edit]
Mario Party: Star Rush[edit]
Image | Name | Bio |
---|---|---|
![]() |
Amp A black sphere buzzing with electricity. |
All that crackling energy can't be healthy... Perhaps you'd better avoid touching these things. |
Dr. Mario World[edit]
- Stage mode: Grants 20%/40%/60%/80%/100% chance an exploder will appear on stage start.
- Versus mode: Grants 20%/40%/60%/80%/100% chance an exploder will appear on stage start.
Gallery[edit]
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Amp.
Naming[edit]
Etymology[edit]
"Amp" is a common shortening of "ampere", a unit of measurement for electrical currents.
Names in other languages[edit]
The contemporaneous name for each language is listed first. Subsequent names are listed in chronological order for each language, from oldest to newest, and have the media they are associated with in the "notes" column.
Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Japanese | ビリキュー[9][10][11] Birikyū |
From「ビリビリ」(biribiri, onomatopoeia for electric shocking) and「球」(kyū, "sphere") | |
Chinese (simplified) | 霹雳球[12] Pīlì Qiú |
Thunderbolt Ball | |
Chinese (traditional) | 霹靂球[13] Pīlì Qiú |
Thunderbolt Ball | |
Dutch | Amp[14] | - | |
French | Amp[15][16][17] | - | |
German | Sparky[18][19] | - | |
Energini[20] | From Energie ("energy") and the diminutive suffix -ini | Super Mario 64 | |
Italian | Amperino[21][22] | From "ampere" and the diminutive suffix -ino | |
Amperetto[23] | From "ampere" and the diminutive suffix -etto | Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia (New Super Mario Bros. Wii) | |
Korean | 감전볼[24] Gamjeon Bol |
Electric Shock Ball | |
Portuguese | Faísca[25][26] | Spark | |
Russian | Ампер[27] Amper |
Ampere | |
Spanish (NOA) | Chispayaso[28] | From chispa ("spark") and payaso ("clown") | |
Spanish (NOE) | Sparky[29] | - | |
Amp[30] | Mario Party 3 |
References[edit]
- ^ "Amps can be frozen or hit by another frozen enemy (like a Dry Bones)." – Bueno, Fernando (2009). New Super Mario Bros. Wii: PRIMA Official Game Guide. Roseville: Prima Games. ISBN 978-0-3074-6767-6. Page 15.
- ^ arronmunroe (October 9, 2015). Mario Party 5 minigame: Shock Absorbers 60fps (0:01). YouTube. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
- ^ "Loves to play games. Has a short fuse and gets mad easily." – Amp (2005). Mario Party Advance. Nintendo.
- ^ "Hit a hot streak in the Game Room." – Amp (2005). Mario Party Advance. Nintendo.
- ^ "Dodge the lightning bolts those Amps blast!" – 2005. Mario Party Advance. Nintendo.
- ^ arronmunroe (November 19, 2016). Mario Party 8 minigame: Specter Inspector 60fps (03:09). YouTube. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
- ^ Mario Party World (May 26, 2022). Mario Party 10 - Bowsers Wicked Wheel: Mario vs Peach vs Rosalina vs Wario (0:02). YouTube.
- ^ "Run the ramps and jump over the Amps!" – 2016. In-game description, Mario Party: Star Rush. Nintendo.
- ^ Takashi, Watanabe, Noriko Oketani, Yugo Nagasawa, and Junichiro Okubo, editors (1996). 『任天堂公式ガイドブック スーパーマリオ64』(Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook – Super Mario 64). Tokyo: Shogakukan (Japanese). ISBN 4-09-102554-4. Page 5.
- ^ Noriaki, Kamiguchi, Kaisa Hitoshi, Teshiromori Nobuhito, Nagashima Kazutaka, Somoto Shitsuya, and Matsumoto Royo (2005). 『「スーパーマリオ64DS」タッチ!&ゲット!パワースター
攻略 ブック』. Tokyo: Kadokawa (Japanese). ISBN 4-8402-2960-0. Page 129. - ^ Sakai, Kazuya (ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, and Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), editors (2015). 『スーパーマリオブラザーズ百科: 任天堂公式ガイドブック』. Tokyo: Shogakukan (Japanese). ISBN 978-4-09-106569-8. Page 86, 115, 128, 146, 161, 196, 211.
- ^ 2021. 角色包 – 系列 3 #71394. LEGO (Simplified Chinese). Archived October 27, 2021, 03:38:29 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine.
- ^ 2021. 角色組合包-第 3 代 #71394. LEGO (Traditional Chinese). Archived February 26, 2024, 08:42:13 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine.
- ^ New Super Mario Bros. U-kanaal (25 Apr. 2013). New Super Mario Bros. U - Cassismoeras-TOREN - Vrij klimmen met de booststand (Wii U). YouTube (Dutch). Retrieved 13 Feb. 2025.
- ^ In-game name from the ending of Mario Party Advance (French). (Archived 23 May 2014 via YouTube by AXE45.)
- ^ Chaîne New Super Mario Bros. U (25 Apr. 2013). New Super Mario Bros. U - Jungle Cassis-TOUR - Haute voltige en mode coup de pouce (Wii U). YouTube (French). Retrieved 13 Feb. 2025.
- ^ « Foncez à bord d'une carapace dans un conduit sinueux, et franchissez la ligne d'arrivée avant votre rival. Essayez d'éviter les Amps! » – Toad describing Motor Rooter. Mario Party Superstars by NDcube. Nintendo (Canadian French).
- ^ In-game name from the ending of Mario Party Advance (German). (Archived 16 May 2017 via YouTube by TwilightShiek.)
- ^ New Super Mario Bros. U Kanal (25 Apr. 2013). New Super Mario Bros. U - Limonadendschungel-TURM - Kletterpartie im Boost-Modus (Wii U). YouTube (German). Retrieved 13 Feb. 2025.
- ^ Kraft, John D., Thomas Görg, and Marko Hein, editors (1997). Der offizielle Nintendo 64 Spieleberater "Super Mario 64". Großostheim: Nintendo of Europe GmbH (German). Page 6.
- ^ In-game name from the ending of Mario Party Advance (Italian). (Archived 7 Sept. 2019 via YouTube by Benedetto's world™.)
- ^ Canale New Super Mario Bros. U (25 Apr. 2013). New Super Mario Bros. U - Giungla gassata TORRE - Arrampicata libera con il Gioco assistito (Wii U). YouTube (Italian). Retrieved 6 Dec. 2024.
- ^ Sakai, Kazuya (ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), and Marco Figini, editors (2018). "New Super Mario Bros. Wii" in Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia. Translated by Marco Amerighi. Milan: Magazzini Salani (Italian). ISBN 889367436X. Page 146.
- ^ 2021. 캐릭터팩 - 시즌 3 #71394. LEGO (Korean). (Archived June 2, 2025, 18:22:19 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Canal New Super Mario Bros. U (25 Apr. 2013). New Super Mario Bros. U - Selva Gelatinosa-TORRE - Escalada livre em Modo Assistido (Wii U). YouTube (European Portuguese). Retrieved 13 Feb. 2025.
- ^ "Corrida Chocante — Pilote um casco pelo cano sinuoso e alcance a linha de chegada antes do seu adversário. Desvie dos Faíscas!" – Mario Party™ Superstars para o console Nintendo Switch™ — Minijogos — Duelos. marioparty.nintendo.com (Brazilian Portuguese). Archived October 24, 2021, 13:59:16 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
- ^ «Если коснуться Амперов на Wii U GamePad, они временно станут уязвимыми.» ("Touching Amps with the Wii U GamePad will temporarily make them vulnerable.") – Канал New Super Mario Bros. U (25 Apr. 2013). New Super Mario Bros. U - Soda Jungle-TOWER - Boost Mode free climbing (Wii U). YouTube (Russian). Retrieved 13 Feb. 2025.
- ^ "Pilota un caparazón de Koopa por una tubería llena de curvas y llega a la meta antes que tu rival. ¡Y cuidado con los Chispayasos!" – Toad describing Motor Rooter. Mario Party Superstars by NDcube. Nintendo (Latin American Spanish).
- ^ In-game name from the ending of Mario Party Advance (European Spanish). (Archived 17 Sept. 2024 via YouTube by FrankKirlts.)
- ^ «Corre sobre conchas Koopa a través de las tuberías, donde los Amps se ocultan.» – Tumble describing Motor Rooter (16 Nov. 2001). Mario Party 3 by Hudson Soft. Nintendo of Europe GmbH (European Spanish).
- Electrical creatures
- Dr. Mario World
- LEGO Super Mario characters
- Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
- Mario Party 3 characters
- Mario Party 4 species
- Mario Party 5 characters
- Mario Party 6 characters
- Mario Party 7 characters
- Mario Party 8 characters
- Mario Party 10 characters
- Mario Party Advance characters
- Mario Party Advance enemies
- Mario Party Superstars characters
- Mario Party: Island Tour characters
- Mario Party: Star Rush characters
- Mario Sports Superstars enemies
- New Super Mario Bros. enemies
- New Super Mario Bros. 2 enemies
- New Super Mario Bros. U enemies
- New Super Mario Bros. Wii enemies
- Super Mario 64 enemies
- Super Mario Galaxy enemies
- Super Mario Galaxy trading cards
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 enemies
- Super Mario Party characters
- Super Mario Party Jamboree characters