Sparks are orb-shaped creatures who continually emit pulses and flashes of electricity. They are mostly found crawling around walls and ceilings and moving across wires. Sparks are the first in a series of enemies in the Mario franchise that are balls of electricity, including Li'l Sparkies and Amps.
Sparks first appear in Stage 3 of Donkey Kong Jr. Yellow Sparks (also known as Globes[1]) continue to circle their own platform, but blue ones can travel to other platforms through static particles. These Sparks are generated by Mario in order to shock Donkey Kong Jr., preventing him from saving his father. Sparks are the rarest enemies in the game, only appearing in one stage (Stage 3), while the other enemies all appear in two stages.
Sparks also appear in Super Mario Bros. 2 as uncommon enemies, usually encountered underground or in buildings. They circle platforms, though some can hover in the air if a Mushroom Block is pulled out from beneath them. Sparks can be defeated by throwing an object at them or using a POW Block near them. Sparks can't be jumped on and can hurt the player's character by simply touching them. In the NES version, Sparks have red outlines around their eyes; in the SNES version and other subsequent remakes, they have yellow outlines as well as an orange outer body outline. If the screen scrolls while they are in a specific position, they will automatically die.[2]
Sparks changed slightly in Super Mario Advance. If the player is hit by one, they would be knocked back and the screen would flash. In addition, an item called the Spark Chaser can be used to expel them from new jar interiors.
A Spark makes only one appearance on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, in the episode "On Her Majesty's Sewer Service". Having been dumped into the Tunnel of Doom, Mario and Luigi, while running from a Goomba, encounter a Spark that is quickly approaching. Mario and Luigi manage to avoid this Spark and the Goomba by creating a grappling hook out of a super spy hose nozzle and mini plunger; apparently unable to stop moving, the Spark and Goomba subsequently crash into one another, causing an explosion. In this appearance, the Spark featured does not appear to radiate any electricity.
^ abPerfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten. Page 96.
^ abPerfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten. Page 225.
^Shogakukan. 「スーパーマリオコレクション任天堂公式ガイドブック」 (Super Mario Collection Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook). Page 142.
^From the ending scenes of Super Mario Advance as localized by iQue. Reference: 无敌阿尔宙斯 (August 28, 2013). 神游 超级马力欧2敌人官译. Baidu Tieba. Retrieved February 2, 2017.