Talk:Spiked Fun Guy (Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island)

Should it really have been split?

So it happens that they share the same Japanese name as Pokey. I added my proofs on this talk page that they might be the same, and according to Doc von Schmeltwick (talk), he said" I still maintain that the Spiked Fun Guy in that game was a one-off redesign for the generic Pokey, with Needlenose being called sanbo more generically. Note how one appears alongside normal, on-model Pokeys in a later game, and the other conspicuously doesn't." -- FanOfYoshi 12:47, 9 February 2019 (EST)

Also, note that enemies we're off-model in this game. The Advance guide erroneously states that Spiked Fun Guy hangs on balloons while it only applies to Needlenoses. Other actions are only mentioned in the enemies which shoot them. The Yoshi's New Island guide doesn't mention Needlenoses on Pokey's entry, so unlike Spiked Fun Guy, it can stay as its own article. Note that Spiked Fun Guy's design is much more closer to Pokey, than what are Needlenoses. -- FanOfYoshi 02:58, 10 February 2019 (EST)

Of course it should have been split, it was split from the Yoshi's Story thingy. That was merely phase 1, and less likely to have a lot of conflict against it. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 03:40, 10 February 2019 (EST)

Admittedly, yes, Yoshi's Story ones had a reason to be split, as they aren't a Pokey. By "Should it really have been split?", i meant "Shouldn't this have been merged to Pokey?". I'd guess phase 2, is to merge the default Yoshi's Island one to Pokey, or turn it into a redirect, right? -- FanOfYoshi 03:45, 10 February 2019 (EST)

Something like that, but the wiki never had it merged in the first place, making your question not make sense. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 03:47, 10 February 2019 (EST)

In the Spark talk page, you told me to note how enemies we're off-model in this game, and this one is. It hasn't segments, and only has the head, is green instead of yellow (well this game was released after Super Mario World), and lacks a mouth. -- FanOfYoshi 12:11, 26 February 2019 (EST)

That has nothing to do with what I asked, though. Your wording suggests they were once on the Pokey article without their own article/considered differentiation, which isn't the case. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 12:14, 26 February 2019 (EST)

I didn't actually meant to say that they should have been merged in the first place, i actually said that the proposal should have merged this Pokey in the "Split all and merge Yoshi's Island default one with Pokey" option. -- FanOfYoshi 12:18, 26 February 2019 (EST)

Then your wording doesn't work. Anyways, I still think they should probably be merged. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 12:23, 26 February 2019 (EST)

Notably how the enemies we're off-model in this game. The Shogakugan guide erroneously states that it is this type that the balloons drop, while it is actually the Needlenose. Regarding Needlenose, Yoshi's New Island was the real conflation, but i believe it can stay on its own article given that it is not mentioned on the normal Pokey entry. To be sure that Spiked Fun Guy is the same enemy as Pokey, we should ask to Nintendo (which i think is a dumb idea), though, i still believe that Spiked Fun Guy is one off-model redesign of Pokey, in which i listed the oddities above. If there looks like there is a consensus against it (such as LinkTheLefty), i'd say we could start a proposal at this point. -- FanOfYoshi 05:06, 28 February 2019 (EST)

They're probably intended to be the same thing in the sense that Chomp is intended to be the same thing as Chain Chomp. -- FanOfYoshi 10:35, 5 March 2019 (EST)

And in the sense that Flutters were intended to be the same thing as Wiggler. -- FanOfYoshi 09:30, March 20, 2019 (EDT)

Now that we know that Needlenoses are consistently referred to as Pokeys in Yoshi's Island DS material, coupled with the fact that Japanese guides do not distinguish them from Spiked Fun Guys (and, at least in Shogakukan's Super Mario Advance 3, suggest they are the same thing), this is most probably an "all or nothing" situation. LinkTheLefty (talk) 10:19, March 20, 2019 (EDT)

The Japanese guides do not distinguish them from Needlenoses, because it is possibly a mistake. Anyways, which one should be merged then? -- FanOfYoshi 10:22, March 20, 2019 (EDT)

I've also noticed that Spiny Eggs are referred to as Needlenoses as well in the Super Mario Advance 3 Player's Guide, so it rather seems like "Needlenose" is a catch-all for spiked projectiles that fell out of use by Yoshi's Island DS. LinkTheLefty (talk) 10:25, January 20, 2021 (EST)

Personally, I think we should keep both this and the Needlenose article split. Obsessive Mario Fan (talk) 14:37, May 12, 2019 (EDT)

Another thing to note is that the early Paper Mario games appear to use Spiked Fun Guy's eye and head spike design over the SMW...rest of the body. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 23:44, February 14, 2020 (EST)

I'd probably liken that to a similar variant design unification in earlier Paper Mario games that didn't end up sticking around (namely giving Buzzy Beetles and Spike Tops the head of a Para-Beetle/Parabuzzy). LinkTheLefty (talk) 10:25, January 20, 2021 (EST)