From Super Mushrooms to Chaos Emeralds to various other ability-enhancing pick-ups, power-ups play an important role in video gaming.  What fun would Super Mario Bros. be without the ability to smash bricks and fling fireballs?  Over at Kombo we're exploring the ten best power-ups in the world of games with this week's Top 10 Monday installment.  I selected four of the entries on the list and wrote the accompanying text for them.  Can you guess which ones?  Hint: I'm still the only person who's ever bought Plok for the Super NES.

Flame Thrower - Plok (SNES)

When cleaning up an infestation of fleas, boxing gloves and shotguns will only take one so far. The best way to dispose of the bugs is to kill them with fire! While a rare find in Plok's quest, the flame thrower allows our hero to burn his way through the fleas, their eggs, and just about every other enemy that stands in his path. The downside is that the effect only lasts for ten seconds.

We had a spirited discussion about what differentiates power-ups from mere abilities while writing this article.  For instance, Kazooie of Banjo-Kazooie's flight talents are an ability, but she can only fly when she had Red Feathers.  "Flight" is not a power-up, but "Red Feathers" are.  Likewise, Sonic the Hedgehog's golden Super Sonic ability is not a power-up, but the Chaos Emeralds that power it are.  Yes, I'm the one who kept insisting on this clarification.  How'd you know?