Power-Up Magnet

Stuff dropped from enemies and items in games, whether money, health, Power Ups,^[1] or other things, can be invaluable. But getting to them isn't always easy, as they often appear out of reach (especially if dropped by an enemy hit with a ranged weapon), forcing you to go out of your way to get them, or right into a group of enemies to get them. These problems are compounded if the dropped items tend to scatter. Enter this trope, which is the ability to draw power ups to the player character from far away. Even if the range is limited, it just means you have to get a little closer to grab them instead of being practically right next to them.

There are 3 types of this trope:

• "Auto Innate": Powerups are naturally attracted to player and won't require any item or ability.
• "Auto Gained": There is an ability or a powerup which helps to attract the items towards the player but requires no effort from player.
• "Manual": These are usually telekinesis-type and require to manually activate, and often target, the desired item to collect it from the distance.

So called because this ability is often called "X Magnet" in some games.

Examples of Power-Up Magnet include:

Auto Innate

• The later Touhou games have your character drawing in powerups that get close to her. Also, in all games starting from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, moving into the upper part of screen past a certain point will automatically draw all items on the screen to you (although there are certain conditions for this in earlier games, such as being at full power or focusing). Just be careful not to get sucker-punched by the sudden appearance of a stage midboss...
• Most CAVE Shoot'em ups have powerups that are magnetic.
• Bubbles in Bubble Tanks have magnetic properties towards the main tank and will home on player when close by. When all enemies are cleared in one area, every bubble in the area will be attracted to the player right away.
• Souls in God of War automatically are attracted to Kratos.
• In Go Beryllium!, quarks are attracted towards the beryllium atom when it's in a short distance.
• In Minecraft, experience orbs are naturally attracted on the player.
• In the Spyro the Dragon series, Spyro's dragonfly companion Sparx picks up nearby gems for him. Sparx disappears after Spyro takes damage three times, at which point Spyro must pick up the gems himself. In some games, an upgrade increases Sparx's reach, allowing him to pick up gems from farther away than before.
• In Crackdown, any mini orbs gained, whether from defeating activities, winning races, or finding the large orbs, are attracted to the PC.

Auto Gained

• The "Treasure Magnet" ability in Kingdom Hearts.
• The Ratchet and Clank games have a power up that draws far away bolts.
• Later Lego Adaptation Games include the "Stud Magnet" ability.
• In several Sonic the Hedgehog games since the third, the electric/magnet shield powerup attracts rings.
• Link gets a literal example in Oracle of Seasons in the form of Magnetic Gloves. It only attracts objects needed to progress (and some enemies), but he can still use the Boomerang as stated below.
• Maximo: Ghosts to Glory: The Midas Shield attracts treasure from a distance, and can even be combined with throwing the shield.
• The Gold Magnet in Plants vs. Zombies.
• Okami has the Golden Lucky Cat.
• One of the tarot cards in Painkiller makes souls to be magnetic powerups which fly towards the player when having short enough distance.
• When Baby Wario is hitching a ride in Yoshi's Island DS, he carries a magnet. One of its functions is to draw all coins (including red coins) to you. Since some coins are completely blocked by walls, this is the only way to get some of them. That's right, a magnet can pull coins through solid walls.
• This appears as an optional ability in An Untitled Story, attracting crystals towards the player.
• In The Binding of Isaac, a magnet powerup attracts powerups even over gaps and over rocks.

Manual

• The Metroid Prime games have the charge beam draw in power ups while still charging.
• The Hornet Chaser in Mega Man 9: A Bee-Bee Gun that can retrieve powerups even through walls.
  • The fourth Game Boy game made Ring Boomerang into this. ROM Hack Rock Man 4 Minus Infinity also adapts this into HCR Boomerang.
  • Also, a power-up to the Mega Arm in the Game Boy Mega Man V lets it retrieve items in the same fashion.
  • The Boomerang shot in Mega Man X could be used to retrieve items even through walls—including that one Heart Tank in Boomer Kuwanger's own stage.
• In several Zelda games, Link can use his Hookshot or Boomerang to pick up items that he can't reach.
• In both Super Mario Galaxy games, the player can point the Wiimote to Star bits so they fly off to Mario. So can the second player, if you managed to drag one in.
• Onimusha games have you hold a button to attract souls.
• The Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2, which can pull in objects and repel them, has this as one of its many uses.
• Telekinetic grab spell in RuneScape helps to grab an item from the distance if it can't be reached for one reason or another.
• In Fable I, experience orbs automatically come at you as long as you hold the Right Trigger.

1. ↑ hence the trope name, as there apparently isn't a term that covers all these things