Pickup Hierarchy

Can you guess which item is the most valuable?

"Special? Hah! I'd sure like to know what makes these items any better than the others; they look just as useless to me. Probably because they're slightly larger and a little shinier, I suppose."

— Cranky Kong, Donkey Kong 64 instruction manual

Platform Game collectibles come in all shapes and sizes, from coins to precious gems and fruits to mental cobwebs and human brains. But not all pickups are created equal; some carry more weight than others in the grand scheme of 100% Completion, some unlocking new levels, others unlocking merely additional bonus diversions, and others unlocking the means to unlock new areas, and so on. This index is to sort out the four basic types of platform game collectibles that appear in many collect-a-thon games:

• Primary Tier Collectibles: Plot Coupons. Usually your stated goal in the game, and generally the most valuable of your collectibles. These are directly used to open the way to new levels, and collecting enough of these from all the levels is the fastest way to progress through the game. Quantity can range from one to as many as ten in a single level, and they're often reasonably big and shiny so you don't miss them. Usually always MacGuffins, but can also be useful abilities in a Metroidvania game. In more basic platforming games, just reaching the end of the level is enough to move the player to the next one, so any tangible "collectible" of this tier may be entirely absent.
• Secondary Tier Collectibles: Generally less important and more abundant than Primary Tier items, and often more challenging to collect. Collecting these generally becomes more important when attempting 100% Completion instead of simply beating the main game, but they can sometimes become obligatory in the main game as a halfway point to more important items (for example, keys that open new areas within a level). For that reason, shards of a Primary Tier Collectible or the belonging of a NPC that rewards you if returned to them are also included here. Quantity ranges anywhere between one and fifteen per level. Heart Containers and 1-Up items are usually in this tier too.
• Tertiary Tier Collectibles: The "junk" tier: usually highly abundant in a level, scattered all over the terrain for the player to collect. Nearly worthless in single units, but can yield great rewards when collected in abundance. In a game where new skills and collectibles are unlocked gradually, collectibles from this tier can serve as currency. A single level can contain anywhere between thirty to five hundred of these.
• Extra Tier Collectibles: Very rare pickups that can usually require a lot of effort to collect, such as beating hidden or otherwise difficult challenges that may not be immediately obvious. Generally one or two instances of these can be found per level at most, and sometimes as few as three or even none in the entire game.

Note that it is possible for a collectible to belong to more than one tier. Although usually found in Collect-A-Thon Platformers, collectible types such as these can be found in a broad range of genres, from adventure games and shooters to racing games.

Frequently, top caps for this type of collectibles are either non-existent or essentially infinite. Depending on the rewards of the collectibles, this trope requires some measure of Level Grinding. Compare and contrast Anti-Hoarding, gameplay mechanics that discourage gross accumulating of in-game resources due to some of them being Too Awesome to Use.

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Examples:

Action-Adventure

• Beyond Good & Evil:
  • Primary: Pearls
  • Secondary: PA-1's/the vehicle equivalent, Animal Photos
  • Tertiary: Materia Crystals (money)
• Bomberman Generation:
  • Primary: The Bomb Elements.
  • Secondary: Charaboms, Bomb Merge items/bombs.
  • Tertiary: Power-ups, Charabom food.
  • Extra: Lightning Cards and Heart Containers.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • Primary: Spiritual Stones, Medallions, Triforce Pieces, Boss Remains, Pearls, Fused Shadows, pieces of the Mirror of Twilight, Servant Spirits, Pure Metals, Force Gems, Essences, Siren Instruments; and that's before most weapons/items...
  • Secondary: Heart Pieces, Gold Skulltulas, Stray Fairies, Bunnies, Stamps, Poe Souls, Ship/Train Parts, Secret Seashells, various capacity upgrades...
  • Tertiary: Bombs, Arrows, Rupees, Seeds, and so on...
  • Extra: Biggoron's Sword and its ilk. It's safe to say there's a lot of stuff to collect in every Zelda game you play.
• Luigi's Mansion
  • Primary: Portrait Ghosts, Boos.
  • Secondary: Keys, Mario's Belongings.
  • Tertiary: Cash.
  • Extra: King Boo's Crown.
• Luigi's Mansion 3
  • Primary: Elevator buttons.
  • Secondary: Keys, Boos.
  • Tertiary: Cash.
  • Extra: Gems (you usually have to go out of your way to obtain those).
• Metroid:
  • Primary: New powers, weapons and suits, Chozo Artifacts, and Dark Temple Keys (Prime 1 & 2)
  • Secondary: Energy Tanks, Missile Tanks
  • Tertiary: Energy capsules and Missile ammo.
  • Extra: Energy cells (Prime 3).
• The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge:
  • Primary: Holiday Doors, Area Keys
  • Secondary: Soul Robber upgrades, Pumpkin King upgrades, Christmas present upgrades, Nightmare Ranks
  • Tertiary: Souls, Blue Souls, Red Souls
  • Extra: Figurines, Crystal Skulls, Crystal Bottles, Outfits
• Psychonauts: All of the collectibles serve to help Raz rank up in varying increments:
  • PSI Challenge Markers, a bunch of cards floating around an eye-shaped core. Each one is worth 1 rank on its own.
  • PSI Cards, from challenger markers that fell apart, are now scattered all around the camp. Collect 9 and buy a core from the camp commissary and they can be assembled into a marker in Ford's lab.
  • Scavenger hunt items, 16 in total. For every 8 you collect, you gain 4 ranks.
  • Figments of the imagination floating around inside the various mindscapes, the closest thing the game has to the coins or gems of other games (which are particularly irritating, since there are literally hundreds, they're semitransparent, and they're perfectly flat, making them hard to spot).
  • Mental Vaults, 2 per mind, pig-like safes which run around in typically hard-to-reach spots in the mind. Punch them open and they'll spit out a memory reel consisting of the pivotal traumas creating the mindscape Raz is exploring.
  • Emotional baggage, 5 different pieces of anthropomorphic, extremely unhappy luggage found inside a given character's head. Find the matching tags and you can sort them out for a third primal reel, made up of an unlockable gallery of concept art.
  • Mental Cobwebs, which form in disused parts of the brain and can block progress in later levels. They can be cleared out with the Cobweb Duster, a kind of mental vacuum, and detangled in Ford's lab, reweaving them into yet another PSI Card.
  • And then you need to get back all the other campers' brains.
  • There are also the Aggression/Astral Projection Layer Trophies, which increase your maximum Psi Blast ammo and "lives". Unlike the other collectibles, they're not included in 100% Completion.
• Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy:
  • Primary: Crowns, Canopic Vases, Jewels
  • Secondary: Anhk Pieces
  • Tertiary: Monsters, Scarabs, Dark Scarabs
  • Extra: Medals

Adventure

• Bomberman Jetters:
  • Primary: None. The game does not revolve around any Plot Coupons, though all Lightning Cards are needed to unlock the final level.
  • Secondary: Charaboms, Bomb Merge items/bombs.
  • Tertiary: Powerups, Charabom food.
  • Extra: Jetters cards, Hige Hige cards, Lightning Cards, Heart Pieces/Containers

Collect-a-Thon Platformers

• Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie:
  • Primary: Jiggies (jigsaw pieces)
  • Secondary: Extra honeycomb pieces, Mumbo tokens, jinjos, glowbos, Cheato pages, Banjo statues
  • Tertiary: Music notes, eggs, and feathers.
  • Extra: ? Eggs, Ice Key.
• Donkey Kong 64: This one is gonna take a while.
  • Primary:
  • The Golden Bananas. There are 201 of them across the game, recollecting them after their theft is the Kongs' main goal, and they're the Plot Coupon required to access new levels by meeting B. Locker's toll and getting him to move out of the way (tolls range from just one for the first stage, Jungle Japes, to 100 for the final level, Hideout Helm).
  • DK Keys are equally important since they're necessary to open the way for new levels to begin with, through K. Lumsy.
  • Secondary:
    • Banana Medals. There are 40 of them, one for each Kong across the eight main worlds (none exist in the hub world due to its lack of normal Bananas). These are rewarded for collecting 75 Bananas out of 100 in every world but the last, Hideout Helm; in that level, they exist as physical pickups that you can grab. Only 15 of them are required to unlock Cranky Kong's special reward, which grants access to the Rareware Coin; the other 25 are only required for 101% completion.
    • Banana Fairies. 20 of them are present throughout the adventure; four in the hub world and two in every level. Collecting them has them increase the Kongs' carrying capacity for Crystal Coconuts and Banana Camera Film by one per fairy, and collecting them also unlocks bonus content on the main menu, ranging from a cutscene Replay Mode at two to infinite consumables for all 20. Rescuing all 20 Banana Fairies grants access to the Rareware Golden Banana, a secret Golden Banana that bumps their total up to 201.
    • Blueprints. 40 exist throughout the game; 5 each are in the hub world and every level except for Hideout Helm, held by color-coded Kasplats. Each Blueprint given to Snide gets you a Golden Banana and an extra minute added to Hideout Helm's base time of just 10 minutes.
  • Tertiary:
    • Banana Coins. These are scattered fairly generously throughout the game, so generously that despite there being a total of 974, only 160 can be spent by the end. There are two types, normal color-coded coins that only one Kong can collect which give one coin, and the rainbow-colored 5-Banana Coins hidden under DK Dirt Piles, which give five coins to all five Kongs. These are required to buy upgrades from Cranky, Funky, and Candy, and two are also spent on the Donkey Kong machine the first time you play its second loop.
    • Bananas. 3500 of them exist in the game, 100 for each Kong in every level but DK Isles and Hideout Helm. Some are used as a Follow the Money indicator, while others are hidden in areas that require a bit of platforming or puzzle-solving to reach. They exist as individual bananas worth one, banana bunches worth five, and Banana Balloons that award ten when popped. Bananas provide Banana Medals when a Kong collects 75 of their specific Bananas in a stage, and are given to Troff 'N' Scoff to unlock the bosses. Collecting all 100 for a Kong is not required for completion, but is indicated by a short musical sting upon doing so.
  • Extra:
    • Battle Arena Crowns. There are 10 in the game, given as rewards for beating the Battle Arenas; 2 in the hub world, and 1 in each of the main levels. Collecting one unlocks multiplayer, and a total of four are needed to unlock a door in Hideout Helm. The remaining six only contribute to reaching 101% completion.
    • The Nintendo and Rareware Coins. Only one of each exists, both obtained through playing an Embedded Precursor. The Nintendo Coin is awarded for completing round 2 of the original Donkey Kong in Frantic Factory, while the Rareware Coin appears as a random drop in Jetpac after scoring 5000 points. These only unlock the final door in Hideout Helm, which contains two Banana Fairies (which can be captured from outside the room) and the final Boss Key, which means that by extension, they're required to complete the game 101%.
• Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy:
  • Primary: Power Cells.
  • Secondary: Scout Flies.
  • Tertiary: Precursor Orbs, Echo Clusters.
• Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus:
  • Primary: Treasure Keys.
  • Secondary: Clue Bottles.
  • Tertiary: Gold Coins.
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom
  • Primary: Golden Spatulas, new moves
  • Secondary: Patrick's Lost Socks, Golden Underwear, Level-specific collectables like King Jellyfish's jelly, the steering wheels, and the stolen artwork.
  • Tertiary: Underwear, Shiny Objects
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
  • Primary: Level-specific collectables like the hot rod parts, stolen clothes and Jellyfish Power Cells.
  • Secondary: Sleepy Seeds
  • Tertiary: Snooze Zs, Hearts, Megaphones (the latter two are exclusive to the Giant Plankton level)
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman
  • Primary: SPONGEBOB letter tiles, the Flying Dutchman's treasures
  • Secondary: Gold Doubloons, Jellyfish, Sand Dollars
  • Tertiary: Square Pants
• Spyro the Dragon:
  • Primary: Dragons, which perform this role despite not being literally collected.
  • Secondary: Gems (also tertiary). Dragon Eggs from Thieves (need those to progress with the balloonists).
  • Tertiary: Fodder, not technically collectible, but killing a certain amount releases a 1-up.
  • Extra: Keys (to open gem chests).
• Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!:
  • Primary: Talismans for the first two worlds; Orbs later move into this role.
  • Secondary: Orbs, which eventually also become primary pickups; Gems (again tertiary. Need those to get past Moneybags).
  • Tertiary: Fodder, not technically collectible, but killing a certain amount releases a 1-up.
  • Extra: Skill Points.
• Spyro: Year of the Dragon:
  • Primary: Characters; Dragon Eggs act as both this and secondary pickups.
  • Secondary: Dragon Eggs act as both this and primary pickups; Gems (tertiary as well).
  • Tertiary: Fodder, not technically collectible, but killing a certain amount releases a 1-up.
  • Extra: Skill Points.
• Super Kiwi 64
  • Primary: The amethyst gems that serve as energy cells to refuel the airplane.
  • Secondary: The gold-colored gears, and the five rings. Collecting them all yields a gem.
  • Tertiary: The keys that open doors in certain levels.
  • Extra: The gold medals obtained by breaking the levels' time records in Time Trial.
• Super Mario 64
  • Primary: Keys, Power Stars.
  • Secondary: Red Coins (8 for a Power Star). Silver Stars (5 for a Power Star, DS-only), 1-Up Mushrooms.
  • Tertiary: Coins (100 for a Power Star).
  • Extra: Cap Switches.
• Super Mario Sunshine
  • Primary: Shine Sprites.
  • Secondary: Red Coins (8 for a Shine Sprite), 1-Up Mushrooms, Blue Coins (also counts as Extra due to highly tricky placement).
  • Tertiary: Coins (100 for a Shine Sprite), Water Bottles.
  • Extra: Blue Coins (also counts as Secondary due to allowing for more Shine Sprites).
• Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2
  • Primary: Power Stars, Grand Stars.
  • Secondary: 1-Up Mushrooms, Life Mushrooms, Purple Coins, Silver Stars (5 for a Power Star), Comet Medals (2-only).
  • Tertiary: Star Bits. Launch Star Pieces. Coins, Notes.
  • Extra: Green Stars.
• Super Mario Odyssey
  • Primary: Power Moons, Multi Moons.
  • Secondary: Regional Coins, Moon Shards, Life-Up Hearts.
  • Tertiary: Coins, Hearts.
  • Extra: Costumes, Balloons (from the Luigi-specific DLC).
• Vexx:
  • Primary: Wraithhearts
  • Secondary: SoulJars (literally called that, actually)
  • Tertiary: Heart Shards, 1-Ups
• Yoshi's Story:
  • Primary: Fruit. You need to collect 30 to beat a level.
  • Secondary: Hearts are necessary to open up new levels in the next world, although not mandatory since one level will always be available. The fact they're technically optional makes them secondary.
  • Tertiary: Coins and Eggs.
  • Extra: Melons count simultaneously as this and Primary. Collecting all melons warrants a perfect score, and they're the usual reward for completing optional challenges within levels. There's also the White Shy Guy and the secret playable Yoshis.

Hack-and-Slash

• Blasphemous II: The game has a wide variety of items to pick up for various reasons.
  • Prayer Beads return as one source of buffs. The Penitent One also needs to find four Abandoned Rosary Knots to expand how many Prayer Beads he can use at once, another returning collectable with a slightly different name.
  • Bile Flasks, which are used to let the Penitent One heal, also returns as a collectable in the form of Empty Receptacles that must be given to the nameless giant saint in the City of the Blessed Name.
  • Prayers return in two forms; Verses, which are quick-fire projectile attacks based on the subweapons of the Castlevania games, and Chants, which have larger areas of effect and deal more damage.
  • A new collectable are small wooden statues that the Penitent One can mount on a portable altar on his back for varying buffs and bonuses.
  • Quest items are required, of course. Some of these need to be found in multiples, such as the six Wax Seeds for Cesareo in the Severed Tower, or the four fragments of Unfinished Lullaby to create the Lullaby of the White Shore, needed to appease the mysterious Giant Woman nursing a child in Profundo Lamento.
  • Tears of Atonement return as the in-game currency.
  • Marks of Martyrdom are a new currency used to unlock new weapon powerups and slots on the Penitent One's personal altar.
  • Silver-Clad Crystal Shards are needed to increase the amount of health restored by the Bile Flasks.
  • Empty Chalices are traded to the bleeding saint for an increase in the Penitent One's maximum health.
  • Fervent Kisses are traded to the disembodied giant hand in the Streets of Wakes for an increase to the Penitent One's maximum Fervor.
• No More Heroes:
  • Primary: Ranks, including the Job/Asssassination medals
  • Secondary: Trading Cards, Lovikov Balls
  • Tertiary: Money, Clothing
  • Extra: Swords

Platformers

• Azure Striker Gunvolt:
  • Primary: Jewels in Gunvolt 1.
  • Secondary: Bolts, Clips (Gunvolt 2), Skills, and synthesized gear for Gunvolt, EX Weapons, Subroutines, and Memory Upgrades for Copen.
  • Tertiary: Healing items, crafting materials, vig.
  • Extra: Points and Kudos.
• Braid:
  • Primary: Puzzle pieces.
  • Secondary: Keys.
  • Extra: Hidden Stars.
• Conker's Bad Fur Day
  • Primary: Money.
  • Secondary: Squirrel Tails (also technically extra, assuming you somehow never die)
  • Tertiary: Chocolate Bars.
• Crash Bandicoot series (Naughty Dog):
  • Primary: Crystals, from 2 onward.
  • Secondary: Gems, Sapphire Relics, 1-Ups, Tawna/N. Brio Tokens (first game only).
  • Tertiary: Wumpa Fruit.
  • Extra: Keys (first game only). Gold/Platinum Relics.
• Commander Keen:
  • Primary: Parts stolen from your ship in Invasion of the Vorticons: Marooned on Mars, Boobus Bombs in Keen Dreams, Wetsuit and Council Members in Goodbye, Galaxy: Secret of the Oracle, Grappling Hook and Giant Sandwich in Aliens Ate My Baby Sitter!. You need the Wetsuit in order to rescue one Council Member who's being held prisoner in the Well of Wishes in Secret of the Oracle, Boobus Bombs are the only things that can defeat King Boobus Tuber (the Big Bad of Keen Dreams), and the Grappling Hook and Giant Sandwich are used to scale a cliff and pass by the Grabbiter (map obstacles in Aliens Ate My Baby Sitter!).
  • Tertiary: Point items (usually candy and sugary snacks/drinks - all games), Lifewater Drops/Vitalin Flasks (Goodbye, Galaxy series), Vivas (Aliens Ate My Baby Sitter!), Rayguns/Neural Stunners (Invasion of the Vorticons and Goodbye, Galaxy respectively), Flower Powers (Keen Dreams).
  • Extra: Lifewater Flask/Keg-O-Vitalin (Goodbye, Galaxy), Queen Viva (Aliens Ate My Baby Sitter!) - usually well hidden, but these each gives you an extra life.
• Donkey Kong Country SNES trilogy
  • Primary: Nothing (if you're just beating the game normally)
  • Secondary: Kremkoins/Bonus Coins, DK Coins and Banana Birds (required for 100% Completion and the Golden Ending in 2 and 3), K-O-N-G Letters (4 in each level that give a 1-up upon collecting them all), Animal Tokens (getting 3 of a kind takes you to a bonus stage loaded with bananas) and 1-up balloons.
  • Tertiary: Banana Coins and Bear Coins (respawning currency), Bananas.
  • Extra: Cogs (only found in 3's extra world) and Brothers Bear items (used for 3's Chain of Deals.)
• Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
  • Primary: Nothing, unless you count the roulette barrel at the end of levels.
  • Secondary: K-O-N-G Letters, Puzzle Pieces.
  • Tertiary: Banana Coins, Bananas.
  • Extra: Rare Orbs/Mysterious Relics (rewards for beating the Nintendo Hard temple levels).
• Gex: It has a 3-tier collectible system but in a different way. There were 3 tiers of collectibles. Everything starts out tier one. Then it moves up to tier two after you get enough. Hit the threshold at 2 and you progress to three. Hit the threshold at three and voila! Extra remote.
• A Hat in Time:
  • Primary: Time Pieces
  • Secondary: Yarn, Safe codes, Relics, Tokens
  • Tertiary: Pons
  • Extra: Pages in Rifts
• Hell Pie:
  • Primary: The ingredients. They are all one of a kind and they have to be found scattered throughout the worlds.
  • Secondary:
    • Unigoats are a small animal species who, when sacrificed at altars, give Nate powerups in the form of horns.
    • Cans of candymeat are used to give Nugget new abilities.
    • Lucky Cat figurines are scattered throughout the worlds and, if all are collected, allow admission into Greed.
  • Tertiary: Soul shards. They are everywhere and can be used to buy costumes. If Nate dies, he drops a handful of them.
• Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards:
  • Primary: The big Crystal Shards obtained from bosses. Technically the only shards you're outright forced to pick up.
  • Secondary: The smaller Crystal Shards obtained in levels.
  • Tertiary: Food, stars (grant one-ups after collecting enough).
  • Extra: Enemy Info Cards, obtained in the bonus goal minigame.
• New Super Mario Bros.:
  • Primary: None
  • Secondary: Star Coins, 1-Up Mushrooms
  • Tertiary: Coins
• Pizza Tower:
  • Primary: Toppins, required to open boss doors.
  • Secondary: Treasures, required for the Golden Ending and 100% Completion.
  • Tertiary: Pizza toppings, clocks, and bells, which grant points and extend your combo.
  • Extra: Pizzasonas, of which one is found in each secret area. Not required for any form of progression.
• Rocket: Robot on Wheels:
  • Primary: Tickets
  • Secondary: Health Packs, Machine Parts
  • Tertiary: Tokens
• Scaler:
  • Primary: Lizard Eggs
  • Secondary: Crystal Gems
  • Tertiary: Klokkies
• Silver Falls: Ghoul Busters: There are bottle caps strewn throughout the levels, and they can be later exchanged for items. However, the bigger goal is to collect 3 box tops hidden in each level, which usually requires some riskier platforming or use of items. This is downplayed due to the ability to repeatedly replay the same levels farm for everything you need.
• Sonic the Hedgehog:
  • Primary: Animal Capsules, Chaos Emeralds (in games where they're plot-relevant), Sol Emeralds, Sun and Moon Medals (Sonic Unleashed), Flickies (Sonic 3D Blast), Upgrades (Sonic Adventure & Sonic Unleashed), Scrap (Sonic Rush Adventure), World Rings (Sonic Storybook Series), Keys (Sonic Generations)
  • Secondary: Red Star Rings, Robot Generators, Metal Sonic projectors, and Time Stones (Sonic CD), Chaos Emeralds (in most games where they're not plot-relevant), Upgrades (Sonic Adventure 2 & Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)), Scrap (Sonic Riders), Chaos Rings (Knuckles Chaotix), Emblems, Emerald Shards
  • Tertiary: Rings, Pearls (Sonic Storybook Series), Small Animals, EXP (Sonic Unleashed), Power Cores (Sonic Heroes)
  • Extra: Lost Chao (Sonic Adventure 2), Chaos Emeralds (in Sonic Colors and Sonic Lost World)
• Super Mario Advance:
  • Primary: Crystal Balls.
  • Secondary: Mushrooms, Keys, Ace Coins.
  • Tertiary: Hearts, Slot Coins, enemies count due to defeating enough of them with a single vegetable rewarding a heart.
  • Extra: Yoshi Eggs.
• Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3:
  • Primary: Panels.
  • Secondary: 1-Up Mushrooms, Advance Coins, Hammer Bros. on the map count due to rewarding items.
  • Tertiary: Coins.
  • Extra: P-Wings, Warp Whistles, Music Boxes, Clouds, Anchors, e-Coins.
• Super Mario Bros. Deluxe:
  • Primary: Flagpoles, Toads, High Score Medals.
  • Secondary: Red Coins, Yoshi Eggs.
  • Tertiary: Coins.
  • Extra: Awards, Icons, Pictures, Artwork, Banners.
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder:
  • Primary:
    • The Wonder Seeds are the main Plot Coupons used to unlock new levels. Each level gives one for reaching the goal, and another appears when a stage's Wonder Flower is activated. Some stages have an alternate goal, which gives a third Wonder Seed.
    • Royal Seeds are found at the end of each world's castle, and are needed to unlock access to Castle Bowser.
  • Secondary:
    • The large Purple Coins, which are not needed to finish the game, but finding all three in a level is needed for 100% Completion.
    • Badges are optional, but give useful abilities, or can make the game more challenging. They are bought at Poplin Shops, given as gifts for opening up Poplin Houses with Wonder Seeds, or awarded for completing Badge Challenge levels.
    • Wonder Tokens appear in certain Break Time levels or during some main levels' Wonder Flower effects. Collecting 5 of them gives a Wonder Seed.
  • Tertiary: Purple Coins and their shards (10 shards make 1 full coin) are common throughout each level. 100 Purple Coins can be exchanged for 1 Wonder Seed at Poplin Shops, once per shop.
• Super Mario World:
  • Primary: Ticker Tapes.
  • Secondary: Dragon Coins, 1-Up Mushrooms.
  • Tertiary: Coins.
  • Extra: 3-Up Moons, Yoshi's Wings, Keys for secret exits.
• Yoshi's Island:
  • Primary: The Level Goal.
  • Secondary: Flowers, Red Coins, and Stars, all of which dictate your final score. Also, keys to progress in castle levels.
  • Tertiary: Coins, Eggs, enemies themselves count as this, since eating them is the main source for obtaining eggs.
  • Extra: Keys for mini-game huts.
• Zapper:
  • Primary: Magpie Eggs
  • Secondary: Yellow Orbs, Extra Lives
  • Tertiary: Regular Orbs, Coins in bonus levels
  • Extra: New Shields

Point-and-Click

• The SpongeBob Movie Game
  • Primary: Goofy Goober Tokens, new moves
  • Secondary: Treasure Chests
  • Tertiary: Krabby Patties, Manliness Points

Puzzle

• Shirone: The Dragon Girl only features optional collectibles, that come in two variants:
  • Puzzle pieces: these are the standard collectibles, found in hidden locations or as a reward for solving extra puzzles. They don't have a purpose in story, but they can be used to buy new outfits for Shirone and unlock an achievement when all are collected.
  • Royal jewelry: three jewels each belonging to a member of the royal family who once inhabited the castle. The player gets a better ending (and a Steam achievement) if they have all three.

Racing Games

• Diddy Kong Racing:
  • Primary: Wizpig Amulet Pieces
  • Secondary: Golden Balloons
  • Tertiary: Bananas (original)/Coins (remake)
  • Extra: Keys (and by association, T.T. Amulet Pieces), Trophies

Roguelikes

• The Binding of Isaac:
  • Primary: None in the original game, the Polaroid starting with the Wrath of the Lamb DLC, the Negative and the Key Pieces in Rebirth, and the Knife Pieces and Dad's Note in the Repentance DLC. For the Macrogame, it's the various items unlocked by clearing the Womb and, starting with Wrath of the Lamb, the Cathedral. Rebirth turns the items from clearing Sheol into this, due to the addition of the Dark Room.
  • Secondary: Treasure room, shop, and Devil Room items in individual runs. Angel Room items starting with the Wrath of the Lamb DLC. For the macrogame, it's any unlockables not required for new endings.
  • Tertiary: Hearts, coins, keys, bombs, and in Rebirth, batteries
  • Extra: Library tomes starting with the Wrath of the Lamb DLC, Black Market items in Rebirth, and Planetarium items in the Repentance DLC.

• Crypt Of The Necrodancer:
  • Primary: None
  • Secondary: Equipment and spells. Keys are this before you've unlocked all the NPCs, and diamonds are this before you've purchased all permanent upgrades.
  • Tertiary: Gold and consumable items. Diamonds also become this after you've purchased all permanent upgrades.
  • Extra: Keys after unlocking all the NPCs

Run-and-Gun

• Mega Man X
  • Primary: Special Weapons and Techniques, the Leg Armor in X1
  • Secondary: Armor Pieces, Sub-Tanks, Heart Tanks, Injured Reploids, Zero’s parts in X2
  • Tertiary: Ammo and health capsules, Credits
  • Extra: Street Fighter moves, the Ultimate Armor, the Z-Saber in X3
• Mighty Gunvolt:
  • Primary: None.
  • Secondary: Rare Items in Burst.
  • Tertiary: Hearts and food items.
  • Extra: Points and Pixel Stickers in Burst.
• Mighty No. 9:
  • Primary: ReXelection (Beck) and Variable Code (RAY) powers.
  • Secondary: AcXel Boosts or Boost Xels, 1-Up Cores.
  • Tertiary: Recovery Xels.
  • Extra: Points.

Shooters

• Jet Force Gemini:
  • Primary: Ship parts
  • Secondary: Tribals (all of them being necessary to get one of the ship parts), color-coded keys, character-specific tools (Crowbar for Juno, Mine Key for Vela, Night-Vision Goggles for Lupus)
  • Tertiary: Floyd Medals, Tokens
  • Extra: Bonus Totems, Gemini Holders, ammo capacity upgrades
• Ratchet & Clank (through Up Your Arsenal)
  • Primary: Gadgets, Infobots
  • Secondary: Gold/Platinum/Titanium Bolts, Trophies (in Up Your Arsenal)
  • Tertiary: Bolts
  • Extra: Skill Points

Wide-Open Sandbox

• LEGO Adaptation Game:
  • Primary: None (the games can be completed by just beating every level without actually collecting anything)
  • Secondary: Lego canisters to build minikits, Blue Challenge Mode canisters, Gold Bricks, Power Bricks, extra characters, game modifiers (the latter two are a Double Unlock and have to be bought with studs after they're found or unlocked with Power Bricks and then bought.)
  • Tertiary: Studs
  • Extra: Various bonus content unlocked by collecting a certain number of gold bricks

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