Spike Top is an enemy first appearing in Super Mario World and appeared in New Super Mario Bros., Super Princess Peach, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. These Buzzy Beetle variants grip the surface of blocks and march across a series of blocks, with a spike atop their heads to injure Mario. They cannot be defeated by a fireball, which can usually exterminate an enemy. In this sense, Spike Tops are essentially a combination of the Buzzy Beetle and the Spiny possessing the immunities of both enemies, but like most enemies, they are not indefeasible as they can be knocked off the stage if Mario knocks the block the Spike Top is above.
Spike Tops debuted in cave areas in Super Mario World. Yoshi can eat them. They climb up walls and often come in groups. If they are jumped on, Mario will take damage. They are also immune to fireballs, they can still be defeated with the use of the Cape Feather or the Starman.
Super Princess Peach
Though normal Spike Tops don't appear in Super Princess Peach, two new variations of them called the Mecha-Spike Top and the Mad Mecha-Spike Top appear. They have a more glossy appearance and walk in a robotic manner.
New Super Mario Bros.
A Spike Top from New Super Mario Bros.
They appeared in New Super Mario Bros. acting like they did in Super Mario World. Some would climb on brick blocks, and if the player hit the block they would be defeated. They are less common in this game mainly appearing in levels of World 5, World 6, and World 8. They can also be defeated with the use of Shell attacks, the Blue Shell, the Starman, or the Mega Mushroom.
New Super Mario Bros Wii.
Many Spike Tops from New Super Mario Bros. Wii
They reappear in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and act just as they did in the previous games. In this game, they are commonly found in levels of World 2 and World 6. In addition to being able to be defeated with the Starman, they can also be frozen with the Ice Flower.
Spike Tops return in New Super Mario Bros. 2 behaving the same as they did in previous games retaining their trademark immunities. They are once again commonly found in caverns however, just like the Buzzy Beetles, they are more common in this game. Spike Tops are commonly found in World 2, World Mushroom, World Flower, World 5, World 6, and World Star. They can be defeated with either the Super Leaf, Gold Flower, Starman, or Invincibility Leaf. Spike Tops are among one of the few enemies to not be affected by the effects of the Gold Ring.
New Super Mario Bros. U/New Super Luigi U/New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
Super Mario Maker/Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS/Super Mario Maker 2
In Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, the Blue Spike Top returns, but only if you grab the item/enemy of the Red Spike Top and shake it. This will give the normal Spike Top a blue color and boost its speed. This is the same with Super Mario Maker 2, just press the normal Spike Top for a while to change it.
Super Mario Run
Spike Tops return in Super Mario Run retaining their behavior and immunities from previous games, in this game, they can once again be defeated with the Starman.
In the early Paper Mario series, Spike Tops had blue shells instead of red. However, there are other related species of Spike Tops named Red Spike Tops.