Super Adventure Box
Super Adventure Box
- Levels
- 1–80
- Type
- Dungeon
- Zone
- Rata Sum
(Maguuma Jungle) - Connects to
- Creator's Commons
Image(s) |
Click to enlarge. |
“Lord Vanquish has kidnapped the Princess! You must save her!
— In-game description
Super Adventure Box, or SAB, is a special activity originally introduced during the eponymous release as part of April Fools' Day 2013. Originally accessed by talking to Moto in Creator's Commons, it is a "game within a game" with an 8-bit platformer theme, sharing some elements with jumping puzzles, and uses the same enter mechanism as dungeons and thus can be completed alone or with a group of up to five players. The activity is character-based: any items and upgrades obtained on one character do not carry over to other characters. While inside, players are able to earn Bauble Bubbles that can be exchanged with Moto for various items.
All players start off on equal ground: Players will be under a hidden transform effect, effectively making all skills inaccessible except for the ones given inside the box. Current equipment and traits will have no effect on the character. The player cannot change, equip, or remove equipment while in the box. Prior to the March 29, 2022 update, all effects on the character were removed upon entering the box, including those from boosts. The only elements that persisted outside the box were items obtained in the box, such as baubles. Since this update, food, utility and other positive boosts are suspended and resumed upon return to Tyria.
Getting there[edit]
- Portal to Super Adventure Box
- Creator's Commons (Rata Sum) located directly west of Magustan Court Waypoint
- Hall of Monuments (Eye of the North) located next to Eye of the North Waypoint
- Invitation to the Super Adventure Festival
- Invitation to the Party
Locations[edit]
Area | Area objectives |
---|---|
Hub | Super Adventure Waypoint |
World 1 House | — |
Sunny Glade | Destroy that Cage! |
Dark Woods | Destroy that Cage! |
Kingdom of Fungus | Defeat King Toad! |
Cart | Destroy the Cart! |
World 2 House | — |
Rapids | Destroy that Cage! |
Pain Cliffs | Destroy that Cage! |
Storm Top | Defeat the Storm Wizard! |
Robbers | Defeat the Robbers! |
World 3 House | — |
Test Zone | Destroy that Cage! |
Game Over room | Choose if you want to continue (use a Continue Coin). |
Hub[edit]
The Hub contains portal houses to four worlds and a gate back to Rata Sum. Players can start a world by entering a door and then selecting a difficulty level and zone. Players can only visit zones they have already completed. This acts as a level select mechanic for the platformer.
Worlds and zones[edit]
Super Adventure Box is divided in four worlds, each in turn divided in a total of three zones plus a bonus zone. Each zone is unlocked after completing the previous one, and all of them can be accessed and played individually without needing to complete the entire world in a go. The first and second zones have a Cage as the final boss, while the third zones have a unique and harder boss. The bonus zone requires completion of the third zone to be accessed each time.
Worlds 3 and 4 are not currently available, but might be available in the future.[1]
Since Super Adventure Festival 2023, the Test Zone of World 3 is available.
World | Zone 0 | Zone 1 | Zone 2 | Zone 3 | Final boss | Bonus |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
World 1 | Sunny Glade | Dark Woods | Kingdom of Fungus | King Toad | Cart | |
World 2 | Rapids | Pain Cliffs | Storm Top | Storm Wizard | Robbers | |
World 3 | Test Zone | Sparkling Pools | ? | ? | ? | ? |
World 4 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Difficulty[edit]
Difficulty Mode | Mode Entry NPC | Notes |
---|---|---|
Exploration Mode | Exploration Mode is the easiest difficulty, intended for players who wish to skip the platforming elements of the game. It features an army of Happy Clouds who will produce a rainbow bridge whenever the player approaches them, allowing swift passage through the level. Slain enemies will also drop food more frequently than in the other modes, but there are fewer rewards for completing each level, and digging spots will yield no baubles.
Due to its ease, this mode is ideal for completing achievements. | |
Normal Mode | Normal Mode is, as the name suggests, the standard version of Super Adventure Box. The player must navigate puzzles without help, but will also not be hindered by unfair hazards. | |
Tribulation Mode | Tribulation Mode is a grueling difficulty intended for hardcore gamers with a masochistic streak, featuring booby traps, path restrictions, and the possibility that anything, no matter how innocuous, will instantly kill the player. Torture platformers, such as Cat Mario and I Wanna Be The Guy, have been cited as a direct inspiration for the mode.[2]
Greater rewards are available for the taking than in the other modes, including increased baubles from the end chest, a set of challenging achievements, and the ability to craft exclusive color-shifted versions of the Super Weapon skins: King Toad's weapons and Storm Wizard's Weapons. Players also have the option to listen to heavy-metal versions of the usual background music via the Shard of Duskk. |
Interface[edit]
- Energy bar
The yellow bar represents the character's endurance, or ability to dodge in order to evade attacks in the SAB (Super Adventure Box) similarly to the rest of the game. Any enemy attack can be evaded if timed correctly, excluding traps like the flytraps (note, however, that ending the dodge roll inside an enemy causes damage and knockback)[verification requested].
- Hearts
The number of hearts displayed represents the player's health bar. All players start off with three hearts. Normal hits received use up one heart, while weaker hits (from poisonous water, for example) can use up half a heart. The number of hearts, the player's total health, can be increased by gaining Health Vessels. A Health Vessel is obtained by defeating the final boss of each world in any mode. Players can only obtain one Health Vessel per world. If a player loses all their hearts, they lose a life and are moved back to the last known checkpoint with maximum hearts. Players can restore lost hearts by eating food which can drop from enemies or from breaking items in shops. Players can also heal themselves by using skill #6, which requires recharging by purchasing Health Refills from shopkeepers. The Health Potion healing skill can hold up to 9 charges. It is currently not possible to heal other players.
There is no falling damage, no matter how far down the player falls or jumps, provided they land on a solid surface. Falling into an abyss, however, sends the player back to the last known checkpoint with one heart less. Falling into an abyss in Tribulation Mode will take one life instead of one heart.
- Lives
Players start with two lives, and more lives can be purchased from certain shopkeepers in each zone. The number of remaining lives is preserved between zones, even when the festival returns in subsequent years. When a player loses all their lives, they are moved to the Game Over room, surrounded by ticking bombs, rising lava, and spiked walls. However, Moto will be there to offer assistance, allowing players to either use a Continue Coin or purchase one for 50 Baubles, which will give them 5 lives and move them back to the last activated checkpoint. Moto also offers 25 or 50 lives for 5 or 10 Continue Coins, respectively, or 99 lives if the player has an Infinite Continue Coin. If the player declines or can't afford any of these options, they will be returned to the Hub and all progress on the zone they were on will be reset if they were either in Tribulation Mode or not in a party. Continue Coins are also available from Moto outside of the Super Adventure Box in Creator's Commons, at a cost of ten Baubles for one coin.
- Bauble count
Baubles are used as currency, allowing various skills and items to be purchased from shopkeepers in the various levels of the SAB, as well as from Moto. Initially, players can carry only 250 baubles, but this limit can be increased to 500 with the purchase of a Bauble Purse, 750 with a Bauble Tote Bag, and 1,000 with a Bauble Backpack. Baubles can be converted to Bauble Bubbles at the Super Adventure Box Trader at the rate of 250 baubles for 1 bubble. The number shown is that of the baubles that are in the player character's inventory.
The colors used by the baubles which can be picked up in the SAB are aligned with the rarity paradigm used for equipment, with different colored baubles granting a different number of blue baubles (the base currency):
Blue: 1 Bauble
Green: 5 Baubles
Yellow: 10 Baubles
Red: 20 Baubles
Purple: 50 Baubles
The baubles dropped by monsters will disappear if not picked up within a short time (around 10 sec).
Upgrades and skills[edit]
- Primary article: List of Super Adventure Box upgrades and skills
Most upgrades and their corresponding skills, if any, are purchased from shopkeepers across each zone, or obtained as rewards. Skills and other purchased enhancements are character-bound (will only be available to that character which bought the skill). Being swallowed by certain enemies removes all skills except for a special skill which should be used to regain freedom.
- Power-ups
Power-ups can be found inside of barrels in Super Adventure Box and grant the player specific buffs for 10 seconds:
- Damage Boost causes players to deal double damage.
- Invincibility gives the player a buff that makes them invulnerable to incoming damage as well as poison water for the duration.
- Invisibility grants the player stealth.
- Speed Boost gives the player a buff similar to Swiftness, increasing their movement speed.
NPCs[edit]
- Primary article: List of Super Adventure Box NPCs
Rewards[edit]
- For list of all Super Adventure Festival items, see: Super Adventure Festival/items
Overview[edit]
- Baubles are the main currency earned. There is no limit for farming them besides the limit of player's Bauble Purse upgrade (initial maximum of 250 baubles, with upgrades of 500, 750, and 1000).
- Normal and Tribulation Modes have one Glorious Chest per zone. It can be looted once per day per zone per mode, for a maximum of 13 chests.
- Normal and Tribulation Modes have an additional chance to drop certain Super Adventure styled weapons.
- Tribulation Mode rewards special trophies which can be used to craft various skins. They can be obtained multiple times per day in each zone.
- The Glitched Chest can be spawned in every mode and zone by hitting a glitch (except Test Zone). It can be looted once per day per zone, for a maximum of 6 chests.
- Fancy Furniture Coins can be obtained from hidden shops once per day per account per zone. They can be used to create various guild decorations.
- Completing three daily achievements rewards the Box of Super Adventure Box Goods container.
- The containers, among other items, also contain a Crimson Assassin Token, which can be used to purchase the Crimson Assassin weapon skins. Besides a single achievement, this is the only way to earn these tokens and weapons.
Exploration Mode[edit]
- Bauble (15-16) in the chest (multiple times per day, except for W1Z3 and W2Z3)
- Glitched Chest (once per day per zone, only if the glitch in this zone has been destroyed, not in Test Zone)
Normal Mode[edit]
- Bauble (15-16) in the chest (multiple times per day, except for W1Z3 and W2Z3)
- Glorious Chest (once per day per zone)
- Bauble Bubble (2)
- Continue Coin
- A chance to get a Super Weapon Box or a Super Weapon skin
- A chance to get a Trader's Generation One Chest
- A very rare chance to get a Kaiser Snake Weapon Box
- Glitched Chest (once per day per zone, only if the glitch in this zone has been destroyed, not in Test Zone)
- Bonus Reward Chest (multiple times per day)
- Bauble (5-75)
Tribulation Mode[edit]
- Bauble (15-16) in the chest (multiple times per day, except for W1Z3 and W2Z3)
- Baubles around the chest per zone Baubles (multiple times per day, except for W1Z3 and W2Z3)
- Glorious Chest (once per day per zone)
- Bauble Bubble (2 in World 1, 4 in World 2)
- Continue Coin
- A rare chance to get a Super Weapon Box
- A very rare chance to get a Kaiser Snake Weapon Box
- Glitched Chest (once per day per zone, only if the glitch in this zone has been destroyed, not in Test Zone)
- Bonus Reward Chest (multiple times per day)
- Bauble (5-75)
- A trophy specific to that world and zone which can be used to craft various skins.
- Completing World 1 zones will award items for crafting King Toad's weapon skins
- 101 — King Toad Z-1
- 102 — King Toad Z-2
- 103 — King Toad Z-3
- Completing World 2 zones will award items for crafting Storm Wizard's weapon skins
- 201 — Storm Wizard Z-1
- 202 — Storm Wizard Z-2
- 203 — Storm Wizard Z-3
- Completing World 1 zones will award items for crafting King Toad's weapon skins
Achievements and Collections[edit]
- Achievements
- Super Adventure Box: World 1
- Super Adventure Box: World 2
- Super Adventure Box: Quality Testing
- Super Adventure Box: Tribulation Mode
- Super Adventure Box: Nostalgia
- Daily Super Adventure Festival achievements during the festival
- The Goldclaw Holiday Collection: SUPER ADVENTURE BOX: THE OFFICIAL NOVEL
- Weapon Collections
- The Super Adventure (Blue skins)
- The King Toad (Green skins)
- The Storm Wizard (Yellow skins)
- The Kaiser (Orange skins)
- The Crimson Assassin (Red skins)
- The Glitched Adventure ("Glitched" blue skins)
Account unlocks[edit]
Gallery[edit]
- Screenshots
Notes[edit]
- Bonus Reward Chest are given at the end of the timer for zone transition.
- Zones are only unlocked per character and are not account bound.
- Exploration Mode was named Infantile Mode (a homage to the game DOOM "I'm Too Young to Die" Difficulty) until the March 28, 2023 update.
- Minis cannot follow their masters into hidden rooms and shops, and instead idle on the main level map.
- Can use /gg to sacrifice one life and return to the last checkpoint.
Trivia[edit]
- Each of bauble's color matches up with a Super Adventure Box weapon skin set: Blue Baubles/Super weapon skins, Green Baubles/King Toad weapon skins, Yellow Baubles/Storm Wizard's weapon skins, Red Baubles/Crimson Assassin weapon skins, and Purple Baubles/Hardlight weapons.[3]
- The bottom of the Super Coin says "SAB ADMIT ONE". The coin machine was removed with the release of World 2.
- Dialogue within the Super Adventure Box is displayed in New Krytan, but is also translated in the chat panel for the player's convenience.
- The titles of the books in the shops are written in New Krytan. Some of them read:
- Princess Miya is not Moto (Red books)
- Why Moto is Great (Blue books)
- Avoid the Genie! (Green books)
- The open book on some tables seems to be the Red book, saying:
- As you can see they are totally different people. This is clearly not Moto in a wig and dress.
- The loading screen contains the word "LOADING..." spelled out in New Krytan.
Tributes[edit]
The game pays tribute to the 8-bit genre especially to the Mario and Zelda series of games:
SAB feature/activity | Reference |
---|---|
Enter the SAB by putting a coin in Moto's mouth | Arcade machine have coin slots where players insert coins to play the games. Arcade games often involve instant deaths that require players to insert coins to continue playing, hence the Continue Coin. |
Floating blocks effect in the hub | The blocks resemble the basic Tetris blocks. |
Super Race Announcer | Sonic the Hedgehog, a platforming hedgehog obsessed with going fast. |
Introduction: Lord Vanquish kidnaps the Princess | Super Mario franchise where Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach, notably Super Mario World. |
Princess Miya and Moto | There are many in-jokes and references about Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of many iconic Nintendo games and characters. |
Lord Vanquish brandishes two flaming swords, connected by a chain | Sword-chucks from 8-bit Theater, a parody of Final Fantasy. |
Sword coming down into the logo | Introduction to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. |
The player raising the stick | Link obtaining the sword in The Legend of Zelda. |
Audio and player animation played when obtaining an item upgrade | Link obtaining a new item in The Legend of Zelda. |
The sword and shield | The Master Sword and Hylian Shield from The Legend of Zelda franchise. |
The stage map | The overview of the various worlds in Castlevania with the final destination marked with a bat. The brief narration over a stage selection map is a reference to Golden Axe. |
Worlds order on the map | Similar to the worlds of Super Mario World, but World 3 and 5 are inverted: the forest (W1-Z3) arrives before the underground (W3-Z1). W2-Z3 is a reference to Super Mario Bros. 3's World 6: Ice Land. |
After dying, the screen goes black except for an outline of Lord Vanquish's face and you hear a laugh. | When the player dies in Super Mario 64, there's a black screen with Bowser's face and laugh. |
The Game Over room players wind up in after losing all lives | The continue screen in Final Fight, where the hero is tied to a chair with dynamite in front of him. |
Bunnies | The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past where killing chickens or "cuccos" is a bad idea. |
Secret cave discovery sound | A similar tune plays in The Legend of Zelda when the player opens a cave with a bomb, or solves a puzzle. |
Monkeys throwing exploding coconuts | Coconuts from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. |
Green Oozes | Slimes from Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. |
Timed Magic coin adventures | Timed Red coin challenges from New Super Mario Bros. |
Destructible pots with baubles inside | In The Legend of Zelda franchise, players can destroy all kinds of pots with the games currency inside. |
Digging mechanic | Like in The Legend of Zelda Oracle games, the player has a random chance to dig up either currency or enemies. |
Shortcuts | In Kid Niki: Radical Ninja players can find several hidden shortcuts inside of levels, including a sea serpent whose guts can be traveled through and a bird that flies the player through the level. |
Cannon travel | In Secret of Mana players can jump into special cannons to travel across the map. |
Crossing on crocodiles | In Pitfall!, while swinging on vines is the more famous means of crossing over dangerous pools, sometimes you were forced to make use the alligators that lived there as stepping stones. |
King Toad | Wart, the main antagonist of Super Mario Bros. 2 who later also appeared in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening as a friendly NPC. |
Health Vessels | Heart Containers from The Legend of Zelda franchise that reward players with more max health after defeating a boss. |
The mine cart bonus zone, after completing World 1 | The bonus car stage in Street Fighter 2. |
The Raft Ride | The raft ride in Final Fantasy 6, which has enemies jumping up from the water to battle the party. |
The river crossing section | Frogger, a game where the players has to cross a rapid river by jumping on logs that float down the river. |
The Raccoon Kingpin | The Raccoon Kingpin is a raccoon in a suit. The Raccoon Suit is a power-up in Super Mario Bros. 3 that allows Mario to fly. |
The Pain Cliffs zone | This zone contains various references to Ninja Gaiden, including the music. |
Red Assassins | Goemon from the The Legend of the Mystical Ninja. |
Glove of Wisdom | A reference to The Legend of Zelda's Triforce of Wisdom. The next upgrade (not yet available) begins with a P and is likely the Glove of Power, which would mirror the Triforce of Power which is a counterpart to the Triforce of Wisdom. The glove itself is modeled on the Power Glove, an early controller for the Nintendo Entertainment System that was worn on the hand. |
Obtaining the Glove of Wisdom from the Assassin Boss | In Mega Man the player gains the abilities of enemy bosses by defeating them. |
Flute | Musical instruments often play an important in The Legend of Zelda franchise, being featured prominently in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. This also includes other early games such as Loom. |
Wind Doors | A reference to Gradius. The wind traps are actually the mouths of moai (Easter Island head statues). |
The pyramid of alternating light panels in Storm Top | In Q*bert, completing stages required lighting all panels on the pyramid playing field. |
The Robbers bonus zone, after completing World 2 | The Potion Thieves in Golden Axe. (Skritt Burglars are also a reference to this, by proxy of being a reference to Treasure Goblins in Diablo 3) |
Blue Oozes | Slimes from the Dragon Quest series. The release order of Green and Blue Oozes mirrors the line of inspiration between Wizardry and Dragon Quest. |
The Jumping Rocks encountered in Tribulation Mode | A reference to Thwomp from Super Mario Bros. 3. |
Soundtrack[edit]
Super Adventure Box | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Track | Title | Length | Composer | Download |
1 | Main Theme | 1:53 | Jeremy Soule | SoundCloud |
2 | World Hub | 2:09 | Maclaine Diemer | SoundCloud |
3 | Rescue The Princess | 0:44 | Maclaine Diemer | SoundCloud |
4 | Sunny Glade | 2:46 | Lena Chappelle | SoundCloud |
5 | Town Shop | 1:24 | Lena Chappelle | SoundCloud |
6 | Dark Woods 1 | 1:23 | Lena Chappelle | SoundCloud |
7 | Dark Woods 2 | 1:45 | Lena Chappelle | SoundCloud |
8 | Warp Worm | 1:18 | Maclaine Diemer | SoundCloud |
9 | Cave | 0:46 | Maclaine Diemer | SoundCloud |
10 | Kingdom Of Fungus | 2:35 | Maclaine Diemer | SoundCloud |
11 | Kingdom Of Fungus Version 2 | 2:34 | Maclaine Diemer | SoundCloud |
12 | King Toad Boss | 1:16 | Maclaine Diemer | SoundCloud |
13 | Victory! | 0:39 | Lena Chappelle | SoundCloud |
14 | Bonus Stage | 1:00 | Maclaine Diemer | SoundCloud |
15 | River Rapids Preview | 1:48 | Maclaine Diemer | SoundCloud |
16 | Moto's Continue Room Of Death | 0:32 | Maclaine Diemer | SoundCloud |
17 | Rytlock's Critter Rampage | 0:35 | Maclaine Diemer | SoundCloud |
18 | Commercial Music | 0:44 | Maclaine Diemer | SoundCloud |
19 | Sub Hub | 1:18 | Maclaine Diemer | SoundCloud |
20 | Hillbilly Hoedown | 2:13 | Maclaine Diemer | SoundCloud |
21 | Pain Cliffs | 1:43 | Lena Chappelle | SoundCloud |
22 | Shortcut Eagle | 1:45 | Keenan Sieg | SoundCloud |
23 | Storm Top | 1:29 | Lena Chappelle | SoundCloud |
24 | Wizard of Storms | 1:50 | Lena Chappelle | SoundCloud |
25 | Super Adventure Run | 1:53 | Joseph Clark | SoundCloud |
See also[edit]
External links[edit]
- Super Adventure Box on official website
- Super Adventure Box advertisement - ArenaNet released a tongue-in-cheek video inviting people to play Super Adventure Box.
- Super Adventure Box is now open
- The origin of the Super Adventure Box
- The origin of the Super Adventure Box video
- Lord Vanquish Twitter feed
References[edit]
- ^ Comment by Laevateinn, Guild Wars 2 Forum
- ^ Tribulation Mode - I am ready, Josh Foreman, Guild Wars 2 Forum
- ^ Finally dagger skins!, Josh Foreman, Guild Wars 2 Forum