Super Adventure Box
|
This content was introduced in Super Adventure Box (release) and was subsequently made available for the Super Adventure Festival |
This article is about the dungeon. For the release, see Super Adventure Box (release). For the festival, see Super Adventure Festival.
Super Adventure Box
Map of Super Adventure Box
- Levels
- 1 – 80
- Type
- Dungeon
- Within
- Rata Sum
- Connects to
- Creator's Commons
Loading screen
Super Adventure Box
“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. All effects on the character will be removed upon entering the box, including those from boosts. The only elements that persist outside the box are items obtained in the box, such as baubles.
Contents
Getting there[edit]
The Portal to Super Adventure Box is located directly west of Magustan Court Waypoint in Creator's Commons of Rata Sum and is only accessible during the Super Adventure Festival.
Locations[edit]
| Area | Area objectives |
|---|---|
| Hub |  |
| 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! |
| Sparkling Pools | 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 three and four are not yet available.
| World | 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 | Sparkling Pools | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| World 4 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Difficulty[edit]
| Difficulty Mode | Mode Entry NPC | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Infantile Mode |  |
Infantile Mode provides rainbow paths over the more difficult jumping puzzle portions of the zones. Players will not receive Bauble Bubbles for completing the zone, foes are more likely to drop food than baubles, and dig spots will yield no bonus baubles. The Baby's First Super Adventure achievement in the Super Adventure Box achievement category rewards players for completing feats in the mode. There are two feats for each of the four checkpoints in the zone and a feat for completing the zone. Infantile Mode is useful for acquiring many Super Adventure Box achievements due to its ease. |
| Normal Mode |  |
In Normal Mode players have normal access to achievements and none of the features in the other two modes, and can earn Bauble Bubbles to buy super weapon skins. Enemies are also likely to drop keys in this mode. |
| Tribulation Mode |  |
Tribulation Mode is a grueling difficulty intended for hardcore gamers, including booby traps, path restrictions, and the likelihood that nearly anything, from flowers to the checkpoints themselves, being able to instantly kill players. It serves as a torture platformer in the same vein as I Wanna Be The Guy and Kaizo Mario. Torture platformers have been cited as a direct inspiration for the mode.[1] Each world in Tribulation Mode has its own color-shifted set of the regular weapon skins: King Toad's weapons and Storm Wizard's Weapons. Players have the option to listen to Shard of Duskk while in Tribulation Mode. |
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 Heart Vessels. A Heart Vessel is obtained by defeating the final boss of each world in any mode. Players can only obtain one Heart 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 as usual, 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.
- Lives
Players start off with two lives at the beginning of each zone, and more lives can be purchased from certain shopkeepers in each zone. 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 (99 lives with an Infinite Continue Coin) and move them back to the last activated checkpoint. If the player has no continue coins and not enough baubles to buy one, or declines to buy one, 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 the 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 and further to 750 with a Bauble Tote Bag. Once the limit is reached, or before that, one can exit the SAB and convert their baubles to Bauble Bubbles from Moto 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, excluding any which may be in their vault or on other characters.
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):
- Baubles
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 a short time:
- 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]
Along with Baubles, various skins have a chance to be earned in game from Glorious Chests, as well as items to create certain skins outside of the Super Adventure Box. There are currently four skin sets, each containing all 16 non-aquatic weapons and a backpack, and each set shares the same models and animations, but is colored in a different hue, their color following the Bauble value color scale.[2] Skins acquired as random drops from Glorious Chests can be traded, while skins from all other sources are account bound. Additionally, players can obtain Fancy Furniture Coins from hidden shops which can be used to create various guild decorations.
- Glorious Chests
Glorious Chests are awarded for completing a zone in Normal Mode and Tribulation Mode. Each chest can only be acquired once a day per account for the zone and mode, making a total of 12 of these chests; one per zone in Normal Mode and one per zone in Tribulation Mode. The exception to this is the two bonus zones Cart and Robbers. They reward a single Bauble Bubble instead of a Glorious Chest of which can only be acquired once per day per account, regardless of difficulty. Each Glorious Chest contains:
- 2 Bauble Bubbles (4 in World 2 in Tribulation Mode)
- 1 Continue Coin
There is a small chance for it to contain the following:
- Super weapon skins1
- Super Weapon Box (Blue SAB weapons)
- Kaiser Snake Weapon Box (Orange SAB weapons)
- 1 The drop rate was 2% in 2013[3], the current rate has not been confirmed.
Additionally, upon completing the different zones in Tribulation mode, players will receive 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:
- Completing World 2 zones will award items for crafting Storm Wizard's weapon skins
Achievements and Collections[edit]
- Achievements
- Super Adventure Box: World 1
- Super Adventure Box: World 2
- Super Adventure Box: Tribulation Mode
- Super Adventure Box: Nostalgia
- Daily Super Adventure Festival achievements during the festival
- Collections
Gallery[edit]
- Screenshots
The control panel, reminiscent of an old NES controller
Notes[edit]
Releases[edit]
| Release | Notes |
|---|---|
| Super Adventure Box April 1, 2013 - April 30, 2013 |
|
| Super Adventure Box: Back to School September 3, 2013 - September 30, 2013 |
|
| Super Adventure Festival 2016 March 31, 2016 - April 19, 2016 |
|
| Super Adventure Festival 2017 March 30, 2017 - April 20, 2017 |
|
| Super Adventure Festival 2018 March 29, 2018 - April 19, 2018 |
|
Trivia[edit]
- Excluding the purple baubles, 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, and Red Baubles/Crimson Assassin weapon skins.
- 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.
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 kidnapping the Princess Peach, notably Super Mario World and Donkey Kong. |
| 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 | 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. |
| The sword and shield | Master Sword and Hylian shield in the 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. |
| Secret cave discovery sound | A similar tune plays in the Legend of Zelda when the player opens a cave with a bomb. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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) |
| The Jumping Rocks encountered in Tribulation Mode | A reference to Thwomp from Super Mario Bros. 3. |
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]
- ^ Tribulation Mode - I am ready, Josh Foreman, Guild Wars 2 Forum
- ^ Finally dagger skins!, Josh Foreman, Guild Wars 2 Forum
- ^ Let's figure out some drop rates!, Josh Foreman, Guild Wars 2 Forum
Continue Coin • Infinite Continue Coin • Fancy Furniture Coin
| Skills and upgrades |
|
|---|---|
| World 1 | 1: Sunny Glade • 2: Dark Woods • 3: Kingdom of Fungus • B: Cart |
| World 2 | 1: Rapids • 2: Pain Cliffs • 3: Storm Top • B: Robbers |
| World 3 | 1: Sparkling Pools |
| Achievements | World 1 • World 2 • Tribulation Mode • Nostalgia • Daily |
