Every time my 5-year-old sees the extra portal in Guild Wars 2’s Rata Sum, I have to tell him it’s for Super Adventure Box and that it’s currently closed. He’s always sad. But next week, I can tell him it’s open! ArenaNet’s announced that SAB is indeed returning:
“It’s that time of year—dust off your best jumping boots, take up your pointy stick, and get ready to experience Tyria’s most cutting-edge technological edutainment system: Moto’s Super Adventure Box! Explore a whole new virtual world in beautifully-rendered, three-dimensional graphics. Go on an epic quest to save Princess Miya. Prove your strength against wizards, assassins, and giant frogs. And if all of that sounds a little too tame for you, prepare to die (repeatedly) in the punishing Tribulation Mode!”
It is not currently clear whether any new stages and new cosmetic weapons will be available, but it’s a good bet. The festival begins March 30th and runs until April 20th.
Confused on the excitement? Super Adventure Box originally began as April Fools’ Day joke content in 2013, when ArenaNet added the extra zone — which is basically an 8-bit platforming minigame — to the otherwise traditional fantasy MMORPG. The mode wound up being tremendously popular and was brought back the following autumn, albeit with large nerfs. It even won our site’s award for best update that year. While ArenaNet told fans over the course of the next few years that bringing it back was a tech challenge, it did just that last year, promising to make it an annual event. And here we are!
