Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / WarpZone

Go To

1[[quoteright:256:[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smb_warpzone.png]]]]
2->''Yes! All worlds are linked, and I travel among them! No, I will not show you how. Such power is not for you, who would cheat through life. True warriors must see all worlds before skipping among them. NOW, TO BATTLE!''
3-->-- '''Warping Pipe''', ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario''
4
5A secret area in a video game that allows you to magically teleport to another level, possibly offering you a choice of levels.
6
7This is slightly different in principle from WarpWhistle: the Warp Zone usually takes you on a one-way trip to a later area you otherwise wouldn't be able to visit for some time yet, whereas the WarpWhistle is a faster way to travel between areas you've been to before.
8
9Doesn't count if it's due to a GoodBadBug. Compare HubLevel.
10
11Not to be confused with ''WebVideo/TheWarpZone''.
12
13----
14!!Examples:
15
16* ''VideoGame/{{Arkanoid}}'': The Break powerup opens up the path to the next level (or levels, in later installments). However, unlike a proper level clear, it does ''not'' cause the ball to vanish, so a player hoping to take the warp can still lose a life if the ball drops out of the play field before the Vaus can get to it (and for insult on the injury, if the player fails to make it, the Warp Zone closes upon the start of the next life).
17* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
18** The TropeNamer is ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', which has secret Warp Zones in two {{Underground Level}}s. In the iconic World 1-2, you can run over the level ceiling (bypassing the level exit pipe) and reach the Warp Zone with pipes to Worlds 2, 3 and 4 (or [[GoodBadBug glitch through walls]] and enter the pipe to MinusWorld). Running over the ceiling in World 4-2 only gets you a pipe to World 5, but a hidden beanstalk takes you to an outdoors Warp Zone with pipes to Worlds 6, 7 and 8.
19** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'' is infamous for the Warp Zones that take you back to an earlier world. One of them is nice enough to include suicide pits in said reverse Warp Zones, so you don't actually have to take them. Even if there aren't, you can just wait for the {{time|dMission}}r to run out and kill you. Furthermore, using Warp Zones is ''[[NoFairCheating discouraged]]'': If you use one, even one that takes you backwards, you are locked out of reaching World 9, and if it's the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioAllStars'' version, you lose World 9 privileges ''[[PermanentlyMissableContent permanently]]'' for that file, even if you reached World 9 before.
20** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' has a Warp Zone that can only be activated after entering through magic potion doors. You use the potion to create a sub-space door in a location where a particular vase is located. Dropping into that vase in sub-space warps you to a later level. There are multiple locations for this (namely in Worlds 1-3, 3-1, 4-2 and 5-3), and each warp zone takes you to a single specific later world (respectively 4, 5, 6 and 7). In ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow'' King Koopa will often make his VillainExitStageLeft via the Magic Potion Warp Zone.
21** The literal WarpWhistle in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' works by transporting Mario to a Warp Zone (which is also called as "World 9" on the [[StatusLine status bar]]). Using it in World 1 allows you to choose between Worlds 2, 3 and 4; using it in one of those worlds allows you to choose between 5, 6 and 7; and using it anywhere in that interval or in the warp zone itself takes you directly to World 8.
22** Every ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' game except ''U'' has hidden cannons that launch Mario into farther worlds. (''U'' instead just has secret level exits that lead to extra paths opening up to later worlds.)
23** Both ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' and ''[[VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld 3D World]]'' have each secret red pipes which warp the player(s) to the next world, yet these don't ever need to be found for HundredPercentCompletion (in fact, it's counterproductive for that cause).
24** Since ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros35'' uses the same levels as ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', it includes the same warp zones. They allow the player to skip a few levels ahead in the randomized level order.
25* The Android/iOS rerelease of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' turned the infamous [[SpikesOfDoom spike pit death trap]] in the Mystic Cave Zone into a Warp Zone, leading to the otherwise inaccessible (and no longer DummiedOut, faithfully reconstructed) Hidden Palace Zone.
26* ''VideoGame/DeadlyRoomsOfDeath'' includes some hidden warp rooms in its larger level sets.
27* ''VideoGame/SuperMonkeyBall'' has some bonus goals that send you directly to later levels.
28* ''VideoGame/EyeOfTheBeholder'' has magical portals that are activated by special stone items, including one room with no less than five of them. The items must be found first, of course. Also, most portals are two-way, but a pair of them are one-way, locking the party in a level they may not be ready to explore.
29* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'' and ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'' both have a few of these. They seems less "official" and more buggy in the first game, but apparently they're intentional.
30* ''VideoGame/KidChameleon'' has the Elsewhere levels. Some went backwards like the Lost Levels examples, and could get pretty confusing near the end of the game.
31* ''Charlie II''. Apart from having TWELVE fiendishly difficult to find secret levels, every sixth level starting from the first, a warp zone appears, which is pretty much impossible to find without a walkthrough. Fortunately, you don't need them for Hundred Percent Completion.
32* Completing a sidequest in ''VideoGame/TheNamelessMod'' gains you access to one that lets you travel between districts.
33* Referred to by name in ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'', though the version displayed actually functions more like a PortalNetwork.
34* ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'' has several warp portals; eg, the first is accessed by headbutting the first two Psycho Pigs, and the Turbo Tunnel one is accessed by running into a certain wall.
35* The Black Hole in ''VideoGame/StarFox1'', and the two [[http://starfox.wikia.com/wiki/Warp_Zone Warp Zones]] in ''VideoGame/StarFox64''.
36* In ''VideoGame/AdventureIsland'' games, the player can find hidden flying reptile's chamber, who can take you to the next area if prompted.
37* Subverted in ''[[VideoGame/MeatBoy Super Meat Boy]]'', which calls its secret level sets Warp Zones, but doesn't actually let you warp to other areas from them. [[LargeHamAnnouncer The voiceover for entering one does make a nice page quote, though.]]
38* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' multiplayer servers generally have a warp zone at the spawn point providing easy access to player towns
39* ''VideoGame/{{Silent Hill|1}}:'' The ladies' bathrooms in Otherworld Midwich school shifts you in between the first and second floors. There's no effect to indicate this is happening, as it's apparently meant to disorient and confuse a new player.
40* ''VideoGame/PortalPrelude'' has one of these as an EasterEgg with graphics taken straight from ''Super Mario Bros.'', accessed by [[spoiler:crawling through a light in Test Chamber 09]].
41* A {{Pinball}} example: One of the rewards in ''Pinball/NoGoodGofers'' jumps the player up to three holes ahead.
42* Hitting the Warp target in ''Pinball/{{Defender}}'' sends the player three levels ahead.
43* In the arcade game's sequel ''Stargate''.[[note]]No relation to [[Film/{{Stargate}} the movie]].[[/note]] If you rescue four humanoids, and go through one of the titular stargates, the player is taken ahead a few or so levels in the game.
44* ''VideoGame/NosferatuTheWrathOfMalachi'': There's a portal in the basement of the main castle that lets you skip the entire castle and go straight to the Count's chambers on the top floor. However, you do need to explore the castle to find the last 2 family members, as the Count's chambers can't be opened until all the family members are accounted for.
45* ''VideoGame/LowGMan'' has two warp zones in the first and third levels that allow you to skip those level's bosses, as long as you have the right vehicles to reach them. There are also secret passwords that allow you to play ''only'' those levels, where the only way out is death.
46* ''VideoGame/DangerousDave'' has secret areas ''called'' warp zones, but they [[SubvertedTrope don't really warp you anywhere]]. They're just hidden areas with treacherous platforms and bonus points, and they return you to (the start of) the level you were at upon completion.
47* According to the troubleshooting guide in the back of ''[[Radio/ImSorryIHaventAClue Stovold's Mornington Crescent Almanac]]'', playing Aldgate three times in a row opens a secret passage beneath Chancery Lane, which will eventually take you two moves away from Mornington Crescent. This, of course, [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum makes no sense whatsoever]], since Mornington Crescent is a word game.
48* ''VideoGame/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorldTheGame'' has hidden warp zones that allow players to more quickly traverse levels. The corridor connecting the two points is also home to [[MetalSlime flying piggy banks that drop a lot of money]].
49* In all ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' games, the very first area is always Lan and [=MegaMan=]'s home page. This "room" is void of RandomEncounters, and talking to the right [=NPC=]s will unlock shortcuts to most other major cyber areas.

Top