Super Dream Party: Modes and Gameplay

Super Dream Party: Modes and Gameplay


~ Game Modes ~

Story Mode – In Story Mode, you choose from the 5 different storylines of each character (in one storyline though it is two characters teamed up). Once you’ve selected your character, you’ll experience cutscenes from their point of view and travel through the world of Arcobaln to different stages that advance the plot. In the second part of each character’s story you will be able to choose which order of stages you wish to go to, but there won’t be any significant difference in the story and the ending will always be the same. The Story Mode versions of stages have certain differences (albeit mostly minor) that aren’t found in their regular versions. After all 5 storylines have been completed, the Final Story will be unlocked where everything will come full circle. Go! Super Dream Party! Discover the truth and save the worlds from evil!

Adventure Mode – In this mode, you first select a character and then explore the vast world of Arcobaln at your own pace in 3 hub zones. You’ll discover many new sites, attractions, items, minigames, people to talk to and most importantly, stages. There are many stages in Super Dream Party, and not all of them are important to the story. Once you’ve completed a stage in Adventure Mode, it will be forever unlocked to play in Action Mode. There are certain limitations to where you can go in Adventure Mode, however. Certain areas for each character have to be unlocked by going through their Story Mode and completing the stage or stages in that area. Arcobaln is such a unique planet; why not enjoy your stay while you’re here?

Classic Mode – This mode is just for people who want to get into action quick; you select a character and are then given a random selection of 10 stages and 3 bosses. Only one stage from each zone and a select few bosses are available at the start while everything else is unlocked through Story and Adventure Mode. Depending on your performance you’ll also get some money.

Action Mode – Unlike Story or Adventure Mode, there is no exploration. Instead you first select a specific zone, select the stage within that zone and then finally choose the character you want to play as in that stage. Each stage also has different missions for them that are unique for each character. Missions are challenges that you can set for each level in whatever combination you want (such as completing the stage in a certain amount of time, collecting a certain amount of items, harder version of the stage etc.) and depending on how many missions are put on that you complete, you can earn even more money than you normally would just playing the regular stage. Stages found in the Story Mode can have their story version be played as well, but they don’t include any missions of their own. This mode also includes the Boss Rush where you can select any combination of bosses a character has faced in Story Mode and fight them in any order you want.

Versus Mode – This is the multiplayer mode that can be played with up to four players. A character is selected and each player gets to pick a clone of them of any colour and costume and then select one or more stages to compete for whoever can finish the fastest. Just like with Classic and Action modes, only stages that have been unlocked are selectable.

Gallery – Here you can enjoy all the content you’ve unlocked either through playing through Story Mode, finding it in stages or Adventure Mode areas, or purchasing them from the Shopping District. This includes artwork, movies, story cutscenes, 3D Models (complete with alternate costumes for the playable characters), music and all of the medals (achievements) you’ve earned through completing certain tasks.

Shopping District – This is the place to spend all of your hard-earned cash to buy art pieces, movies, 3D models, music tracks and alternate costumes. Some of the items purchasable can be unlocked in-game by finding them in stages or Adventure Mode areas, and are indicated as such so you can decide whether to obtain them yourself or just buy them.

Options – Here you can adjust settings such as video and audio, controls, difficulty, and other things such as subtitles and rumbling. Data can also be found here which includes statistics including how long you’ve been playing, your highest rankings, fastest times and how much of the game you’ve unlocked.



~ Gameplay Information ~

Stages – While the specific gameplay is different for all the playable characters, the core part of it is mostly the same. Stages are played in a simple ‘Point A to Point B’ fashion with checkpoints and alternating paths and areas. There will be many dangers in your way; some of them enemies and others are environmental hazards. If you’re not careful, you will eventually lose a life; if you lose all your lives.  You gain points from doing things such as collecting simple items (e.g. coins), defeating enemies, pulling off impressive tricks and combos and completing the stage as fast as you can. Losing a life in a stage will result in you losing all the points you had gained up until that point. Once you’ve completed a stage, you will be shown the results screen where all the points you’ve gained from your actions are added up, and your total score will determine what rank you get; E being the lowest and S being the highest. Depending on what rank you get, you will earn a certain amount of money for use in the Shopping District. After you have been given a rank, the character (or characters) you’re playing as will react differently depending on your rank. You can also strike various poses after the rank is shown that differ depending on the character and the rank they’ve earned.
In every stage, there are spheres with stars in them hidden throughout the area that you can collect. These are known as DreamStars, and when you collect one you will gain a special reward that can then either be admired in the Gallery or for some rewards give an aesthetic effect that can be applied for use when playing the game. These bear no real effect of the gameplay and are purely cosmetic. DreamStars come in 5 different types, each giving you a certain type of reward:

ArtStars – Red and amber in colour, these DreamStars will give you artwork that you can view in the Gallery.

SongStars – Blue and green in colour, these DreamStars will give you a music track that you can listen to in the Gallery and also set that soundtrack to play in whatever stage you choose.

ClotheStars – Indigo and violet in colour, these DreamStars will give you an alternate costume that you can view in the Gallery and equip to characters to make them look cool and pretty as they make their way through Arcobaln.

FilmStars – Black and white in colour, these DreamStars will give you a special movie that can be watched in the Gallery.

ModelStars – Pink and brown in colour, these DreamStars will give you a 3D model that can be viewed in the Gallery.


Support Characters – While the Super Dream Party consists of six members (seven if Serata is counted) that are constantly at work, they still have plenty of people to back them up when they’re available. In almost every stage of the Story Mode, the heroes will be assisted by one of their allies that can help them either with fighting off foes or traversing through the area; beating that stage will unlock the ally as support that can be selected in any stage in the other modes. Support characters follow the hero as they travel through the stage, and automatically attack any nearby enemies; they’ll put up a good fight, but if they take too much damage they’ll retreat temporarily (you still have to do most of the fighting). By holding the ZL button and then pressing either Y, X, A or L, the Support character will perform one of their unique abilities that either help in defeating enemies and bosses or with platforming; the Story mode versions of stages require the use of certain Support abilities to progress at particular sections, but any other version of the stage can be completed with any or no Support characters. The allies that can help out the Super Dream Party are:

- Luigi (Super Mario Bros.)
- Princess Peach (Super Mario Bros.)
- Donkey Kong (Super Mario Bros.)
- Yoshi (Super Mario Bros.)
- Miles ‘Tails’ Prower (Sonic The Hedgehog)
- Knuckles The Echidna (Sonic The Hedgehog)
- Amy Rose (Sonic The Hedgehog)
- Cream The Rabbit & Cheese The Chao (Sonic The Hedgehog)
- Roll (Mega Man)
- Proto Man (Mega Man)
- Cut Man (Mega Man)
- Auto (Mega Man)
- Princess Bubblegum (Adventure Time)
- Marceline (Adventure Time)
- Lady Rainicorn (Adventure Time)
- Lumpy Space Princess (Adventure Time)
- Spike (Friendship Is Magic)
- Starlight Glimmer (Friendship Is Magic)
- Celestia (Friendship Is Magic)
- Luna (Friendship Is Magic)
- ‘Nade (Original)
- Cola (Original)
- Latte (Original)
- Espresso (Original)
- Saiidi (Original)

*These characters are unlocked as Support after defeating them in the Story*
- Wario (Super Mario Bros.)
- Metal Sonic (Sonic The Hedgehog)
- Bass & Treble (Mega Man)
- Ice King (Adventure Time)
- Discord (Friendship Is Magic)


Combo Counter - The Combo Counter is a counter (duh) that increases any time one of the heroes hits or defeats an enemy, overcomes an obstacle, perform special actions or collects enough pick-ups. A small gauge will appear when the Combo Counter is up and will slowly decrease until the CC score increases again. Having a high Combo Counter will get you a lot of points, but if the hero is hit any time while the CC is up, then it will instantly end with no score given. Performing combos is not only great for getting high scores in stages, but also because it's part of Serata's involvement in the gameplay. Pressing any direction on the D-Pad will make the hero do a pose that will temporarily freeze the gauge, giving them more time to continue their combo.

Serata’s Magic – Serata can use her Fairy magic to enhance the abilities of the SDP, so long as she has enough magic energy. Holding ZL and then holding R puts the hero in Enchanted Mode, and every action they do depletes some of the Magic Meter. The exceptions to this are the fast running (which is done automatically when moving) and the high jumps which use up another meter overlapping the Magic Meter called the Grace Meter, which slowly recharges when the hero is not in Enchanted Mode; this is so the Magic Meter can be used for other actions and not be wasted on mundane movement, though the Grace Meter won’t recharge fast enough to allow them to keep going into and out of it forever. Once the Grace Meter is fully depleted, it cannot be used for enhanced running and jumping until after a few seconds where it fully recharges. Almost every other action in Enchanted Mode uses up Magic Meter (this includes the running and jumping after the Grace Meter is fully depleted), which has to be recovered by getting the Combo Counter up, with the higher the score the more magic being recovered; Fairy magic is significantly influenced by emotional states, so getting Serata excited by showing spectacular skill helps her recharge her magic. The Magic Meter also recharges on its own eventually, but it’s so slow and gradual that it’s barely even noticeable. There are no stages that require Serata’s magic to be used, but they can allow players to complete stages much faster and earn more points if they have the skill to keep it consistently replenished. Another of Serata's helpful skills include creating noticeable warning signs in the direction of any offscreen threat to the heroes are hazards that they are approaching.  Occasionally she'll also give you some quick tips and info at certain sections of a stage to help get by, but she'll only say something if you hold ZL and press the (-) button; she doesn't want to annoy you or be intrusive or anything.