Hint Box

The Hint Box is a gimmick that first appeared in Sonic Adventure. It is a floating screen and a variant of the Hint which provides the player with instructions during gameplay.

Description

The Hint Boxes appear as floating, stationary computer monitors found in different Stages and Adventure Fields. When interacted with, its screen glows and it provides the player with information in the form of a text box about the surroundings, gimmicks, objects, enemies, and strategies on how to play the game.

Games appearance

Sonic Adventure

In Sonic Adventure and its remake Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, the Hint Boxes mostly appear in Adventure Fields, but also in a few Action Stages. In Adventure Fields, they are usually found near shops or enterprises to tell whether the player can use these locations or not. In Action Stages however, they tell the player how to operate vehicles or objects.

To use a Hint Box in gameplay, the player has to step up to it and wait until its screen shows a "?' mark on it and then press the action button. While interacting with them, the player can neither move or attack. To leave them, press the action button again.

Sonic Adventure 2

In Sonic Adventure 2 and its remake Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, the Hint Boxes work like a Wifi device as they show the "Wifi" symbol on their screen. They only appear in the Treasure Hunter Stages where they provide hints as to where the treasures are hiding in the form of riddles, or the names of the Stages' sections, though at a cost of points. They can give up to three hints and once used, they will fly away. However, the player can see their info by going to the pause screen where they will be displayed.^[1] Only one will appear at a time but the game will scroll through all of the hints while in the pause menu between intervals.

Not all the Hint Box can be used at the same time, as every hint is locked to their designated target. As such, the Hint Boxes will be transparent until the player can collect the object they talk about. In multiplayer mode, they appear less frequently in the Treasure Hunting challenges.

In Mad Space, the Hint Box is not reliable as it gives false information about the Emerald Shards. According to Omochao, it is due to electrical disturbances messing their systems.^[2]

Sonic Rivals 2

In Sonic Rivals 2, the Hint Box is one of the collectible cards in the game. The player can obtain it by successfully using a total of ten Power-Ups.

Trivia

• While not an official appearance, the Hint Box could have been inspired from the "Cheat cards" seen in Sonic World in Sonic Jam.

References

1. ↑ An Unused line:"If you forget your hints, just press the start button"
2. ↑ Sonic Team (May 3, 2002). Sonic Adventure 2. Nintendo GameCube. Sega. Area: Mad Space. "Omochao: The electrical disturbance is affecting all the machines. Don't trust them. Don't be fooled by the hints from them."