I guess this could be because the Skylanders franchise is certainly aimed more towards children, being a mix between a physical figurine collection and an brightly coloured action adventure platforming video game, linked together by a “Portal of Power” peripheral.
Spyro was the hook into the first game, coming from such an established franchise, but this sequel wants to take the Skylanders name on its own merit and quickly capitalise on its success.
So how does it all work? It’s really all very simple. Before you actually get to start playing, you have to pick a character, and to do this you just put the figure onto the portal, which uses the magic of RFID to identify and load up your character in a flash, before dropping you into the game world.
At any point you want, you can switch from one character to another, just by picking them physically. The figures themselves hold onto that character’s branching upgrades and progress, and work across all platforms, so no matter what console they’re used with you can take them round to your friends house for that slumber party and get going with co-op play, which is as simple to activate as putting two characters onto the portal.
It really is a pretty ingenious system, and has been folded into the game much more for the second outing. Each level in the game has been laced with oodles of hidden areas, and other places which are only accessible to characters of the 8 different elements, with Earth, Wind, Fire, Undead and so on. Naturally, that is where you get hooked into grabbing additional characters, so that you can explore all of the game worlds fully.
[drop]Thankfully, you don’t need anything but a single standard sized character and a single giant to get through to the game’s end, and you do get one of each when you purchase the game.These areas are all optional exploration.
I should really mention those giants a bit more. In addition to the original 32 characters, a handful of boosted re-released characters and 8 new characters, there are also 8 brand new giants within this game.
They are really rather large, and tend to lumber around, where others are quicker. They smash and crush where others merely punch or hit, and you need to switch to and from them in order to progress through the levels.
For example, one of the new standard sized characters is Jet-Vac. You can probably guess that he’s got a vacuum-type device which he can use to suck in objects from far away (handy for co-op loot thefts, I’m told), and shoot people with. He’s quite light and nimble. This is in stark contrast to Bouncer, who is just a giant robot, replete with finger guns, laser eyes and mortars to lob shells wherever he wants, who rolls around on a tiny little wheel, or to Tree Rex who is just a big walking tree that leaves big footprints in his wake as he roams around, smashing everything to bits.
As you’ll see in the images, these Giants can often be made to look pretty small by the environments, and in addition to tailoring the levels to favour certain Elements’ abilities, they’ll also focus on size too.
The more nimble, regular sized characters will be much better suited to certain tasks, like dodging through swiping blades, than the Giants, who in return will be needed for some larger world puzzles. All combined together, it further encourages swapping between characters, and adds another light layer of replay value to the game.
With so many new characters, a refinement and expansion of the gameplay, combined with being released hot on the heels of last year’s title, this is almost certain to be another big hit this holiday.
IAmJacksMedullaOblongata
“Did anyone else on here not know a thing about Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure until Activision released a statement saying it was this year’s best selling game?”
Eh … yes!
Forrest_01
I knew of it, but i simply wrote it off as ‘kiddy crap’ what with all the figures & stuff.
I don’t mind a game aimed at younger audiences, but if i have to collect figures for it too, i think my wife may have moved me out by the time i am finished playing the game!
teflon
Just being aimed at children doesn’t necessarily make a game bad. I think of it more that dads and mums can find some enjoyment out of the game, playing alongside their kids, than having it for themselves.
Forrest_01
No of course, i just meant that it doesn’t appeal to me as the biggest kid in my house!
Although to be fair, it probably shouldn’t as i am 33 now.
ABlokeCalledDaz
Have you seen how much those figures are, especially the rarer ones. Sheesh!
hazelam
have they found a way to lock those figures to a single account though?
i mean, they are effectively, physical dlc.
i’m dubious about the whole concept of these anyway.
having to buy new characters to unlock them to get to new areas?
thank god the lego games haven’t taken that route.
Forrest_01
Lol – 200+ Lego figures that you have to build yourself to use!
Actually that last part i mentioned doesn’t actually sound too bad. :)
teflon
No, they’re not locked to accounts. They’re not even locked to consoles or platforms. It’s intentionally open.
element666
My gf has it and she loves it,i’ve had a play and its not bad.
Imagine if nintendo did a similar thing with pokemon,would be awesome!
MayContainEvil
Yeah as much as I hate what Acti have done to poor Spyro, if there was a Pokemon one of these I would eat that shit right up.
Fingers crossed, eh?
Grey_Ghost13
For the original game expect to pay out at least £305 for the standard colection which includes the starter pack, the four expansion levels and the remaining 25 characters! Not including the rare and spescial editions! should know I’ve got a kid that is obsessed with it. Don’t know if my bank balance can take a sequel!
sparkyscrum
I enjoyed the first game and yes I’m a big kid. Was a bit of light hearted fun and you can play as Spyro!
KeRaSh
I don’t know. This seems like a good way of ripping off parents. Basically every character is paid DLC that is probably locked on the disc and unlocked by placing the RFID figures on the pedestal.
Funny how people go nuts when Capcom does it but this is deemed OK. Got to hand it to Activision for figuring out how to rip people off without getting hit by gamer rage. The gamers that are targeted are too young to realize it and they are not the ones paying for it anyways.