Title: Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Toys For Bob
Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC, Nintendo 3DS
Genre: Action Adventure, Collection
Release Date: October 16, 2011
Price: $69.99
Rating: E 10+
Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure marks the return of a character created back during the PSOne days that hadn’t been seen since 2008. Spyro is back and this time he brought with him an entire roster of friends to play as. What could be passed off to the casual observer as simply a “Pokemon Clone” is much more, and goes deeper than most ever expected.
As the story opens up, the player assumes the role of “Portal Master”. They are then tasked with saving the Skylands from the impending darkness brought on by the evil Kaos. The Skylanders, a group of mythical beasts, are summoned to aid the Portal Master in the reclamation of the skylands as well as pushing back the darkness and defeating Kaos. This is done by reconstructing the Eternal Light Source, which was destroyed in the last battle against Kaos.
Skylanders, on the surface is a kids game. It’s made with kids in mind as well as a devilish way to get kids to lure their parents down the dark path of toy collecting. However, at it’s heart is an adventure game that is built on a solid foundation and is deceivingly fun for all ages. In all, the game allows the use of thirty seven different “Skylanders” to traverse the world and defeat the bad guys. Each set of four Skylanders are grouped into a Dungeons and Dragons style category (Fire, Water, Tech etc.) and each have their own strengths. I can’t really say that any of the characters have any “weaknesses” per se, except maybe the ability to traverse environments suited for their category that others cannot.
What’s most surprising about Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure is that it is actually a well put together game. Each “starter pack” comes with the game, portal of power, and three characters. The characters depend mostly on what system is purchased. All sets come with a Spyro, but some come with “Legendary” Spyro as well as other supporting characters. Despite the fact that it will eventually cost upwards of $200 to own all the figures and adventure pack add-ons, it is a game that doesn’t require purchases of extra characters. The game can be completed with the characters included in the original package. However, to get the most out of the game (unlocks, side quests, and HATS) the further purchase of, at the very least a character from each category, is required.
Skylanders plays much like any hack and slash adventure game, but with a slightly more child-like view. There’s no blood and guts, no demonic overlords, and even the final boss is really just a kid throwing a tantrum. For the most part the game is just “defeat the bad guys”. However on occasion there will be a puzzle to solve. These come in the form of mostly push block puzzles, and are very easy to solve. There are a few (for lack of a better term) “Labyrinth style” puzzles. These are solved by moving an object over certain spots in the game to unlock pins allowing the lock to be opened. These can get very confusing and pretty hard at times. Aside from those puzzles, the game is a breeze to finish. Defeating bosses is nothing more than pattern recognition and adaptation. They are even easier to complete if you have an army of spare skylanders to swap in and out of battle, should any one character be knocked out, on in this case, get to tired to fight, and need to rest.
The Skylander figures themselves retain all information of their current experience levels and will continue to level up even if the player takes these figures to a friends house to use with their game and portal. They can also be used across all platforms on which the game currently runs. This includes the 3DS version of the game that is almost a completely different version of Skylanders entirely. The adventure packs also unlock more locations for the player to take their skylanders, and more things (HATS!) to discover. The difference here being that once an adventure packs location (Darklite Crypt, Pirate Seas etc.) are placed on the portal they unlock the location from then on. Subsequent use of these locations in the regular game will cause them to act as a sort of one time attack aiding the player.
The actual action of swapping in and out characters using the “Portal of Power” is easily the most fluid and simplistic thing about Skylanders. The hidden NFC (Near Field Communication) chip inside each Skylander needs only to be close to the portal and, after a very short animation, the character is then in the game. This one action could have been the games biggest downfall if the load times were to long, of it caused any real issues with gameplay. Luckily, this is not the case. In a matter of seconds the player can swap through several characters in order to take advantage of enemy weaknesses or level boosters.
Is Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure for every man, woman, and child? Probably not. Personally, I enjoyed my time with the game. More so, I have used it as a reward for my 2yr old son. He does what he is asked to do, he gets to play. If he is a good boy all week long, then he gets a new Skylander to play with (luckily I have some in reserve). Given the fervor over the figures and the insane amount of money some people are charging on the internet for rare figures, it’s safe to say that some are using it more as a way of earning money than a video game. Finally, for a game aimed at small children, it may be surprising how much fun Skylanders actually is. Much more than just an insanely clever marketing tool, Skylanders is actually a decent game, just be prepared to throw around $200 at Activision for the complete set.
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