First off, Skylanders isn’t even your typical Spyro adventure. Sure, the fire-breathing dragon is a playable character, but he’s one of various heroes available over the course of the game. Your job is to try and eradicate evil from the land, but that’s hard to do when you’ve got enemies running around everywhere, at the command of the evil Portal Master Kaos. Plus, certain items must be collected to achieve this goal. Each of the characters in the game come with a series of attacks and movement boosters, so they can run around quickly and take out enemies both near and far. You can mix up these attacks when groups of enemies are around, and also use your techniques to help solve particular puzzles, such as dragging a bomb to blast open a door before its depleting fuse causes it to explore. These brain benders are never to the point of being too difficult, though, as Toys For Bob is making this one an all-ages affair – similar to its previously developed Madagascar games.
Unlike those games, however, Skylanders is going for a more original hook. Spyro is the only real recognizable character here, as the rest are completely new additions that stand out in their own right. Chop Chop manages to bring some fun blade action to the party; Stealth Elf can sneak around handily while holding her own in battle; Eruptor uses a series of lava-based attacks as his own sadistic way of dispensing justice; and many more will be available over the course of the game. How these characters become available is pretty much up to you. That’s because Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure isn’t your typical platformer. You see, along with launching a successful new game franchise, Toys For Bob is working with Activision on releasing a coordinating toy line. This game works with a “magic portal”, a small stand that glows when it’s plugged in to the 360 (or activated with batteries on PS3 and Wii). It syncs up with your system and then requires a figure be placed on the portal in order to begin playing.
Now, the package, when it releases, will come with three figurines, each one harnessing a playable character. You activate this by putting them onto the portal, and the game instantly recognizes them and makes them appear on-screen. Remove them, and the screen goes back to a blank vortex, and you can’t play. The three characters will be diverse types, including Spyro, and new figurines, enabling you to choose from more playable heroes, will be sold separately for around $8 a pop. That’s a decent price considering what most downloadable content goes for these days. Also, these figurines can actually track your progress. Once you reach a certain point of the game, it’s automatically saved to your figure after you remove it from the portal. What’s cool is that you can take it to a friend’s house and load up their stats and progress almost instantly – even if the game itself is on another platform, like the Wii, PlayStation 3 or even the Nintendo 3DS. That cross-platform compatibility is pretty neat, and the figure quality is top-notch. No flimsy 25-cent products here.
Along with the single player mode, which will take you a few hours to get through and can be tried again with different characters, Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure will also have a local multiplayer battle mode. To get this started, simply place two figurines, side by side, together on the portal, and then select which warrior you want to play as. From there, you’ll enter one of various fighting arenas, loaded with traps (spikes poking out of the ground), gadgets (running treadmill ramps and dangerous liquid) and power-ups (turning you temporarily into an unbeatable battering ram). The goal of these match-ups is to score the victory by finishing off your opponent. Though this game isn’t likely to be confused with the bloody Mortal Kombat, it’s a fun versus contest that parents can enjoy with their kids. It’s no more violent than your typical Saturday morning cartoon. You can tell that Toys For Bob is having a good time developing this game, an original property compared to a movie franchise. Each of the characters brings something new to the table, and they’re animated beautifully, with all of their emotions and actions in check. Trigger Happy, for instance, is a trippy little dude, packing dual pistons while jumping around like a lunatic.
Something tells us he’s going to be a series favorite. Also worth noting is the level design. These aren’t your typical Spyro levels, but rather locales with lots of puzzles to solve and new areas to access – provided you’re a certain type of Skylander. We weren’t able to hear much voice acting in the game, but one familiar voice that did pop up is Patrick Warburton, who you might remember as Puddy from Seinfeld or the voice of Brock Samson from The Venture Bros. He provides the voice of an overconfident, cocky pilot who agrees to help you rescue someone – as long as he gets the credit, anyway. The game should be packed with plenty of fun voice acting upon release, along with great music provided by movie composer Hans Zimmer. Yep, the same man who handled The Lion King and Gladiator works his magic here for 40 minutes worth of spirited adventure tunes. Skylanders may not be an attractive license for older gamers, but for kids seeking out something to play with, both in video games and on their own, it could be quite the lucrative deal. (Plus, it’d give them a break from all that Pokemon, you know?) We’ll find out just how well this new direction fares when the game releases later this month.