I’m surprised that I’m still sucked in to Skylanders. Like a teenager trick-or-treating during Halloween, I know I should stop every year but I can’t. I keep coming back, again and again. Maybe it’s the figures? Or the fairly simple gameplay? Maybe it’s the colorful visuals?
Whatever the case, I still find my way back into the series each time, buying new figures and emptying my wallet, glad to spend dozens of hours into an experience that is almost the same as years past. I’ve reached a comfort level with the series where I know what to expect, and those expectations are always met. This year is no different, except that my expectations are actually being exceeded. Because, not only is Skylanders SuperChargers the best game in the series, it’s possibly one of the best action-platformers of the year with a neat new addition.
The Skylanders games have been the most innovative toys-to-life games of the last few years, at least when it comes to how the figures are used within the software. There are some gimmicky elements to them, sure, but for the most part they’ve managed to bring a novel new feature to the genre. In fact they manage to top themselves each edition, with the latest few bringing the action out of the digital world and into the physical one. Trap Team was novel and cute, with the trapped enemies shouting out of a speaker in the portal. Superchargers is a nice evolution, bringing functioning toy vehicles into the mix and correcting some of the issues of previous entries.
One of the game’s refinements is to allow virtually any of the series’ previous portals to function with the new toys. That mans that if I only own Trap Team or Swap Force, I can download a digital version of SuperChargers and place store-bought figures on it. The compatibility is something that goes a long way, especially for those of us cringing at dishing out $75 each year, with the only change being that the Trap Team crystals now just add bonuses to characters instead of allowing us to bring the captures into the game.
In past games, special gates blocked much of the levels for owners who didn’t own characters from one of the many elements. It would make for an expensive experience just to attempt to unlock everything within it. SuperChargers thankfully does away with the in-level elemental locks, preferring to rely on the three vehicle types instead (ground, air and water). With the starter pack containing one vehicle already, only two other would need to be purchased to unlock everything in the game. It’s still a bit annoying to miss out on some interesting looking zones, but this is much more palatable than in the past.
If there is one thing that the Skylanders series does well from a gameplay standpoint is that it continues to add and adapt the modes within the games. There is a LOT of content this time, as Superchargers brings back popular events (Arena, for instance) from its past and adds huge new aspects.
The Skystones card game is back, having been missing on consoles since Giants. In this mini Hearthstone experience, the board is set in two rows of 3 “stones” — character cards that are won or found (or scanned in with figures) that have varying strengths and abilities. The players take turns putting cards on the board, and if they’re stacked side by side then they’ll battle each other before they attack the owner. Every few turns will allow a supercharged vehicle to appear onto the board, which can have some pretty strong effects for the rest of the team. It’s simple but brilliant, and highly addictive. I’ve probably sunk more than 50% of my time with Superchargers just playing this minigame.
I’ve always liked the platforming and traversal of the series, but Superchargers seems to tighten everything up to great levels. Jumping and attacking feel pixel-perfect, with the game’s gravity physics and depth perception working better than in the past. I don’t know if anything has changed from a software engine standpoint, so it may come down to how elements are positioned and applied to the world. It feels like it’s designed much better than before, with everything cohesive and working just as expected. We’re no longer getting trapped between rocks, for instance, which was an issue with Swap Force.
This is welcomed, since SuperChargers‘ levels are absolutely HUGE. There are even cool side-scrolling levels thrown in that have some stunning artwork and are worth playing the game for on their own. The layouts within levels are divided into chapters with their own checkpoints, mini bosses, and environments. I enjoy that there are rooms where I can stop and breathe while purchasing enhancements for my figure’s progression tree, or else it would be easy to get overwhelmed by the size and typical fun chaos.
But that’s where the vehicles come in.
As the core of SuperChargers, vehicles add some really unique and varied aspects to the game. There are in-level mini events which have us hop into a car (or boat, or plane) and zip along on the same environment we were just running around on with our Skylander. When playing co-op, one of us drives and the other fires weapons, a la Mario Kart Double Dash on the Gamecube so many years ago. It makes for a perfect parent-kid experience, especially for younger children who only want to blow animated things up. It’s a good implementation, except that the actual driving aspect isn’t that great. Depending on which vehicle and the size of the environment, it can be a bit difficult to maintain control in any meaningful way. It does take a bit of practice to manage it. The air and seat vehicles work really well in the world environments, but the cars tend to be frustrating.
That’s because I want to control the vehicles like I do in more traditional racing or karting games, which they don’t. They feel like platforming characters with wheels, moving the same way as the standard figures but with the ability to accelerate and attack. On top of that, each has its own quirks within its type, amounting to learning to drive differently almost every time. It’s manageable, especially considering that the game prides itself on each figure being unique, but I wish it was just ever so slightly more “mainstream” in control methods.
Thankfully, that’s just in the main quest sections. The game is full of other vehicle modes, like combat arenas and actual races. This is where the vehicle aspect really shines — and why it was spun off on Wii and 3DS as a whole separate game. I’ve spent almost as much time in online races as I have in Skystones, prompting me to purchase a few more vehicles just to enjoy the variety. The courses are highly detailed and enigmatic, reminding me of Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed. I enjoyed driving on the back of a dragon in one track, and then along lily pads in another. It’s often gorgeous.
The vehicle figures themselves are fantastic. As mentioned above, Skylanders has been slowly moving the action away from just the digital world and into our physical one, and the new toys capitalize on that shift in direction. With fully functioning wheels, propellers and fins, the toys function just fine outside of the game. My child loves to race the Hot Streak car around the house; its tires have just enough grip and spin to let it speed down ramps and across our tile floor. About double the width of a Hot Wheels car, it’s just at the right size to play with and yet not worry about being lost. And, just like in previous years, the toys are again built well. The Starter Pack comes with the car and two “SuperCharger” figures, characters that have increased powers once paired with a vehicle. Both of the figures and the car have a slight pliability to them, and that softness makes for minimal dents onto their plastic (or a cabinet door). They incorporate way more detail now, too, with multiple colors, mixes of materials, and varying levels of texture. The poses are the most action-packed ever, as characters twist and turn and particles and magic seem to float around them. They’re much more detailed than any other toys to life series, that’s for sure.
That pushes their complexity high. If Skylanders are going to continue to remain viable, I’d love to see them take a more action-figure route than a cosmetic one. That is, make them posable, give them accessories, and allow me to personalize it more than just through a skill tree in the games. But for now, the vehicles are a perfect addition, and one that I hope stays with the series going forward.
Though it’s not quite on the same racing level as a modern Mario Kart, that’s not necessarily the experience that SuperChargers is going for. This year’s Skylanders gives us a ton of ways to enjoy our time with the game, both online and off, and remains more compatible with our collections than ever. It incorporates the best platforming and world design it ever has, its best animation, characters and plot ever, and the most collectible, functioning toys yet to come to the series. Even with some of the vehicle traversal being subpar to more mainstream kart games, it’s well thought-out and adds to the impressive variety. Skylanders SuperChargers is the best game in the series thus far, and paints an extremely bright future for the brand should it continue to innovate.
This review is based on a Starter Pack for the PlayStation 4 sent to SideQuesting by the publisher.
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