Can I just say it? The last few Spyro the Dragon games have left me feeling a little iffy about the franchise. Ever since Insomniac Games left behind its creation on favor of Ratchet and Clank and Resistance, Activision hasn’t really done much with it, save for creating some bland platforming adventures and somehow involving the voice of David Spade as the world’s most annoying buddy. This series needed a reboot, and fast. And what better way to go with that reboot than to turn to Toys For Bob, a dedicated developer that’s been working on kids’ games for a substantial period of time? That creation is Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, and as we’ve explained in our previous hands-on report, this isn’t your typical kids’ adventure. Well, I mean, the game itself is a co-op supported action/adventure featuring a lively cast of characters and an all-too-familiar story about a dark portal master named KAOS trying to take over the world, but it’s the way this game is executed that makes it a nice surprise for the market.
Plus, Activision cleverly introduces a way to get something going in the collectible toy market as well. Take that, plastic guitars! Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure comes initially packaged as a “starter kit”, complete with a wired portal accessory and three figurines – Spyro, Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy. This is just a small portion of characters available in the game, divvied up by groups of elemental classes. Some excel in water; others in fire. To activate these characters in game, you need to plug the portal device into your Xbox 360 console and, when prompted, place your character of choice on it. Now, they’ll need to stay on the portal to remain active in the game. Remove them and you go to a screen asking you to put a new one in place. This technology is pretty cool, not only because of the level of interaction compared to other kids’ oriented games, but also because the toys themselves actually save your progress, no matter what platform you’re playing Skylanders on.
So if you’re playing a game on your 360 and decide to join a friend in co-op at his or her house on the PS3, you bring your character along, set them on their portal, and their abilities, levels and hats (yes, you can find hats in the game) are automatically reactivated. It’s like a cross-platform save, but not involving your memory cards. Now, as for the gameplay itself, it actually handles quite well. Each character has both weak and strong attacks to their credit. Spyro, for instance, breathes fire and has a charging attack. Gill Grunt can shoot harpoons or let loose with a temporary spray of water. Each one diversifies from the next, so you might consider picking up additional characters at the store when you buy this pack. It gets slightly expensive at $8 a pop, but think of it as downloadable content, with something you can hold in your hands as well. Some characters are better than others when it comes to balance (we didn’t really care for Chop Chop or Stump Slump), but it’s vital to have at least one in every category so you can access unlockable areas, scattered throughout each stage.
This final review for Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, from Activision Games, concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to read on.
