darkSpyro

Use this topic to review any Skylander.


I've decided to make another review topic just like last year for Echo. This time it's Nightfall because she's starting to appear in some stores and people are buying her.
I was one of the very little users on here who got a Nightfall very early, so I had some time to form an opinion on her.
Let's start with her figure. Her figure looks absolutely amazing! I love her translucing hair and shimmery jacket. Her pose is also pretty neat as she is actually floating. I also love that they've merged her hair and base together so everything's a part of her (except for the engine of course). It is by far one of the greatest figures in my collection and really worth the money.
Moving on with the gameplay. She has a very special playstyle and not everyone may like it. She is just all about distracting and manipulating enemies so they can't deal any damage, especially the Soul Gem underlines that. Her hooks are sadly not that strong but if you combine them with the whip the enemies are pretty much helpless. Her second attack is purely for getting away from enemies. Though it is one of the best ones as you can't get hit by enemies and you can go underneath them, so they can't cross your path. My only complaint is her damage, it is far too weak and especially the whip should do more damage (it only does 5 damage). I chose her top path as the hook and hair combo seemed very powerful, and it is! You can kill almost every enemy after only one round. It also charges up very quickly, so it's a very handy and usefull attack.
Overall I think she is the best Supercharger for now (I'll try Splat soon). Though I admit, I've expected a bit more. I really like her manipulative method, but her attacks just aren't strong enough. You have to avoid enemies' attacks all the time, that's also why the second attack isn't total nonesense. I'd say that you should get her without any doubts, but you have to get used to her playstyle. I love her design and attacks, but she could've been in my top 5 if she did more damage.

You only reviewed two Skylanders? Why only Nightfall and Echo? Because they're both ladies?

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

You only reviewed two Skylanders? Why only Nightfall and Echo? Because they're both ladies?

Only? I'm not some sort of professional reviewer, I only review Skylanders when I want to. I chose Echo because she was op and Nightfall because she's being released now. I also want to review Smash Hit and Spitfire, so I wouldn't say it's just the ladies.

I figured that, lol. Id love to see you review of more characters. You make very fleshed out ones.


Echo was a tad op back in TT but no one compared to Wallop. oooo weeee, I love him

Thanks, sadly Wallop is the only TT character I don't have and I don't think I will get him anytime soon.

Do you care if I steal your idea and do one for my most anticipated character, Splat? Just go her at Gamestop's Skylanders Saturday sale (Nightfall was already gone...), and I'm excited to have enough gameplay for me to be ranting about her.

Edit: Should someone just make a topic where anyone can review characters, regardless of their game or gimmick? Would be fun for us huge fans, by also ideal for those wondering who to get.

True....my GameStop had only six Nightfall and Six MTDC. Lucky for me, I was there when they opened, so I got them both. Didn't take me long to upgrade Nightfall. Got her to level 20 before I got all her upgrades. Went for the Dread Head path because if you go into her secondary attack, Ambrush, you can shot strands of dark energy at your enemies.
Like her better than SS Stealth Elf.

Quote: CelesteInk

Do you care if I steal your idea and do one for my most anticipated character, Splat? Just go her at Gamestop's Skylanders Saturday sale (Nightfall was already gone...), and I'm excited to have enough gameplay for me to be ranting about her.

Edit: Should someone just make a topic where anyone can review characters, regardless of their game or gimmick? Would be fun for us huge fans, by also ideal for those wondering who to get.

Sure, I haven't tried her yet anyway and I would like to see the opinion of someone else.

First off, credit to Deja Vu for giving me this idea. After having my most anticipated character for a few days, and finally having enough experience with her to have an actual opinion, I've been excited to rant about this.

First off, I have to talk about the figure. I've heard some complaints about her figure destroyed in the box, or falling apart quickly, yet while shopping, I haven't seen any broken ones, and mine is in perfect condition. The translucent plastic (or paint) coming from her paintbrush is very weak and flimsy, but just don't be rough with the figure and there shouldn't be any problem. Splat is honestly one of, if not the most impressive Toys to Life figure I've seen. The detail on her is absolutely insane. The fade from pink to blue translucent plastic on her paintbrush, the face detail, the wonderful colors, it all looks great, but then you find out this figure is actually scented like candy. If it isn't one thing, it's another... Splat's figure is just beyond the others on all levels. At this point, it doesn't even matter if her character isn't fun to play as. I honestly believe the figure alone is fully worth the price.

Secondly, the aesthetics of the in game character. In game, Splat is once again impressive. The detail on her is no different from the figure. Flips her hair back while standing, makes an elegant walk with her hand pressed out if slightly pushing the analog stick forward, or skipping instead of running. The streaks of paint that coat the stage for a short time while fighting, or putting her goggles over her eyes once entering a vehicle. Everything about the aesthetics of this character is exactly what you expect and want once seeing the figure, even her voice is exactly as I imagined. Just like the figure, the aesthetics in game for Splat are almost flawless, and once again, some of the most impressive work I've seen for a character in the series.

Finally, the actual gameplay. Being flawless in all three categories just sounds too good to be true, right? Unfortunately, that is the case with Splat... she is not flawless in gameplay, she is not oozing with originality, and she's pretty standard for a roster that tried so hard to switch it up. Splat is not a bad character by any means, and she's actually very fun, but I have to say she's standard if I am going to sit here and try to review her. Very basic, some melee, some ranged.

The first attack is a swing from her paintbrush which can be hit three times in a combo, with the third hit being most powerful. A fun trick to her melee is if you hit twice, jump, and continue attacking, you can extend the combo without issue, doing heavy damage. Splat's second attack is a lob of paint which can be spammed easily, although it isn't too powerful. It's a standard ranged attack. Splat can run while using her second attack, however, if you do it in the air, it will halt your movement, but increase its reach. Her third attack is where a tiny goat runs ahead, damaging anyone in the way, and leaving paint behind which does small damage to those standing in it. Can be spammed, but it leaves her open, she cannot move while using it, and cannot use it in midair.

The most impressive thing about Splat's gameplay is her two paths. It's very rare that I can say both paths are great, and that you can't go wrong with either of them. The first path is Prolific Painter, which focuses on the second attack, allowing you to charge up the lobs of paint (taking a second or less), which will both cause parts of the ground to hurt those standing on it, as well as summoning a giant paint monster who punches those nearby, as well as causing status effects to those it touches. This is a great path, as using this monster skill allows you to have more room to move around, with the monster keeping you safe. Using this attack is extremely effective if you let the monster attack those around you, while you focus on the third attack and coat the stage with harmful paint. You'll see the damage just piling up.

Splat's second path, named Abstract Designer is far less defensive than Prolific Painter, but far more aggressive. This path focuses on her third attack, which makes the paint left behind from the third attack, now explode, causing extra damage. With this path, she can now summon a giant goat by holding down the attack, who rushes forward and knocks enemies back. This path does more damage than the first one, but it does leave you more open, and you probably won't be using the second attack much with this path.

I personally prefer Prolific Painter, but both paths make Splat an effective character to use, and it should just come down to if you would prefer her being defensive or offensive. One thing I noticed about Splat... is I was getting the crap kicked out of me, to where I had to actually use strategy with her attacks. I appreciate that she isn't cheap, and I love that while she's cutesy and adorable, that her gameplay seems to be made for experienced characters.

In the end, while her gameplay is great but not perfect, she's by far one of the most impressive characters I've picked her. A near flawless figure that's even scented and perfect in game presentation, and gameplay that requires some thought. I don't think you can possibly go wrong with Splat, even if she's too "girly" for you, this is a character I can recommend to absolutely everyone, especially since her paths are equally good. How about those of you reading this (if anyone is... lol), what do you think about this character?

Very good review! I personally think just like you about Splat, her figure and in-game appereance is gorgeus while her gameplay is rather spammy. She's all about spamming attacks and hurting enemies and you're right, there isn't much strategy. Though that's a reason why I like her so much. After all, she is the exact opposite of Nightfall and that also has to be shown gameplay-wise. With Splat you just go crazy and color up the whole screen. Though I still can't decide if I prefer her or Nightfall. Nightfall has very strategic gameplay but isn't as strong as Splat and figure-wise they're also both amazing and I can't decide who's better there either. I guess they're just both on first place, like how in Trap Team Déjà Vu, Gearshift, Knight Mare, Enigma and Echo share the first place (but Déjà Vu's a little better).

Thanks! I don't yet know about Nightfall as all the Superchargers I currently have are just Instant Spitfire, Deep Dive Gill Grunt, and Splat. I've seen the Spitfire figure and I love it, but I do definitely think Splat is the best out of those three. Gill Grunt is still awesome, but his figure isn't quite up there with hers. Spitfire isn't so bad, but the "woohoo!" just drives me insane. lol

With those Trap Team characters though, I only half agree with you there. Gearshift is amazing to play as, but her figure just doesn't look right. Knight Mare's figure is beautiful, but her gameplay is as basic as it gets, and I just don't think she's fun. I want Deja Vu and Echo but they're kind of rare. D: Enigma however took first place as my favorite character in the series. Wonderful figure, and an absolutely incredible playstyle... assuming you chose the path for his invisibility. The ones in Trap Team (who I own) that I think are the Splat's of that game would have to be Enigma, Head Rush, and Fist Bump. Never a dull moment with those three, and I can't recommend them enough to others... although the three seem to be painfully under rated.

Very elegantly said! If I were able to form my words into such a coherent manner, I would have said something similar about Splat myself. Glad to see people put the effort into writing about the characters they love and it's always a welcomed read.

For me, Splat is very much as you said. A great figure overall and a bit basic to play but I think I cannot be totally fair to her gameplay due to the fact that I've played SuperChargers to death already. Honestly I've not really given her more than a hour or so playtime as I'm not interested in the game anymore. I've restarted a fresh game, played her at nightmare and the poor thing kept dying on me as she struggled to level up. I really felt that I was abusing her, but I refused to give her any assistance except for the first boss as I didn't want to be playing against him for hours.

I played up until I was able to hear her speak and then lost interest as they insisted that I needed the boat to get her to talk more. Did the Splatter Splasher come out yet? I'd like to hear your opinion about that with Splat in it, assuming you are not put off by the vehicles like so many of us are here. I'm contemplating getting one mostly because it looks sort of like her and I want to finish the Buzz challenges to hear her talk some more. They really need more talking Skylanders even though it's far too late in this stage of the game to do that to some 200 unique characters.

@Fairyland Honestly, I am not as put off about the vehicles as everyone else is. I am put off about Land though, being that you're forced to use it every level. I would have preferred if you had to use a vehicle every level, but it was of your choice, or if Land were like the other two and just placed on the side as an option. I really enjoy the Sea levels anyway. Splatter Splasher apparently is out, but I've been around a good handful of shops lately, and I've seen Splat in almost all of them, but not one Splatter Splasher or Shield Striker... and those are the two I am trying to pick up.

I am enjoying the vehicle segments, and have spent maybe twenty hours already on the racing mode, so I am definitely going to buy a good handful of these vehicles, including the Splatter Splasher. I just want more pink. lol. I doubt I could give as lengthy a review for her vehicle though, being the vehicles are mostly the same, with a few small differences, but depending on how much I like it (and I will buy it once I find one), I might do that.

Hey, that Skylanders cartoon is coming (two of them, right?), so there's a very good chance we'll hear Splat talk more... hoping it's her same voice. I just really love Splat's voice, and don't think they could have picked anyone more fit for her.

Yes CelesteInk, having land forced on you to which what seems to be constantly really put me off too. But then again, I do like the option of not having to buy a boat or a plane, so it's a hard trade off. Either force people to buy three vehicles and a more balanced game, or do what they had done. I think the goal of skylanders is to always be able to beat the game without buying extra stuff (although the game is obviously more cooler if you do buy everything).

I bought one of both just to unlock content as it felt like I was missing out on something, even though it ended up that I wasn't really. LOL! Honestly I regret it as it felt like a waste of money, much like those adventure pack bits that unlock a stage and is basically worthless after that. I feel the sea levels are my fav as well mostly because I can duck or stay on top of the water and that seems to add a bit of a challenge trying to figure out which is better and what path to take. Air I have a lot of trouble with as I really suck at Starfox type games and I've never been a fan of those.

What two cartoons now? LOL I am so missing out if people are now saying this within some thread. But I don't think they would use the same voice actress for Splat as didn't they hire some raising teen star to voice her? Someone that us old timers wouldn't know, but the teens would? Then again I think people are saying that they gave everyone new voice actors for the cartoon anyway. In game, Splat's voice was a bit of a disappointment as she really wasn't too different from the regular in studio actress that voices a half dozen of the other females. She says nearly the same things in the same tone and inflection, it's like why even bother hiring a known actress aside from the publicity that comes with it. Sometimes I thought they used Whirlwinds "Whoo-hoo"'s and other stuff for Splat. LOL!

I love Splat!
I just wish her figure(much like others) had the painted details her in-game counterpart has. Granted, her concept art matches her figure better but still...!

I've finally managed to play Nightfall on both paths and now understand her a lot better. I feel like you can't go wrong with either path but each one requires a very different style of play to use. Her Master Angler path is good if you want higher damage since her Splitting Hairs is really the best upgrade on that path but it does leave her rather vulnerable in group attacks. Her Dread Head path is meant for more defensive gameplay and to just wear out the opponent. It's very easy to evade enemies and dodge attacks since her Ambrush Rush lasts so much longer and you damage enemies at the same time. Her Up Sweep can also be used quite effectively against regular enemies since it does render them helpless. But on either path she does require actual strategy to use effectively but I feel she does have a good bit to offer.

Quote: bladewolf

I've finally managed to play Nightfall on both paths and now understand her a lot better. I feel like you can't go wrong with either path but each one requires a very different style of play to use. Her Master Angler path is good if you want higher damage since her Splitting Hairs is really the best upgrade on that path but it does leave her rather vulnerable in group attacks. Her Dread Head path is meant for more defensive gameplay and to just wear out the opponent. It's very easy to evade enemies and dodge attacks since her Ambrush Rush lasts so much longer and you damage enemies at the same time. Her Up Sweep can also be used quite effectively against regular enemies since it does render them helpless. But on either path she does require actual strategy to use effectively but I feel she does have a good bit to offer.

Yes, I love her strategic gameplay. She's a character for more experienced players.

Quote: Deja Vu

Quote: bladewolf

I've finally managed to play Nightfall on both paths and now understand her a lot better. I feel like you can't go wrong with either path but each one requires a very different style of play to use. Her Master Angler path is good if you want higher damage since her Splitting Hairs is really the best upgrade on that path but it does leave her rather vulnerable in group attacks. Her Dread Head path is meant for more defensive gameplay and to just wear out the opponent. It's very easy to evade enemies and dodge attacks since her Ambrush Rush lasts so much longer and you damage enemies at the same time. Her Up Sweep can also be used quite effectively against regular enemies since it does render them helpless. But on either path she does require actual strategy to use effectively but I feel she does have a good bit to offer.

Yes, I love her strategic gameplay. She's a character for more experienced players.

You're right, she really is meant more for experienced players and while that is not a bad thing I do feel kind of bad that newer players would have a harder time trying to use her.

Nothing to feel bad about. You need characters for advanced players. If there weren't, a lot of us huge fans wouldn't have gotten sucked in, or even come to Dark Spyro. You need the advanced characters for the adult players. Trap Team for example had the be overpowered Wallop, Torch, and Tread Head for kids who use only one button, but Enigma, Head Rush, and Fist Bump for those who want more thought, strategy, and understanding in how their character plays.
The newbies have their characters, and we advanced players have ours.

Quote: CelesteInk

Nothing to feel bad about. You need characters for advanced players. If there weren't, a lot of us huge fans wouldn't have gotten sucked in, or even come to Dark Spyro. You need the advanced characters for the adult players. Trap Team for example had the be overpowered Wallop, Torch, and Tread Head for kids who use only one button, but Enigma, Head Rush, and Fist Bump for those who want more thought, strategy, and understanding in how their character plays.
The newbies have their characters, and we advanced players have ours.

That's the reason I love this series. It has gameplay that can appeal to everyone somehow.

I didn't have the slightest interest in picking up Lava Lance Eruptor for Superchargers, but I went to Gamestop during Skylanders Day to get Nightfall and it was BOGO Free, so I brought him home.

The Figure: The character is a simple design, but the updated details are a nice touch. Solid yellow paint covers the extremeities of the solid rusty body, nothing interesting there. The helmet and lance hilt are metallic and offer a nice contrast. The eyes have a clear coat on them for extra shine. Not nearly as complex as Splat, and he's not a cool dragon, but it's not a bad figure either.

Gameplay: Wow, I was blown away by how fun Eruptor is! A variety of attacks and combos that are satisfying to use. Volcanoes are a great ranged/support attack, and the lance is fantastic for smashing. The barfing lunge is amusing and effective. I chose the upper path where you get an uppercut at the end of this move and it's a cool animation. You can almost feel the heat from the way the lava glows and explodes throughout his moveset. He also leaves little lava footprints behind when he walks.

I picked up his bike too and found it to be very responsive and quick. Fun to use in story mode and races. All in all, I'm very pleased I ended up with Lava Lance Eruptor in my roster.

(Edit, because of the length of this review, I have to double post. Normally I wouldn't, but reviewing three things at once... does take up a lot of room. My apologies.)

First Half

Okay, well I am going to review the Sea Action Pack this time, and this is going to be an extremely long review, so bare with me. There's a lot to cover here... The Sea Action Pack, much like the "Adventure Packs" or "Battle Packs" from previous games, is a bundle of figures, one or more included of which act as a "magic item". Included is the revamped Gill Grunt, named Deep Dive Gill Grunt, his Sea based vehicle named Reef Ripper, and the Sea Villain Cup.

Villain Cup
First off is the Sea Villain Cup, the "main attraction" of this pack. The figure itself is nothing to really boast about. It looks great sitting on the portal next to your Skylander and vehicle, but just looking at the figure of the cup, it's really just a trophy. The front of it resembling Golden Queen's face from Trap Team, with some water at the bottom... that's about it. The back of my figure also looks melted, so overall, the figure of the Villain Cup is not impressive at all. I don't mind it, but it's nothing I've cared to look at over a few seconds.

In game, the Villain Cup is somewhat strange. After activating it for the first time and seeing the small cutscene, you never get anything fancy popping onto your screen like you would with a Skylander or vehicle. The Villain Cup, once placed on the vehicle unlocks a healthy amount of content for the Sea racing mode, including the Villain Pursuit, mirrored tracks, the Mirror Cup, a villain based race cup, and four playable villains... Golden Queen, Mesmerelda, Captain Frightbeard, and fan favorite Spellslamzer. The villains work only in racing mode, but act like their own, as they have their own vehicles and attacks, although the attacks are generic and often aren't too different from the Trap elemental attacks.

The content in this figure piece gave me a good fifteen or more hours of gameplay before getting bored, and that's only talking about the single player experience. Unfortunately, if you want this so you can play as Spellslamzer online, you may as well give it another thought, since online races for the Sea tracks occur so rarely, that I strongly doubt many people at all have found races. This may be the "main attraction", but because of an empty online mode and a poor figure, I can't really suggest it too much. It's fun, but nothing incredible.

Reef Ripper
The Reef Ripper is Deep Dive Gill Grunt's vehicle, a cleverly designed submarine, looking like a cartoony re-imagining of the Nautilus from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea... in fact, it's so similar that I am almost positive the Nautilus was the inspiration for this vehicle. This vehicle figure is just simply flashy and sharp. An aquamarine paint job with bronze linings, and gold tinted windows, as well as a moving tail, this is a vehicle that you can hold up and stare at for a good ten minutes straight, just loving the design. My figure came with some of the bronze paint for the lining, smudged onto the aquamarine paint, but other than that one small problem, I'd say this is a very impressive figure.

In game, it's easy to cross the Reef Ripper off as just another Sea vehicle, but give it a chance. The attacks, like with most vehicles... simply isn't a big deal. It's first attack Ocean Upheaval is a shot of a piercing trident, and it's second attack Electrify the Tail is an overpowered blast of visually impressive electricity, destroying everything around it in just seconds, including bosses, but this attack isn't quite as helpful in racing mode. Where the Reef Ripper shines is in the aesthetics department. Whether story or racing mode, the Reef Ripper moves like some sort of old tinker toy from the World War II era, with the bubbles that come from it, or the way it shakes, or how the tail moves. It's most impressive underwater, in both the sidescrolling stages and the underwater racing. I already made the comparison to the Nautilus, but after seeing this in action, it's hard to not think of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. It may just be another vehicle, but it's definitely not one to be overlooked. I always play the Sea segments now, just to see the Reef Ripper in action.

Deep Dive Gill Grunt
Finally, the actual main attraction of the Sea Action Pack. Deep Dive Gill Grunt is the revamped Supercharger form of classic Starter Pack character, Gill Grunt. Gill Grunt has always been one of my favorite characters, because although he's such an ugly and unappealing character, he's always had style and perfect gameplay. He's by far, in my opinion, the best Water element Skylander to have picked for the revamp, but the question is... was his revamp done properly...?

Deep Dive Gill Grunt's figure, much like the four previous figures of classic Gill Grunt is done well and looks just fine, but he's always been a rather ugly character with little to show, and that doesn't change here. He looks just fine, his figure is sturdy and seems durable and hard to break, and there's heavy detail on him, but Gill Grunt has always been about the gameplay, not the figure. There's not much to say about his figure. He looks nice, but he's no Enigma, Nightfall, or Splat. The same is to be said about his aesthetics. He's what you would expect from Gill Grunt, and once again, not much to talk about here. His aesthetics are done well, and are not lazy at all, but again, Gill Grunt has always been about the gameplay, and never the looks.

Gameplay wise, Deep Dive Gill Grunt has one of the largest sets of attacks in Skylanders yet. You have his first attack, a melee attack with his trident, which can be used to a combo of three hits. Holding his first attack makes him throw a flurry of stabs... an extremely powerful and fast attack that even homes in on enemies. His second attack is a ranged beam of electricity that stuns enemies for a split second, and does chain damage to anyone near the hit enemy. The third attack switches you to his hover mode, pretty much a second fighting style. Switching to hover mode also acts as an attack itself, and the said attack is different (either a damaging wave of water or a blast of electricity) based on what path you pick. In hover mode, his first attack is now a charge forward that releases a large wave of projectile water. His second attack is now a small splash that shoots projectile waves of water, and holding the second attack makes him spin around, damaging anyone who touches. To top off this large list of attacks, his Soul Gem calls forth a large and powerful storm, leaving you open, but destroying almost everything on the screen.

Next to discuss are the paths... which I believe I might be alone on my opinion here. We have Torrent Tamer, and Storm Summoner, and as expected, one focuses on his grounded attacks, and the other focuses on his hover attacks. Torrent Tamer allows you to hold the first hover attack to slide around with a wave of water, as long as you want, allowing you to move around quickly. Storm Summoner powers up your electricity attacks, and turns the held first attack into a now electricity based flurry of stabs. Just about anyone will tell you Storm Summoner is the best path, and they are right, but I'm going to suggest you just don't pick it. It's overpowered... possibly the most overpowered path I've seen in this series. All you'll ever need is that flurry of attacks, and you'll never touch any of his other skills. It makes even Nightmare mode easy...

Second Half

Storm Summoner went and got Deep Dive Gill Grunt, an otherwise incredible, masterfully done character, and turned him into a wreck. For a character with such a ridiculous number of attacks, this path is just simply disappointing, since you'll never so much as even try those other skills again. If you buy the Sea Action Pack after reading this, go ahead and try the Storm Summoner path, just to be amazed at the ridiculous and stupid balancing, but reset him and stick with the Torrent Tamer. Torrent Tamer adds more use for his hover mode, while keeping him balanced, allowing you to experiment with his many attacks, encouraging you to switch between both modes, and find complex and interesting combos.

Both the use and the aesthetics of Deep Dive Gill Grunt's attacks, come together to make just one big love letter to previous characters from the series. His flurry of attacks resembles the end combo attack from Chop Chop. His charge of electricity resembles Free Ranger. Both his spinning water and his water charge resemble skills from Tread Head. I am sure I am missing other similarities here too. It's is what makes Deep Dive Gill Grunt so interesting. Instead of being a new play style, he's really of a mashup of previous play styles.

In the end, it comes down to the worth of this pack, and as much fun as I've had with it... I can't recommend it. For $35 or more, I just can't suggest buying it. I found this on sale for $17, and I strongly recommend getting it for $25 or less, but not for anything higher. This pack was almost worth every penny, and it was almost perfect, but because the Cup offers so little online, and because Deep Dive Gill Grunt's Storm Summoner path encourages you to not bother with his wonderful play style, I just can't recommend it. It's a great pack of figures, and Gill Grunt is once again a brilliant character to play as, but the few problems here to take away from the value.

@Deja Vu if you want to, could you please edit something into the topic? If you think it's a good idea, please say that *any* character, regardless of gimmick, can be reviewed here, as long as they are reviewed in how they play in Superchargers? I'd love to review Enigma, Hex, and Fist Bump as how they are in Superchargers, rather than the games they come from.

Quote: CelesteInk

Second Half

Storm Summoner went and got Deep Dive Gill Grunt, an otherwise incredible, masterfully done character, and turned him into a wreck. For a character with such a ridiculous number of attacks, this path is just simply disappointing, since you'll never so much as even try those other skills again. If you buy the Sea Action Pack after reading this, go ahead and try the Storm Summoner path, just to be amazed at the ridiculous and stupid balancing, but reset him and stick with the Torrent Tamer. Torrent Tamer adds more use for his hover mode, while keeping him balanced, allowing you to experiment with his many attacks, encouraging you to switch between both modes, and find complex and interesting combos.

Both the use and the aesthetics of Deep Dive Gill Grunt's attacks, come together to make just one big love letter to previous characters from the series. His flurry of attacks resembles the end combo attack from Chop Chop. His charge of electricity resembles Free Ranger. Both his spinning water and his water charge resemble skills from Tread Head. I am sure I am missing other similarities here too. It's is what makes Deep Dive Gill Grunt so interesting. Instead of being a new play style, he's really of a mashup of previous play styles.

In the end, it comes down to the worth of this pack, and as much fun as I've had with it... I can't recommend it. For $35 or more, I just can't suggest buying it. I found this on sale for $17, and I strongly recommend getting it for $25 or less, but not for anything higher. This pack was almost worth every penny, and it was almost perfect, but because the Cup offers so little online, and because Deep Dive Gill Grunt's Storm Summoner path encourages you to not bother with his wonderful play style, I just can't recommend it. It's a great pack of figures, and Gill Grunt is once again a brilliant character to play as, but the few problems here to take away from the value.

@Deja Vu if you want to, could you please edit something into the topic? If you think it's a good idea, please say that *any* character, regardless of gimmick, can be reviewed here, as long as they are reviewed in how they play in Superchargers? I'd love to review Enigma, Hex, and Fist Bump as how they are in Superchargers, rather than the games they come from.

Sure, just I would like to review Hex as she's my all-time favorite and my first Skylander.

@Deja Vu.... UGH! xD She's one of my all time favorites too! Fine, but I get Enigma and Roller Brawl!

Quote: CelesteInk

@Deja Vu.... UGH! xD She's one of my all time favorites too! Fine, but I get Enigma and Roller Brawl!

Ok, you can get these. I just want my Top 3.

Also,since now she works on Racing, anyone noticed how Nightfall's model is just butchered? The colors don't match at all(her eyes are blue instead of white for starters, then there's the outfit being entirely different shades of the same colors,and how her skin is now purple instead of pitch black) and they forgot to readjust her model to the hair actually being linked to the tiny particle effect that this version has instead of the gigantic one in console,so she looks like her hair is tied up by nothing.

Quote: Bifrost

Also,since now she works on Racing, anyone noticed how Nightfall's model is just butchered? The colors don't match at all(her eyes are blue instead of white for starters, then there's the outfit being entirely different shades of the same colors,and how her skin is now purple instead of pitch black) and they forgot to readjust her model to the hair actually being linked to the tiny particle effect that this version has instead of the gigantic one in console,so she looks like her hair is tied up by nothing.

Are there any pictures or videos?

Octaneblue was using her on today's LP episode of Racing. Here it is, around 11:20. I'm sorry for those just with the Wii version because god she's so accurate on console and the opposite here.

Just giving this topic a little bump while saying I'm going to review Enigma within the next few days, as well as one of the new figures I got, Fiesta. Looking forward to reviewing Fiesta but I like getting everything accurate so I'm going to review Enigma in the mean time.

Is it possible for someone to review Bone Bash Roller Brawl, legendary or not, now that she's out? From trailers her gameplay seemed to not have too many changes and there isn't any good quality footage on youtube to analyze, so even some first impressions would be nice .w.

Quote: TTD

I thought that I'd post my review of the game as a whole here.

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Skylanders: SuperChargers Review

A few years back, Activision bought the rights to the spyro the dragon IP. In 2009, activision tasked developer, toys for bob to develop the new spyro game. The game started off as a mature rated MMO where players could create a dragon of their own and traverse the world of spyro. However, that dramatically changed when CEO of toys for bob, Paul Reiche came up with the idea of incorporating toys into the game, where placing a character on the portal the corresponding character would show up in the game allowing you to play as them. Knowing that toys would appeal more to kids, the game quickly became a family friendly action adventure game with an eventual release of 2011. The game was an overnight success, as of now the franchise has made a total profit of $2 billion, understandably many sequels followed and currently 5 games have been released. Today I am reviewing the latest in the series, Skylanders: SuperChargers.

First, let’s look at the story – Kaos, who is the main villain has formed an alliance with a creature known as ‘the darkness’ who has been teased since the very first game. The game starts off with Kaos announcing that he has taken over skylands and had cut off connections from this world to skylands meaning that we, the player can no longer use the portal to send the skylanders back. Fortunately, the skylanders prepared for this and have sent powerful vehicles equipped with rift engines to this world so we can connect back to skylands. Sure, this is more or less just an excuse to sell us more figurines but I feel incorporating it into the story is much better than just mindlessly putting them in the game without context and expecting us to just accept that. As for the story, I feel that the story is the best in the series yet with some surprisingly dark themes and even an emotional scene which I will not spoil. However, some of the more serious moments of the game often don’t make as big of an impact as they should as, although funny, some jokes are out of place which ultimately damages the story at times. But when it comes down to it, the story is very well written and has plenty of memorable moments, there are a few twists in the story which I certainly wasn’t expecting.

Gameplay is where it gets really interesting – essentially the game is split into two when it comes to gameplay: on foot platforming, hack and slash gameplay and racing and vehicles sequences. Most of the game is set on foot and depending on which character you play as, the gameplay can be significantly different. A character can be purchased for 12.99 and when you place it on the portal, the character will immediately appear in the game allowing you to play as him, her or even it. There is a huge variety in characters – Ninja elfs, undead zombie rollerbladers, a trigger happy gremlin, a lava barfing rock golem to a pirate octopus. Saying that the game has a huge variety would really be selling it short. Skylanders has always been praised for its enjoyable gameplay, in many ways it is similar to the gameplay that you were used to games such as Spyro and Crash bandicoot. The platforming is really well executed and combat ranges from average to exceptional depending on what character you are playing at – characters such as drill sergeant can get really boring and really fast which is why I recommend looking a character gameplay if you do plan on buying character figurines. However, characters such as Star Strike incorporate combos to defeat the enemy. What’s more is that Activision partnered with Nintendo to bring Donkey Kong and Bowser to the game which are only compatible on Wii, 3DS and Wii U versions of the game. I think that this is a great addition and opens the possibility of other characters to enter the skylanders universe in future entries.

Now when it does, perhaps take a turn for the worse is when it comes to vehicle gameplay. About 4 or 5 times in a level you will be prompted to place a vehicle on the portal to proceed. There are 3 types of vehicles – land vehicles, sky vehicles and sea vehicles. They act how you would expect, you drive on the land with land vehicles (similar to Mario kart), fly in sky vehicles (similar to star fox) and either drive above or below water in sea vehicles. Only land vehicles sections are necessary to proceed in the level but 1 land vehicle will come packed in with the game. Personally, I would have preferred it if the vehicle sections were optional as, although it didn’t bother me the first time playing the game, when I went back to locate collectibles it often felt like a chore to repeat the vehicle sequences – especially when some can last up to 10 minutes, sometimes it really does feel out of place, we’re in a race against time to stop kaos taking over skylands and what do we do? Spend 10 minutes rescuing caterpillars from a river. Furthermore, buying the vehicles doesn’t have the same appeal as buying skylanders as they all near enough feel similar and not nearly as unique enough to justify purchasing multiple vehicles of the same terrain type.

The aesthetics of the game are certainly unique, everything is exaggerated. Take Kaos for example, his head is the even bigger than his body! Perhaps it is metaphorical as if to say that he has got a big head as to say he thinks too highly of himself but it works so well and all of these deeper meanings that can be picked apart and can mean so many different things. Take the 2nd level for instance, you traverse through what is essentially a prison camp, where the evil drow have enslaved the peaceful inhabitants of skylands, you have to avoid alarms, traps and powerful enemies if you want to survive and free the slaves. It is such a deep story yet it does it such a light hearted manner than both children and adults see it in different ways yet both enjoyable to both. Each level is unique, there’s a 2D platformer level with a cell shaded art style which just looks beautiful, a KFC themed level where you fight a villainous chicken who is CEO of a fried chicken fast food chain in skylands, the whole level seems like a fast food twist on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The music is just amazing, I’m not going to say anything, I’m just going to link a few tracks just so you can just hear how exceptional the Lorne Balfe composed soundtrack really is.

Cloudbreather's Crag: Vehicle Sequence
The Clock Rock/ Brimstone and Boulders boss
Vault of the Ancients


So would I recommend the game? I would, yes. But can I advise that you buy multiple characters? Yes, and no. If you decide to play the game, I recommend you start with just the starter pack and if you enjoy it, pick up the characters you think look cool.

Video Review

You sound like Ferb, lol.

I wouldn't quote the entire post, wow that page stretch.

Nice review to people not familiar with the series too. Only criticism is that your voice randomly gets quiet and pretty hard to understand.

Good review, indeed. Is good you mentioned the strong storyline and the vehicles issue. Iwould hace also spoken Of the online features as well, but the important things are all there.