darkSpyro

For those of you who have been pouring hour after hour into Superchargers since release, how is the replay value starting to look? Are we talking almost no replay value at all like Trap Team, or a good chunk of replay value like Swap Force... or even more than Swap Force?

It takes awhile, but eventually daily quests start becoming a thing, which certainly adds to the replay value.

IMO, the replay value is like Swap Force. The races and SuperCharger challenges are better than those 100 something waves in Trap Team.

meh...fighting > Racing
so to each is own on that. Long after I finished Trap Team I kept coming back to Kaos Mode. I just dislike how disproportionate the difficulty can get at times...like the games like "I know you have a Kaos trap somewhere, anything less than him or TKC and you're going to lose this"
- Unreall

The replay value is phenomenal. Since hats, soul stones, legendary treasures and other goodies aren't in set locations, you have a good reason to do levels a 2nd time. On top of that, there are multiple paths in levels. Many of these are to circumvent sky and sea areas that continue the level progression, but this gives you a strong reason to play some levels multiple times.

There are daily missions, special character missions (similar to the achievements in Giants and Swap Force, but not default...you have to get them from buzz and others for the SC characters) there's racing circuits once you get the racing packs, levels are broken into chapters to spot play to snag missed slot boxes.......this game has the most replay yet honestly.

I had my reservation after trap team, but I'm continually impressed with the bang for your buck this game is providing the want it is giving me to play races, story mode and replay levels to discover more stuff and obtain new items. Skystones is also much improved.

Replay value I guess would be within the Racing Tracks....as with any kart racing game.

Are there any modes that allow any "fighting" or is it ONLY story mode that you can actually fight?...every other mode is strictly restricted to you in a vehicle?

Quote: TOlofter

Replay value I guess would be within the Racing Tracks....as with any kart racing game.

Are there any modes that allow any "fighting" or is it ONLY story mode that you can actually fight?...every other mode is strictly restricted to you in a vehicle?

You keep asking this same question. I'll answer it again a different way.

When the game starts you can choose "Adventure" or "Racing".

Critically, I'm with you...I wanted to have Survival Missions, Scoring Mode competitions, Time Trials etc....nope....ALL GONE. You play the story or do the races. In this vein I think that the last two entries have TOTALLY forgotten about what makes skylanders game, and the optionfor pure fighting has to be there after the story. Trap Team did this, but didn't offer enough variety. In fact, they could've had some interesting battles with villains if they thought hard enough.

Have a nice day.

I like it at least. The concept's the same as before, anyway, just randomized, which I like. Besides, Skylanders has always been kind of grindy.

Yeah, the game itself is a breath of fresh air for the gimmick, but how we play the main mission (in my opinion) can no longer be....traverse through a simple level to the end...rinse and repeat. Despite these side gimmicks and the inclusion of the main gimmick in the game...how we execute the game itself on levels has to be changed. Despite the graphics being drop dead gorgeous the mechanics of what we were introduced since SSA have not changed and it's wearing very thin on me.

The game needs to be the gimmick on the next one if that makes any sense. Go back to basic skylanders concepts, but retool how the story plays out.

Critically, if you think about this another way...the after game content is considerably more "pay to play" than ever. Yes you get 4 tracks but to unlock the other 8 (or whatever it is), get to buying. There are literally no other modes that I've seen that allow you to replay other than 4 tracks. If you sit there a bit, I'm sure you could come up with the mini games, PVP, heroics, etc that previous entries have. Keep in mind that Boss Pursuit Mode, Mirror Tracks are both locked until you buy that trophy. In fact, you can't play as the villain without the trophy on the portal to select.

So, I think there is tremendous replay value just for ONLINE ALONE, but the content is just as constrained as ever. We also gave up adventure packs for racing/online. I think for the money we're paying we should be getting more content, but it looks very evident this time around. However, the IN GAME content only requires the purchase of two vehicles other than what's included in the starter...very very reasonable.

But, for the moment (and this may change)...the game is fantastic. My age old underlying irritation at problems not addressed continue to perplex me, but I guess they'll change it when they feel they HAVE TO.

I'm pretty sad that there isn't a mode building on the Kaos Challenge mode. That was my favorite part of Trap Team.

I personally think a Tower Defense "option", PVP "option" and survival "option" should be bread and butter on every Skylanders release. And 0% DLC free.

Quote: TakeYourLemons

I personally think a Tower Defense "option", PVP "option" and survival "option" should be bread and butter on every Skylanders release. And 0% DLC free.

I agree, but from the sounds of it, I am happy that Superchargers at least has modes that cater to its gimmick, allowing you to get more enjoyment from those vehicles. An issue with Trap Team for example is it really didn't cater to the gimmick. Villainous Challenges, Villain Survival? Those would have been so fun..., but nope. So at least Superchargers does have a lot of stuff that circle around its gimmick.

Quote: CelesteInk

Quote: TakeYourLemons

I personally think a Tower Defense "option", PVP "option" and survival "option" should be bread and butter on every Skylanders release. And 0% DLC free.

I agree, but from the sounds of it, I am happy that Superchargers at least has modes that cater to its gimmick, allowing you to get more enjoyment from those vehicles. An issue with Trap Team for example is it really didn't cater to the gimmick. Villainous Challenges, Villain Survival? Those would have been so fun..., but nope. So at least Superchargers does have a lot of stuff that circle around its gimmick.

I agree as well...my point is we should have something "familiar" along with something "new". Ya know---the balancing act? They did this in Swap Force in spades....for two releases since it's all been "new only".

Quote: TakeYourLemons

Yeah, the game itself is a breath of fresh air for the gimmick, but how we play the main mission (in my opinion) can no longer be....traverse through a simple level to the end...rinse and repeat. Despite these side gimmicks and the inclusion of the main gimmick in the game...how we execute the game itself on levels has to be changed. Despite the graphics being drop dead gorgeous the mechanics of what we were introduced since SSA have not changed and it's wearing very thin on me.

The game needs to be the gimmick on the next one if that makes any sense. Go back to basic skylanders concepts, but retool how the story plays out.

Critically, if you think about this another way...the after game content is considerably more "pay to play" than ever. Yes you get 4 tracks but to unlock the other 8 (or whatever it is), get to buying. There are literally no other modes that I've seen that allow you to replay other than 4 tracks. If you sit there a bit, I'm sure you could come up with the mini games, PVP, heroics, etc that previous entries have. Keep in mind that Boss Pursuit Mode, Mirror Tracks are both locked until you buy that trophy. In fact, you can't play as the villain without the trophy on the portal to select.

So, I think there is tremendous replay value just for ONLINE ALONE, but the content is just as constrained as ever. We also gave up adventure packs for racing/online. I think for the money we're paying we should be getting more content, but it looks very evident this time around. However, the IN GAME content only requires the purchase of two vehicles other than what's included in the starter...very very reasonable.

But, for the moment (and this may change)...the game is fantastic. My age old underlying irritation at problems not addressed continue to perplex me, but I guess they'll change it when they feel they HAVE TO.

thanks for the quick review, it looks like all these things you said just confirm my choice was right not to buy this game. i became a bit hyped with the release here and everyone getting the game and stuff and i was on the brink to go out buying the game in a few days. but now i for sure know i dont want to splash out over 800 dollars on this game. the vehicles are now the main focus and im more skylanders with jump'n run platform and hack'n slash than racing. also with the game braking bugs that is now worse than before, where you are depended on patches to get all the figurine working in the game. i will just wait for the skylanders6 by tfb and now i have 800 dollars that i put off for this game to use on something else

So briefly, the only game mode apart from story is racing, right?No arenas, no kaos doom challenges. Nada de nada.

Quote: CountMoneyBone

Quote: TakeYourLemons

Yeah, the game itself is a breath of fresh air for the gimmick, but how we play the main mission (in my opinion) can no longer be....traverse through a simple level to the end...rinse and repeat. Despite these side gimmicks and the inclusion of the main gimmick in the game...how we execute the game itself on levels has to be changed. Despite the graphics being drop dead gorgeous the mechanics of what we were introduced since SSA have not changed and it's wearing very thin on me.

The game needs to be the gimmick on the next one if that makes any sense. Go back to basic skylanders concepts, but retool how the story plays out.

Critically, if you think about this another way...the after game content is considerably more "pay to play" than ever. Yes you get 4 tracks but to unlock the other 8 (or whatever it is), get to buying. There are literally no other modes that I've seen that allow you to replay other than 4 tracks. If you sit there a bit, I'm sure you could come up with the mini games, PVP, heroics, etc that previous entries have. Keep in mind that Boss Pursuit Mode, Mirror Tracks are both locked until you buy that trophy. In fact, you can't play as the villain without the trophy on the portal to select.

So, I think there is tremendous replay value just for ONLINE ALONE, but the content is just as constrained as ever. We also gave up adventure packs for racing/online. I think for the money we're paying we should be getting more content, but it looks very evident this time around. However, the IN GAME content only requires the purchase of two vehicles other than what's included in the starter...very very reasonable.

But, for the moment (and this may change)...the game is fantastic. My age old underlying irritation at problems not addressed continue to perplex me, but I guess they'll change it when they feel they HAVE TO.

thanks for the quick review, it looks like all these things you said just confirm my choice was right not to buy this game. i became a bit hyped with the release here and everyone getting the game and stuff and i was on the brink to go out buying the game in a few days. but now i for sure know i dont want to splash out over 800 dollars on this game. the vehicles are now the main focus and im more skylanders with jump'n run platform and hack'n slash than racing. also with the game braking bugs that is now worse than before, where you are depended on patches to get all the figurine working in the game. i will just wait for the skylanders6 by tfb and now i have 800 dollars that i put off for this game to use on something else

You go through these motions every year Count! Why be active on the forums if you're not going to get the game and be such a flaky fan putting down the game year after year? Nobody asks you to spend $800 on a game...do you know how ridiculous an $800 game sounds? That's 2 next generation consoles right there with some extras. Just buy a deeply discounted starter pack next year at $20-40 and see how the game is before bashing it and complaining how expensive it is. Sorry to say, but you sound like the kind of person that simply can't be pleased regardless of what kind of Skylanders game is put out.

Quote: mastermc54

Quote: CountMoneyBone

Quote: TakeYourLemons

Yeah, the game itself is a breath of fresh air for the gimmick, but how we play the main mission (in my opinion) can no longer be....traverse through a simple level to the end...rinse and repeat. Despite these side gimmicks and the inclusion of the main gimmick in the game...how we execute the game itself on levels has to be changed. Despite the graphics being drop dead gorgeous the mechanics of what we were introduced since SSA have not changed and it's wearing very thin on me.

The game needs to be the gimmick on the next one if that makes any sense. Go back to basic skylanders concepts, but retool how the story plays out.

Critically, if you think about this another way...the after game content is considerably more "pay to play" than ever. Yes you get 4 tracks but to unlock the other 8 (or whatever it is), get to buying. There are literally no other modes that I've seen that allow you to replay other than 4 tracks. If you sit there a bit, I'm sure you could come up with the mini games, PVP, heroics, etc that previous entries have. Keep in mind that Boss Pursuit Mode, Mirror Tracks are both locked until you buy that trophy. In fact, you can't play as the villain without the trophy on the portal to select.

So, I think there is tremendous replay value just for ONLINE ALONE, but the content is just as constrained as ever. We also gave up adventure packs for racing/online. I think for the money we're paying we should be getting more content, but it looks very evident this time around. However, the IN GAME content only requires the purchase of two vehicles other than what's included in the starter...very very reasonable.

But, for the moment (and this may change)...the game is fantastic. My age old underlying irritation at problems not addressed continue to perplex me, but I guess they'll change it when they feel they HAVE TO.

thanks for the quick review, it looks like all these things you said just confirm my choice was right not to buy this game. i became a bit hyped with the release here and everyone getting the game and stuff and i was on the brink to go out buying the game in a few days. but now i for sure know i dont want to splash out over 800 dollars on this game. the vehicles are now the main focus and im more skylanders with jump'n run platform and hack'n slash than racing. also with the game braking bugs that is now worse than before, where you are depended on patches to get all the figurine working in the game. i will just wait for the skylanders6 by tfb and now i have 800 dollars that i put off for this game to use on something else

You go through these motions every year Count! Why be active on the forums if you're not going to get the game and be such a flaky fan putting down the game year after year? Nobody asks you to spend $800 on a game...do you know how ridiculous an $800 game sounds? That's 2 next generation consoles right there with some extras. Just buy a deeply discounted starter pack next year at $20-40 and see how the game is before bashing it and complaining how expensive it is. Sorry to say, but you sound like the kind of person that simply can't be pleased regardless of what kind of Skylanders game is put out.

I was totally about to post this. Count never fails to whine about the latest game and then threaten to not get it, (but nonetheless post here several times). Crazy, I tell you. Go post on the forums for whatever you choose to spend your $800.00 on instead.

Quote: TakeYourLemons

Quote: TOlofter

Replay value I guess would be within the Racing Tracks....as with any kart racing game.

Are there any modes that allow any "fighting" or is it ONLY story mode that you can actually fight?...every other mode is strictly restricted to you in a vehicle?

You keep asking this same question. I'll answer it again a different way.

When the game starts you can choose "Adventure" or "Racing".

Critically, I'm with you...I wanted to have Survival Missions, Scoring Mode competitions, Time Trials etc....nope....ALL GONE. You play the story or do the races. In this vein I think that the last two entries have TOTALLY forgotten about what makes skylanders game, and the optionfor pure fighting has to be there after the story. Trap Team did this, but didn't offer enough variety. In fact, they could've had some interesting battles with villains if they thought hard enough.

Have a nice day.

No, I get all that.

My question was in the racing modes, is there also a fighting element to some of those in any form. Because without challenges(DLC?), what is really the point in levelling up characters or characters having upgrades? After you beat the main story, your character becomes nothing more than a face behind a wheel it seems....?

The previous games were jam packed with content. This game, if I understand correctly, has a story mode and a kart racing mode and that is it. Period.

NO PVP
NO Challenge Maps
NO Kaos Challenges
NO Brock Challenges
NO Eon Chalelnges
There IS a Skystones mode?

They had 2+ years to do this game. They could have added something extra revolving around the characters. We are supposed to get new Elites, but what is the point once you beat the story? Same with any characters coming out after launch. Your elites will not serve a purpose(correct me if I'm wrong) just sitting in a vehicle.

There is some horrid info in here acting like the content is lackluster. You can't discount the racing just because that's isn't your preferred content of choice. That's like discounting the battle arenas because your too sensitive of a person to ever want to play PvP.

I think this is also a result of there being so much content unlocked by default. Supercharger gates, all land zones, fire tracks etc......this is the first game where whole batches of the content are unlocked immediately. This would be like if swap force included 3 swappers instead of 2, or trap team gave you 4 different traps and 2 different trap masters. Folks have been complaining that they have to buy too much extra and now they don't, and people are saying "I'm not getting enough new stuff with my purchase."

In addition to the supercharger challange, Buzz gives the Superchargers missions themselves, some to be completed personally, others with their personal vehicle. The game has been diving into Gill Grunts back story as I've been playing him. You complete these and his stats improve. It's like the achievements from Swap Force and Giants, but applied in a much better way. Just because you didn't like completing those, doesn't make the content non-existent. It's no different then time trial or any other special objective based content layered into the game.

The amount of stuff you get from each individual character has never actually been this high. After missions, the hub offers a special level for vehicles of a certain element. It's not extensive, but again it's such a vast improvement from the "you must have a trap master of each element to grab specific soul stones for your characters" it's not even funny.

If your totally against the racing aspect, I supose you're going to feel this game and the expansion packs are lackluster. But then again, if you never played PVP, there was plenty of battle packs and extras from adventure packs that you thought was useless. Everytime I've turned the game on I've found more stuff to do and a new angle increasing why someone would want to play through the game, and some of that is just involving playing levels that actUally have a decent stock of enemies, unlike Trap Team where you'd wander around for 5 minutes and fight 4 chompies in that time.

Guys, I'm not saying the content we have is lacking...it's just different. It's lacking in terms of what I prefer, however. Everyone needs to understand that my quick info is just based on where I am. I'm not even 25% through the game. People want quick perceptions of the game. It's great. I've been engaged the entire time.

In racing mode, there are 6 TYPES of racing challenges, much like you could re-play story mode with different modifiers. Arkham Knight almost ruined the game with the Batmobile because of balance issues. I am NOT seeing this for this game...so they got the balance here right in story mode. I only wish we had a pure combat option available outside of the story. Unlike Swap Force, there are no specific stars/portal master or general achievements for replaying story mode on specific difficulties or in different modes, so I guess that aspect was removed as well.

While I'm playing the game, there are no problems whatsoever with it. I'm having fun, the game is a blast etc. Just played co-op in STORY MODE tonight. Never before have we been able to do that before. I would've preferred PvP or survival mode with online...

To my knowledge, there's no online Skystone game option. If you're playing Co-op online in story mode you WILL be playing against each other if you opt to play a game. Happened to me tonight. Had my arse handed to me.

In regards to portal rank, it's different this time around. The portal master rank accumulates and DOES NOT RESET, even when starting a new save file. It even accumulates while you are playing in someone's online game. Some people may or may not like this. Your goodies / legendary treasure etc seems to also accumulate across ALL SAVE files. I'm not sure how to feel about this. There appears to be no more accolades, or other types of things which earn stars other than completing story objectives (each tied to vehicle) and racing. That means you don't need to worry about finding that last treasure chest, that last mitten, or other in game collectible. There are no story scrolls in the traditional sense, but the wish stones and chests/gamble machines do spit them out in terms of some of Kaos' diary entries and maybe other things.

TOlofter, your criticism of vehicles was pointed out by me months ago. They are basically watering down 150 unique skylanders into 20 vehicles. Yep, no doubt about it. I'd personally would've preferred at least one or two combat challenges myself in case "I'm not in the mood" to drive, swim, or fly. I will say that as per usual VV's difficulty is not for the weak, and you'll be needing your army of skylanders for the foot battles.

They've really done some interesting things with portal master rank. As you increase, you'll have the option to change a modifier that can change a lot of things. Suffice to say, it's a welcome difference!

Elemental aspects have been minimized. It's effectively not part of any strategy that I can see, although it still recognizes and lets you optimize it. It seems to be more relevant when playing Skystones Overdrive.

All of the quirks on stopping dialog and Persephone talking have been nullified and resolved. Replaying will be absolutely blissful.

Count, I personally think you're missing a great time with this game. It's different. Vehicle games aren't necessarily my cup of tea, but I'm definitely warming up to it. I'm giving it a fair shake and it hasn't disappointed. We can all get defensive or irritated at what they're doing to our "baby" so to speak, so I can understand the criticisms. I've had my share as well. But as others have said, give it a chance...spend little money on it...and let it EARN its mindshare with you first.

Quote: temperedreason

Quote: mastermc54

Quote: CountMoneyBone

thanks for the quick review, it looks like all these things you said just confirm my choice was right not to buy this game. i became a bit hyped with the release here and everyone getting the game and stuff and i was on the brink to go out buying the game in a few days. but now i for sure know i dont want to splash out over 800 dollars on this game. the vehicles are now the main focus and im more skylanders with jump'n run platform and hack'n slash than racing. also with the game braking bugs that is now worse than before, where you are depended on patches to get all the figurine working in the game. i will just wait for the skylanders6 by tfb and now i have 800 dollars that i put off for this game to use on something else

You go through these motions every year Count! Why be active on the forums if you're not going to get the game and be such a flaky fan putting down the game year after year? Nobody asks you to spend $800 on a game...do you know how ridiculous an $800 game sounds? That's 2 next generation consoles right there with some extras. Just buy a deeply discounted starter pack next year at $20-40 and see how the game is before bashing it and complaining how expensive it is. Sorry to say, but you sound like the kind of person that simply can't be pleased regardless of what kind of Skylanders game is put out.

I was totally about to post this. Count never fails to whine about the latest game and then threaten to not get it, (but nonetheless post here several times). Crazy, I tell you. Go post on the forums for whatever you choose to spend your $800.00 on instead.

I'm going to jump in and 3rd this. Take a hike, Count.

Obviously he's just salty about being beaten early in the game.

Quote: Bionichute

It takes awhile, but eventually daily quests start becoming a thing, which certainly adds to the replay value.

Where can I access the daily quests? FYI: I'm not too far into the game (maybe 2 or 3 levels).

C'mon guys, it was the same during Trap Team. Even if next game is everything he asked for and more,he'll complain about it.

I think the replay value isn't as good as 100% new missions - like the Doom Challenges,Arena Challenges,or Survival/Bonus in SF; but what's there isn't too bad. It's fun to switch around PM Powers to try out new effects, or go back to a level for the Hugo/Tessa quests, or do a simple Elemental Gate.

Quote: mastermc54

Quote: Bionichute

It takes awhile, but eventually daily quests start becoming a thing, which certainly adds to the replay value.

Where can I access the daily quests? FYI: I'm not too far into the game (maybe 2 or 3 levels).

You can't get them until much later on.

In response to later comments here, everyone talking about not being upset about how much content there is, but being upset about the content revolving around the vehicles... ehh. I can totally understand that, I myself am a little turned off with Trap Team for having almost no content at all, and I do wish it had online and PVP... which would make the game so good. So Superchargers gets online, and my prayers are answered! Right....? Well, except for the fact it doesn't have PVP, and so my prayers are only partially answered, unfortunately. So I can totally understand the disappointment. I too wish PVP were back (with online, leaderboards, and maybe even 2v2 as well), with the bonus missions / heroic challenges, the survival arena, etc, but... I don't think the vehicles are the worst choice they could have made. Granted, I have yet to play it because I am poor and I want to start with Splat, but the vehicle gameplay looks pretty decent, and after watching hours of the racing mode... I think it looks miles better than Mario Kart (which I absolutely despise). I'm disappointed that my favorite modes are gone, but I just can't bring myself to complain because it still looks incredible, if not the best game in the series yet.

By the way, everyone has Instant Skylanders with even the game that ships with the portal. Just plug up your TT portal and you'll get the option. You need not buy the digital owners pack. Funny, huh?

Quote: TakeYourLemons

By the way, everyone has Instant Skylanders with even the game that ships with the portal. Just plug up your TT portal and you'll get the option. You need not buy the digital owners pack. Funny, huh?

Really!!??I think I'm changing my mind then, this is great to know, thanks.

Quote: TOlofter

Quote: TakeYourLemons

Quote: TOlofter

Replay value I guess would be within the Racing Tracks....as with any kart racing game.

Are there any modes that allow any "fighting" or is it ONLY story mode that you can actually fight?...every other mode is strictly restricted to you in a vehicle?

You keep asking this same question. I'll answer it again a different way.

When the game starts you can choose "Adventure" or "Racing".

Critically, I'm with you...I wanted to have Survival Missions, Scoring Mode competitions, Time Trials etc....nope....ALL GONE. You play the story or do the races. In this vein I think that the last two entries have TOTALLY forgotten about what makes skylanders game, and the optionfor pure fighting has to be there after the story. Trap Team did this, but didn't offer enough variety. In fact, they could've had some interesting battles with villains if they thought hard enough.

Have a nice day.

No, I get all that.

My question was in the racing modes, is there also a fighting element to some of those in any form. Because without challenges(DLC?), what is really the point in levelling up characters or characters having upgrades? After you beat the main story, your character becomes nothing more than a face behind a wheel it seems....?

The previous games were jam packed with content. This game, if I understand correctly, has a story mode and a kart racing mode and that is it. Period.

NO PVP
NO Challenge Maps
NO Kaos Challenges
NO Brock Challenges
NO Eon Chalelnges
There IS a Skystones mode?

They had 2+ years to do this game. They could have added something extra revolving around the characters. We are supposed to get new Elites, but what is the point once you beat the story? Same with any characters coming out after launch. Your elites will not serve a purpose(correct me if I'm wrong) just sitting in a vehicle.

I somewhat agree that there should be arena combat, but you can get some of that in the missions, especially with nightmare difficulty. A lot of people on here seem to like Spyro's Adventure, but that had the least content of all. What were people doing in that game? I assume they were replaying the missions. So far there was one mission where you fought in an arena, so I guess there's that. I'm not saying I love the lack of combat modes, but if you want combat you don't really need the game to tell you how to do it. There IS combat in the game, and a lot of it. It's just mostly contained to the story missions.

What do you do with a new character later on? Well, first of all you do their character missions. Second, if you want a good challenge, go through nightmare mode with just that character. I mean it's not like you picked up Flip Wreck in Trap Team and were saying "Oh thank god I got Flip Wreck, now I can finally complete Kaos mode and the arenas!" It was really up to you to decide what content you wanted to use the characters in, if any.

Quote:

limited sense of progression in vehicles, since upgrades are just for their sheild and damage.

That's not completely accurate. You can alter vehicle stats with parts you find in boxes throughout the game. You can also slightly buff your vehicle by doing the character quests for the Superchargers. I believe each Supercharger has two vehicle-related quests. When you get a new vehicle there is definitely stuff you need to do to make it optimal beyond just buying the upgrades.

This question is a little loaded. It's like walking into a 31 Flavors asking what flavor ice cream is the best...it really depends on what you like. It won't matter that they have 31 flavors to most since you only have a few favs. I still feel Super Chargers has a ton of flavors to offer. True Super Chargers did lose some features from previous games. Activision has been trimming features for a while now and beefing up emphasis on the gimmick. I miss arenas a lot but I'm going to give racing an honest go. If you're not into racers than Super Chargers loses a lot of value. That point isn't up for debate. It is worth noting that the racing component was done so completely it could be a stand alone game. They didn't half-ass anything on that front, which is respectable. I was hoping for a que station for Battle Brawl Island for different matches but I can go into story mode. It's also worth mentioning (as also stated above) the quality of life changes to upgrading, conversations and the overall outstanding level design, are making replays are actually desirable now. So there's more replay value. I'm also wondering if there are secret plans to add features through downloads since they're finally embracing online...I'll keep my fingers crossed but won't get my hopes up.

^

Bottomline, it has more content and more bang for buck then almost any other installment. When I get time I'm gonna break everything down for each game, but again, this will take time. At first glance, Giants may take the cake, but it goes unnoticed as so much of the content is repeated for SA. This is also where you have to resurrect old complaints. If people were overly turned off by that, this is where they're afrad to just copy and paste. Then Count comes in and says "If I wanted to play the same exact battle arenas as SF, I'd just play SF."

This is why the outspoken minority needs to be told to shut up at times.

For number of total features, Swap Force wins, easily. The sheer number of activities and features is staggering. With all the systems they added they only lost Heroic Challenges. Was actually hoping for more of the Swap Force style of variety for post campaign activities but they did make an entirely separate system...I still want my arenas back dammit lol. As far as playing older games, I'd love it if there was a d.l.c that I could purchase that would make my new Skylanders function in older games I'd pay for it in a heart beat. There were a ton of new Skylanders that came out in Trap Team that I wanted to play but I was just so done with the game. Now I can play them in Super Chargers. I'd love to take Echo, Gear Shift Black Out, etc. in Swap Force, but sadly it's not an options.

Hey, there is still room for improvement. But they are in the arena that they are gonna need a third company brought in on this. There is only so much you can do in two years while having the daunting task of figuring out what to do with past readable items for the portal. This is where some of the more niche (sidekicks) limited (traps) and money grab (Legendary and EE lines) ideas start to affect what we get. PvP could very well have been something VV wanted back in their game. But they put first things first and concentrating on their title (story and racing) what to do with the extra crap (traps including captured villains) had to program in the backlog.......this takes work.

We should definitely be excited character count was kept low. But the sad truth is for every piece of crap toy idea that gets kicked out there, someone on the game staff has to mess with it to make sure its in the game some how and working properly. The heavy roster of trap team and gimmick in swap force is forever gonna haunt this series and future installments. I'm hoping folks are "bracing for impact" and realizing this can't maintain. Just like you can't take captured Villians forward, at some point, they're gonna have to drop certain concepts entirely, or just end the series all together. And what would you rather have: your sidekicks no longer work and your swappers can't swap, or have your entire collection meet its end before you wanted it to?

Quote: TakeYourLemons

By the way, everyone has Instant Skylanders with even the game that ships with the portal. Just plug up your TT portal and you'll get the option. You need not buy the digital owners pack. Funny, huh?

Isn't the main reason for this so that you don't get stuck in parts of the game where you don't have the option to proceed without a land vehicle? Sure, every starter pack has one, but this compensates for the wall you'd otherwise encounter if your land vehicle is lost or broken or forgotten at a friend's place. Isn't it true the game has workarounds for sky and water vehicle areas on levels, but not for all land areas?

Quote: Earth-Dragon

Hey, there is still room for improvement. But they are in the arena that they are gonna need a third company brought in on this. There is only so much you can do in two years while having the daunting task of figuring out what to do with past readable items for the portal. This is where some of the more niche (sidekicks) limited (traps) and money grab (Legendary and EE lines) ideas start to affect what we get. PvP could very well have been something VV wanted back in their game. But they put first things first and concentrating on their title (story and racing) what to do with the extra crap (traps including captured villains) had to program in the backlog.......this takes work.

We should definitely be excited character count was kept low. But the sad truth is for every piece of crap toy idea that gets kicked out there, someone on the game staff has to mess with it to make sure its in the game some how and working properly. The heavy roster of trap team and gimmick in swap force is forever gonna haunt this series and future installments. I'm hoping folks are "bracing for impact" and realizing this can't maintain. Just like you can't take captured Villians forward, at some point, they're gonna have to drop certain concepts entirely, or just end the series all together. And what would you rather have: your sidekicks no longer work and your swappers can't swap, or have your entire collection meet its end before you wanted it to?

In an interview, V.V. said that when they can't fit it all in the game, it'll store it on a Cloud instead... Toys to Life will find a way... Life always does
At worst, they'll ditch gimmick landers, but they can't touch any cores because those can always be reprinted (except maybe the "old" versions of revamps)

Quote: mastermc54

Quote: TakeYourLemons

By the way, everyone has Instant Skylanders with even the game that ships with the portal. Just plug up your TT portal and you'll get the option. You need not buy the digital owners pack. Funny, huh?

Isn't the main reason for this so that you don't get stuck in parts of the game where you don't have the option to proceed without a land vehicle? Sure, every starter pack has one, but this compensates for the wall you'd otherwise encounter if your land vehicle is lost or broken or forgotten at a friend's place. Isn't it true the game has workarounds for sky and water vehicle areas on levels, but not for all land areas?

I was simply commenting that the disc that ships with figures also lets you play the Instant characters with the TT portal. The main reason for Instants was for people that purchased the digital version so I wanted to point out I did not buy the digital version. Just thought it was interesting. You only get the starter pack guys as Instant.