Just wanted to know if there's a difference in the upgrade name and text of the skylanders between 3DS and other system!?!? And does they have the same number of upgrades? thanks!
Upgrades are earned by levelling up: you'll earn boosts on stats like health, attack and (in Giants) luck, as well. You'll get three upgrades and three or four of each stat point.
You only earn upgrades up to Level 10(it's unclear if Swap Force will add upgrades from 16-20), 11-15 are all health or luck boosts.
Gold stat makes no difference in the game, the only thing that changes your Skylander is what level they are on. Hats are purely for looks.
However, if you haven't played them, I suggest going with SA, glitches in Giants just ruined it for me.