Skylanders Spyro’s Adventureis a perfect product to see at Toy Fair as it is a combination of collectible figure and video game. We had a great opportunity to see the game live and to get a walk through by the folks at the booth. The first thing you will notice is that this is not some horrible thrown together attempt at getting a little bit of each market. Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure is a full blown video game and at the same time has top end collectible figures. This is a full fledged effort into creating something everyone will enjoy.
My favorite part of the product was the ability for your character to maintain their characteristics and accessories while travelling with you in your pocket to your friends house. How fun is that going to be for your child? They have a bit of an emotional investment in that figure and if they want to show it off to their friends, no problem. Also for two boys in the same house it also makes it fun as they have their own collectible figures which may have different levels and items in game. I only worry that if one of these guys is ever lost, oh boy are you going to have an upset kid on your hands.
I admit during the demo of the game I was pretty shocked on how easy it is to play with this thing. You just put your character on the light up base, which looks like some cool portal, and “blam” they pop up on the screen. Want to add another character, just plop them down as well. I didn’t think getting multi-player would be that easy. If someone wants to stop playing, take their character off the portal and back to one player. It is as easy as that. The world itself looked good, with some areas only being accessible to certain characters, which gives it that added replay ability, and gives you something new and cool to do with that figure you just bought. The fact is has over 30 characters puts this super high on replay ability and the fact that Toy Story film writers wrote the storyline should be all you need. In case that is not enough, I can tell you from the cut scenes and little bit that I got to see via the demo, this story has character and depth to it, the immersion factor for just the game itself is high.
Player-versus-player arena battles is going to be a part of the game that will be played a lot in our house. As you know the boys in this house (myself included) are quite competitive and this is going to be a great showcase for your characters, again replay ability off the charts with the arena battles. I was not able to see this portion of the game, but I have high hopes for it.
What I think is the most telling is that while my wife had another appointment at the time I was visiting the Activision booth her appointment was over before I was done. That meant that she came over to the Activision booth mid way through my demo and was immediately intrigued by the game. So much so that after they were done showing me the product, she actually asked to hear about the things she had missed. She went through a full demo of the product after I was finished. When we left the booth the first thing she said to me was, “that was pretty awesome.” If you have won over my wife with a video game and collectible figures, this is going to be a huge hit.
Normally we do not like to integrate such long press releases in our highlight posts, but there is so much awesome in this game I did not want you to miss anything. Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure is really going to bring you kids right into the video game and is going to make it very easy for the kids to share their experience with their friends. You can check out some screenshots below as well.
In Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure, you can ‘Bring Your Toys to Life’ in a boldly innovative adventure game where players collect real-world interaction figures and teleport them directly into the game using a mystical Portal of Power™.
Propelled by a story-driven adventure, penned by Academy Award-nominated Toy Story feature film writers, Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, players take on the role of a powerful Portal Master who can control over 30 different characters, including the beloved fire-breathing dragon Spyro. Players will embark on a fantastical journey into an amazing world, where they will explore mysterious, mythical lands, battle menacing outlandish creatures, collect gold and treasures, and solve interesting puzzles while on a quest to save their world from Kaos, an evil Portal Master.
Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure changes the way we look at toys and videogames, as well as how we interact with them by introducing action figures that become interaction figures and remember all of their dynamic experiences created in the game. For the first time ever, players can personally customize and power-up their toys, as well as bring them to life on a friend’s Portal of Power for co-op play and player-versus-player arena battles. Additionally, with the freedom to change characters whenever they like, Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure allows kids to utilize different interaction figures and strategies each time they play.
KEY FEATURES:• Interaction Figures – Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure offers over 30 characters to bring out the kid in everyone. It’s all about choice, and each interaction figure has their own unique and expressive personality, powers and abilities which provide distinct advantages and skill sets for various levels, obstacles and enemies.
• Toys with Brains – Each interaction figure contains a “brain” that remembers the player’s shared experiences and leveled-up abilities (e.g. stats, ability and attack upgrades, and gold collected) directly within each toy, This allows players to personally customize and power-up their characters, as well as take their interaction figures on-the-go to bring them to life on a friend’s ‘Portal of Power’ for co-op play and player-versus-player arena battles.
• Categories, Strategy & Collectability – Interaction figures are classified by element types (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Life, Undead, Magic, and Tech) and each has their own heroic challenges that are unlocked as more characters are collected. Players can collect and then strategically select their favorite characters within the different element types to go up against certain enemies, obstacles, and puzzles as well as access new areas within the different levels of the game.• The Portal of Power – The mystical Portal of Power serves as a gateway between our world and the amazing game world, allowing you to ‘Bring Your Toys to Life’ by teleporting real-world toys directly into the game for players to control when placed upon the Portal of Power.
• Exploration – As the tale unfolds, players will encounter a variety of vivid environments, each with its own unique look and feel, and each providing different challenges, puzzles, and the discovery of secret areas, rewards and mini-games.
• Co-Operative Play – Players can join forces with friends and drop in and out of each level with as many different interaction figures as they like. Different strategies can come into play as players can select their favorite characters to tag-team against certain obstacles, hazards and/or enemies within the different levels of the game.
• Player vs. Player – A classic battle mode provides a selection of different game modes and arena maps for players to face off against each other. Each unique arena map contains a variety of obstacles, hazards and power-ups. Players will want to make sure they build up their army of different characters and level them all up to battle their friends on equal ground.
Publisher: Activision Publishing, Inc.Release Date:
Fall 2011
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