Last updated on November 19, 2015
From one obsession to another…such is the life of Zachery Oliver, apparently.
For those who haven’t kept up, or haven’t observed, what “the kids” are buying these days, at least the ones under one decade in age, Skylanders seems to be a good bet. With over 2 billion dollars in revenue to the series’ name over a short four year period, I think we can consider it one of Activision’s latest successes. When this company hits big, they hit big, and there’s no better market to target than children (wow, that totally sounds horribly wrong).
At base, Skylanders plays a whole lot like Diablo. It’s an action RPG for children that involves the use of a psychologically compelling hook – the Skylanders themselves. Rather than select characters from a menu, which would seem functional to adult ears, Skylanders only lets you play as the Skylanders you own in physical form. Each game in the series comes with a Portal, and placing a Skylander on that Portal magically teleports the Skylander into your game as a playable character. This sounds completely dumb when I write this out, but trust me – that basic feedback loop remains compelling.
Now, I honestly imagined that the Skylanders themselves would play the normal way – that is, they have a few different abilities each, and that’s it. Most of them would seem functionally similar – some with ranged attacks, some melee-focused – which would lend credence to Skylanders being a crass marketing stunt. Surprisingly, this isn’t true at all! Each Skylanders has unique animations, attack styles, voice overs, and (most importantly) talent trees. See, each Skylander can actually take two paths, and usually these emphasize one aspect of their repetoire over another. These choices, like Diablo II, are actually permanent (all data for Skylander levels is saved onto the figure, not the game) unless you reset them, meaning you do need to make a choice when leveling. Now, add dozens and dozens of variations, different Skylanders, upgraded Skylanders, giants, trap masters, swappable figures with upgradable top and bottom halves, and you start thinking you might need a whole lot more! Yes, even adults can get into this, as I think I prove (no, I’m not telling how much I spent).
There’s a few reasons why you’d want more Skylanders, and here’s where the marketing sinks its hooks into you deep. Each Skylander represents one of eight (ten in Trap Team) elements; these elemental types allow you to unlock new areas in the game, as well as deal more damage to enemies which have that weakness in particular. Further, those extra areas usually contain loot, which in Skylanders means “funny hats”. Hats actually provide statistical differences, from extra armor to extra health, and the kleptomaniac within certainly wants ALL the hats, right? I suppose that’s why “action rpg” fits best when you talk about Skylanders. Add in a co-op mode, dozens of arena challenges, extra difficulty levels, and all the usual fixings of generous content, and I can’t imagine why anyone would dismiss this series outright.
Consider, though, that Skylanders requires a hefty monetary investment compared to your usual game. Part of that comes from buying Skylanders, which remain expensive due to the rules of supply and demand; for the most part, I’ve found buying older Skylanders a much less distressing prospect than the $10-15 range of the newer figures. Thankfully, unlike a certain company that begins with a D (isney Infinity, ahem), every Skylanders from its release onwards is compatible with every subsequent game in the series. If you’ve got Spyro from the first game release, then you can use him in the latest game with no problems of compatibility! Still, that doesn’t mean you can unlock everything (they tend to throw in a new gimmick every year which ensures that new purchase ensue just to unlock things), but it’s a nice gesture. Think of Skylanders less as a single, distinct experience and more as an investment in a continually expanding content platform. It’s especially cool that new versions of the older Skylanders work fine with the older games; as long as they are the same character, you can use them freely!
So yes, Skylanders can turn into a black hole of money quickly, but if you enjoy the core game (as I do) and its ascending difficulty level, then you’ll probably enjoy it. You only need one of each element to really enjoy the game, so pick your favorites and have at it! Buy a cheap Starter pack and just test it out. I just sorta wish the game had a dodge button or something, because that would really help!
