Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is an action platforming game. Think the 3D Mario games or Banjo-Kazooie ... or past Spyro games, but no one played those (at least, not recent ones). Instead of using one or two characters to run and jump around an open world and save the day, Skylanders has a cast of dozens.
The key to the whole concept, and what raises it from a somewhat mediocre platformer into something much more interesting, is the Portal of Power peripheral and the line of toys you place on the portal to use them in the game. The Portal is a USB pedestal that plugs into your Xbox 360 and lights up and changes colors and looks super neat. Really, the portal looks awesome. While playing the game, you place one of the Skylanders toys on the portal and that character is immediately put into the game for you to use. Swapping characters is easy and instant, you just put a toy on the portal, so kids won't have any trouble with it. The game comes with three characters along with the game and portal for $69.99, but you can also buy single character toys for $7.99 or three-packs of characters for $19.99 and there are also bonus levels available as special toys as well.
You don't actually have to use any extra characters besides the three the game comes with to beat Skylanders, but you won't see everything the game has to offer, which is the real evil genius of the whole product line. The characters have elemental associations, so to open a water door or magic door or tech door or some other element, you have to have a Skylander with that element. Which means you'll have to buy more toys if you want to see everything. You don't have to buy the whole collection, and can actually see everything with just one character of each element, but the "Gotta catch em' all" Pokemon mentality is very strongly at play here. You won't "need" them all, but you'll "want" them. Or, er, your kids will want them.The toys themselves are really remarkably cool. They are really, really detailed and look great. These aren't just quick cash-in tie-in toys. These are well-made collectible toys all by themselves. They have another unique quality besides just looking awesome, though. They actually save character data to the toy itself when you put it on the portal rather than saving it in-game. So when your character levels up and gets a new hat (which boost stats) or something, it is saved to the toy for you to use anywhere there is a portal. Like, say, your friends house so you show off how awesome your characters are compared to theirs.
While the tech and toys are great, the actual game you use them in is only so-so. It is an entirely linear, super simplified platformer that is, well, boring compared to other 3D platformers on the market. It is a kids game, though, so you really can't complain. The short length of the main game and tiny 10-level cap for characters make it an easy game for kids to pick up and really get the most out of. The game isn't super-easy, though, as some boss fights are basically wars of attrition where your Skylanders lose all their HP and have to be swapped out one after the other until you finally win, but it isn't all that taxing, either. Again, kids will dig it.
Personally, I'm not sold on it as a game for grown up gamers as much as so many other 25+ year old gamers on forums and podcasts all over the Internet seem to be. The gameplay is bland and boring, and while the toys are fantastic, I'm not particularly drawn to the characters. I do love the overall concept, though, and hope that Activision tries this again in the future with other licenses. Just imagine a Transformers game with the Portal of Power where you scan in new toys to use in the game. That is something I'd run out and buy all the toys for. Spyro, not so much. But that is just me.It is kind of a hypocritical moment for gamers, though, because this entire game concept is basically premium DLC disguised as neat toys. If another game tried to sell you multiple packs of three new characters as DLC for $20 each, hardcore gamers would flip out and throw a fit. This isn't a criticism of the game, mind you, but more a criticism of gamers who only stand by their principles when it suits them and as soon as something new and shiny shows up they abandon them.
Graphics & Sound
Presentation-wise, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is a decent looking game. The game worlds are somewhat bland, and NPC characters are plain funky looking, but the Skylanders characters you play as all are fantastically detailed and look good. There are also some very nice special effects for attacks, and it looks good overall. The game is bright and colorful, which also looks nice.
The sound is only okay. The voice acting is kind of terrible, and battle sound effects and catch phrases are used over and over again to the point they drive you crazy. Solid music, though.
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