My kids were absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to review the new Skylanders SuperChargers game that recently came out. They are huge Skylanders fans, and they were so excited to find out what’s new, what’s cool, and what’s improved with this latest version.
The cool twist with this Skylanders version is the inclusion of racing. Much of the game is played in the traditional way, but parts of the game include driving missions and races for the Skylanders. The different Skylanders each have their own race car, and when you match the Skylander with his or her individual car on the portal, that’s where the “SuperCharging” comes in. The car gets enhance speed and power, and the Skylander has increased health and power, and can inflict more damage in a battle. Both the car and the Skylander gets supercharged when you match them up.
The starter pack comes with the game disc, the new power portal, a Ninja Stealth Elf Skylander, the Donkey Kong Skylander (which also doubles as an Amiibo with the Wii U version), and his Donkey Kong vehicle. The last pair supercharges each other, so you can experience does supercharging elements of game without buying any extras.
Of course, the extra characters and vehicles are part of what makes this game fun (and what makes it marketing brilliance for the company that makes it–you could drop a ton of additional money on all of the characters and vehicles for this game just like all of the other previous Skylanders games!). That being said, the cool thing is that even if a particular element works better in an area, you can still play the game with just the basic kit. If nothing else, we will be looking into getting a water vehicle and an air vehicle so that they can use all of the different race tracks in the game–a land vehicle comes in the starter kit, and you can beat the game with just that vehicle, but it sounds like the air and water tracks are pretty cool!
I asked my boys (ages 8 1/2, almost 7, and almost 5) what their favorite parts of the game were. The eight-year-old really liked all of the new challenges, especially the twist of the racing component of the game. It’s a fun cross between the regular Skylanders game that he’s played before, and Mario Kart which is one of his all-time favorites. The seven-year-old like how you can play the game with one player or two players, and it’s fun no matter what. The five-year-old thinks it’s really cool that you can play this game with his big brothers. When one is driving, the second player is the shooter, which is his job–he thinks that’s pretty cool to play with the big kids.
All in all, I think this is a great addition to the Skylanders franchise. As a mom, I appreciate that all of the previous Skylanders work with this game, so the collection we amassed with Swap Force two Christmases ago can still be put to use with this new game. Even though part of me thanks it’s a bit of a racket to charge an extra $12 – $14 for the other characters and vehicles, at least they’re at a price point that that makes then decent gift ideas for birthdays or Christmas. My kids even just play with the figures separately from the video game sometimes, and they really enjoy these games.
If you think this game sounds like something your kids might enjoy, I’d keep an eye out for deals on it during the week or two leading up to Thanksgiving. There have been some phenomenal deals on Skylanders games during those Black Friday or pre-Christmas sales, usually down around $39 rather than the full price of around $79. I guess they figure if they’ve got you on the hook for the game, you’ll make up for the sale price by selling you extra characters–they’re probably right, but at least you don’t pay full price for the game!
Skylanders SuperChargers got six pretty enthusiastic thumbs up from my three boys, and I think it’s fun to play with them too! If your kids are into the Skylanders franchise, or they’re just getting started, I’d recommend this one as a possible Christmas gift this year. It’s available for Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and 4, and iPad
Want to see more about Skylanders SuperChargers items? Check them out on Amazon HERE!
Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this video game to facilitate this review, but all the opinions are honest and my own!
