Product Description:
Starter Pack includes: Video Game, Portal of Power, 3- Skylanders Figures, Character Collection Poster, 3-Sticker Sheets with Secret Codes and 3-Trading Cards
Product Details:
- Warning: Choking Hazard - Small parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.
Customer Reviews:
Another Skylands adventure By Andrew Gray
Last year saw a surprising hit in video games, Skylanders Spyro's Adventure. It became a virtual juggernaut with individual characters flying off store shelves (and subsequently appearing on 3rd-party sites such as EBay). When I first learned about Skylanders I quickly dismissed it as another kids game. However, when I actually sat down and played it, I felt like a kid again and enjoyed every minute of it. When I heard there would be a sequel called Skylander Giants, I was curious if Toys for Bob could catch lightning in a bottle twice. The answer can be found below.
For those who have heard about Skylanders but aren't exactly sure what it is, let me give a brief overview. As a Skylander, you are entrusted to protect the people of the Skylands. To protect them, you have an assortment of different Skylanders to help you. There are eight elements that the characters can belong to - Air, Water, Earth, Fire, Life, Magic, Tech, and Undead. Each element has areas throughout the game that those specific characters are stronger in, and also secret areas that only that type of character can access.
The story in Skylander Giants is fairly similar to the original game - stopping the evil lord Kaos before he can destroy the Skylands. To do this, the player travels to a variety of locations via Cap'n Flynn's flying boat. Within Syklander Giants there's a solid assortment of levels scattered throughout the game, where you can expect to see anything from a Pirate Cove to a water-filled canyon and many things in between. Each level can be beaten by simply going straight through, which is obviously for the younger audience that the game is geared towards. That said, for those players that like to explore and do everything (read older players), there are many hidden areas to discover. These hidden areas have an variety of puzzles that lead to anything from treasure chests, scrolls (that add to the lore of the Skylands), Soul Gems (that make characters more powerful), to hats. Yes, I said hats. Finding, and equipping, hats can add to elemental damage, speed, armor rating, critical hit chance, etc. They really are worth seeking out.
Continuing on, the real magic behind the Skylanders series is, and always will be, the characters. Each element has one giant Skylander, four regular figures, and a lightcore figure. Each character comes with a card (a sort of trading card if you will) that shows their respective stats - Damage, Armor, Speed, and Luck. To use a character, you simply put it on the Portal of Power and it magically appears in the game. The characters can be purchased individually or in packs of three, and follow the same process that Activision employed last year by releasing them in waves. The little kid in me wants to collect them all, but the little kid in me is also amazed at how the characters appear in the game after being placed on the Portal. There is something magical about holding the figure and then using that likeness in the game.
On the surface, Skylanders is a kids game - it's marketed towards kids and the figures are obviously made to draw them in. But don't dismiss this game as merely a kids title. At its depth, Skylanders is an engaging role-playing game. Each individual Skylander can be levelled up to Level 15 and you can pick certain paths for each Skylander (which are usually either offensive or defensive in nature). For many, there is a certain strategy in not leveling up all your characters purely offensively. It's smart to have some of each in creating a balanced team.
One fantastic addition to Skylander Giants over the original title is a min-game called `Skystones'. To obtain more cards you can either purchase them in-game with gold that you find throughout the levels, or you can get cards by beating specific Skystone players that you encounter during the story. The playing board is 3×3 but some squares can have certain requirements (for example: only using a fire card or else the block become invalid). Skystones creates an interesting diversion from the normal gameplay that you can spend as little or as much time as you want on it.
Skylander Giants follows the same formula as the previous installment of the game, but that's not a bad thing in this case. I enjoyed the first game, and this one is no different. The magic of the characters appearing in-game has yet to get old and the continuous addition of new characters ensures that there are always new challenges to do. In addition, all of the Skylanders from the first game will work with the new one, with even more options. Even as an adult gamer, I still find Skylander Giants remarkably fun. If you have ever been curious about it, or have a young gamer in your life, take a long hard look at this game. Hopefully you will find it as magical as I do.Another Adventure Begins! By Nik D. Click
Skylanders Giants brings familiar faces to an all new adventure. All of your Skylanders you have allied with in Spyros Adventure may be brought forth into this world. As an added bonus, Giants allows for all Skylanders to level up even higher!
The adventure itself is a new story with much of the same cast from the first story. RPG elements seem to be instilled with a heavier hand this time around which is a welcome development to me. The most changed is the 3DS version which now incorporates elements of the console game, such as similar characters and destinations but remains a platform-centric title.
As for what is physically presented in the package:
Skylanders Giants Game
Portal of Power
Poster of Skylanders in the GIANTS series
Cards, stickers, online codes for included Skylanders
All versions:
Tree Rex GIANT - like all giants, he is slow and lumbering but very powerful. Smaller baddies, crates, chests, etc can be run over and destroyed without even deploying an attack. As for giants, I personally rank Tree Rex 4/5 and just under Crusher in effectiveness out of the gate.Pairs well with a fast Skylander and/or angood jumper (3DS) like Pop Fizz or Lightening Rod.
Cynder- 2nd series version of this Skylander. One of my personally preferred characters from Spyro's Adventure. New power adds some versatility to the mix, but if you knew Cynder before, you'll know Cynder series 2.
Console versions:
Jet Vac- So far, my opinion of Jet Vac is that it is the weakest of the new batch. He is a great looking and fun to play but does not pack a big wallup. some may love him. To each their own.
3DS:
Punch Pop Fizz- alternate version of Pop Fizz. Alternate color Shows in game. Pop Fizz is a fun little guy. He is underpowered at low levels, but his powers are so much fun that I just don't care. He is speedy, jumps well and is a nice compliment to the super powered Giants.
Overall either package sets you up nicely for a good time with GIANTS. Those who took the adventure the first time through will have the luxury of playing all of their Series 1 Skylanders available in the GIANTS game at their current level. If you enjoyed Spyro's Adventure, GIANTS gives you more of everything to enjoy.Fun for adult gamer also By J. Kim
I got this during Black Friday deal for my 6 year old kid, but decided to give it a try myself. I've been a casual gamer since the days of pong. I must say, I'm actually enjoying this game.
PROS:
- it's fairly easy, which makes it not frustrating. Who wants to be frustrated playing games...
- it's easy but that does not mean it's not challenging. I'm playing at hard level, and you cannot simply keep your finger on the trigger and mow down everything, you still have to move around. Also, finding all the rooms and treasures, as well as finishing the chapter under certain time are challenging enough for older players
- as mentioned above, finding all rooms/treasures as well as finishing in certain time to "complete" each chapter give plenty of replayability for each chapter.
- battle arena and heroic challenges also give more diversity in experience.
CONS
- some areas are not accessible with starter pack characters since you need certain elemental skylander to access certain areas of the game. This is my first Skylanders game, and as such I only have the 3 starter characters that come with the kit.
- most of the conversation can be skipped, but I've noticed that I was not able to skip some of the conversation. This gets annoying when you are playing the same chapter several time, especially when you are trying to complete in certain time.
Minor gripes:
- what's with the USB portal? Couldn't they make it wireless? Bit annoying to have more wires around.
- price is bit stiff, especially for kids
- graphics aren't the best
Start Pack Characters:
- Tree Rex (life) - Giant - slow, powerful, melee fighter. Some areas need giant to access all the rooms. Some areas can be done quicker with giants.
- Cinder (undead) - medium range. I use it the least so far.
- Jet Vac (air) - long range. I didn't much like him at first, but now I really like it. Long range attack plays well with my style.
Lastly, I don't think I'll be letting my 6 year old play this for few years. It's rated E10+, and I think it will be bit too hard for her (she doesn't play much video games to begin with). Although, I can totally see my 7 and 10 year old niece and nephew enjoying this game.
Skylanders Giants Starter Pack,Skylanders Giants Starter Pack Review, Skylanders Giants Starter Pack Comparison Price, Skylanders Giants Starter Pack Best Offer, Skylanders Giants Starter Pack Best Price