• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Activision Officially Unveils Skylanders SuperChargers

djlr181

Member
Release date is Sept. 20, 2015 in North America and Sept. 25 in Europe.

Coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U, Wii, 3DS, and iOS.

The PR didn't mention it, but if there was any doubt, this is being developed by Vicarious Visions, who did Swap Force. Beenox is handling the Wii/3DS ports.

17 Minutes of Gameplay from NWR

Reveal Trailer

Gameplay footage from Eurogamer

Previews:

Forbes

Nintendo World Report

Informative Game Informer Article (Thanks Hanmik!)

Polygon

Engadget

TheHDRoom

Kotaku

The Verge


GameRevolution

Gamecentral did an interview with Guha Bala but he uses a bit too much pr-ish talk for my liking:

http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/03/skyla...h-in-on-this-is-about-original-ideas-5228305/

Skylanders® is bringing another trailblazing innovation to the #1 kids console franchise(1) with the launch of Skylanders® SuperChargers on September 20, 2015 in North America. Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) and the leaders of the toys-to-life category it created, expands upon the franchise's signature gameplay to introduce vehicles-to-life -- an entirely new way for fans to experience the magic of Skylands.

At the helm of powerful, tricked-out land, sea and sky vehicles, Portal Masters can engage in a high-octane action-adventure videogame like never before. Kids can speed across Skylands' roads in vehicular combat, race down roaring rapids and engage in aerial dogfights as they barrel-roll through enemy swarms for the first time. Developed by Vicarious Visions, Skylanders SuperChargers offers a rich story-driven gameplay experience, filled with vehicle-based and on-foot adventures, combat, puzzles, mini games, activities and platforming, set within a variety of all-new compelling environments.

"We created the toys-to-life category and have continued to lead it by bringing new innovations and new magic to the genre with each and every game. First we brought action figures to life, and now we're bringing vehicles to life with Skylanders SuperChargers," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc. "We love making these games because in order to do it well, you have to constantly tap into your inner kid. What kid hasn't imagined epic vehicles with amazing powers and dreamed about the adventures they could have with them? Skylanders SuperChargers makes those dreams real."

Skylanders SuperChargers features a brand-new class of heroes, called SuperChargers who are distinct with fresh moves, powerful attacks and all-new weapons. These SuperChargers also have special in-game abilities that help Portal Masters fight Kaos. Twenty new SuperChargers character toys and 20 new vehicle toys will be available.

Players will have the ability to customize all vehicles in-game with super cool modifications and upgradeable weapons. For the ultimate gameplay experience, players can pair a SuperCharger Skylander with its signature vehicle to create a SuperCharged combination, unlocking an exclusive mod that revs up the performance of both the vehicle and character. Not only are the vehicles playable in the game, but also many feature moving parts, making them fun to play with outside of the game. Additionally, Skylanders SuperChargers supports all 300+ Skylanders toys from previous games, enabling all Skylanders characters to pilot land, sea or sky-based vehicles.

"Since first partnering with Activision to bring the original Skylanders® Spyro's Adventure to our stores, we have believed whole-heartedly in the magic and innovation of this brand, as well as the company's ability to reimagine and redefine play experiences with the toys-to-life concept," said Richard Barry, Global Chief Merchandising Officer, Toys"R"Us, Inc. "With each new introduction, Activision never disappoints its highly loyal fans of the franchise, and we are thrilled to continue to offer the broadest assortment of all Skylanders® merchandise, including the newly introduced Skylanders SuperChargers."

The game's storyline focuses on Kaos' latest attempt to rule Skylands. In his efforts to take down the Skylanders, Kaos has unleashed his most sinister weapon ever - a massive "Doomstation of Ultimate Doomstruction" capable of eating the sky itself! Fortunately, Master Eon has seen the warning signs and assembled a special team of Skylanders to pilot an unstoppable fleet of land, sea and sky vehicles with the power to travel through the reign of destruction to stop Kaos!
 

TomShoe

Banned
Glad I never got into this craze. I told my nephew if he asks for Skylanders games, don't be surprised at the answer he's going to get.
 

Hanmik

Member

Totobeni

An blind dancing ho
Coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U, Wii, 3DS, and iOS.

wow. so they are releasing it on everything (except for PC and Vita), its rival -Disney Infinity 3.0- is on the same platforms Super Chargers (except for Wii).
 
Cool. I don't mind the Skylanders moving in the direction of Mario Kart/Modnation or whatever. Maybe this year it's time to talk my wife into getting my five year old a Skylanders game.
 

Luke_Wal

Member
I have no interest in a toys game that doesn't feature Marvel or Portal, but just by watching the trailer, I actually think this game looks really nice graphically, at least the characters and grass and stuff. Backgrounds leave something to be desired.
 

Ridley327

Member
The PR didn't mention it, but if there was any doubt, this is being developed by Vicarious Visions, who did Swap Force. Beenox is handling the Wii/3DS ports.
 
So it's between this and Rodea for Wii GOTY 2015.

I actually just bought the Giants Starter Kit for PS3 with three figures from Best Buy. Looks like they were clearing out their leftover PS3 and 3DS kits.
 

Rootbeer

Banned
This game is going up against Star Wars with DI 3.0 and the launch of the all-new LEGO Dimensions with Batman, LEGO Movie, Ninjago, Scooby Doo etc. Also, amiibo.

Skylanders has been able to hold its own nicely with the niche it has carved out. Wondering how things will play out this year though, as the market is about to get even more competitive.
 

fenners

Member
Skylanders has always been a series that has allowed to players to cooperatively play offline. SuperChargers offers the same cooperative experience for the on-foot sequences, but does not allow for two vehicles to be onscreen at the same time. If two people are playing a vehicle sequence, one player steers and the second mans the weapons. Given that roughly 50 percent of the game is dedicated to vehicles, it’s odd to see the second player be thrown to the backseat like this. We’ll have to get our hands SuperChargers to see exactly how this plays out, but we can safely say this isn’t the cooperative vehicle experience we were hoping to see.

No Level Cap Increase
Sadly, Activision is not upping the level cap beyond 20, giving little incentive to bring out old, beloved characters, as the experience points earned should go to other characters still in need of leveling. This is one part of the game that is starting to read of Activision not wanting us to use our old figures any more.

A Digital Version
Activision is releasing a digital version of Skylanders: SuperChargers for all systems for people who don’t want to purchase another portal. “We wanted to offer backward compatibility with the portals for an obvious and important reason – out of respect to our customers – which allows them to get into the game at a lower price point without having to buy the full set.” People who download SuperChargers unlock digital “Instant” versions of Spitfire and Hotstreak for use in the game. No other characters or vehicles are planned for the Instant line.

All of these feel like token "we'll keep supporting folk who don't want to rebuy/get new all characters by as little as we can"...
 

Ridley327

Member
Wait, what? They're still releasing games for the Wii?

I think that the Wii and 360 versions sell the best of any of the SKUs, though I suspect that's going to change this year.

Yet another new portal is a baffling move, especially when it's not even BC with the previous game's functions.
 

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
about time! can't wait for more details. I've just bought Trap team on a deal (33 bucks shipped) so this, as usual, will be my Spring '16 toy-to-life game
 

Klart

Member
Another new portal?? And it doesn't feature all the functionality for Trap Team? Sigh.

You will not need to purchase the new Portal of Power, at least in physical form. This time, you can simply purchase a digital Portal Owners Pack and plug in any old portal you own. Yay for backward compatibility.
 

botty

Banned
Disney Infinity's impact

6mfKuyy.gif
 

garath

Member
Wii version is what my son plays it on. It's the console we keep in his room. The PS3 is the media device for blu-ray. Glad they're continuing to support it.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Didn't get Trap Team because of how many new things I'd need but this one piques my interest.
 

Klart

Member
The Starter Pack will remain at $74.99 and include Spitfire, his paired vehicle Hot Streak, and Super Shot Stealth Elf.

Ugh, again Stealth Elf? Really? Nobody wants yet another Stealth Elf...
 

Daffy Duck

Member
My kids loved trapteam more than the previous games. So my kids will mostlikely want this one as well. Good thing grandma doesn't mind getting this for them at christmas.

Mine are the opposite, I think they are on Skylanders burn out (we've had Spyro's Adventure, Giants, Swap Team & then Trap Team), my eldest (10 {probably outgrown it}) was not all that into Trap Team, and my youngest (7) started playing it less and less. He's more interested in Need for Speed Rivals now.
 

fenners

Member
You will not need to purchase the new Portal of Power, at least in physical form. This time, you can simply purchase a digital Portal Owners Pack and plug in any old portal you own. Yay for backward compatibility.

But you'll be limited to the two vehicles, going by the gamespot article...
 

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
I'm a little confused: I will be allowed to purchase just the game (no figures nor portal nor vehicles) if I already have existing portals/figures, and complete the game?
the starter pack comes with two figures and 1 vehicle, right?
Will there be packs with 1 figure + 1 vehicle?
 

Ridley327

Member
But you'll be limited to the two vehicles, going by the gamespot article...

I'd assume that's the bare minimum to see most of the game's content (and, unless they're insane, get all the achievements/trophies), but that's going to suck for completionists if they don't offer up a solo SuperChargers portal.
 
Game doesnt look great since its targetting all the old consoles.

Its by the team that made swap force which is by far the best skylanders IMO, so will may end up buying it for that reason - otherwise wouldnt have been interested. The other issue is that infinity 3 looks very ambitious and impressive with many dedicated teams such as Ninja Theory for the combat (skill trees, combos etc) and the sonic racing team doing driving.
 
Not really feeling it for this one, but I am glad V.V. is handling it instead of Toys for Bob. Swap Force was a lot of fun.
 

Rafterman

Banned
As far as toys to life games go Skylanders is so far ahead of the competition it's not funny, and this newest version looks great. I am a little annoyed with how soon it's coming out considering the last Trap Team characters were just released and my wallet could use a break, but I'll probably get the full set of these as well.
 
It really is unfortunate this game didnt release last year because for me, both infinity 2 and trap team were big disappointments. To me, swap force has been the only skylander game that I think was good enough that I would buy it without the figures if it was a toy-less game (with several core swapforce characters playable)

So this game is by the best team, and I think the the mechanics are very interesting - the gameplay variety of boats, flying and cars (and I love the idea of mods) and I thought the upgrade effects looked very impressive (plus the variety of option) fot the vehicles

The problem I have is "toy fatigue". I collected all the swap force characters and loved that game, have a lot for original skylanders, have a few for trap team (didnt like it so not many), infinity 1 and 2, and a few Amibo (3 I think - I stopped buying them once they became impossible to find without spending hours online/searching or paying scalper fees)

I also think infinity 3 looks really interesting mechanics and dev team wise so I want to get that one.

So I'd love to get this game as pure digital and let me buy the toys digitally (for a discount, say 25-50% off) but I am not sure I am going to be able to buy the toys since I am just out of convenient storage space in the house (plus have way too much junk need to get rid of it) I'll buy all the vehicles and superchargers

I'll say this though, trap team was a huge disappointment to me & I thought I was done. This looks interesting enough that if the final game as great looking environments (ones shown so far havent been great, and I am concerned they are limited by targetting prior consoles)
 

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
It really is unfortunate this game didnt release last year because for me, both infinity 2 and trap team were big disappointments. To me, swap force has been the only skylander game that I think was good enough that I would buy it without the figures if it was a toy-less game (with several core swapforce characters playable)

So this game is by the best team, and I think the the mechanics are very interesting - the gameplay variety of boats, flying and cars (and I love the idea of mods) and I thought the upgrade effects looked very impressive (plus the variety of option) fot the vehicles

The problem I have is "toy fatigue". I collected all the swap force characters and loved that game, have a lot for original skylanders, have a few for trap team (didnt like it so not many), infinity 1 and 2, and a few Amibo (3 I think - I stopped buying them once they became impossible to find without spending hours online/searching or paying scalper fees)

I also think infinity 3 looks really interesting mechanics and dev team wise so I want to get that one.

So I'd love to get this game as pure digital and let me buy the toys digitally (for a discount, say 25-50% off) but I am not sure I am going to be able to buy the toys since I am just out of convenient storage space in the house (plus have way too much junk need to get rid of it)

I'll say this though, trap team was a huge disappointment to me & I thought I was done. This looks interesting enough that if the final game as great looking environments (ones shown so far havent been great, and I am concerned they are limited by targetting prior consoles)

looking at the backward compatibility, am I reading it correctly if I say that you could just download the game, and use your old portal and figures to cmplete the main story mode?
 
looking at the backward compatibility, am I reading it correctly if I say that you could just download the game, and use your old portal and figures to cmplete the main story mode?

This will be interesting too. In Trap team they made most prior figures useless in the game by 2 things. First the new characters output huge amounts of damage (way more than the prior characters) and really didnt have any sense of balance (hence mo PVP) secondly the new characters also did bonus damage to bosses with the new weapons.

Net result is that it was almost pointless to play with the old characters except too see how they look in the new engine.

So be interesting if that happens too with this game.
 
First of all ugh stealth elf again

But secondly 40 new things to buy? Wonder if the old version of the characters when combined with their correct vehicle make the special version. After the way trap team was handled I doubt it.

I'll let the kiddo choose but I think we're going DI 3.0 this year.
 
While I've played and collected for all the others...I'm out this year. Can't keep going. It looks good, but amiibo is my 'toys to life' now.
 

Penguin

Member
This fall is gonna be interesting with 3 competitors.

Now that Skylanders also has vehicles, it negates one of LEGO Dimensions' selling points.

Though, I think LEGO has more iconic vehicles thanks to the licensing.

also coming out a week apart.

Star Wars should help Disney Infinity
 
looking at the backward compatibility, am I reading it correctly if I say that you could just download the game, and use your old portal and figures to cmplete the main story mode?

Yes, Superchargers will work with all the old portals. It sounds like you can complete the game with your old figures since the digital version will give you the new characters digitally I believe but I could be wrong.
 
Top Bottom