Skylanders: SuperChargers

Assessing a game like Skylanders is always difficult. Different players will get different things from it. This year the combination of the articulated vehicles, the kart racer mode and the sensible approach to backwards compatibility create a game that is a lot of fun and great value. This isn't just another update to the Skylanders series, it's the moment the game properly comes of age both from the perspective of top notch gameplay as well as offering families exactly what they want in terms of value. Also, those amiibo-Skylanders are fantastic.

“Skylanders: SuperChargers ups the ante with interactive vehicles, multiplayer action, and endless fun.”

Easily the best toys-to-life game so far, with a great new gimmick that makes for one of the best family friendly titles this year.

A solid outing for this year's Skylanders, SuperChargers is a lot of fun to play and you can now do it online with friends.

Variety is the spice of life.

Adding three different and fun vehicles and extremely creative level designs to the series’ simple but reliably enjoyable action platforming gives Skylanders SuperChargers a healthy boost. Every level has you switching between approaches based on the vehicle you’re piloting, which is great for variety. That said, both the story and the approaches to boss fights are very predictable, and some things - like vehicle customization - are overly-simplified, even considering the young target audience.

Skylanders: SuperChargers is a great family game with replay value, as long as you're willing to keep buying figurines.

Overall, SuperChargers is a competent sequel and one that’s bound to keep the Skylanders fandom transfixed for yet another year. Where previous iterations have kept the series afloat using fun albeit superficial gimmicks, this latest edition feels more like a genuine step in a new direction. It’s great news all around, yet the developers at Vicarious Visions and Toys For Bob will definitely be feeling the pressure in trying to top this latest effort next year.

‘Skylanders‘ is a word that’s as likely to inspire joy in the eyes of children as it is to send adults scrambling for cover.

Skylanders Superchargers is another solid entry in a franchise that has done gangbusters for Activision, and fans will enjoy the new vehicle gameplay and adventure-strewn story.

Now, the tricky matter of a conclusion. This, when you boil it right down, is another Skylanders game with the good and bad points that entails. When the game gets it right, it's a genuinely enjoyable romp, with good characterisation in the NPCs and a decent story to keep things ticking along. Then, along comes a vehicle arena combat based level, and suddenly it isn't so much fun. It's no exaggeration to say that the list of things we'd rather do than play the vehicular arena areas include laundry, gardening and root canal work. This one style of play spoils a lot of the good work that's done ...

Skylanders has always been considered the undisputed ruler in the world of toys to life, the game started the whole concept and has continued to do well among its fans for quite some time. The question that has always come to mind is where can it draw the line? There are only so many stories, there are only so many ideas that they can use, the franchise has already set so many feet wrong over its first four installments including releasing what is basically the same game. I personally quit halfway through Swap Force after being bored by the sheer lack of innovation and the need I felt for a mu...