Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure - a surprisingly great game

[gtmtnbiker]

There was someone over at rarewarecentral forums who was trying to reverse engineer the protocol between the portal and the wii. The idea was to make an iphone app to allow you to specify any figure you want. But he stopped development after getting a C&D order from Activision.

[Zing]

It may be easier to just use a programmable RFID chip. It has already been shown that the RFID chip and data in the figures are unencrypted and easily readable. You just need a way to "copy" the info. If the game gets really popular, I expect that the raw data from all of the figures will eventually be available online.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I showed this game to my wife who isn't into video gaming at all. She was intrigued, she said "I bet Nintendo wishes they had made a Pokemon game like this".

[Zing]

If Nintendo was a less conservative company, it would be a possibility. As it is, I suspect it doesn't even register on their senses.

I see that I have yet to mention here that I finally completed the 22 chapters of the game. I literally did not want it to end and hesitated for a day or two before proceeding to the final chapter. The campaign is very enjoyable and was a lot of fun for my girlfriend and I to play through together. I am up to chapter 11 with my daughter, but we will likely be distracted by Skyward Sword this week. That is fine with me, because if we wait 2 weeks, the "wave 2" figures should be in stores.

I did start going through every heroic challenge with Spyro. I figured that I am only going to do it with one character, so it may as well be the titular character, even if he is just a silent figurehead.

My girlfriend is on vacation this week, but has procured Whirlwind (the only existing figure I do not own), so we will be starting the Adventure Packs when she returns.

A brief yay/nay for each character:
Bash - slow and average, but fun
Dino-Rang - strong, but boring
Prism Break - fun and powerful
Terrafin - the most boring character I own
Eruptor - can make the screen a little messy
Flameslinger - fast and requires skill
Stealth Elf - fun in theory, but in practice is ho-hum
Stump Smash - slow and finicky melee attacks
Spyro - seems boring at first, but has fun upgrades
Voodood - another skill-based character, has fun traps!
Wrecking Ball - weak, slow
Boomer - also skill-based, weak at first, but upgrades make a huge difference
Drill Sergeant - weak, slow
Drobot - not as strong as he seems, but fly/hover/shoot is helluva fun
Trigger Happy - average, boring attacks, but nice personality
Chop Chop - hugely skill-based and rewarding, very weak before upgrades
Ghost Roaster - okay, but need to get ectoplasm upgrades to keep him fun
Hex - skull rain, enough said
Gill Grunt - swims, flies, strong ranged shots, wide angle spray attacks… overpowered?
Zap - weak even after upgrades, but great fun
Sonic Boom - chicks seemed strong at first, but the scream makes her great

[fastbilly1]

Zing, you took this from a "I dont care about that at all" title to a "I really want it but have to finish Zelda first" title. I hope they can make the Wii portal work on the PC, that way I can buy the Wii version now and get the PC version on download later. I am a sucker for a good hack and slash, the figure mechanic is just a neat gimmick. I am sure I am going to have Captain Power flash backs playing it.

[Zing]

The Wii portal does work on the PC. I have used it several times to play the online "Spyro's Adventures" flash-based game.

The remaining question is: did they program the PC version of the full Skylanders game to recognize the wireless version of the portal?

I suspect the answer is "yes". If you have the wireless portal's usb driver installed, it should work. After all, the flash version works with any of the portals. But I have not read any reports from anyone specifically using a wireless portal with the PC version.

I have just emailed Activision support asking about this because I am curious!

[fastbilly1]

Awesome. Then I have two more questions:
How does multiplayer work/Do you need two portals?
Is it capped at 2 player?

[Zing]

You only need one portal. The portal supports the simultaneous use of two characters plus one bonus item.

Multiplayer is strictly two-player on one screen. Either player can change characters at any time, or join/quit freely.

[fastbilly1]

Rock on. This is just the kind of game my girlfriend will love. Hopefully they will make a four player version in the future. Hack and slashes are just better with more people.

[CRTGAMER]

I am well aware of that part. I just have no idea what you mean by "platinum" or "trophy". There are in game awards for "achievements", but as I play on the Wii, I have no idea if they are tied to Live or PSN in any form.

Actually, to get the complete set will be more than $250.

Best case, if you buy the figures in three-packs, and Activision releases the second wave with at least two three-packs:

1x Starter Set & game @ $70
4x Adventure Packs @ $20 each
5x Three-packs @ $20 each
10x Individual packs @ $8 each

That's $330 total for the complete collection.

Is this a little nuts?