The Multi-million dollar franchise Skylanders returns this time with switchable action figures, but does this add to gameplay or is it just a gimmick?

Skylanders Swap Force is a 2013 toy-to-game video game that uses action figures in order to expand it’s gameplay and bring more variety to the players.  It is available on the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, and Nintendo 3DS, and soon the Playstation 4 and Xbox One.

I’ve long been interested in the Skylanders Franchise. mostly due to the fact that I was a huge Spyro fan growing up, but in recent releases of the game it became clear that the focus was leading away from Spyro himself and focusing on fresh new characters sort of becoming it’s own game. This never made Skylanders bad or unfun to pay by any means, but the lack of Spyro may have upset some fans of the classic Playstation character. All in all though Skylanders Swap Force and Skylanders as a whole is a fun series that has a unique gameplay style, which may see some sparks of competition in the coming years ahead (see Disney Infinity).

The portal of power.

THE GOOD: Skylanders is one thing a game from a multi-million making franchise should be, fun. The vast amount of characters from not only inside the game it’s self but from the action figures players have the option of choosing from gives multiple ways to play the game, including certain areas of the game that gives one elemental character an edge over the other. Side quest are short but fun and reward you with even more ways to upgrade your character for different playing styles.

SwashBuckle getting ready for a fight.

The voice acting in Skylanders was superb and Captain Flynn and Kaos being vioced by Family Guy’s Patrick Warburton and Invader Zim’s Richard Steven Hortiz was an excellent bonus. There’s plenty of reason to explore rather you’re looking for bonus equipment or are just looking for an excuse to switch Skylanders.

Rattle Shake facing an enemy.

THE BAD: Sometimes a character’s voice would cut and restart which got annoying because it was a frequent ocurrence. The Skylanders talking and responding during dialog would have been nice as well.

SwashZone taking on squeebles.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Skylanders is fun and full of characters and awesome side quest. Extra equipment and big maps give players a lot to do and the voice actiing is top notch. The Skylanders not responding to other characters is a bit awkward and there were some technical issues with voices.