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When I visited Nintendo’s New York offices to see some of their upcoming games, I was surprised to see one non-Nintendo game there as well, Skylanders SuperChargers, yet another entry in the popular kids action-adventure series.
SuperChargers was there because Nintendo has cut a deal with Activision to allow the Skylanders franchise to use a couple of Nintendo properties – Bowser and Donkey Kong – as characters in the game.
If you’re not familiar with Skylanders, it is a game/action toy hybrid in which you place toys on a “portal” which allows those characters to enter the game world. Nintendo has made Bowser and DK amiibos that are compatible with a Skylanders portal; a rotating base on the bottom allows players to switch between Skylanders and amiibo functionality.
The game does a good job of integrating the two new characters into the game, giving them fun attacks – Bowser can transform into a flame Bowser, Donkey Kong can transform into a giant barrel that rolls over enemies.
Besides the exclusive Nintendo characters for the Wii U, the other new element in SuperChargers is vehicles. Skylanders no longer just walk around; now they can hope in a car, a plane, or a boat to get from here to there. I’m told vehicles make up around half of the gameplay, so it’s a major change.
Vehicles are nicely differentiated and have their own varied path. A starter pack bundle will only give you a car; you’ll have to buy the other vehicles.
This seems to be an escalation of the pay-to-play-more concept that has made the Skylanders franchise so lucrative; it’s hard to imagine not wanting one of each vehicle.
The plastic portal that plugs into the game console has been redesigned once again, but this one retains the trap device introduced in the previous game. From a vague comment from the PR flack it sounds like trapping might work a bit differently than last time; for one thing, there’s no cage from which a villain could shout insults.
The Skylanders games have always been good looking, and I’m tempted to say that this has the best visuals so far. The vehicles are a nice addition, and SuperChargers looks likely to be a solid addition to the franchise when it arrives on the Wii U and pretty much every other platform this September 20.
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