Last year the de-facto version of Skylanders Superchargers was on the Wii U and 3DS, no where else could you access the full set of characters - including crossover amiibo Skylanders for Bowser and Donkey Kong.
At an event in London, Activision has just unveiled this year's game, dubbed Skylanders Imaginators. There's no news (so far) of any further amiibo collaborations but we have confirmation that the new instalment will support the existing Nintendo Skylanders.
Along with supporting all the existing figures, the innovation this year is that players can create their own Skylanders using a comprehensive designer tool. This not only lets you select the different body, leg, arm and head parts but also scale, colour and animate each one.
To create a Skylander you need a Creation Crystal on the portal. This is a unique NFC toy that includes a glowing element much like the previous Light-Core Skylanders. All your choices, upgrades and experience for your custom character are then saved onto this toy.
Along with the user-created characters are a series of 20 "Sensei" Skylanders. These are grouped into elements and a unique Sensei sub-class that grants access to special chest containing more parts to add to your character.
Along with these special pieces there are more widely available parts dotted around in chests throughout each level that can be accessed by any Skylander. As you progress through the main story campaign you will accrue more and more parts and will be able to craft a wider range of character designs.
It is likely there will be sets of parts that go together and create more thematic or styled Skylander creations, in the same way as collecting sets of furniture in Animal Crossing works. It remains to be seen if particular designs benefit from special buffs or abilities.
Although we currently have images for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 Starter Packs, those for Wii U have not been sighted. You could speculate that this means a further collaboration with Nintendo on Amiibo Skylanders is likely, and will be revealed at this year's E3 - as the previous Skylander amiibo were. Nothing official has been confirmed on that front currently.
There's also been no mention of the Wii version - perhaps this is the year Activision will finally leave that system behind - although that seems unlikely if a Nintendo collaboration does indeed take place.
What was shown at the reveal event was how players could earn upgrade abilities for their created Skylanders. These upgrade path enhancements offer a way to develop the character and their attacks as the game progresses.
Another nice touch is the continued inclusion of the kart racing game from Superchargers. This extends the use of the Nintendo vehicles from last year's game. Again, there's no confirmation if the courses will be updated in this latest iteration, but it has to be likely.
Skylanders Imaginators Wii U Starter Pack - includes two Senseis, one Creation Crystal, Portal of Power and the game - will be available October 16th in North America and October 14th in EU.
Comments (35)
Don't care for Skylanders. Like amiibo, I think they're a bit of a scam.
Skylanders: Out of Ideas
@Savino he obviously has no idea what a real scam is
The extras are so minimal I don't care about not having a certain amiibo (but I do have them all XD and I dont even use them) for me they will always be cool figurines on my desk.
There's also no 3DS version either.
"Although we currently have images for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 Starter Packs, those for Wii U have not been sighted. You could speculate that this means a further collaboration with Nintendo on Amiibo Skylanders is likely"
Or, you know, no Wii U version.
Edit - OK, Wii U game seems confirmed, so that's good news. Maybe we'll have another game to get on Wii U after all.
"Skylanders Imaginators launches on October 13 in Asia Pacific, October 14 in Europe, and October 16 in North America and will be available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii U."
https://blog.activision.com/t5/Skylanders/Skylanders-Imaginators-Revealed-Launching-October-16-in-North/ba-p/9943047
October 16th is a Sunday in the US, which means Wii U may actually be the lead, as almost all other games in the US launch on Tuesday except Ntinedo. Too bad it's the Sunday after Columbus Day, 3 day weekend and we might have gotten it day 1. Now we'll just wait for the holidays. Maybe Paper Mario will be out in Sept, that's almost certainly Day 1.
And nothing about this says "Minecraft", it's Spore. S. P. O. R. E. Spore.
Vehicles were lame, but my 11 year old seems enthusiastic about this, which he said we are calling "Skylanders: Spore Edition".
Gotta go catch a bus.
I'm sick and tired of these skylanders games... can they please just go away?
I miss Spyro...
If this was amiibo instead of skylanders then you guys would be all over this.
Creating your own Skylander? Whats the point of the figures? Isn't that the point of skylanders; to have actual figures come to life in the game? I think Skylanders is running out of ideas.
I'm hyped for this! I was a bit skeptial of Skylanders back in 2011 with Spyro's... strange... guest appearance but in 2012 the games slowly began to grow on me. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to create a Jontron skylander
The first Skylander game that really tempt me, not many games offers the possibility to create custom characters for an action-orientated gameplay. I could glady give it a chance if the creation tool will be really as cool as they said and there won't be a too heavy need of extra toys (it already scares me the idea to need a phisical crystal for each custom character I wish to make ^_^; ).
Well it looks like no skylanders for me.
@BakaKnight The Dark Edition starter pack already comes with 3 crystals (Fire, Life, and Dark) and 3 Senseis, giving it a whopping 6 skylanders total. I was worried at how many crystals I'd need to buy on day 1 but when I saw the Dark Starter contents on Gamestop's site I realized those contents will definitely keep me busy for a while.
Huh. That penguin is the only Skylander I've ever liked.
Here's a pic of the Wii U version on Amazon. Looks the same as the others, not sure if Amazon is faking it or not, still 4 1/2 months away. Both their Xbox 360 and Xbox 1 versions simply say"Xbox" w/ "Designed for Xbox" at the the bottom right. So I don't think these are finalized yet. Surely 360 and X1 can't have the same box.
https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dvideogames&field-keywords=skylanders+imaginators
No sign of Dark Ed that Gamestop has, w/o a pic.
Why do they keep releasing these games every year!? They game more boring with every release. The only toy to life thing I actually think is worth it is Lego Dimensions especially when they are actually toys and not statues. Also, you don't need to buy a whole new Starter Pack every year unlike some of the Skylanders games.
I watched the extended video and it appears that like this article mentioned, the big draw this round is to create your own characters. From the extended video it mentions that you will find loot unlocking new body parts as you play through the game. Apparently they will be random, and the game will offer different parts on subsequent play throughs to encourage replayablility. What will be lost is the ability to use traps in this game.
Personally I'm a little burned out on the whole toys to life genre, so where I would normally grab this on day one I'll likely grab it on sale later this year instead. Still I'm somewhat interested to see if Activision partners with Nintendo again this year on another amiibo/skylander figure set.
Aside from that, I'll grab the rest of the Disney Infinity figures as my family enjoys the creation mode of that franchise. But after that amiibo also seems to be winding down as well. I suppose we'll see what Lego Dimensions has to offer this year.
Sounds like something that kids could really get into. Will be interesting to see how this fares, though I'm not sure it will be for me.
So uh, someone mind telling me what relevance Minecraft has? Because Little Big Planet, Spore, MMOs and RPGs have been doing this for far longer than Minecraft...
Give it 6 months and this will be on sale for £12.99 on Amazon Prime just like the last one, and the one before it, and the one before that...
@alasdair91 And every other game in existence (but for less, of course).
@kamifox1 Of course, but those lose their value so quickly. I mean, in the UK they usually charge £69.99 RRP for them.
@alasdair91 Oh no, I know, I live in the UK too. The games still sell like mad when the prices drop though, I mean, we managed to sell the original games PS3 starter pack, complete in box, for £15 in the charity shop I work in a matter of weeks ago and, well, why would anyone in their right mind still charge between £13 and £15 for it anyway if it didn't sell anymore? They'd just send it back to the manufacturer or throw it in the bin.
Remember when we thought Skylanders was a Spyro game
I think i'm going to buy this game, only because there's nothing else on Wii U this October. I also think they're just simple fun.
@Detective_TeeJay Remember when we thought the idea of toys to life would never take off
It's just Swap Force with extra pieces
This is the sort of thing LEGO Dimensions should be doing. Sell a customisable base, use it to create a minifigure ingame and then you can make the minifigure outside the game to put on the base. Wouldn't want to be as expensive as a character pack though.
I used to play Spyro games
"Skylanders Imaginators Embraces The Minecraft Generation By Turning Players Into Creators"
WHAT? And I mean WHAT?
Clickbait for popular words like "Minecraft" I guess, because no mention of it other than title and doesn't even make a bit of sense.
@3dsgeek333 Wait, the crystals are elemental locked? Not sure I should be surprised, but I am XD
And honestly 3 crystals sounds like the minimun for this kind of concept, as much as i know they want to sell them separately, I'm surprised they are limiting them in the packages in favor of the new sensei figures.
whats with the negative comments. :c i am really hyped for this.
i really really hate everybody who had a negative comment
@rjejr I think Superchargers had the generic box art similar to the PS4/XB1 version before the amiibo crossover announcement. I'd like another amiibo crossover, but the only characters that I think would work on paper are Fox, Yoshi, Pokemon, and Animal Crossing animals
@SLIGEACH_EIRE only scam is DI since they no longer exist, when this game buble busts i'll agree with you.
@ASonic3582 I was trying to decide what amiibo would work, but I stopped when I realized I didn't see Minecraft Mario ed coming. And maybe it won't be amiibo at all, maybe the Wii U ed - no Wii this year, that saves me $50 - will simply have Nintnedo branded parts, like Mario and Luigi hats and shirts, or Pikmin flowers on their heads. Petey Piranaha would fit right in. He could actually have his own amiibo.
@BakaKnight "And honestly 3 crystals sounds like the minimun"
What a coincidence, that's the number in the Dark ed. Well at least according to Gamestop.
http://www.gamestop.com/wii-u/games/skylanders-imaginators-dark-edition-starter-pack/131167
@rjejr That's no coincidence, I was replying to @3dsgeek333 that mentioned the Dark Edition just few posts above >_>
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