Skylanders Giants
© 2012 Activision, Inc.
Big news for little kids. Sixteen new plastic Skylander figurines have been released for Fall 2012, and eight of them are Giant-sized, with "Giant" being about as big as a child's hand. In case you've not yet heard of Skylanders, here's how they work. The idea is to combine a set of collectable plastic figurines with a well-designed, easy to play video game adventure that has roots in the Spyro franchise. The starter pack (called the "Portal Pack") costs $60 and includes one Skylander; the more expensive Starter Pack goes for $75 and includes four characters plus the portal. All of the Skylanders can work with the related Spyro video game and "Portal of Power" peripheral (a light-up stage that acts like an additional game controller). The Portal is required so that your players can interact with the game. New Skylander features include the ability to light-up and an improved portal that plugs into the console, eliminating the step of syncing and finding batteries. The game comes with new challenges and better integration across console and mobile. Note that these are known as "Series 2" Skylanders that have “Wow Pow” upgrade power and the choice of more than one upgrade path. All Skylanders characters are compatible with the Skylanders Giants game, which also promises "all new arenas and additional gameplay options in Battle Mode for head-to-head play." Skylanders Giants is better integrated with the Skylanders Universe - the online world where players can share and fight one another. The game runs onWii, Xbox 360, PS3, 3DS, which includes the portal, the game (disk or cartridge), one Giant, one new Skylander, one Series 2 Skylander, three trading cards, and a poster. The $60 Portal Owners Pack (Wii, Xbox 360, PS3) includes the new game and one Giant. Sold alone, the plastic figurines cost between $12 and $15.
$75, Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Teaches: collecting, logic
CTR Rating: 92%