As you probably already know, Skylanders SuperChargers was officially announced today. Here's a quick look at the official trailer.
Now on to all the juicy details.
Characters
The characters in this year's release are called SuperChargers. This group will include many new faces as well as some old.
For example, we have Spitfire and Stormblade who are brand new, but we also have Super Shot Stealth Elf. All three of these Skylanders are SuperChargers.
[box]As of now they purposely seem to be avoiding attaching a Series number to Stealth Elf. I think they are trying to avoid some confusion and clean up the mess the Series numbers have become.[/box]
I am also trying to avoid referring to the Stealth Elf figure as Series 4 or repose because this figure is more like Stealth Elf 2.0. Super Shot Stealth Elf will introduce you to a new set of powers/abilities along with her new look.
Activision has stated that there are a total of 20 SuperChargers to be released. At this point it does not seem as if there will be any Core Skylanders this year. (This is a good sign for your wallet.)
Vehicles
In addition to the SuperChargers there will also be 20 Vehicles.
I think part of the reason for keeping the character count low is because the Vehicles are like characters themselves.
Each of the Vehicles are restricted to one type of terrain (land, sea, or air) and each Vehicle is elementally aligned. For example:
- Hot Streak is a Land Vehicle of the Fire Element
- Dive Bomber is a Water Vehicle of the Water Element
- Sky Slicer is an Air Vehicle of the Air Element
The really good news is that any Skylander can drive any Vehicle.
The bad news is that only one Vehicle is allowed on the Portal at a time. When two players are playing, one player will be the driver while the other takes control of auxiliary weapons/gadgets.
Throughout the game you will have the ability to collect and purchase upgrades for your Vehicles.
SuperCharger – Vehicle Interaction
While it's good to know that any Skylander can drive any Vehicle, there has to be a catch right? There has to be something that makes the SuperChargers special.
Indeed there is.
Each Vehicle has its Signature Driver. When a Signature Driver is paired with its Vehicle, the Vehicle becomes SuperCharged.
So Spitfire has the ability to supercharge Hot Streak. Stormblade can supercharge the Sky Slicer. Dive-Clops can supercharge the Dive Bomber. Hurricane Jet-Vac can supercharge the Jet Stream.
I think you get the idea.
Gameplay
While Vehicles are the focal point of Skylanders SuperChargers, the gameplay seems to be pretty well balanced.
Most (if not all) levels will start you out on foot. Along the way you may encounter areas that require a vehicle to enter. Each of these areas will require a specific type (land, sea, or air) of Vehicle.
The majority of these areas will be side quests. This means that you will be able to progress in the story without exploring them.
The only mandatory Vehicle areas will be of the Land type. So you will be able to complete the entire main storyline with just the contents of the Starter Pack.
Portal
There is a new Portal for Skylanders SuperChargers, however it is not a necessity!
The new Portal was designed simply to give you more space, as a Vehicle, two Skylanders, and perhaps even a Magic Item could get crowded on an older Portal.
However, if you do not wish to purchase a new Portal, this means you have options. Skylanders SuperChargers will be released digitally on the consoles (details below). So if you choose to go this route, you can supplement the digital version will an older Portal.
In any case, aside from being larger, the new Portal does provide a Trap Slot. This Trap Slot is similar to the one in Trap Team, but the speaker has been removed and the Traps will not light up as they do with the Traptanium Portal.
Traps
This may not be the answer you were hoping for, but Traps will serve a small purpose in Skylanders SuperChargers.
If you insert a Trap you will get some sort of elemental weapon or ammo.
If you insert a Trap will a Villain trapped inside, you will unlock a Skystone of that Villain.
Unfortunately, the Villains will not be playable in SuperChargers. This is part of what makes Trap Team unique.
Base Color
Spyro's Adventure figures had green bases. Giants figures has orange bases. SWAP Force figures had blue bases. Trap Team figures had red bases.
Therefore, SuperChargers figures have… **drumroll**
ENGINE BASES!
That's right. There are no colored bases this year. This is probably a good thing for the long haul. They would run out of good color choices eventually.
This year all the SuperChargers can be found standing on an engine. Their elemental color/design will be found underneath, wrapping around the side and back of the base.
I am not opposed to this design change at all. I think the new figures look awesome.
Online Play?
You've been asking for it for years and it looks like we finally got something.
Nothing was mentioned about online play in the official press release, but there's still hope.
First, take a look at the front of the box. In the corner, just below the ESRB Rating, you can see that it says:
Online Interaction Not Rated by the ESRB
As far as I can remember or find, this warning has never been on any other Skylanders packaging.
Secondly, the GameStop listing gives us a bit more information than the Amazon listing we found earlier this week.
Right in the middle of GameStop's description we find:
Play with friends – NEW Online Multiplayer Race and COOP Modes
Now since Activision hasn't addressed this directly, I'm going to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
Worst Case: We get online multiplayer racing, but only local co-op.
As you can see in the GameStop listing, this is just a bullet point. They don't expand on it at all. The bullet point is just telling us about the different modes. They could just be saying that you have 2 ways to play with friends. One is a NEW way and one is something we've been able to do for years.
Best Case: We get online multiplayer racing and online co-op.
As much as you want it, I still think online co-op is a bit sketchy. Unless they did away with the Magic Moments, I don't think we're going to see online co-op.
However it works out, I'm glad to see that they're giving online a shot.
Light and Dark?
While Light and Dark figures (or Vehicles) have not been officially announced for SuperChargers, I think there's a good chance they're in.
Take a close look at the artwork I shared on the Facebook page yesterday.
The Light and Dark elements do not appear in the logo, but they do appear in the background.
Additionally, the fact that we have 20 SuperChargers and 20 Vehicles would fit very nicely if we had 10 Elements.
Starter Pack
The Skylanders SuperChargers Starter Pack will include:
- 1 Game Disc
- 1 Portal of Power
- 1 SuperCharger – Spitfire
- 1 SuperCharger – Super Shot Stealth Elf
- 1 Vehicle – Hot Streak
- 1 Collection Poster
If you've been following Skylanders for any amount of time, this Starter Pack is just like all the others.
Which Systems?
Skylanders SuperChargers is currently coming out for:
- PS3
- PS4
- Xbox 360
- Xbox One
- Wii
- Wii U
- 3DS
- iPad
A few notes here.
Gameplay content, features, and functionality will differ for Wii and 3DS platforms. Details to be announced.
We do not have specifics on how the Wii version will differ, but there is a good chance (I think) that it will be the same as the 3DS version this year. As stated above, “Details to be announced”.
Also, please note that there is a version specifically for iPad. They are not calling it the Tablet Version this year. They are making it specifically for the iPad.
I don't know if this is a compatibility issue or a programming hassle or if this stems from data they gathered from the tablet usage last year, but this is where it stands right now.
No word if they plan to make it available on other devices later.
Digital Version (Portal Owner's Pack)
As I mentioned earlier, there will be a Digital Version of Skylanders SuperChargers available. This version will essentially take the place of the Portal Owner's Pack that we saw in Giants.
Along with the digital version of the game you will get Instant Spitfire and Instant Hot Streak.
If you played the Tablet Version of Trap Team (where you got Instant Food Fight and Instant Snap Shot) this should sound familiar.
These Instant characters are preloaded into the game and therefore do not require a Portal to play. With just Instant Spitfire and Hot Streak you will be able to complete the main storyline.
Now if you still want to try out the new characters you can just pull out your old Portal of Power to use with this Digital Version of the game. As I mentioned above, the old Portal might get a little bit crowded, but it is an option for you.
Pricing
Finally, let's talk money.
As usual, the console Starter Packs are listed at $74.99.
Just like last year, the 3DS Starter Pack will be $64.99.
Individual Vehicles have an MSRP of $14.99 while the Individual SuperChargers are just $12.99.
So if we really are just looking at 20 SuperChargers and 20 Vehicles, I think this could actually be one of the cheapest games yet.
| Starter Pack (2 SuperChargers, 1 Vehicle) | $74.99 |
| 19 Vehicles | $284.81 |
| 18 SuperChargers | $233.82 |
| Total | $593.62 |
|---|
Release Date
Skylanders SuperChargers will be release on:
- September 20th in the US
- September 24th in Australia
- September 25th in Europe
Pre-Orders
Both Toys R Us and GameStop has pre-orders available now.
Amazon has their listings up once again, but you cannot pre-order yet and pre-orders are now available.
Wrap-Up
While we're still waiting on some information (as always), this looks like it will be another solid entry into the Skylanders series.
What do you think?
What questions do you still have?
Thanks for doing a summary for the known info. Still don’t know how I feel about this version of the game. Trying to reserve judgement until more is revealed.
I sincerely thank you for reserving judgement for the time being. We know too little to write off the game completely at this point.
I’d be kinda surprised if there are no new core figures. Also, I wonder if there’ll be a dark edition this time around.
It would be a bit of a surprise, but I would be okay with it.
No news yet of a Dark Edition, but there’s still plenty of time to announce one.
I’m hoping they will release a dark edition however for the Nintendo versions of the game I can’t really see them coming out with a dark edition because unless… dark bowser and dark donkey I don’t believe will exist but hey its just. A theory
Last time the dark edition was announced a while after the initial reveal. I remember having to change my pre-order over to it. As for the cores, it almost seems like they are moving away from them. That may not be the case in the long run, but I don’t totally think it’s a bad idea.
I like cores, so I hope they aren’t being written out. On the other hand, I plan on getting Lego Dimensions and, if the campaign is significantly better, Disney Infinity 3.0 so it’s not like I won’t already be doling out the money already…
No there honestly will NOT be any core core characters
That seems to be the case. No cores and so far no indication of minis. Seems to be less product hitting store shelves this time around.
Well maybe that would mean less waves so all toys will maybe be available at a sooner time this year, I’m not saying this is how it’s gonna be I’m saying that it’s a possibility
I’m surprised they’d go with less product given the emergence of amiibos, Infinity & now Lego Dimensions, I thought they’d have more in an attempt to claim the largest $$ share.
So No Core ?? Don’t think so… but … this is sound good …
But do we have the cost of the digital pack ?? and can we buy in future in alone pack the Starter Pack Skylanders ??
About that … just one thing I can say … WOOOW … This is sound very Great 🙂
We don’t have a price for the digital version yet.
There’s a lot we don’t have solid answers for yet.
I highly doubt we will be seeing Spitfire, Hot Streak, and Super Shot Stealth Elf outside of the starter pack. Activision has almost NEVER released starter pack characters in single packs.
correction: They have almost ALWAYS released starter pack characters in single packs. This is because the different starter packs don’t always have the same characters.
They have. Gill Grunt, Trigger Happy and Dark Spyro have had international releases, but not in America
THE LEAK WAS TRUE!!! That leaked figure we saw earlier was Spitfire!
Yep. The mystery figure was Spitfire.
Not being able to play as the villains is a bad move in my opinion. Obviously they wouldn’t be giving us new villains but they should have still let us play as our old villains. While I am excited for this game I am super pissed about that. That means I wasted money getting all those traps if now in this game all I get is a stupid skystone. Just seems stupid if their reasoning for doing that is to make Trap Team more “unique”. The villains don’t need to relevant in this new game. The Giants and Swap Force weren’t relevant in Trap Team but you could still play as them if you wanted. The villains should have been treated the same way. I still play this new game cause it looks great but the fact I can’t use my villains is always gonna piss me off.
I totally agree!!
This is part of the reason I chose not to collect ALL the Traps.
I have a Trap from each element and a few extras I like, but that’s it. I saved some money and even now I get some bonuses in the next game.
I think it’s a good rule of thumb never to expect one game’s gimmicks to carry over to the next.
No it is reasonable to expect that the gimmick of villain trapping wouldn’t come back that is fine. But not being able to use the characters you already trapped is unreasonable. Like I said they don’t have to be relevant. The Giants and Swap Force characters didn’t do anything special in Trap Team but you could still use them. The villains should have gotten that same treatment in this game. Especially since the villains are all their own unique characters. That was the reason people bought traps to play as those characters not get some dumb unlock.
I agree with you 100%
we just joined with trap team so we are super excited about superchargers! so far it’s been great that our 5 year old gets so much play out of the figures in and out of the game. makes paying so much for each worth it. he has even made up his own yu-gi-oh type game with all the stat cards. can not wait for these cars! i know they will be raced all over the house
That’s awesome. I’m sure your 5 year old is almost their exact target demographic.
These are toys and they are meant to be played with. They’re driving the point home even more this year as someone with no knowledge of Skylanders would be hard pressed to identify the vehicles as part of a video game.
I came in at Giants and have gone on to collect all the unique characters at this point. Silly me, but they are cool. What disturbs me greatly from game to game is the lack of usefulness of old gimmicks in new games. In Trap Team, Giants were very useful for… lifting an occasional stone for a meager gem. Swap Team members were irrelevant and after all of us who fill the trap collection box, now they’re not even used really at all? It is a terrible shame. If they at least added an arena type gig for villains or swappers or SOME special thing to make those characters worthwhile, that would make sense. It would boost sales too. Ok, so old characters will be useful, I’m sure, but to give a meager Skystone for all those villains? It’s pretty pathetic. They have a loyal fan base and I admit I’ve spent too much on this series as it is, and though I have felt rooked before, now I am feeling more and more stupid. They need to honor their fans and make some actual use of the old special characters. This essential discarding of the old completely is infuriating. Really, they need to implement something. I get making the storyline possible with only the core set. Of course. But use the Giants, swappers, and villains in some other way. Ugh.
I understand your frustration. I have a huge collection myself.
However, I think you also have to look at this from the point of view of someone who has never touched Skylanders.
What if in SuperChargers they locked content behind a gate requiring Series 1 Boomer? What if the top arena mode was only available if you had a Giant?
While this might seem awesome for those of us with giant legacy collections, it would be horrifying (and probably really confusing) for someone who is playing SuperChargers as their first Skylanders game ever.
They won’t ever lock content behind or require use of something that they are not currently producing. I think that would just drive away potential fans of the series.
The best we can really hope for is that they continue to provide us with little bonuses as they have been doing (some years better than others).
I’ve been with Skylanders for a long time… but I’m thinking about skipping this game because of many different reasons… you can’t use villains… no colored bases… different attacks for fan favorite characters… released earlier than usual… no cores… I think Vicarious Visions has made a lot of mistakes. Also, will all previous Skylanders be playable????????
I’m sorry to hear that. I’m actually excited about a lot of those changes.
In any case, yes, ALL Skylanders from previous games will work in SuperChargers.
Ill be happy if a lot of people dont bye this game remember its for kids i am 55 years old and love it grand dauter got me into it when spyro came out so i collceted for her fucture less people byeing more collectorble later LOVE IT i say if your a child like me go for it if not let us play and collect and stop putting the price up on ebay or the other one ps hope they do bring out a dark version they have every other time there my favorate.
They didnt for spyros adventure or giants
Also, do you think Eon’s Elite are returning? And if so, do you think they will have the moves as the old characters, or moves of the new characters?
My original thought was that Eon’s Elite might have been a way to retire characters that have been around too long.
But now that we know Stealth Elf, Trigger Happy, and possibly more are reappearing, it seems that that was not the case.
So now I think that the return of Eon’s Elite figures are less likely, but they have not officially ruled it out.
Yeah. I didn’t think they would “retire” Spyro.
My wife and I have been collecting since the start of this games original release, and to date I don’t know of an Australian with a collection as large as ours. We have poured thousands into owning multiples of every figure and buying variants, metallics, clears, glow in the darks and anything else I can find at pushed up ebay prices because we don’t get many exclusives here.
I think activision has finally done it. This is the straw that has broke the camels back. stealth elf and trigger happy looks terrible, no cores, wasted trap potential, and a 50/50 split between on foot and vehicles. We both loved skylanders for the platform aspect, not flying or carting and we tollerated gimmicklanders for the sake of new cores. I just can’t say we like skylanders anymore. Each year since giants our love for the game has diminished, but we always hoped it would get better. No more. When I think of the money and time we spent tracking down figures and now it just seems pointless.
I hope that the other Skylanders can use the vehicles because my mother won’t be happy if I get new versions of the Skylanders I already have Like Jet Vac, Stealth Elf, Terrafin and Trigger Happy
Any Skylander can use any Vehicle.
Only SuperChargers will be able to mod the vehicles. And only the Signature Driver of the vehicle (i.e. Spitfire is the Signature Driver of Hot Streak) will be able to supercharge the vehicle in battle.
Front page if possible.
His name is Dive-clops
so you can play all the characters in super chargers which is really cool but does that mean that you’ll beable to play the villains you caught in trap team? that would be really cool but either way I just preordered mine on amazon. this game looks really cool.
Hey. I found Skylanders Superchargers pre-order cards today at Target and Best Buy!
Not too surprising. TRU already had them on announcement day.
If the cost for the 3ds version is the same as last year, don’t you think that it will only have 2 figures instead of 3?
if so, I think it will come with one supercharger and one vehicle
Amazon currently lists the 3DS version for the same $64.99 price point. So, yes, as you said, I would only expect one SuperCharger and one Vehicle.
However, the are probably different than the other Starter Pack characters, so we’ll just have to wait and see what they include.
Do you have any idea if there will be a vehicle for the Kaos Trap to power up?
What do you think the light and dark vehicles will look like?
I saw something on You Tube that showed the new skylanders poster, it showed that there will be 2 superchargers, 2 core skylanders and 1-2 vehicles for the original 8 elements, light and dark are coming back but they will have no cores, just 2 superchargers and 1-2 vehicles. The poster also showed spitfire in his vehicle on the top left side of the poster, then it showed a possible purple squid supercharger as shown further up the page, then it shows stormblade in her vehicle in the sky, the poster has the characters going down the page not across. Can’t wait to see the clear version soon.
Hope this helps a fiew people!!!
Also another thing to add is that only when a supercharger is riding the vehicle can you modify it
Reading that breakdown of the cash expense on buying this line up, there is a way to save $$$. Best Buy’s gamer unlocked club not only saves you 20% on the starter set but also on any figure, figure set, etc. That can be a substantial amount over all.
Is the dark edition going to be released on the regular Wii?
I noticed that Maxlander can play download skylanders characters, can it play the new superchargers and vehicles?
there: http://www.maxlander.net/skylanders-characters-magic-items-free-download/
it already can download 300+ skylanders characters
SuperChargers
SuperChargers
SuperChargers
who is the new main villain in skylanders superchargers, not the traps?
Believe it or not, Kaos is still the main villain in SuperChargers.
nope 🙂
is there a battle mode in Skylanders superchargers?
We don’t have any confirmation of standard PvP or Arena modes yet.
There is a huge focus on Racing right now which for all intents and purposes is another form of “Battle Mode”.
From what I’ve gathered so far though, it sounds like this game is gonna be huge and there will be plenty to keep you busy even if there isn’t a traditional Battle Mode.
Okay, I am a bit confused here.. I am new to this, I like the fact that the game will have air, ground and sub-sea combats.. I just want to have the game, digitally.. How much will it cost? I don’t understand what is the “Portal”? Is it a previous version of the game or what?
There is a digital version of the game for $50. The Portal is what you put the collectible figures on to “transport” them into the game.
Thanks you for the clarification. I hope that portal is cheap enough 😀 The game is a bit expensive at 50$ 🙂
Super Shot Stealth Elf figure not working on Swap Force game. Any suggestions ?
The re-imagined figures are being treated like brand new figures. This is not a Series 4 Stealth Elf so the normal rules do not apply.
This unfortunately means that Super Shot Stealth Elf will only work in SuperChargers.
thanks for the help, SCL_Matt. That is really bad news…wonder what will happen next year, i.e.: no more compatibillity from now on..or a new chapter and Superchargers will be the “new 1st series” of the future generations..
Well, all the old characters will still be compatible with new games. That’s the big issue I think.
How often do you play old games and feel the need to use newer figures?
Personally, when I go back and play the older games, I make a point of using the older figures.
With us it’s different – I won’t be buying each version of each figure, so I get my kids to select every now and then a figure which comes from series 1 but has an upgraded version, as it will serve everywhere…That was the case with Stealth Elf…None of the Superchargers are of any use as a multigame figure…plus it opens up a rather uncertain future . However, if you collect each and every figure ever released, it won’t matter much…