Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure

All told, Skylanders is responsible for hours and hours of enjoyment in my house.

The developers did put a large amount of effort into creating an appealing world for all ages, there's a surprising amount of depth and longevity, the technical elements and control are good, and the humor is a nice touch. There are a few obvious problems but it could be a real gem for the intended audience.

Enjoyable enough that adult gamers won't mind playing along. [Jan 2012, p.87]

A fun and lighthearted action RPG for kids ages 5 and up where you control Spyro and his friends as they battle the evil Kaos. The unique toy based character system, where each game character corresponds to a unique plastic toy, makes playing at your friend's house easy, though the cost of buying all the optional figures is substantial.

Yes, ultimately the content in the game is already on the disc and you have to pay money to unlock it, which sounds like BS. But even without the extras, Skylanders is a pretty substantial action game for kids (with a small cast). It's fun, it's challenging, the story is cute, and there is co-op.

This one is a must buy for kids, it's the ultimate RPG for our younger gamers. Furthermore the game has a whole new element: the portal of power. For the first time one can put little characters on the portal and play with them inmediately in the game.

Armed with a nice roster of characters, Skylanders is an engrossing experience. Outside of an odd difficulty spike at the end and a few less-than-polished moments, the game hits its target. If I were a kid, I have no doubt I'd be saving my pennies to buy more Skylanders. However, as an adult, it's hard not to feel manipulated.

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure uses a new peripheral, which looks and works fine, but you have to buy all the other characters, there are no in game unlocks. Still, it's fun to summon new characters by using a peripheral or play local (coop or versus) with friends. Unfortunately, the game offers little freedom, doesn't really make use of the PS3's graphics capabilities and is rather on the easy side (though that may be age-appropriate). All these quibbles aside, the game is simply fun. The story and storytelling are nice and thus you'll keep on playing, forgetting time.

Activision knows how to promote a product. There are ads running on every kids channel right now trying to convince them that Skylanders is the must-have game. Admittedly, the idea of the figurines is quite neat, but the game itself is nothing to get excited about. [December 2011, p.96]

Skylanders Spyro's Adventures is a simple game with a gimmick attached, but it's a pretty good gimmick. All things taken into consideration the whole package scores a 75%, but add 15% to that if you're eight.

Long, unskippable cutscenes, an irritating camera and overall easiness keep an otherwise great co-op experience from reaching the top.

As a game designed to appeal to young boys and sell more merchandise, Skylanders achieves its goals. In the annals of games as marketing tools though, it isn't as compelling as classics like Cool Spot or Chex Quest.

Skylanders a charming game with a fascinating toy tie-in, but there isn't much here to offer to older gamers.

For the children, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is like a dream, but is also far too simple.

Without plastic figures, Skylanders would have been a lot less interesting. But the way the developers have managed to include them in every aspect of the game makes it a surprisingly positive experience.

But if you want to play with your children, and they have a few friends whose parents were willing to buy them some additional figurines, then you might be able to get some decent fun out of it. For everyone else, though, Skylanders is a pass.