Can someone tell me about Skylanders?

[left210]

How do you play it? Is it better for Wii or PS3?

 

[KennesawNemo]

DS has the game and couple figurines. He is really into it now. He plays it on his wii. His friend plays it on X-box. The two of them play together just fine.

We have some of the old figurines, and just bought couple new big ones. I believe they are called giants.

Sorry, I don't know too much about it.

 

[goofyredraider]

We have the original, and my son is getting the giants for Christmas . We have it for wii.
You play using a portal (round disk thing) that you place the characters on. Each character is part of a different element (fire, water, wind, earth, rock, etc) and has unique powers. When a character is losing life from battling the "bad guys" that have taken over Skyland, you must put a different figure on the portal. There are different levels and different characters/types open other levels. That's all I know, my boys play it.

 

[lucigo]

Because this is the budget board I will point out that this game is a money pit. Very expensive as far as video games go, because you have to have all of the characters in order to go into the different areas.

 

[trish.]

Because this is the budget board I will point out that this game is a money pit. Very expensive as far as video games go, because you have to have all of the characters in order to go into the different areas.

You don't need ALL the characters - there are a lot! - but if you want to explore all the little extra areas of the levels, you need one of each of the 8 different types of skylanders. You get 3 of those types with the starter kit. You do not need to explore these extra areas to beat the game. The extra areas give you more "money" to upgrade your character or have special treasures - that you don't need necessarily. My kids and I play together on xbox. We also have a wii, but decided against the wii version and went for the xbox version. Let me know if you have any questions, we have both games and almost every character (although some are in the closet for Christmas).

 

[left210]

You don't need ALL the characters - there are a lot! - but if you want to explore all the little extra areas of the levels, you need one of each of the 8 different types of skylanders. You get 3 of those types with the starter kit. You do not need to explore these extra areas to beat the game. The extra areas give you more "money" to upgrade your character or have special treasures - that you don't need necessarily. My kids and I play together on xbox. We also have a wii, but decided against the wii version and went for the xbox version. Let me know if you have any questions, we have both games and almost every character (although some are in the closet for Christmas).

What age level do you think is a good starting age? Also, does each pack come with different types? For instance we got a 3 pack today and it had chill, ignitor and zook in the pack. Are those 3 different types or all the same type? Do the characters work on any system? We have Wii or PS3. Does it matter which system we buy for?

 

[lucigo]

You don't need ALL the characters - there are a lot! - but if you want to explore all the little extra areas of the levels, you need one of each of the 8 different types of skylanders. You get 3 of those types with the starter kit. You do not need to explore these extra areas to beat the game. The extra areas give you more "money" to upgrade your character or have special treasures - that you don't need necessarily. My kids and I play together on xbox. We also have a wii, but decided against the wii version and went for the xbox version. Let me know if you have any questions, we have both games and almost every character (although some are in the closet for Christmas).

How much would you estimate you have spent on this game and the characters you have? We have steered clear because of the warnings of cost involved. I have a child who will get obsessed with one thing and "gotta have'em all" if you know what I mean. We have collections of everything from Thomas the Train to Disney Cars to Angry Birds and every age in between LOL

 

[pigletto]

How much would you estimate you have spent on this game and the characters you have? We have steered clear because of the warnings of cost involved. I have a child who will get obsessed with one thing and "gotta have'em all" if you know what I mean. We have collections of everything from Thomas the Train to Disney Cars to Angry Birds and every age in between LOL

I don't even know if I want to estimate

I'd say maybe 300 including the cost of the initial Skylanders game. He has quite a few of the characters. He's used the game a lot though and we'd buy a character for a Birthday or Easter or for a job well done.
As others mentioned, it's not necessary to have them all by any means. Just one (at least) of each "type". Our game store will buy the used ones back, and sell them at a reduced price because they are used and out of the package. It makes no difference and is a great way to get them at a discount.

I have no regrets with this game since he has enjoyed it so much.
We have Skylanders (and soon Giants) for the PS3, simply because we prefer that system to the Wii. I don't know that it really matters though.

 

[foltzy]

We have both games and a ton of characters. We've invested a lot of money into the games. However, it is one thing our son has not gotten tired of and that the entire family plays. Above the games, the characters are 9.99 for 1. 11.99 for the new light core and 14.99 for the new Giants. There are over 30 characters so there is a ton of money for this game. We knew that going into it though last year.

Our kids earn points to unlock their Skylanders, instead of us just giving them all to them.

 

[Tinker Pam]

The Skylander Giant Portal Pack for Wii will be on sale on Thanksgiving day at Walmart for $39 which is half off

 

[brookmey]

We have Skylanders for the xbox and the kids are getting Giants for Christmas. We lucked out and bought a bunch of characters at Best Buy this past September when they had them BOGO free. Like someone else said, you only really need 1 character from each element. We have almost all the original characters, mainly because of the BOGO sale.

I was hesitant at first to get the game because of the additional costs involved. But, both my kids love the game. It's one of the few video games that they both enjoy. DD is 8 and DS is 6, so they have very different tastes in video games. But they both are into Skylanders. They've even got me into playing and it is pretty fun.

I was also apprehensive about having so many characters, thinking some will just collect dust, but we use all of them. What has happened is that each of the 4 of us has our favorite characters and they're all different. The kids do not like the same characters, so there's no fighting over who gets to be who (like what happens in some of the Lego games). Each character is unique and has different capabilities, plus there are male and female characters, so there's a broad range of appeal for the varying personalities and genders in each family.

All in all, I have no regrets getting this game or the several characters.

 

[pigletto]

The Skylander Giant Portal Pack for Wii will be on sale on Thanksgiving day at Walmart for $39 which is half off

I just saw that last night. Luckily the one I bought at full price is still in the bag with the receipt. If I can manage to get one much cheaper online somewhere on Black Friday then I can return it. If not.. I still have one.

 

[left210]

So the Giants game is different than the one with the small characters? When you say elements is there a site or something that would guide me to which characters belong to each element? Still trying to decide if I want to start the madness. If you start with the original characters and portal do you have to buy a new portal for the giants or just the game and new characters?

 

[foltzy]

You can check Skylanders.com which has all the characters. I'm only seeing the Giants on that site though. http://www.skylanderscharacters.com/figures.asp has them all and what they look like and series 1 (Original skylanders) and Series 2 (Giants).

 

[pigletto]

So the Giants game is different than the one with the small characters? When you say elements is there a site or something that would guide me to which characters belong to each element? Still trying to decide if I want to start the madness. If you start with the original characters and portal do you have to buy a new portal for the giants or just the game and new characters?

Yes, the original game is it's own disc, and for Giants you will need the new disc. If you only want the original, then only buy characters that don't say Giants on them. You will also need the "Portal of Power" for either game. That is what you put the characters on to add them to the game. Your best bet is to buy a starter kit that includes the game disc, portal of power, and figures.

We have the original and the Portal so we only needed the new disc for Giants and the figurines. You won't need a second portal.

 

[kellia]

My sons have the original game and are asking for Giants for Christmas. I know we don't need a new portal, but do we have to get all new figures or will the old ones work? I thought I saw some marked "giants" that looked like ones they have. I agree, it is a scam with the buying extra figures. At least I have two kids to split it between, if they get it!

Oh, my sons have the Xbox 360 game. They seem to like the "advenure" type games better for Xbox, the Wii is just used for "moving" games. I prefer them using the Wii to sitting on their butts!

 

[dsneprincess]

My sons have the original game and are asking for Giants for Christmas. I know we don't need a new portal, but do we have to get all new figures or will the old ones work? I thought I saw some marked "giants" that looked like ones they have. I agree, it is a scam with the buying extra figures. At least I have two kids to split it between, if they get it!

Oh, my sons have the Xbox 360 game. They seem to like the "advenure" type games better for Xbox, the Wii is just used for "moving" games. I prefer them using the Wii to sitting on their butts!

You can buy the Giants game in the portal owners pack format. About $20 less; both figures use same portal.

 

[ccdoster]

I bought the game for my DS last year for Christmas. I happened to walk into Toys R us in the afternoon on BF last year (for a return as I was visiting a town which had one, ours does not) and all the Skylander characters were BOGO free. I stocked up on what they had left. (A few individuals and 3 packs). It was the best deal! Hoping they have something similar this year, I just may have to go on BF then.

FYI, my son wanted a carrying case and after bad reviews from the Skylander merchandise went with my husband's suggestions of an ornament box. I just got it last week as I've been looking for an ornament box for most of the year. They fit perfect! Even his portal. Nice hard case with a carrying handle. Would be a good addition to store the figures and take them to a friends if they want to play.

 

[ccdoster]

My sons have the original game and are asking for Giants for Christmas. I know we don't need a new portal, but do we have to get all new figures or will the old ones work? I thought I saw some marked "giants" that looked like ones they have. I agree, it is a scam with the buying extra figures. At least I have two kids to split it between, if they get it!

Oh, my sons have the Xbox 360 game. They seem to like the "advenure" type games better for Xbox, the Wii is just used for "moving" games. I prefer them using the Wii to sitting on their butts!

We already have the portal but will get the starter because of the extra figures (it's cheaper than buying them separate). Neighbor boy got it for his birthday so we got to see that the figures were different than the originals. Same character but named "legend" with different powers (so my son says).

 

[goofyredraider]

Even though we have the original game and portal, I bought the giants with the portal...I'm afraid of what may happen if the first portal dies... I'm left with a ton of figures and no ability to play the game kwim