Skylanders
Skylanders is a toys-to-life action-adventure video game series published by Activision. A spin-off of the Spyro series, Skylanders games are played by placing character figures called the Skylanders on the "Portal of Power", a device that reads the figures' tags through NFC and "imports" the character represented by the figure into the game as a playable character.
Plot
The game takes place in a world called "Skylands", a realm filled with adventure and floating islands. It is the center of the universe where it is constantly threatened by evil forces who seek to rule Skylands and gain access to all worlds. A band of heroes called the Skylanders use their abilities and machinery to defend their world from various threats, which they have done for generations. They have worked with the Portal Masters in keeping peace and balance in Skylands, battling the forces of evil, and protecting the Core of Light. Kaos, the main antagonist, has destroyed the Core of Light and Skylands is in his hands. It is up to the player to send the Skylanders into the game and stop Kaos. The Skylanders have an unbreakable bond with their Portal Masters. Though they are not servants, the Skylanders chose to serve their Portal Master and do so eagerly. Each Skylander is associated with one of the ten elements of Skylands: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Magic, Tech, Life, Undead, Light, and Dark. The main plot is the Skylanders going through levels to defeat Kaos, and stop him from ruling over Skylands. The console versions of each game follow identical storylines, while the Nintendo 3DS versions follow stories different from those of the console versions.Games
''Spyro's Adventure'' (2011)
This is the first edition of the Skylanders franchise. There are 32 Skylanders in the game, and each has one of eight elements assigned to them, which allows them to open element-specific gates that are found throughout.''Giants'' (2012)
Giants is the second installment in the Skylanders series set as a direct sequel to Spyro's Adventure. It introduces a new team of Skylanders called the Giants, massive creatures who were the first Skylanders assembled to stop the reign of Arkeyans. Unlike the other Skylanders, the Giants can lift, throw, and destroy trees as well as walking over things that may contain lions. The players use the Giants when Kaos has found a way to reactivate the Arkeyan Conquertron.''Swap Force'' (2013)
Swap Force is the third installment in the franchise. Taking place in another part of Skylands called the Cloudbreak Islands, the player takes control of a new group of Skylanders called the Swap Force who hold the ability to swap halves and abilities. Together, the Swap Force and the Skylanders fight Kaos and his mother Kaossandra.''Trap Team'' (2014)
Trap Team is the fourth installment in the franchise. It introduces the Trap mechanic, which allows players to trap in-game enemies in element-specific Trap Keys which are shards of trap crystals called traptainium. The trapped enemies can then be summoned as playable characters for a limited time.''SuperChargers'' (2015)
SuperChargers is the fifth installment in the series. It introduces a new group of Skylanders called the SuperChargers who pilot special vehicles that allow the Skylanders to create rifts to travel through like portals. Two characters included on the Nintendo console versions are Mario franchise characters Donkey Kong as Turbo Charge Donkey Kong and Bowser as Hammer Slam Bowser. The two also function as amiibo figures. The Wii version of the game is titled Skylanders: Superchargers Racing and does not have adventure segments from the Wii U and PS3 versions. The Nintendo 3DS version also carries that same name and likewise focuses on the racing elements only. This was the last game to be released on tablets.''Imaginators'' (2016)
A sixth game was released on October 16, 2016 in North America, October 14, 2016 in Europe, and October 13, 2016 in Australia and New Zealand. In June 2016, Activision announced that the game would be titled Skylanders Imaginators, which allows players to create and customize their own Skylanders called Imaginators. The title was developed by Toys for Bob. Crash Bandicoot and Doctor Neo Cortex are guest stars as playable characters in the game, marking their first appearance in a video game since Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2 in 2010. They are exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 starter packs, but are playable on all consoles. Crash and Cortex appear as part of the Sensei Skylanders whose job is to train the Imaginators.Spin-offs
Activision released seven Skylanders spin-off games on mobile devices. These titles include Cloud Patrol, Battlegrounds, Lost Islands, Collection Vault, Trap Team / SuperChargers, Battlecast and Ring of Heroes.Music
has composed the soundtracks to all the Skylanders games thus far, while Hans Zimmer composed the main theme.Media
Novels
A series of books in the Skylanders franchise started with Skylanders: The Machine of Doom that takes place before the events of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure. It was written by Cavan Scott, who would later write sequels to the novel under the Skylanders: The Mask of Power series, which also serve as prequels to Spyro's Adventure.IDW Publishing
created a comic series associated with the Skylanders franchise that has events that take place in between the games.TV series
In 2015, it was announced that Activision Blizzard Studios would produce an animated television series based on Skylanders. The first season debuted on Netflix on October 28, 2016, the second season on October 6, 2017 and the third and final season premiered on September 28, 2018. On April 30, 2019, it was announced that Skylanders Academy was cancelled.Possible film
Activison has commented on the possibility of a movie and TV series based on the Skylanders reboot as something that they could look into in the future. On May 6, 2014, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg announced that the Activision team had an interest in "jumping on the film adaptation bandwagon" and adapting Skylanders into a film.Reception
Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure received generally favorable reviews, many praising the technological use of the "Portal of Power". Although some reviewers criticized the absence of online multiplayer, the toys for the Skylanders were widely praised. Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure was nominated for two Toy Industry Association awards: "Game of the Year" and "Innovative Toy of the Year."Skylanders Giants was released to generally positive reviews. However, the reviews from GameRankings and Metacritic were slightly lower than that of the previous game on some platforms. Cheat Code Central gave the game 9.2/10 and commented that "it feels like someone finally got everything right when creating a sequel," and praising the ability to use the Skylanders toys from the first game in the second.
Skylanders: Swap Force was released to very positive reviews, with the reviews from GameRankings and Metacritic being the highest and most genuinely positive of the series so far across all platforms. Gaming website Quarter To Three gave both the Wii U and Xbox 360 a perfect score of 5/5. Video Game website Gaming Age gave the PlayStation 3 version the highest grade of an "A" and further commented that "Whether you’re a Skylanders fan or a gamer who’s looking for a charming and unique family-friendly game series to get into, Skylanders SWAP Force comes highly recommended."
Skylanders: Trap Team was released to positive reviews. However, the reviews from GameRankings and Metacritic were slightly lower than that of the previous game on most platforms with only the IOS/Tablet version receiving the highest score.
Skylanders: SuperChargers received positive reviews. The reviews from GameRankings and Metacritic were better than the previous game on most Platforms, with the exception of the Xbox One version slightly lower and the Wii and iOS versions having the highest scores.
As of February 2015, the Skylanders series has crossed the threshold of $3 billion in sales, with 175 million toys sold since 2011, making the series one of the top 20 highest-selling video game franchises of all time. As of 2015, over 250 million toys were sold. As of 2016, over 300 million toys have been sold and the franchise has become the 11th biggest console franchise of all time.