Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
Developer(s):	Toys for Bob (Wii, Wii U) XPEC Entertainment (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) Vicarious Visions (3DS)
Publisher(s):	Activision Square Enix (JP)
Distributor(s):	Nintendo Wii Optical Disc Nintendo Wii U Optical Disc Nintendo 3DS Game Card DVD Sony Blu-ray Disc
Released:	AU (PC) - October 12, 2011 AU - October 13, 2011 EU - October 14, 2011 NA - October 16, 2011 JP - July 12, 2013
Genre:	Action/Adventure (console) 3D Platformer (3DS)
Modes:	Single-player Cooperative co-op
Rating(s):	ESRB: E10+ PEGI: 7 ACB: G CERO: A
Platform:	Wii Wii U (Japan only) Nintendo 3DS Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 Windows macOS

“Bring the Skylanders to Life!”

– Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure tagline

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is the first game of the Skylanders franchise, originally created as a reboot of the Spyro franchise. It was published by Activision and released in October 2011 for the Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC and Nintendo 3DS. A Wii U version was released exclusively for Japan in July 2013, and was published by Square Enix.

Summary

In Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, players take on the role of a powerful Portal Master, who can control over 30 different characters, including the beloved purple dragon, Spyro. Each of these heroes is a protector of an amazing, mysterious world, but they have been ejected from their world by the sinister Portal Master known as Kaos, and now, they are frozen in our world as toys. Only the players of Skylanders Spyro's Adventure can get them back into their world, by embarking on a fantastical journey where they will explore mythical lands, battle menacing, outlandish creatures, collect treasures, and solve challenging puzzles as a part of the quest to save their world.

Features

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure changes the way others look at toys and video games, as well as how they interact with them by introducing action figures that become interaction figures and remember all of their dynamic experiences created in the game. For the first time ever, players can personally customize and power-up their toys, as well as bring them to life on a friend’s Portal of Power for co-op play and player-versus-player arena battles. Additionally, with the freedom to change characters whenever they like, Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure allows players to utilize different interaction figures and strategies each time they play.

Gameplay

Characters each have a primary attack, and a secondary attack. They gain experience points by defeating monsters, and leveling up will result in the possibility of getting upgrades. Each character has its own special abilities that differ from each other, as well as assigned elements. This provides some replayability, as each character faces the world in different ways.

Treasure, such as gems, rings, and coins, can be found all over the worlds either laying on the ground, or hiding inside breakable containers. Orbs come from defeated enemies, and it gives the characters experience points. Devouring food recovers some of the character's health. With two players on hand, they can cooperatively play the game together, or against each other in a variety of arenas to choose from, each having its own appearance, and obstacles within it.

Exploration

As the tale unfolds, players encounter a variety of vivid environments, each with its own unique look and feel, and each providing different challenges, puzzles, and the discovery of secret areas, rewards, and mini-games.

Elements

Each Skylander has his or her own Element. They are classified by eight, elemental classes: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Life, Undead, Magic, and Tech; each having their own heroic challenges that are unlocked as more characters are collected. Players can collect and then strategically select their favorite Skylanders within the different element types to go up against certain enemies, obstacles, and puzzles as well as access new areas within the different levels of the game.

Co-Operative Play

Players can join forces with friends and drop in and out of each level with as many different interaction figures as they like. Different strategies can come into play as players can select their favorite characters to tag-team against certain obstacles, hazards and/or enemies within the different levels of the game.

Player vs. Player

A classic battle mode provides a selection of different game modes and arena maps for players to face off against each other. Each unique arena map contains a variety of obstacles, hazards and power-ups. Players will want to make sure they build up their army of different characters and level them all up to battle their friends on equal ground.

Version Differences

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure was developed by Toys for Bob for the Wii as well as for the Wii U in Japan. XPEC Entertainment was tasked with porting the game over to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. As a result, there are a number of noticeable differences between the Wii/Wii U and the PS3/Xbox 360/PC versions, but the game itself and the gameplay overall are pretty much the same.

Consoles

• Visually, the graphics are slightly lowered on the Wii, but feature a couple of more polished animations and effects compared to other platforms.
  • The Wii U version uses the same engine for the Wii version, now upscaled in full HD and with updated visuals.
    • For some characters in the Wii U version, such as Prism Break, their model from the HD version of Giants is used in place of their original.
• The Wii and Wii U versions feature skippable dialogue, whereas for the other console versions, the dialogue cannot be skipped.
• The Wii and PS3 versions included a wireless portal, while the Wii U, Xbox 360 and PC versions include a wired portal.
  • The Wii U version came with the same portal that was included with the Starter Packs of Skylanders: Giants, where the runes were no longer translucent and the underside was clear instead of green.
  • One thing to note is that the Wii, PS3 and PC portals are all interchangeable, while the Xbox 360 portal only works on Xbox 360 consoles.
• On the Wii and Wii U versions, the character portraits used in dialogue feature stylistic 2D artwork with transparent textboxes, whereas the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions show their 3D character models with solid black textboxes.
• Some of the treasures and collectibles are placed in different areas between the versions.
• In Lair of Kaos, the layout ends up different halfway in the level between the two versions.
• When collecting coins, the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions have a different coin sound effect.
• Actions featuring motion controls in the Wii version were reassigned to button inputs in the other versions.
• Zap, Ghost Roaster, and Drill Sergeant have different voice lines when summoned in the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions.
• Sunburn has a slightly different animation when summoned in the PS3/Xbox 360 versions.
• Wham-Shell has a completely different animation when defeated in the PS3/Xbox 360 versions.
• The ending credits are different between the versions, where the Wii/Wii U versions feature Flynn, who talks to the player and congratulates them for finishing the game, whereas on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions, Flynn is absent and the credits show renders of various Skylanders on the right of the screen, with their element color on the background, depending on the Skylander.
• In the Wii/Wii U versions, an older version of the game's logo is used at the start of the credits, featuring alternate symbols for the Air and Undead elements.
• Turrets have different fire rates depending on element on the Wii/Wii U versions.
• The soundtracks for the Ruins are flipped on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions after beating the game, where the dark and spooky version plays, instead of the actual "final" version that plays on the Wii and Wii U versions.
• In the Wii/Wii U versions, the music changes depending on the area in the level the player is in. This is not the case for most of the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions.

Nintendo 3DS Version

This version of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is more of an action platformer than the console versions. In this version, the game is set in a different realm in Skylands called the Radiant Isles, and a different force of darkness is faced under the command of Hektore. Players have to complete levels by gathering Radiance Crystals, which let you unlock more levels. Each level is littered with crystals, obtained by going towards the end of the level, or by doing a variety of tasks (like defeating a certain number of a specific enemy, or finding five unique items etc). Whenever you find a crystal, Hektore appears and a time limit starts. They have to defeat enemies, and use rockets to ward off the chasing enemy.

Unlike other versions, characters can jump, as well as double jump. Additionally, two Skylanders can be saved into the game at a time, allowing the player switch between them freely by tapping the touchscreen.

The 3DS Starter Pack bundle also has different figures from the console versions. While the console versions of the Starter Pack bundle contain Spyro, Trigger Happy and Gill Grunt, the 3DS bundle has Dark Spyro, Ignitor and Stealth Elf.

Collectibles

The game's Starter Pack includes three Skylanders, the Portal of Power, and a poster listing all of the Skylanders. Toys sold separately from the Starter Pack can be synchronized with the game and are used to play as the Skylanders or unlock powers and items. For the total amount of figures, there are 32 Core Skylanders, 5 in-game variants, 21 chase variants, 9 Magic Items (provides certain benefits to Skylanders), 4 Adventure Packs pieces (unlocks a new level), and 4 Sidekicks (miniature versions of a Skylander that follow the player). Additionally, Skylanders come with a collectible card that details their stats (Strength, Defense, Agility, and Luck), stickers that can be added to the game's poster to track the player's collection, and a code that registers the Skylanders to the online game Skylanders: Universe and mobile games like Skylanders: Cloud Patrol.

Plot

Console Version

The game starts with Master Eon greeting the young player, who is the new Portal Master, and explains to them of the world of Skylands, a world filled with wonder and mystery where the Portal Masters and the Skylanders kept peace and balance so that all creatures can thrive. But Skylands is in grave danger, and it needs the help of the new Portal Master. Afterwards, the new Portal Master and the Skylanders meet up with Hugo, Eon's assistant, and Flynn, the balloonist, on the Shattered Island and saved the villagers from a freak tornado ravaging their town, revealing the return of the Skylanders. As they make their way to the Ruins, Hugo explains to the new Portal Master how Skylands became its current state.

The Portal Masters had protected Skylands for as long as anyone could remember. Master Eon, the last good Portal Master of Skylands, and his Skylanders guarded the Core of Light, a great machine that enriched Skylands and repelling The Darkness, the ultimate force behind all evil. However, Kaos, an evil Portal Master who attempted to destroy the Core of Light in the past, returned from his banishment in the Outlands to destroy the Core to rule Skylands as its emperor, knowing that Eon has grown weaker with age. The Skylanders fought against Kaos' minions to protect the Core of Light, and just as they were winning the battle, Kaos unleashed a mysterious creature that successfully destroyed the Core, causing the Skylanders to be banished from their world. As the Skylanders were drifted farther away from the magic of Skylands, they began to shrink until they reached Earth, where they were turned into toys as a result of that world having no magic and awaited for the new Portal Master to find them. Master Eon survived the destruction of the Core of Light, but became a spirit and couldn't fight the Darkness without his physical body. He then awaited for the arrival of a new Portal Master until one finally arrived: the young player.

After saving Cali from a group of evil Drow, Hugo begins with tasking the Skylanders in recovering the missing Eternal Sources needed to rebuild the Core of Light. Kaos soon becomes aware of the new Portal Master and the Skylanders, attempting to stop them from retrieving the Eternal Sources, but fails. With the help of the new Portal Master, the Skylanders recover the missing Eternal Sources with the help of new allies, including a Gillman named Gurglefin, a newly grown Tree person named Arbo, and a sarcastic Undead skeleton, T-Bone. Eventually, the Core of Light is restored, repelling the Darkness from Skylands and driving Kaos back into the Outlands. Despite their victory, Hugo knew that the fight wasn't over, since Kaos still had the very same weapon that he used to destroy the Core of Light and knew that the tyrant would do the same again. The decision was made to take the battle to Kaos in his lair. Using the Core of Light, the Skylanders were transported to the Lair of Kaos, where they had to fight enemies they had faced before until confronting Kaos himself face-to-face.

During the battle, Kaos revealed his most powerful minion to aid him in the fight against the Skylanders, the very minion that destroyed the Core of Light and caused Eon to be in his current spirit state: the Hydra. The Skylanders successfully defeated Kaos, his dark minions, and the Hydra, and he was soon imprisoned inside a force field back at the Ruins. After a tender moment between Flynn and Cali, Kaos then promised to Eon that he would keep returning to Skylands until it was his if he was to be banished to the Outlands again. However, Master Eon had a more fitting place in mind to banish Kaos to instead. Eon gave Hugo the honor to type in the coordinates to Kaos' destination of exile in the Core of Light, with Kaos attempting to bargain with Hugo to share Skylands if he was set free. Knowing Kaos and his evil ways, Hugo typed in the final coordinates, sending the evil tyrant skywards out of Skylands to Earth, where he was turned into a toy and soon tormented by a dog.

Master Eon appears before the new Portal Master, explaining that they may have seen the last of Kaos and the Darkness, but there was still much to do, and that their journey with their Skylanders was only just beginning.

3DS Version

The young player is greeted by Master Eon, the last protector of the realm, and he quickly explains that Skylands needs their help. The Radiant Isles was the tranquil home to the Mystic Seekers, until The Darkness arrived and brought in a fearsome invader from the Outlands: Hektore. Using the power of the Darkness, Hektore enslaved the Seekers and forced them to build the Dark Mirror, which Hektore uses to shroud the Radiant Isles from the rest of Skylands to keep the power of the Seekers for himself. Master Eon then gave the new Portal Master the main objective: lead the Skylanders to destroy the Dark Mirror and free the Radiant Isles.

The young Portal Master is then teleported to an area where the leader of the Mystic Seekers, Fargus, and his son, Wendel, were awaiting for the new Portal Master's arrival, having escaped from Hektore. Before Fargus can start explaining on what to do next, evil laughter filled the air as Hektore has rediscovered Fargus and Wendel and was homing in on their location. In his haste, Fargus gave the new Portal Master the task of gathering Radiance Crystals, rebuilding the Shattering Sigil and destroying the Dark Mirror before giving the title of the Last Free Seeker to Wendel. As Hektore arrived, Fargus sacrificed himself to protect Wendel and the new Portal Master from Hektore's wrath, being recaptured in the process. Shortly afterwards, both Wendel and the new Portal Master retreat to the Sanctuary, the only area in the Radiant Isles where Hektore can't reach.

After gathering enough Radiance Crystals and saving the other Seekers, the Skylanders are able to confront Hektore himself at the Dark Mirror. After inflicting enough damage on the fiend, they make their way towards the Mirror while dodging Hektore's attacks and activate a beacon using Wendel's staff that allowed the Mystic Seekers to destroy the Dark Mirror. Hektore begins to threaten the Skylanders and the new Portal Master in retaliation, but he is destroyed shortly after the Dark Mirror's destruction. Wendel is reunited with Fargus, who then gives his son the status of a true Seeker. Wendel speaks to the new Portal Master that they will be forever be part of the Radiant Isles and that their home is safe to thanks to them and their Skylanders. Master Eon then appears before the new Portal Master, congratulating them on their victory and viewing them as a true protector of Skylands before concluding that the journey with their Skylanders is only just beginning.

List of Skylanders

Air Air Lightning Rod Sonic Boom Warnado Whirlwind

Earth Earth Bash Legendary Bash Dino-Rang Prism Break Terrafin

Fire Fire Eruptor Flameslinger Ignitor Sunburn

Life Life Camo Stealth Elf Stump Smash Zook

Magic Magic Double Trouble Spyro Dark Spyro Legendary Spyro Voodood Wrecking Ball

Tech Tech Boomer Drill Sergeant Drobot Trigger Happy Legendary Trigger Happy

Undead Undead Chop Chop Legendary Chop Chop Cynder Ghost Roaster Hex

Water Water Gill Grunt Slam Bam Wham-Shell Zap

Levels

Console

1. Shattered Island
2. Perilous Pastures
3. Sky Schooner Docks
4. Stormy Stronghold
5. Oilspill Island
6. Dark Water Cove
7. Leviathan Lagoon
8. Crystal Eye Castle
9. Stonetown
10. Treetop Terrace
11. Falling Forest
12. Troll Warehouse
13. Goo Factory
14. Battlefield
15. Crawling Catacombs
16. Cadaverous Crypt
17. Creepy Citadel
18. Molekin Mine
19. Lava Lakes Railway
20. Quicksilver Vault
21. Arkeyan Armory
22. Lair of Kaos
23. Empire of Ice (Adventure Pack)
24. Pirate Seas (Adventure Pack)
25. Darklight Crypt (Adventure Pack)
26. Dragon's Peak (Adventure Pack)

3DS

• Brighthold Battlements
  • Towersight Fields
  • The Proving Grounds
  • Flooded Viaducts
  • Radiant Fountain
  • Dreamgardens
• Rivenrock Caverns
  • Ashburrow
  • Magma Bank Islands
  • Cinderstream Pass
  • Luminous Quarry
  • Lava Flow Grotto
• Winterfall Summits
  • Snowblind Hills
  • Frostedge
  • Glacial Slopes
  • Icelight
  • Aurora Peak
• Faylair Jungle
  • Leaflook Village
  • Breakmarsh
  • Daystar Temple
  • Treetop Circle
  • Waterwalk Way
• Galecrack Ruins
  • Sunblight Wood
  • Thundersquall
  • Whipwind Mountains
  • Stormseye
  • Galecrack Castle
• Pirate Seas (Adventure Pack)
  • Windjammer Bay
  • Pontoon Point
• Empire of Ice (Adventure Pack)
  • Winterwatch Keep
  • Coldburn
• Darklight Crypt (Adventure Pack)
  • Wighthaunt
  • The Spectery
• Dragon's Peak (Adventure Pack)
  • The Wingwarrens
  • The Pit

Achievements / Trophies

Achievements / Trophies#Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure

Credits

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure/Credits

Development

Toys for Bob was given the opportunity to revive a Vivendi franchise, and they chose the Spyro the Dragon franchise. It was mentioned by Toys For Bob that attempts to revive broad-audience mascot franchises haven't seen predictable success in the game industry. 'Just creating a new Spyro game after the traditional fashion was unlikely to work', says Paul Reiche. And reinventing the character as a "really gritty, strange otherworldly Spyro" didn't seem like a promising idea. Spyro needed a radical new idea. Reiche says he 'had considered integrating technology with toys and games for a while, and it was the kind of concept that was so outlandish that it was the most promising idea the team sketched out for the brand.'

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, at the time Spyro's Kingdom, was originally going to be a mature Spyro game that included blood, but the developers of Toys for Bob lost their enthusiasm and felt that this direction didn't feel like 'Spyro', before saying that making a dark game isn't what their passion was about. They spent six months on a variety of different directions with Spyro, and with the time and budget given by Activision, Toys for Bob eventually came upon the idea of Skylanders.

Toys "R" Us partnered with Activision and helped launch Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure in Fall 2011 with a number of unnamed exclusives. The game and toys were developed by Toys For Bob. The game's main story was penned by Alek Sokolow and Joel Cohen who both worked on Pixar's original Toy Story film. This game was also originally revealed to be exclusive for the Wii, but when this game was revealed on February, it was announced that this game will be also be released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, with Taiwanese developer XPEC Entertainment in charge of porting the game to these platforms.

Reception

The game has received generally favorable reviews.

Nintendo World Report gave both the Nintendo Wii and 3DS versions of Skylanders a 9 out of 10, praising the Wii version for fun gameplay, great production values and its perfection for young gamers, and the 3DS version for unique and visually appealing characters, great for younger gamers, and a well-designed 3D platformer. Gaming Nexus gave the game a B+ and praised the game for taking the Spyro franchise to a younger audience, though noted that the game has a few flaws. Destructoid praised the game with an 8 out of 10 saying, "It's not the most complex game on the market, but the innovative gadgetry and authentic thoughtfulness on the part of the developer stands out in a market so used to churning out the same old crap."

GameSpot has reviewed the Xbox 360 version of the game and it was rewarded with a 7.5 out of 10 for its good concept that has been well executed with its family-friendly innovative gameplay, RPG-style progression and tie-in toys with brains that work really well along with the downloadable content for the Adventure Pack toys as well. But, however, they criticized the game for its easy difficulty, confusing multiplayer and that it can only be played offline, as well as costly to complete everything, the Portal of Power being emperamental at times, and the risk of losing the figures can be a bane.

Game Informer has given both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 versions of the game a 8.0 out of 10.0. IGN gave Skylanders an 8.0 out of 10, saying that "Activision took a fun, but not particularly noteworthy game and made it a unique, flashy product" and Skylanders is "a fun, family action game in the vein of LEGO titles."

Gallery

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure/Gallery

Videos

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Trivia

• Early Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Starter Pack box art had an image of Spyro being summoned on the Portal of Power before he was replaced with Gill Grunt in the final version of the box art.
• Spyro's Adventure is the only mainline game in the franchise to have an official PC release, as well as the only one to be released in Japan.
  • This also makes Spyro's Adventure the first Spyro-related game to see a Japanese release since Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy in 2004.
• Spyro, Gill Grunt, and Trigger Happy are the only Skylanders whom Hugo called out by their names in the console versions of Spyro's Adventure, since they are the ones that you start the game with that come along with the console Starter Pack. When another Skylander appears, he just refers to them as "A Skylander!".
• The console Starter Pack for Spyro's Adventure and Skylanders: Trap Team are the only console Starter Packs without a female Skylander.
  • It is also one of the only three console Starter Packs without a Skylander from the Life element. The others being the standard Starter Pack of Skylanders: Imaginators and the Dark Edition of Skylanders: SuperChargers Racing.
• All of the Skylanders originally spoke their own gibberish languages in Spyro's Adventure, but as the project went on, Toys for Bob decided to give fourteen of them actual English lines.
• Due to there being different studios handling the development for consoles, the Wii and Wii U version, developed by Toys for Bob, looks vastly different compared to the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions, which were developed by XPEC Entertainment.
  • The engine used for the Wii version was later carried over for the development of Skylanders: Giants to all platforms.
• Originally, each Skylander was to be given mini story videos when players place them on the Portal of Power for the first time.
• Part of the main theme for this game was later reused as the Episode Dungeon menu theme in Skylanders: Ring of Heroes.