Skylanders SWAP Force Game – A Review

My brother and I use to spend hours playing on the Atari console and play PONG.  Do you remember how that was the hottest game around in the early 80’s?  We would spend the whole afternoon playing this simple game but had a blast.  Especially when the game would go on for a bit and the pong would go faster and faster until it went so fast you couldn’t keep up your match.  That is when it got really exciting!  In case you don’t remember what PONG looked like – here is what the screen looked like (primitive isn’t it?).

It was a hit with the kids and actually quite fun!  But I must say I am pretty impressed with the way gaming has progressed from the 80’s.  I see these commercials for Wii and Xbox games geared towards teenagers and young men and can’t believe how life-like some of them are!  I had a chance to review and try out the Skylanders SWAP Force game on the Wii recently.  Or I should say, my seven year old and her buddy had a chance to try it out on their Wii!  This is a game geared towards children eight years of age and up, but they had no problem working their way around the game.

The Story of Skylanders:

The Skylanders are legendary heroes and champions in the world of Skylands, as well as the only playable characters in the Skylanders series. Their ancient mission is to protect Skylands, and its magical Core of Light, a great machine that repelled The Darkness, the ultimate force behind all evil. Using their magical powers and machinery, the Skylanders defended their world for generations, keeping peace and balance.

The most powerful of all Skylanders are the Giants, who are also known as the Elder Elementals.  One of the things I like about the game and characters is that each one has their own unique personality.   They are united by their unique abilities and loyalty to their leader, Master Eon, as well to each other, family, and friends, the Skylanders all share the purpose and destiny to protecting Skylands from all things evil.  My dauther and her friend really had fun fighting the “bad guys” and they said that was their favorite part of the game.  Oh, and being able to switch the bodies and

With Skylanders Swap Force, there are 16 new Swap Force characters but of course players who have past figures have more than 100 they can use.  You can even interchange the characters heads and bodies to make it more interesting.  My daughter and her friend swapped bodies and heads throughout the game. Apparently, there are 250 ways you can interchange all the characters, and when you change up the character, you gain some new abilities as well!

You are probably a pro at Wii or Xbox games but as a newbie I was happy to see it was really easy to set up.  They provide easy instructions on how to set up the console and get the game started.  We were told to place our characters on the portal (make sure to put both players at the same time if you have more than one player) and you basically begin.  A character comes on the screen to tell you the back story and what the Skylanders need to do – which is to fight the bad guys and protect Skylands from all things evil.

If you are new to Skylanders SWAP Force, the starter kit is a good way to begin this fun series.  The Skylanders SWAP Force starter pack includes an all-new team of characters that you can swap their bottom and top halves for unique gameplay experiences. Kids can even bring their older Skylanders in to join the fun – including Giants! The SWAP Force Starter pack comes with the game, two swappable Skylanders, one standard Skylander, and an updated Portal of Power.  Here is a picture of the characters we got in the Starter Kit (love the pirate) and what the updated portal looks like.