darkSpyro

For this year's Extra Life event (which is happening today!) Andrew Carl, a game designer at Vicarious Visions, is running a stream to support Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Check out his message below, join him on Twitch, and donate to the cause if you can:

Quote: Andrew Carl

My name is Andrew Carl and I am a game designer at VV. I just got the green light from Activision and VV to stream myself playing Superchargers and the Wumpa Islands Adventure Pack while doing some developer commentary for Extra Life, a charity event where gamers stream themselves playing games for 24 hours. The show will start tomorrow (11/5/2016) at 2 PM on my Twitch channel. I'll run through some parts of the games and discuss my work on them.

All donations of at least $25 will receive a Skylanders Superchargers toy OR an exclusive artbook (created by Vicarious Visions showcasing all of our art for Superchargers). Donations of at least $50 will receive a SIGNED toy or art book by our game developers. $100+ donations will receive lots of toys and a signed artbook. Your donation is tax-deductible and ALL PROCEEDS go to help kids at our local Children's Miracle Network Hospital. The art books are the same artbooks the development team received as a gift after the game was shipped and contains a bunch of incredible art from our concept artists along with quotes and tidbits about the development of the game from various members of the team.

Here is a link to the VV team's Extra Life page so you can donate to myself or other members: http://www.extra-life.org/inde...am&teamID=31536

And here is a link to my Twitch stream. I will be streaming myself playing a variety of games starting tomorrow morning at 9 AM EST, but the developer commentary will begin at 2:00 PM.

https://www.twitch.tv/acarlextralife

Thanks,

Andrew Carl

Despite the initial claims that the Nintendo characters would be exclusive to the starter packs they are now releasing Combo Packs for Turbo Charge Donkey Kong and his Barrel Blaster, and Hammer Slam Bowser and his Clown Cruiser.


Reports have already been coming in of people finding them in the wild. Don't forget that these figures and vehicles will only work on the Wii U, Wii, and the 3DS.

For those of you who skipped the Dark Editions you may be interested to hear that GameStop is going to be the exclusive home to a single pack of the Kaos Trophy which they're selling for $7.99. The Kaos Trophy simply allows you to race as Kaos during Sky races, it does not unlock any other extra content.

And finally, other reports are coming in for findings (or soon to be releases) of a whole host of new Alter Egos including Legendary Bone Bash Roller Brawl, Nitro Soda Skimmer, and Birthday Bash Big Bubble Pop Fizz.

We're at that point again, today is the North American launch day for Skylanders SuperChargers and the reviews are starting to roll in so it's time for the annual review roundup. The reviews published so far seem fairly positive and pretty consistent with the reviews given for Trap Team last year, although of course not without exception.

Quote: Nintendo World Report - 9

Skylanders: SuperChargers is just bursting with content, and fortunately, all of it is great fun. If you’re invested in the series, SuperChargers is on par, if not better, than the best the series has offered in the past.

Quote: High-Def Digest - 4.5/5

Getting into a vehicle and changing the gameplay up, say mid-level or for a boss fight, is vastly more engaging than the typical elemental change. But it's really just the beginning.

Quote: Polygon - 8.5

The levels play with gravity, with humor, with painterly backdrops and size. There are even clever tweaks at some of gaming's tropes. Just when you think you've seen it all, you find yourself sitting back down to do something new and spectacular.

Quote: Financial Post - 8.5

And all of these activities benefit from the sort of sheen we’d expect of an entry in a yearly franchise that has been polishing its formula for half a decade. The controls are tight, the visual presentation is terrific.

Quote: Kotauku - Yes

Upgradeable and customizable, the vehicles in Superchargers are much more than gimmicks. They are characters in their own right, only much more important—the entire level structure of the game has been transformed to accommodate these wicked rides.

Quote: Gaming Age - A-

Being someone that has played the games, but not to completion in the past, I found myself more immersed in the world this time around and I think the variety is the reason.

Quote: GameSpot - 8

While the vehicles adds the most visible "new" element to Skylanders, there's plenty more here that expand upon the series' traditional action adventure (with a little puzzle solving) formula. Nearly every level and area you'll explore in Skylanders comes with a unique gameplay twist.

Quote: Hardcore Gamer - 4/5

Activision and Vicarious Visions have seemingly done the impossible by keeping Skylanders fresh for its fifth outing. SuperChargers is jam-packed with enough content to fill at least two separate games and it’s all quality stuff.

Quote: Game Informer - 6.5

By the third level, I would grimace whenever I saw an icon telling me I needed to place a car on the Portal of Power for a vehicle sequence. The cars are the weakest part of the campaign, and most are tied to the critical path.

I'll be updating this news post with more reviews as they appear. For other territories the game launches in just a few days on the 23rd for Australia and the 25th for Europe.

To mark the launch of Disney Infinity 3.0 the official Skylanders website has been updated with new images for the many of the new Skylanders and Vehicles from Skylanders Superchargers. Thanks to several inquisitive forum members we also have images for several new alt decos that we had previously not seen before and a name for Trigger Happy's vehicle: Gold Rusher.

Legendary Astroblast	Legendary Sun Runner
Legendary Bone Bash Roller Brawl	Nitro Soda Skimmer
Easter Thrillipede	Gold Rusher

Astroblast and Sun Runner's Legendary status confirms that there will be a Legendary version of the Sky Racing Action Pack, the regular version of which is scheduled for launch in Wave 3.

This weekend also saw a playable demo of the 3DS version of the game at PAX Prime giving us our first proper look at how it plays. Still no sign of the Wii or iOS versions.

As retailers are beginning to list pre-orders for the figures so too are they posting pre-orders for their exclusive alternate versions of characters. The first two that have been sighted are Fiesta and Smash Hit.

Spotted by forum member sprocketrocket this Frightful Fiesta is exclusive to GameStop/EBGames	Found by forum member ZapNorris the Steel Plated Smash Hit is a Best Buy exclusive
Legendary Hurricane Jet-Vac, exclusive to Toys R Us naturally	MySkylanders.de has discovered a Nitro Stealth Stinger with Target exclusive markings

There have also been mentions of a few other variants but no images have been found for them just yet.

In other news, the complete Achievement list for the game has been revealed by XboxAchievements, obviously if you wish to avoid spoilers for the story then it's probably not all that wise to read them. In what is a quite sensible move, despite the existence of the recently shown off online mode none of the achievements appear to be related of it (although you can perhaps earn the single co-op achievement using the brand new online co-op mode).

I posted this in the forums just over a week ago but there's not been much other news lately so here it is now on the front page as we continue the wait for gamescom next week (August 5th-9th) and its potential for new information.

Combining a few European retailer listings I have managed to put together what looks to be the lineup of toys for the first few SuperChargers waves (aside from any retailer exclusive alt decos).

Wave One
Starters

Spitfire	Turbo Charge Donkey Kong	Hammer Slam Bowser	Super Shot Stealth Elf
Dark Spitfire	Dark Turbo Charge Donkey Kong	Dark Hammer Slam Bowser	Dark Super Shot Stealth Elf
Hot Streak	Barrel Blaster	Clown Cruiser	Dark Sea Shadow
Dark Hot Streak	Dark Barrel Blaster	Dark Clown Cruiser	Kaos Trophy

Single Pack SuperChargers

Dive-Clops	Fiesta	Stormblade	Shark Shooter Terrafin

Single Pack Vehicles

Dive Bomber	Crypt Crusher	Sky Slicer	Sea Shadow

Racing Action Packs

Sea Racing Action Pack
Deep Dive Gill Grunt + Reef Ripper + Sea Trophy

Combo Packs

Terrafin		Jet-Vac
Shark Shooter Terrafin + Shark Tank		Hurricane Jet-Vac + Jet-Stream

Wave Two
Single Pack SuperChargers

Smash Hit	Nightfall	High Volt

Single Pack Vehicles

Burn-Cycle	Shark Tank	Jet-Stream	Stealth Stinger

Triple Pack

Shark Shooter Terrafin + Shark Tank + Jet Stream

Wave Three
Single Pack SuperChargers

Splat	Big Bubble Pop Fizz	Hurricane Jet-Vac	Lava Lance Eruptor

Single Pack Vehicles

Splatter Splasher	Shield Striker	Thump Truck

Racing Action Packs

Sky Racing Action Pack
Astroblast + Sun Runner + Sky Trophy

Combo Packs

Pop Fizz		Roller Brawl
Big Bubble Pop Fizz + Soda Skimmer		Bone Bash Roller Brawl + Tomb Buggy

Triple Pack

Bone Bash Roller Brawl + Tomb Buggy + Splatter Splasher

But what are these Triple Packs for? Can they save you money? Well... yes, it seems that they can do that (obviously only if you were planning on getting all of the included toys already). At the prices they were listed at you could buy the triple Terrafin+Shark Tank+Jet-Stream and a single Jet-Vac for less than if you bought them in the two Combo Packs (€30+€13 vs. €25+€25).

Dates attached to the listings imply that Waves 1 and 2 will be released at launch with Wave 3 following approximately two months later. As with the prices these are dates for the European markets so the situation may be slightly different in the US.


And if you don't already then make sure to check out the awesome mini KABOOM! Skycast, a dedicated weekly Skylanders podcast which is this week celebrating its 25th episode and announcing the winner of their E3 Hot Streak giveaway.

Earlier today Instagram user ziotec took some photos of the back of a Skylanders SuperChargers pre-order display box which shows off several new Skylanders and vehicles.



So we now know of the new Life SuperCharger "Thrillipede", the returning Magic SuperCharger "Big Bubble Pop Fizz", and the new Light SuperCharger "Astroblast".

There are some new vehicles with Pop Fizz's vehicle "Soda Skimmer", Thrillipede's vehicle "Buzz Wing", and Astroblast's vehicle "Sun Runner". And we have names for Splat's vehicle "Splatter Splasher", Lava Lance Eruptor's vehicle "Burn-Cycle", and Stealth Elf's vehicle "Stealth Stinger".


On the side of the box there is also confirmation of "Racing Action Packs", the example of which contains Deep Dive Gill Grunt, Reef Ripper, and a Sea Trophy shaped like Golden Queen's head. It is likely of a similar function to the Kaos Trophy that comes with the Dark Edition Starter Pack, but we still don't really know what that does yet either. The top corner of the pack does however mention "New Race Tracks" and "Race As Villains" so make of that what you will.

Also worth noting is that in a list of features the box mentions "NEW Online Multiplayer Race & Coop Modes".


In a separate event a product listing on a French retailer's website has outed a possible partial line-up for Wave 1 of SuperChargers along with a potential name of a SuperCharger "Smash It" (by the process of elimination that's either the Earth SuperCharger or the beginning of Roller Brawl's name). If the listings are accurate then (other than the Starter Packs) Wave 1 will be the following:

SuperChargers

• Dive-Clops
  
• Stormblade
  
• Fiesta
  
• High Volt
  
• Nightfall
  
• "Smash It"
  
• Shark Shooter Terrafin

Vehicles

• Dive Bomber
  
• Crypt Crusher
  
• Sky Slicer
  
• Shark Tank
  
• Stealth Stinger
  
• Jet Stream
  
• Sea Shadow
  
• Burn-Cycle

I am sure it's not out of the realms of possibility that there will also be a Racing Action Pack and Combo Packs available at launch in September.

The Dark Editions for Skylanders SuperChargers have been revealed. The PS4/PS3/Xbox One/Xbox 360 versions will contain Dark Spitfire, Dark Super Shot Stealth Elf, Dark Hot Streak, Dark Sea Shadow and a Kaos Trophy that can be used to unlock "special Kaos gameplay content". It'll cost you $99.99 for the Dark Edition.


The Wii U edition will have Dark Spitfire, Dark Hot Streak, Dark Turbo Charge Donkey Kong, Dark Barrel Blaster and the Kaos Trophy.


The Wii edition will have Dark Spitfire, Dark Hot Streak, Dark Hammer Slam Bowser, Dark Clown Cruiser and the Kaos Trophy.


Also revealed are several new entries to the Eon's Elite line of figures. The first wave of them will be available exclusively at Toys R Us in November and is made up of Slam Bam, Zook and Voodood.


A second wave with Ghost Roaster, Boomer and Dino-Rang will be released in December.

Check out a load of screenshots and artwork in the SuperChargers Gallery.

During today's Nintendo E3 "digital event" it was revealed that Donkey Kong and Bowser will be joining the Skylanders, exclusively on Nintendo platforms.

Hammer Slam Bowser	Turbo Charge Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong will be packaged in the Wii U Starter Pack, replacing Spitfire and his vehicle, and Bowser will be in the Wii and 3DS Starter Packs (also replacing Spitfire). The Wii and 3DS Starter Packs actually carry the title Skylanders: SuperChargers Racing, a different experience was mentioned previously but this is the first we've seen of it.

Clown Cruiser	Barrel Blaster

What is quite nifty is that the figures have a dual purpose, if you rotate the base they can also be used as amiibos.

These characters and vehicles will only work on Nintendo platforms, you will not be able to play as Bowser on the PS4 or anything like that.

Check out a load of screenshots and artwork of the characters in the SuperChargers Gallery.

A few other characters have also been revealed, Kotaku have an article showing off Undead SuperCharger Fiesta with his vehicle Crypt Crusher, and the Skylander Boy and Girl have a video unveiling the Dark SuperCharger Nightfall and her vehicle Sea Shadow. And if you look closely at the boxart for the Wii and 3DS versions you can see SuperCharged versions of Eruptor and Rollerbrawl driving vehicles.

Skylanders SuperChargers has been officially revealed. Matching pretty much everything that was rumoured we will be collecting from a set of 20 new SuperCharger Skylanders along with 20 new Vehicles to drive.




There will be 10 brand new SuperCharger characters and 10 reimagined SuperChargers based on existing characters, such as Stealth Elf, Trigger Happy and Terrafin. They each have a matching vehicle which, when used together, they SuperCharge but any Skylander can use any vehicle. The SuperChargers will cost $12.99.


The vehicles will be split into three groups, Land, Sea, and Sky, each being used for a different section of gameplay. Each vehicle can be customised in-game with modifications and weapons but only SuperChargers will be able to utilise this customisation feature. The vehicles will cost $14.99.

Quote:

In Skylanders SuperChargers, Kaos' quest to rule over Skylands reveals his most sinister weapon ever - a massive "Doomstation of Ultimate Doomstruction" capable of eating the sky itself. Fortunately, Master Eon had seen the warning signs and assembled a special team of Skylanders to pilot an unstoppable fleet of vehicles with the power to destroy the reign of destruction! With Skylands facing its greatest threat, the Skylanders must pilot their supercharged vehicles over land, under sea, and through the sky to stop Kaos!

While there is a new Portal of Power included in the Starter Pack you will be able to purchase and download a digital Portal Owners Pack and use your existing Portals to play the game.


It will again be on all platforms, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U, Wii, and 3DS. The Wii and 3DS versions will have a different experience to the other versions.

The game is set for release on the 20th of September in North America, the 24th of September in Australia, and the 25th of September in Europe.


Check out our Gallery for a few more Skylanders SuperChargers images.

There are loads of previews up around the web on sites such as Polygon, Forbes, Kotaku, GameSpot, TheHDRoom, and Game Informer and plenty of videos on Youtube channels like FamilyGamer TV, TheSkylanderBoy AndGirl, VideoGamerTV, Coin-op TV and many more.

Well, there we have it, Skylanders: SuperChargers confirmed. Thanks to Eurogamer (link now broken) and new forum member BOOMCAKE we have a look at some of the new characters, vehicles, and reposes as well as the logo for the new game.


Backing up the recent Amazon listings there is a reposed version of Stealth Elf along with reposes for Trigger Happy and Terrafin, bringing them each up to Series 4. If the Amazon information is indeed correct then the middle of the three new Skylanders is called Spitfire, no names are known for the other two just yet.

The official embargo is anticipated to be lifted sometime tomorrow so expect more details on Skylanders: SuperChargers very soon!

Forum member skylandersspyro has spotted several barebones listings on Amazon.com for a game called Skylanders: SuperChargers that looks to confirm the recent rumours for the next Skylanders game.

The listings mention the contents of the Starter Pack as being 2 Skylanders SuperChargers figures - a new Skylander named Spitfire and a reposed Super Shot Stealth Elf, and one Skylanders Vehicle called "Hot Steak" "Hot Streak". It also mentions a new portal of power... how many is that now?

A brief plot summary is detailed:

Quote: Amazon.com

Skylands is in peril! Kaos has unleashed his most evil weapon yet - the Doomstation of Ultimate Doomstruction. With all of Skylands on the verge of collapse, a special team called the SuperChargers has been assembled to pilot an unstoppable fleet of incredible vehicles. Now you and the SuperChargers must embark on epic adventures over land, under sea, and through the sky to stop Kaos and save Skylands!

There are listings for PS3, PS4, Wii U, 3DS, and even a version for the Wii (albeit with a note saying that the "gameplay content, features, and functionality will differ") but no potential release date is given.

It shouldn't be too much longer before we find out whether this is accurate and we get our first proper look at the game, rumours place an official reveal happening on Wednesday, the 3rd of June.