darkSpyro

Thanks to 4inCreation we have our first look at the figures for almost all of the remaining variants of Skylanders Imaginators.

Mystical Bad Juju	Mystical Tae Kwon Crow
Egg Bomber Air Strike	Heartbreaker Buckshot
Solar Flare Aurora	Hard-Boiled Flare Wolf

The only remaining variant to be seen is apparently an Easter themed "Hard-Boiled" Flare Wolf. Update: Now with Hard-Boiled Flare Wolf figure.

Mystical Bad Juju has recently appeared in an Australian EBGames release list with an 8th of December release date. Jingle Bell Chompy Mage is also on it with a 14th of November date but he's actually been found in stores there already.

Solar Flare Aurora will be a Target exclusive in the US as seen in their Black Friday advert.

And for those of you who have yet to buy the game, in their Black Friday ad Walmart have shown that they are going to be selling a $25 Portal Owners Pack which includes the game and a Fire Creation Crystal only.

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

The figure for Legendary Pit Boss has been spotted on the Canadian Toys R Us website along with a December 2nd release date.


Today also marks the start of the release of three Legendary Creation Crystals, exclusively at Toys R Us of course. The first of them is the Legendary Magic Crystal which is paired with a Micro Comic called "Mirror, Mirror".


The other two will be released on the 6th of November and the 13th of November, also exclusive to Toys R Us.

And don't forget that the first season of Skylanders Academy was just released on Netflix on Friday, so make sure to give it a watch if you can!

The reviews for Skylanders Imaginators have begun to roll in so as usual here's a roundup of them. Most seem very positive with high praise for the customisation that the Imaginators provide but there's a few voicing a dislike towards the permanent locking of a class to the Creation Crystals (although a possible workaround has been discovered in the forums).

Quote: TheHDRoom - 4.8/5

Skylanders Imaginators stands on its own as a pleasurable journey for kids and adults alike as the sixth entry in the Skylanders franchise and fourth from Toys For Bob. It is the quintessential AAA game for kids that adults can equally enjoy if they peel back layers of maturity built up over time and allow themselves some immature fun. Imagine that.

Quote: BioGamer Girl - 9.5/10

Skylanders: Imaginators is once again a visually impressive masterpiece with its bright colors and cinematic cutscenes. The soundtrack manages to work alongside the gameplay perfectly and elevates your mood to just the right level rather it be intense battle or intrinsic puzzle-solving.

Quote: Hardcore Gamer - 4.5/5

While last year’s iteration put a heavy emphasis on racing, Imaginators does an excellent job returning things to the realm of platforming. All of the levels are expertly designed and feature beautiful backgrounds and clever puzzles that feel right at home with the best in the genre.

Quote: Xbox Addict - 9/10

I consider this one of the biggest games in the franchise to date, content wise. Along with custom Skylanders, and the Sensei characters, there is the game itself, and there is A LOT (caps added for emphasis) to do.

Quote: Digital Chumps - 9/10

One thing that I think the game upped itself from previous versions are the boss and enemy battles. While there is always going to be a pattern to these things, mainly because it’s a kid’s game, so you don’t want to frustrate your main audience too much, the game has definitely turned up the challenge to 11, especially during boss battles.

Quote: COG Connected - 88/100

Skylanders Imaginators is a dream for gamers who love to customize, platform, and just blow stuff up. The customization options are both easy to use for beginners and advanced enough to make some truly fantastic creations.

Quote: Financial Post - 8.5/10

The rest of the game is what returning fans would expect. The cartoonish combat feels as good as ever (it’s still miles ahead of the now defunct Disney Infinity games) and makes for terrific couch co-op play.

Quote: PlayStation Nation - 8.5/10

Much like the other Skylanders games on the PlayStation 4, this one’s a beauty. The bright, colorful graphics add to the cartoony wonder of the game. Lighting is actually really good at showing off the dark caves, water, and lightning strikes around the different levels and there isn’t even a hint of the jaggies.

Quote: Gaming Age - B+

The gameplay is tight and better than it’s been in previous games. I appreciate this return to the series roots, but fans of the series that have huge collections of Skylanders from previous titles might be disappointed. Many of the gimmicks from previous games have been greatly neglected.

Quote: Digital Spy - 4/5

Just when you might have expected the original Toys-to-Life franchise to be running out of steam, Activision has brought it back, revitalised and exciting. Imaginators might just be the best Skylanders yet.

Quote: The Sixth Axis - 8/10

Compared to last year’s Superchargers, Imaginators is certainly a step in the right direction. Instead of bolting something onto the existing formula, Toys For Bob have instead gone for reinvention. Being able to construct and share your own Skylanders isn’t a massive game changer, but it feels far more considered than other gimmicks.

Quote: God is a Geek - 8/10

And it all looks so lovely. Skylanders has always been a pretty franchise, but Imaginators is almost relentlessly colourful. The environments themselves are striking enough, but the special attacks light up the screen and the cutscenes are fluid and boldly drawn.

Quote: Gaming Nexus - 8/10

One of the things that I have to keep reminding myself about with the game is the fact that it is designed for kids. Imaginators felt a lot more linear than the previous adventures and while I felt it made things a lot easier for me, it made things a lot more accessible for my daughter.

Quote: Trusted Reviews - 4/5

As the first Skylanders designed for the current consoles, SuperChargers looked amazing, but Imaginators tops it with ease. It helps that the level designs lend themselves to spectacle, but the gorgeous lighting and impressive detail being the visuals pretty close to the quality of a TV CGI cartoon (and better than some).

Quote: iDigitalTimes - 4/5

Overall, Skylanders Imaginators is a great next step in the evolution of the franchise. Being able to create your own Skylander is a big deal and the team got it right with such a deep and rich customization option.

Quote: Nintendo World Report - 7.5/10

A bulk of the issues are technical ones - load times are abundant, graphical hitches occur often - but even the structure of the adventure seems like a step down from last year’s superb SuperChargers.

Quote: GameSpot - 7/10

To its credit, the game doesn't limit your ability to change how your character looks at any point. Imaginators doesn't quite have the same level of customisation depth as say, something like a WWE 2K17 or a Skyrim, but what is there is pretty expansive.

The game is out now in Australia and New Zealand, releases on Friday in Europe, and is available on Sunday in North America.

Skylanders Academy releases on Netflix in two weeks so it's about time we finally got a look at the show in action with the show's first trailer:


Quote: Press Release

Skylanders Academy follows the heroic adventures of Spyro, Eruptor, Stealth Elf, Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz as they travel the vast Skylands universe, protecting it from evil-doers. Skylanders Academy promises to keep viewers on the edge of their seats with epic action for kids of all ages.

The 13 episode first season will be released all at once on the 28th of October, with the second season following in late 2017.

And in other news, to mark today's release of Skylanders Imaginators in Australia and New Zealand the Skylanders Creator app launched on Android and iOS, there's nearly 1000 parts to unlock in there so get cracking!

Update 12/10: App now available on Google Play and iTunes.

The official unveiling of the Skylanders Creator app has today revealed that along with being able to create Imaginators within the app it will also let you order a playable 3D print of your Imaginator (for $50, quantities limited), a playable card with a picture of your Imaginator on ($15) or even a T-shirt with your Imaginator on it ($25, not playable).


The app (which launches on October 12th) will let you create an Imaginator from scratch or import one from the game by sound once the game is released in a couple of weeks. It is only possible to transfer to the app and not the other way around, the only way to use an Imaginator created in the app in the game is to buy the card or figure of it (or to meticulously recreate it in the game by hand). Getting more parts to use will require you to open daily chests but parts used in Imaginators transferred from the game will unlock automatically. FamilyGamerTV have an interview with Paul Reiche explaining it all.

The list of devices that are supported by the app according to the official website are: iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6, iPhone SE, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 4s, iPod touch 5th Gen, iPad Pro 12.9in, iPad Pro 9.7in, iPad Air 2, iPad 4th Gen, iPad 3rd Gen, iPad 2, iPad Mini 2, iPad Mini 1st Gen. Samsung Note III, Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung Galaxy S5, Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime, Samsung Nexus, ASUS Nexus 7.

They will also be running a global contest to win a custom 3D-printed Imaginator, to enter you'll just need to share your design on social media using the #CreatorContest tag from October 24th.


And to get a taste of creating your own character there is a Character Creator on the official website that you can experiment with. There's currently only the Bazooker class, a small number of parts and no colour options so it is a little more limited than the app or game will be.

The release date for the animated show Skylanders Academy was announced today as the 28th of October. As is usual on Netflix the entire first season of thirteen episodes will be available at that time.


And in other news another Skylanders Imaginators variant, Mystical Tae Kwon Crow, has turned up - this time via a video on the official website.


It is as yet unknown when he will be available and whether he will be an exclusive.

Continuing the rather odd looking line of variants that started with Smash Hit last year is Steel Plated Hood Sickle for Skylanders Imaginators.


Previously seen referenced to by text listings this is our first proper look at the variant that, according to the box, will once again be exclusive to Best Buy. Best Buy have yet to post it (or any other figures) themselves but if the European listings are any indication then it should be available at launch (which is less than a month away!).

Thanks to Buuzer for spotting it on Amazon.it.

Toys R Us have posted the first of their new exclusive Legendary Skylanders for Skylanders Imaginators and it's a Legendary Tri-Tip.


Sporting a new red and gold colour scheme compared to the blue and gold Legendaries of the previous games, Legendary Tri-Tip will be released at launch. His regular edition is part of Wave 2 which is expected to also be released at or near to launch but perhaps in more limited quantities or only at specific stores to begin with.

Another new look Legendary being produced for Imaginators is Legendary Pit Boss, an Undead Sorcerer. He was accidentally revealed by the official website earlier in the week when they unveiled his regular edition.


It is not yet known when this guy will be released.


Thanks to preciousawaken for spotting the Tri-Tip listing.

While we patiently await news from gamescom this week, some US retailers have spilled the beans on a certain someone's inclusion in the Crash Editions. Not only will they contain the regular Starter Pack's contents and Crash Bandicoot but they'll also have a Dr. Neo Cortex toy too!


The packaging indicates that Cortex will be part of the Tech element and will be a Sorcerer Sensei (hopefully why will become clear once we see him in action).

For those of you who are not on a Sony system it is worth noting that some European retailers have listed a product with the title "Adv Pk Crash" with an end of November release date. What that is exactly is of course not 100% clear but it could be a way for you to get your hands on Crash, and possibly also Cortex, without having to buy a Starter Pack for a console you don't own.