Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure: Difference between revisions
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With ''[[The Legend of Spyro Trilogy]]'' finished and the upcoming movie cancelled, it was time for [[Activision]] to come up with another idea for a ''Spyro'' game. And they decided upon one of the most radical and controversial changes to the ''[[Spyro the Dragon]]'' franchise since, well... ''[[The Legend of Spyro]]''.
''Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure'' is a game on multiple platforms. It's putting the mood back to lighthearted after the [[Darker and Edgier]] previous games, and as this is yet another [[Continuity Reboot]], all the characters but Spyro and a couple carryovers are brand-new. Gameplay's also focused on puzzle-solving/shooting rather than the original games platforming or the [[Beat'Em Up]] style of ''Legend''. But if ''Skylanders'' is not so different from classic ''Spyro'', what's the big change?
See, the game comes with a device called a "portal," plus three toys. The idea is that if you want to play as a character, you put their toy on the portal and the game instantly switches to the new character. This can be done at any time, even in the middle of gameplay. With over thirty toys available, this does make this game [[Merchandise-Driven]], but since the game comes with Spyro and two others - Trigger Happy and Gill Grunt - you don't have to buy extra toys unless you want to.
The toy gimmick is given an in-story explanation. An evil Portal Master named Kaos banished the Skylanders into the real world as statues, and it's up to the player, taking on the role of a good Portal Master, to stop him by summoning Skylanders into the game.
The singular game is actually multiple separate games, with the ability to port characters and their stats and equipment between them. The "main" game is the one on home consoles (Xbox 360, [[
Common complaints lodged against this game include Spyro's radically different design and no other old ''Spyro'' characters returning (except Cynder). Common praises include beautiful graphics and fun-looking gameplay. The toy gimmick could go either way - it drives the cost up (similar to Activision's deceased ''[[Guitar Hero]]'') and is a blatant merchandising ploy; yet it's novel and well-executed, setting it apart from being just another game out there.
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Despite the complaints, ''Skylanders'' turned out to be a huge hit, selling out in many stores before Christmas 2011. In fact, a sequel was announced just months after the original game's release, even before all the toys made it onto store shelves. ''Skylanders: Giants'' will add 16 more characters, eight of which are at least double the size of the regular Skylander toys and will have the in-game strength to match.
{{tropelist}}
* [[
* [[All There in the Manual]]: Skylander bios are in the player's guide or on the website; not with the toys or in most games (''Cloud Patrol'' might be the only one to have them).
* [[And I Must Scream]]: {{spoiler|Kaos}} receives a very karmic one: {{spoiler|After his defeat, he is sent to Earth, getting reduced to a mere toy figurine in the process}}.
* [[And Your Reward Is Clothes]]: The in-game collectibles include [[Nice Hat
* [[Baleful Polymorph]]: A stage in the 3DS version includes sheep statues you can destroy (and need to for a level objective), but doing so turns your Skylander ''into'' a sheep briefly.
* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]: The concept of the Portal of Power bringing Skylanders from the real world back into the Skylands pretty much weaponizes this trope. In addition, Flynn does it during the first half of the Wii version's game credits; congratulating the player ([[Small Name, Big Ego|and himself]]) for saving the Skylands and encouraging the player to go into the [[Playable Epilogue]] - and then this happens:
{{quote|
* [[Bullet Hell]]: Though certainly not as intense as those of arcade shooter fame, Kaos summons some pretty large swarms of elementally-themed obstacles during your battles against his minions. (The Doomsharks even give you HP bonuses for "grazing" the side of one without taking damage!) And then there's the [[Final Boss]], where Kaos's Hydra not only launches the same swarms of obstacles at you, but even mixes them up. Can you dodge e.g. deadly laser beams ''and'' swarms of sharks at the same time?
* [[Canon Immigrant]]: Cynder is carried over from the ''Legend'' games, and Auric the Banker is Moneybags from the Classic series down to the last detail. (He's a brown bear with a monocle and a black suit obsessed with treasure for crying out loud!) Sparx the Dragonfly also appears, getting a toy at that, but as an item instead of a PC.
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** [[The Sacred Darkness]]/[[Creepy Good]]: The "Undead" element qualifies as one of the good ones, or at least not automatically evil.
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Glumshanks, Kaos' goblin sidekick. See [[Incredibly Lame Pun]] as well.
* [[Dem Bones]]: Chop Chop. A skeleton knight who remained alive due to his very literal [[Undying Loyalty]].
* [[Dismantled MacGuffin]]: The Core of Light. Nearly every level has you retrieving an Eternal Elemental Source or some other component of it.
* [[Doomy Dooms of Doom]]:
** '''[[Large Ham|THE DEADLY]] [[Everything's Even Worse
** All of Kaos' spells have this trope.
** There's also Whirlwind's Rainbow Of Doom.
* [[Drop
* [[Dual Boss]]: When fighting Kaos for one of the elemental Cores, after failing to defeat you using his minions one at a time, he eventually resorts to sending out three at once (albeit with [[Conservation of Ninjutsu|less HP apiece]]).
* [[Elemental Powers]]: Every Skylander is classified under one of eight elements -- [[Playing
* [[Essence Drop]]: Enemies drop experience points when defeated.
* [[Evil Knockoff]]: Several boss battles involve Kaos summoning evil Skylander clones to attack you. He alternates this strategy with some [[Bullet Hell]] (see [[Sequential Boss]]).
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* [[Hack and Slash]]: Or shoot, depending on whether your current Skylander prefers melee or ranged attacks.
* [[Heroes-R-Us]]: The Skylanders are presented as this kind of group. Though they don't seem very picky about who joins, so long as they're a big enough [[Badass]] to help out.
* [[Holding Out for
* [[Hub Level]]: The Ruins
* [[Hurricane of Puns]]: A number of characters are fond of making them. During the battle over the Eternal Fire Source, Kaos even lampshades it by commenting "I could do this all day."
* [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]: When Kaos tells Glumshanks to sabotage some train tracks:
{{quote|
'''Glumshanks:''' ''([[Face Palm]])'' Tell me you didn't just say that. }}
* [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons]]: There is one dragon Skylander per element: Spyro (magic), Cynder (undead), Zap (water), Bash (earth), Whirlwind (air), Sunburn (fire), Camo (life), and Drobot (tech).
* [[Kaizo Trap]]: Cynder's Heroic Challenge level tasks you with collecting 13 "amber medallions" in a catacombs. The last one is on a small platform you teleport to, with no enemies in sight ... easy, right? Except for nearly a dozen zombies that pop up out of the ground and swarm you as you attempt to get it.
* [[Kill It
* [[Large Ham]]: Kaos.
* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] - Over 30 playable characters to choose from. ''Giants'' will bring it close to 50.
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* [[Meaningful Name]] - All characters except Spyro and Cynder have one.
** Spyro has a meaningful name, being a portmanteau of Pyro (Fire) and Spiro (Breathing).
** Cynder initially had a [[Meaningful Name]] in the Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
* [[Medieval European Fantasy]] - The classic series started this way and Skylanders seems to be returning to this setting in comparison to Legend's [[The Lord of the Rings|"Middle-Earth"]] feel.
* [[Merchandise-Driven]] / [[Revenue Enhancing Devices]]: Despite the fact that the toys are integrated into the story, the fact remains that the game tries its darndest to get you to buy more stuff. When you pick up a Soul Gem for a character you don't have, you're even asked if you want to see a preview (read: advertisement) for that character.
** [[Bribing Your Way to Victory]]: Game advantages from buying toys include more elements to better take advantage of [[Field Power Effect
** [[Allegedly Free Game]]: Averted by ''Cloud Patrol''. iOS apps can be notorious for microtransactions, but everything in ''Cloud Patrol'' can be unlocked with in-game currency; and while you can buy that currency with real money the game also gives it to you at a pretty good rate so it's hardly necessary.
* [[Mood Whiplash]] - The previous game was the [[Darker and Edgier|darkest]] in the series; this one has gone back to [[Lighter and Softer|lighthearted]]. Slightly justified in that this is a new continuity. However, the producer of the ''Legend Of Spyro'' games is in charge so who knows?
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* [[Mythology Gag]]: Sheep resembling those in the [[PS 1]] games appear here and there as a [[Running Gag]]; they don't release butterflies this time, and are in fact completely indestructible, but they react in different, [[Amusing Injuries|amusing]] ways to each type of attack. One of Spyro's upgrade paths is even called "Sheep Burner Spyro".
** There's also a special "Dark Spyro" figure, with similar coloration to the [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] from the ''Legend of Spyro'' trilogy, only available with the 3DS version.
* [[
* [[Never Say "Die"]]
** Did your Skylander just get defeated in combat? He wasn't "killed", not even "knocked out" or "fainted" (unlike ''[[Pokémon]]''), he just "needs to take a rest".
** Hugo says "[Master Eon] survived the blast, but was changed: he became a spirit." Oookay, if you say so. KAOS refers to it as "bodiless oblivion".
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** Terrafin looks a little [[Street Sharks|Jawesome]].
** Wrecking Ball, in name, design, and abilities, shares similarities to the Nintendo 64 game ''Iggy's Reckin' Balls''.
** The achievement "The Answer" in ''Cloud Patrol''. You get it by dying on level [[
** One of Trigger Happy's upgrades, a [[Wave Motion Gun]], is called the [[Space Battleship Yamato|Golden Yamato Blast]].
* [[Spiritual Successor]]: The game plays out much more like a ''[[Kameo: Elements of Power]]'' sequel than a ''Spyro'' game. To wit - you play an elemental master switching between a horde of googly-eyed collectable elemental monsters, either solo or co-op, through an [[Action Adventure]] / [[Beat'Em Up]] fantasy world floating in the sky filled with googly-eyed, brightly colored creatures; each of these creatures has three skills which can be upgraded in ways that change both the monster's and the attack's appearance. All while being advised by the floating disembodied head of a grandfatherly wizard. The general plot (an evil apprentice betrays their kingdom, curses the kingdom's elemental monster protectors to gain control of a floating world) is fairly similar, too.
** The 3DS version plays a lot like the original Spyro games, and some have even compared it to the classic ''[[Crash Bandicoot]]'' games.
* [[Spotlight-Stealing Title]]: Reviewers were quick to point out that it's not really Spyro's adventure as the title would suggest - he's no more important in the grander scheme of things than any other playable character, and so his name was likely just used in the title because he's [[Cash Cow Franchise|a well-established video game character]].
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* [[Time for Plan B]]: When Kaos' initial invasion is repelled by the Skylanders, his sidekick suggests going to Plan B. Kaos nixes it, skipping all the way to Plan Z. Which, surprisingly, works perfectly.
* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: The trolls. Apparently, their leaders actually have to tell the soldiers not to ''juggle live grenades'' in the middle of a battle, among other equally insane things.
* [[Took a Level
** Many Skylanders themselves also progress like this. The ones that seem the weakest at lower levels often end up being the most badass and strongest characters once all their abilities have been purchased.
* [[The Unfought]]: Captain Dreadbeard and Vathek aren't actually fought. Dreadbeard has to be beaten in a card game and Vathek sends a large swarm of minions to fight you. {{spoiler|When he tries to take care of you personally, Flavius takes the throne while he's concentrating on you and turns him to stone with it.}} Out of the three bonus level exclusive [[Big Bad
* [[Verbal Backpedaling]]: Kaos ''tries'' not to be surprised when you defeat his minions in battle or dodge his elemental magic attacks, but it doesn't always work.
{{quote|
'''Kaos:''' (during the battle for the Undead Source) "I didn't want to do this ... scratch that! I TOTALLY want to do this!" }}
* [[Video Game Cruelty Potential]]: The Sheep from Perilous Pastures are invincible. You can Zap them, Burn them, Soak them, flatten them (and they'll soon recover from it), even knock them off a cliff. On the other hand Hugo thinks that Sheep are evil, so...
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** Not to mention almost every NPC can be attacked, and they all shout in pain when you do.
* [[William Telling]]: Hats sometimes appear on the trolls in ''Cloud Patrol'' so that you can blast them off. Played with in that you're trying to shoot the trolls ''and'' their hats.
* [[World in
* [[You Have Failed Me...]]: {{spoiler|As the final battle wears on, Kaos smites his own minions and gives their experience points to his ''next'' set of minions; when the last group fails, he collects all their experience points to refill his own HP, and rely solely on his Hydra to fight you.}}
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[[Category:Platform Game]]
[[Category:Xbox 360]]
[[Category:Third
[[Category:Wii]]
[[Category:Spyro the Dragon (Video Game)]]▼
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