skylanders spyro's adventure * * * * *

I wasnt sure if I was going to try this one or not. It was clearly designed for kids. On the other hand, growing up in the nineties, I gained a certain affinity for contrived plastic gimmicks designed to be collected by compulsive children. The likes of Monster in My Pocket, Mighty Max, Zoids, Mini Boglins and for the younger 90s crowd, pokemon to name a few. I finally let my inner child win out and am delighted that I did. The game is fun and witty. In this game you are a "portal master". This means that you can place the trapped skylanders (your figures) from our world into the game world to save said game world. This can be done at any time in the game. And swapping out figures is a seamless breeze.

Thats a good thing for many reasons, the first is that specific areas of a given level have "elemental bonuses" if you use a figure of the element. There are also doors that can only be opened by specific "elements" so you change figures often. Each figure stores its own stats as you level up and collect items. This is good because the figures can be used across platforms. So if you want to battle or play co op with a friend on the PC, PS#, Wii, 3DS or 360 you just need to take your figure and it has everything you have done to it and anything you do on your friends console comes home with you. Each character levels up to level 10 with 2 skill trees to pick from. There are 30 figs to collect. The game comes with 3 and you dont need to purchase any more to complete the story. I decided to find my favs and get one from each "element".

The figures themselves are very detailed. In fact I noticed last night that my assassin figures eyes and blades glow in the dark (just like in the game). The story is kid friendly with lots of adult humor moments. This is a game you will enjoy by your self, and your kids will enjoy playing with you.