Skylanders SuperChargers Toys Evolve in Form and Function

The first thing you will notice about the Skylanders SuperChargers vehicles is they are not to scale with the figures. Scratch any ideas you may have had about the SuperChargers figures having the top-half detachable ability as the Swap Force Skylanders so that their upper half could connect to a vehicle by a magnet. Vicarious Visions and Activision want kids to take each vehicle away from the game and use them as toys, with or without figures. Hot Streak’s wheels move when you push it on the floor. Dive Bomber has a circular wheel on it roof that turns the propeller.

Designing the vehicles as standalone playable toys doesn’t mean there is no correlation between the SuperChargers Skylanders and vehicles. There are a total of 20 new SuperChargers Skylanders and 20 vehicles, with each SuperCharger matched up to a specific vehicle. Any Skylander can pilot a vehicle as the full backward compatibility tradition carries forward, but you’ll get a little extra oomph when a SuperCharger figure takes the helm of their personal vehicle.

For example, the Skylanders SuperChargers Starter Pack includes the Hot Streak car and Spitfire, the SuperCharger Skylander matched with that car. When you drive Hot Streak with Spitfire you’ll see the car crackle with energy and get boosts across the board. A match vehicle and SuperCharger Skylander will result in the most insane version of a vehicle available in the game.

Look carefully for some new vehicles

Does Size Matter?

The last three Skylanders games have all featured new Skylander figure types noticeably larger than core Skylanders. Giants and Trap Team Skylanders have been especially huge and their price/packaging has reflected that.

The SuperChargers Skylanders are more in line with the core Skylanders in size. In fact they’re only a tiny bit larger so it will be interesting to see how Activision prices then. I would love to see the SuperChargers figures priced identically to cores knowing that the vehicles will incur their own costs to collect.

Lou’s explanation for the SuperChargers figures scale is so they look for natural when standing next to their vehicles. Take a look at the figures and vehicles next to one another (see above) and I think you’ll agree.

No One Guessed the Base Color

Through four games we have been green, orange, blue and red bases on Skylanders figures. At some point the colors would have gotten out of hand so Activision and Vicarious Visions drew the line and removed the colored bases. Instead, the three SuperChargers Skylanders I saw each sat atop an engine base with a flare of their element shooting out the back.

There’s always a chance that the bases will return but I highly doubt it. The engine works well for the SuperChargers and we’ll have to wait to see what core Skylanders look like without a colored base.

The Greatest Technical Challenge

When I visited Vicarious Visions a couple years ago for a Skylanders Swap Force preview, I learned that figuring out how to make the magnets work without interrupting the NFC field was the greatest challenge. There was another challenge for SuperChargers that also proved tricky to figure out.

The vehicles are each designed as standalone toys so there is obviously no base. In fact when looking at each vehicle you would never know it is a toy designed to come to life.

Vicarious Visions somehow figured out how to bury the NFC chip inside the toy so you cannot tell it exists. There’s no clear base or evidence of NFC. In fact, the vehicles are quite solid and ready to take a beating from kids of all ages.

You Look Familiar, Yet Different

I’m sure some of you cringed when the Starter Pack content leaked and yet another Stealth Elf was set to appear in it. I probably would have if I hadn’t already seen that this Stealth Elf is a radical departure from all previous versions.

Several of the 20 SuperChargers Skylanders will be existing characters you’re already familiar with. As a SuperCharger, they’ve been rebooted with all new moves, upgrade paths, and visual aesthetics.

Take Stealth Elf, now known as Super Shot Stealth Elf. She’s wearing a flight suit and carrying a massive splinter cannon, and her upgrades are tied into this new weaponry. She’s still got some ninja moves and is recognizable as Stealth Elf, but she’s no longer primarily a melee fighter and the daggers are completely gone. Consider her Stealth Elf 2.0 rather than Series number whatever with one new power.

: Super Shot Stealth Elf Toy

: Super Shot Stealth Elf Screenshot

: Super Shot Stealth Elf Hero Pose

The Thorn Super Shot cannon is a heavy duty piece of weaponry with multiple uses. It can strafe, spin, and crank up the bullet intensity as you hold down the fire button. Another cannon use is tied to invisibility so that when Stealth Elf does her signature ninja move, a sentry cannon will be left behind wherever she first initiated invisibility.

The New SuperChargers

Spitfire of the Fire Element is one of two all-new SuperChargers characters I was shown. He’s like The Flash in that speed is his primary weapon as he doles out incredibly wicked melee moves. He has the ability dash right through enemies and hit multiple foes at the same time. He can even spin around in a circle fast enough to summon a flame tornado.

“Fuel the Fire!” Spitfire is a spirited speed demon with lightning quick reflexes and nerves of steel! Spitfire was on pace to become the fastest driver in the Super Skylands Racing Circuit. With his lightning quick reflexes and nerves of steel, this tech enhanced flame spirit was absolutely unbeatable. But during the championship event at Skywinder Canyon, he was illegally bumped off course by a goblin racer and sent flying into the canyon wall in a fiery explosion! Most thought that this would put an end his racing career. But three weeks later, he was back on the track, more fired up than ever to claim the title. Unfortunately, it was then that all of Skylands fell under the rule of Kaos in his Sky Eating machine, and the racing came to an end. That’s when Spitfire was approached by Master Eon with an offer that could get him back behind the wheel as the new leader of an elite driving team – the Skylander Superchargers!

: Spitfire Toy

The other new Skylander introduced is Stormblade of the Air Element who like Spitfire is also a speedster. Her attacks include throwing feathers at a rapid clip and darting forward into combat. By far and away her coolest move is a multi-enemy attack where she moves so fast that a silhouette is left where she just was a second ago.

“Feather the Storm!” Stormblade is a fearless daredevil with an unquenchable thirst for adventure! From the moment she left the nest, Stormblade had always pushed the boundaries, seeking to travel further than anyone had ever gone. At a young age, she made the bold leap off of her home island and plummeted through the deep blue sky in an attempt to find the bottom of Skylands – only to find no such bottom existed. This did not fulfill her curiosity, nor did it sway her belief there was something else beyond the limits of her world. Soon she built a custom ship, the Sky Slicer, and raced to the furthest reaches of Skylands in search of its end – but no end could be found. She wanted answers, and so she came to the one person that could help her – Master Eon. The Portal Master instantly saw the unquenchable thirst for exploration that resided in Stormblade, and asked her to join the Skylanders on a very special mission that would take her through the uncharted rifts between worlds!