Earlier today, Activision officialy announced Skylanders SuperChargers, the new upcoming entry in the Skylanders franchise.
Here’s the announcement trailer, PR statement and initial screenshots:
At the helm of powerful, tricked-out land, sea and sky vehicles, Portal Masters can engage in a high-octane action-adventure videogame like never before. Kids can speed across Skylands’ roads in vehicular combat, race down roaring rapids and engage in aerial dogfights as they barrel-roll through enemy swarms for the first time. Developed by Vicarious Visions, Skylanders SuperChargers offers a rich story-driven gameplay experience, filled with vehicle-based and on-foot adventures, combat, puzzles, mini games, activities and platforming, set within a variety of all-new compelling environments.
Skylanders SuperChargers features a brand-new class of heroes, called SuperChargers who are distinct with fresh moves, powerful attacks and all-new weapons. These SuperChargers also have special in-game abilities that help Portal Masters fight Kaos. Twenty new SuperChargers character toys and 20 new vehicle toys will be available.
Players will have the ability to customize all vehicles in-game with super cool modifications and upgradeable weapons. For the ultimate gameplay experience, players can pair a SuperCharger Skylander with its signature vehicle to create a SuperCharged combination, unlocking an exclusive mod that revs up the performance of both the vehicle and character. Not only are the vehicles playable in the game, but also many feature moving parts, making them fun to play with outside of the game. Additionally, Skylanders SuperChargers supports all 300+ Skylanders toys from previous games, enabling all Skylanders characters to pilot land, sea or sky-based vehicles.
The game’s storyline focuses on Kaos’ latest attempt to rule Skylands. In his efforts to take down the Skylanders, Kaos has unleashed his most sinister weapon ever – a massive “Doomstation of Ultimate Doomstruction” capable of eating the sky itself! Fortunately, Master Eon has seen the warning signs and assembled a special team of Skylanders to pilot an unstoppable fleet of land, sea and sky vehicles with the power to travel through the reign of destruction to stop Kaos!
Like previous entries in the Skylanders franchise, Skylanders SuperChargers is coming to Wii U, 3DS and Wii. A Starter Pack will be sold for $74.99, which comes with two new Skylanders characters, a Skylanders vehicle, newly designed Portal of Power+, and the full game.
Skylanders SuperChargers is set to launch on September 20th in North America, September 24th in Australia/New Zealand and September 25th in Europe.
But that’s not all, we have a lot of details about the game thanks to our friends over at Nintendo World Report and Game Informer. Nintendo Everything made an awesome breakdown of these details, so I will add their list below:
Nintendo World Report:
– Again, big hook here is vehicles
– Same style of gameplay as previous Skylanders
– 20 figures added to the mix
– 8 are new takes on old characters like Stealth Elf
– 20 vehicles
– Each new figure pairs with a vehicle to make them “supercharged”
– This adds more power to their abilities
– Vehicles are split into land, sea, and air categories
– Land segments feature a racing feel
– Take your race car or motorcycle on long stretches of road, drifting around corners and launching off of huge jumps
– In the sea sections, you’ll be gliding across water in speedboats and hovercrafts
– Also dive down beneath the surface to find secret passages and avoid obstacles
– In the air, fly with jet planes and helicopters in gameplay that seems to resemble Star Fox to an extent
– The vehicle figures have wheels, so you can roll them in real life
– One of the sea toys has a propeller that spins
– Most of the new figures have a physical element to them
– Upgrade vehicles with mods
– These are found in hidden treasure chests throughout the game
– Mods change up their stats and gives them a different look
– One mod for a submarine involves a pool toy add-on named Mr. Squeaks that squeaks in game
– Upgrade your vehicle permanently using gear bits
– Gear bits are in each area
– Straightaway and arenas for the vehicle segments with boss fights and secrets
– They can all be played in two-player co-op, though that takes on a Mario Kart: Double Dash style of multiplayer as one player steers while the other fires weapons
– Same Diablo-lite gameplay as previous Skylanders
– Navigate through different worlds, fight enemies, solve puzzles, power up your Skylanders
– Vicarious Visions is trying to have levels with a central gameplay hook
– Ex: one level has clouds that obscures the world around you; clear those clouds so you can solve puzzles and progress
– Another level: shrink ray that grows and shrinks objects, which opens up other puzzle and combat concepts
– One later stage places you on the back of a dragon that alters the environment as he sways back and forth
– All previous figures work with Skylanders SuperChargers
– That includes last year’s Traps
– Traps only add bonuses like upgraded mod boosts and unique Skystones cards
– New twists on popular mini-games
– Livewire Lock: lock-pick mini-game
– Livewire Lock has players charging up the the little lock gremlin guy
– The card games Skystones comes back as Skystones Overdrive, which adds new cards and gameplay mechanics
– Beenox working on the Wii and 3DS versions
– Wii version is a port of the Wii U game
– 3DS version will be an original version
– Wii U Starter Pack comes with Spitfire, Super Shot Stealth Elf, and the vehicle Hot Streak
Game Informer:
– new portal has a wider surface for the increased size of the vehicles
– new portal features a slot for the traps from last year’s Skylanders: Trap Team
– new portal does not have voice or light functionality
– traps themselves give you special ammo, and unlock a Skystone of that specific villain [in the trap]
– 20 new figures and 20 vehicles
– possibility of a legacy line along the lines of Eon’s Elite
– all 20 of the new characters have a signature car
– Spitfire rides in Hot Streak; Dive-Clops rides in Dive Bomber; Jet-Vac rides in Jet Stream
– each car, submarine, and airship is equipped with a playable function
– Hot Streak’s wheels spin like any Hot Wheels toy
– aircraft and submarines are equipped with moving parts
– any character can ride in any vehicle
– new vehicle-based animations for all of the characters
– a vehicle won’t appear in the world until a player enters a portal leading to a vehicle sequence
– portals are clearly marked with the vehicle type needed (land, air, or sea)
– some vehicle portals are placed in the middle of a level’s critical path and are mandatory
– other vehicle portals are placed along the side of paths, where secrets and bonuses await
– on critical-path missions, only land-based vehicles are used
– during a vehicle sequence, the character is locked into the driver’s seat and cannot run on foot
– follow a linear path where the camera is positioned behind the vehicle
– tracks have jumps and obstacles
-“Gearbits” are a new form of currency used to upgrade the specific parts on the vehicle
– Gearbits are often positioned in places that help the player navigate obstacles, such as a trail leading up to a ramp
– other driving sections include an arena that looks like a skate park, with its walls doubling as half-pipes
– Hot Streak’s car is equipped with a Flamethrower and lock-on technology
– avoid/destroy enemies in the arena and ring a set of bells to open the arena exit
– when a pilot hops into his or her signature car, the duo becomes SuperCharged, earning a damage boost and other perk
– SuperCharged effect is shown visually through a pulsating energy being given off by the vehicle
– if you finish a vehicle section SuperCharged, the character will still have a damage boost for part of the next on-foot section
– in flight sections, enemies can be locked onto and debris that can be avoided with a quick barrel roll
– one flight mission is in the Cloud Kingdom stage
– this mission uses Stormblade, a bird-like Skylander, and her craft, the Sky Slicer
– fight off an armada of transport ships
– Sky Slicer is equipped with feather projectiles and secondary homing missiles that can lock-on to numerous targets at once
– there is also a submarine section in Cloud Kingdom
– this involves using the Dive Bomber, owned by Dive-Clops
– follow a linear path and have the sub hit jumps to catch air and avoid hazards
– sub is equipped with the ability to submerge beneath the water’s surface
– this portion ends with a battle against rival boats and subs
– use sonar pings to lock-on to these targets
– deactivate a storm-sequencer that is threatening the inhabitants of Cloud Kingdom
– other sub missions include full-on diving
– there are different upgradeable parts for each of the 20 vehicles
– Hot Streak can upgrade the engine and tires
– other cars could offer defensive body and suspension upgrades
– earn instant mods hidden in stages and at the end of specific vehicle sequences
– some returning characters have superhero-like guises that open up a new arsenal of moves
– Super-Shot Stealth Elf has a new green/yellow outfit, is equipped with a rail gun and poisonous/stealth attacks
– she drops her gun, turns invisible, and sneaks up on enemies
– Jet-Vac now goes by Hurricane Jet-Vac
– he can use a hurricane hover attack, narrow the distance to his attackers using a dash kick, and can use his vacuum gun
– Trigger Happy is now wearing red and white gloves and has a new flamethrower gun
– he has been renamed Double Dare Trigger Happy
– Kaos returns as the villain and has a new weapon, the Doomstation of Ultimate Doomstruction,
– this weapon is capable of eating the sky and everything contained within it
– over 40 minutes of cinematics
– collectible hats, collectible Skystone cards, lock-picking minigames, and laser and block puzzles all return
– same cooperative experience for the on-foot sequences
– does not allow for two vehicles to be onscreen at the same time
– roughly 50 percent of the game is dedicated to vehicle
– level cap has not been increased beyond 2
– digital version of Skylanders: SuperChargers for all systems for people who don’t want to purchase another portal
– download SuperChargers and unlock digital “Instant” versions of Spitfire and Hotstreak for use in the game
– no other characters or vehicles are planned for the Instant line.
Finally, you can find some video clips with footage of the game below: