Skylanders: Giants

Skylanders: Giants

A direct sequel to Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure.

Skylanders: Giants
Platform Developer Age Rating Release Date
EU NA Europe North America
PlayStation 3WiiXbox 360
Toys for Bob
7+ E10+ - Everyone 10+ Oct 19th 2012 Oct 21st 2012
Wii U
Vicarious Visions
Nov 30th 2012 Nov 18th 2012
Nintendo 3DS
n-Space
Oct 19th 2012 Oct 21st 2012

Story

As a direct sequel the story picks up shortly after the events of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure. The very basic premise of the game as told by a press release:

Players will resume their role as a powerful Portal Master, who controls their a team of Skylanders, including Giants, mythical and powerful heroes that play a pivotal role in the quest to save the Skylands from Kaos, who is back with another plan to rule over Skylands. Players will navigate perilous lands, battle powerful enemies, collect treasures and solve interesting puzzles.

Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow have returned to help write the story.

Characters

As well as being able to use all of the Skylanders from the original game, Skylanders Giants introduced 16 brand new characters to play as. This new lineup was made up of eight regular sized Skylanders and eight Giants who were about twice the size of the other characters.

Here are pictures of all of the Skylanders new to Skylanders Giants:

Life
Tree Rex
Tree Rex
Shroomboom
Shroomboom
Gnarly Tree Rex
Gnarly Tree Rex
Legendary Stealth Elf
Legendary Stealth Elf
Lightcore Shroomboom
Lightcore Shroomboom
Series 2 Stealth Elf
Stealth Elf
Series 2 Stump Smash
Stump Smash
Series 2 Zook
Zook
Tech
Bouncer
Bouncer
Sprocket
Sprocket
Legendary Bouncer
Legendary Bouncer
Lightcore Drobot
Lightcore Drobot
Series 2 Drill Sergeant
Drill Sergeant
Series 2 Drobot
Drobot
Series 2 Trigger Happy
Trigger Happy
Magic
Ninjini
Ninjini
Pop Fizz
Pop Fizz
Scarlet Ninjini
Scarlet Ninjini
Punch Pop Fizz
Punch Pop Fizz
Royal Double Trouble
Royal Double Trouble
Lightcore Pop Fizz
Lightcore Pop Fizz
Series 2 Double Trouble
Double Trouble
Series 2 Spyro
Spyro
Series 2 Wrecking Ball
Wrecking Ball
Air
Swarm
Swarm
Jet-Vac
Jet-Vac
Legendary Jet-Vac
Legendary Jet-Vac
Polar Whirlwind
Polar Whirlwind
Lightcore Jet-Vac
Lightcore Jet-Vac
Series 2 Lightning Rod
Lightning Rod
Series 2 Sonic Boom
Sonic Boom
Series 2 Whirlwind
Whirlwind
Earth
Crusher
Crusher
Flashwing
Flashwing
Granite Crusher
Granite Crusher
Jade Flashwing
Jade Flashwing
Lightcore Prism Break
Lightcore Prism Break
Series 2 Bash
Bash
Series 2 Prism Break
Prism Break
Series 2 Terrafin
Terrafin
Water
Thumpback
Thumpback
Chill
Chill
Legendary Chill
Legendary Chill
Legendary Slam Bam
Legendary Slam Bam
Lightcore Chill
Lightcore Chill
Series 2 Gill Grunt
Gill Grunt
Series 2 Slam Bam
Slam Bam
Series 2 Zap
Zap
Fire
Hot Head
Hot Head
Hot Dog
Hot Dog
Molten Hot Dog
Molten Hot Dog
Legendary Ignitor
Legendary Ignitor
Lightcore Eruptor
Lightcore Eruptor
Series 2 Eruptor
Eruptor
Series 2 Flameslinger
Flameslinger
Series 2 Ignitor
Ignitor
Undead
Eye-Brawl
Eye-Brawl
Fright Rider
Fright Rider
Lightcore Hex
Lightcore Hex
Series 2 Chop Chop
Chop Chop
Series 2 Cynder
Cynder
Series 2 Hex
Hex

Along with the brand new Skylanders and variants there will also be new "Series 2" poses for 24 characters from the first game (compared to the original characters they have a special "Wow Pow" upgrade and the ability to switch paths at will - you can use these toys in the first game but you won't have access to that extra power there) and eight LightCore characters (versions of characters who light up when placed on the portal and cause a massive in-game explosion of light when they first enter) who are made up of four of the new Skylanders and four of the old (they are not Series 2 so do not have a Wow Pow - you can also use these toys in the first game but again do not have any sort of extra power).

Altogether that brings the total number of new toys to 62. Combine that with the 37 playable toys from Skylanders Spyro's Adventure and you have a grand total of 99 different playable Skylander toys.

In the Starter Pack you get three Skylanders (on console Jet-Vac, Cynder (Series 2) and Tree Rex, on 3DS Punch Pop Fizz, Cynder (Series 2) and Tree Rex), a Portal of Power, Trading Cards, a Poster, and the game. The Starter Pack was also available without the Portal of Power for those who already had one but it only had one Skylander: Tree Rex.

To help differentiate between the old and new sets, the base of the Skylanders for Skylanders: Giants are orange instead of the green that is seen on the bottom of the Spyro's Adventure toys.

Here's a table to show the compatibility and features of the characters:

Type of Skylander Wow Pow Path Switch LightCore Blast Spyro's Adventure Heroic Challenge
Giant No No No No Yes
Legendary Giant No No No No Yes
New Skylander No No No No Yes
LightCore New Skylander No No Yes No Yes
Legendary New Skylander No No No No Yes
Series 2 Yes Yes No Yes Yes
LightCore Series 2 No No Yes Yes Yes
Legendary Series 2 Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Series 1 No No No Yes No

All toys were compatible with the online world of Skylanders: Universe but it is no longer running.

Portal of Power

Portal of Power

Once again the game uses a Portal of Power, the technology inside has not changed so you can still use the portal that you got with Spyro's Adventure, there is however also a version of the game sold without a portal.

The portal included with the Starter Pack for Giants has a slightly different appearance to the old one; the base of the portal (previously green) now glows the same colour as the top but the runes on the side no longer glow at all. All console portals were wired this time to combat the issues with battery consumption that plagued the first game.

The new large "Giants" are sized so that you can still fit two of them onto the portal at the same time for co-op play.

The Portals (both new and old) also power the brand new LightCore features of certain special Skylanders. When brought near the Portal of Power they start glowing! All of the Giant Skylanders contain this LightCore feature but only a select few of the normal sized Skylanders have a LightCore variant. Those that have an additional LightCore edition are Jet-Vac, Pop Fizz, Chill, Shroomboom, Drobot, Hex, Eruptor, and Prism Break. The LightCore versions of these characters cost slightly more than the regular versions (and the ones in the Starter Pack are not the LightCore versions).

Platforms

The game was released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Wii U, and 3DS. There was not a PC/Mac version this time.

Music

The theme music was again by Academy Award Winning film composer Hans Zimmer and is a brand new score by returning composer, Lorne Balfe.

Exclusives

Toys R Us again had several Skylanders exclusives, including a Legendary Triple Pack containing Legendary Ignitor, Legendary Slam Bam and Legendary Jet-Vac. At launch they also had a single of the giant Legendary Bouncer.

Target in the US had a special darker version of Crusher, "Granite Crusher", as an exclusive.

At launch GameStop had an exclusive Golden version of the "Dragonfire Cannon Battle Pack", a normal version was also available elsewhere at launch.

GAME/Gamestation in the UK and Walmart in the US had an exclusive Glow in the Dark variant of the Series 2 Cynder and a Glow in the Dark Portal of Power in their console Starter Packs.


Comments
avatar
#18997 Vacmaster 23:54:05 10/03/2022
Core Skylander Nicknames Based on Pokemon Characters:
Pop Fizz: Grant
Jet Vac: Falkner
Chill: Lillie
Fright Rider: Guzma
Flashwing: Olivia
Sprocket: Shauna
Shroomboom: Hau
Hot Dog: Blaine

Giant Skylander Nicknames Based on Pokemon Characters:
Ninjini: Enamorus
Swarm: Tornadus
Thumpback: Kyogre
Eye Brawl: Giratina
Crusher: Groudon
Bouncer: Genesect
Tree Rex: Hoopa Unbound
Hot Head: Heatran
avatar
#18996 G Hypernova 07:35:02 30/01/2021
This was probably the darkest game in the series. The first level took place in literal slavery, abandoning Blobbers, losing Machine Ghost after just meeting him, and just the tone in general when compared to the other installments... ._.

SuperChargers also had a darker tone, but that one felt balanced due to comedic moments and more lighthearted levels (Gadfly Glades), whereas the moments in this game felt scarce by comparison or usually led to tragedy (Machine Ghost)...
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#18995 Blue Gaudreau 21:37:55 28/07/2020
I think Giants looks better. Brighter color palette it was used the Wii's texture which looked cooler.
avatar
#18993 Sonic-Boom 05:09:49 10/10/2018
SoulfulWolf

I have an Xbox 360 E Slim and it hasn’t frozen. It might have something to do with how old the console is.
avatar
#18992 SnowTheIcyKitty 19:00:37 05/07/2018
Best game in the series imo. smilie
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#18991 Willthebloody 06:42:22 26/01/2018
I enjoyed this game more than Spyro's Adventure and Swap Force...
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#18990 goldenwolf 22:35:05 04/11/2017
I liked this game. super fun and olso it was funny and still is when I come in and just see a wall of swarms and then under was like crusher and then eyebrawl. still it was like a DLC but a DLC that was good. everyone was good. none was forgotabel.
avatar
#18989 Blue Gaudreau 23:52:49 02/09/2017
The best one.

- Skystones
- New battle mode stages
- new characters
- better graphics
- smoother gameplay
- stronger story
- Customisable HUB
-- newer memorable characters
- Charms
- Quests
- Ranks
-Arena challenges
Are you certain nothing new was added Ghostfury?
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#18988 KyoryuCrimson 19:12:01 17/08/2017
My brother thought smilie could change paths, so he had to restart him.
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#18987 MLG Skylander 08:30:06 02/04/2017
What how
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#18986 SpectrexDash 00:38:40 18/09/2016
smilie oh so villains do work
avatar
#18985 MugoUrth 13:46:49 11/07/2016
More polished gameplay.
Skystones.
Arena Rumbles.
Less clunky graphics.

Hardly consider that a step down from Spyro's Adventure, GhostFury.
avatar
#18984 ghostfury 16:25:13 08/07/2016
The sequal that diddnt need to happen
Added nothing new...
Was the start of a gradual decline in quality
avatar
#18983 B-BOB358 23:48:27 26/06/2016
I don't think mine has ever frozen on 360 slim and I've had it since release and have played it a lot since then ( trying to max out all my characters with heroic challenges ) . I think my friends regular old 360 froze sometimes though so I think it's more of an issue with old or not looked after consoles.
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