Skylanders Giants
Skylanders - Giants is a Wii U role-playing game released in 2012 developed by Toys for Bob. It centers on area exploration, combat and party setup, and character progression, with controls, information, and pacing arranged around the GamePad touch screen, gyroscope, dual sticks, television display, and Pro Controller where supported.
- AI score · out of 10
- 8.0 / 10
About this game
Skylanders - Giants is a Wii U role-playing game centered on area exploration, combat and party setup, and character progression. Story beats, exploration, and progression resources support a longer campaign, with progress divided into stages, tasks, matches, or growth milestones that make its immediate goals understandable. Its value depends on whether these rules continue to create judgment and room for mastery rather than on length, sales, or series recognition. Short campaigns are judged by repeat-challenge value, while longer ones are judged by variety, pacing, and recovery after failure. Characters, world building, environments, and music carry most of the atmosphere, while HD television output and the GamePad screen need to divide maps, status, touch input, and primary focus clearly. The genre-specific limitation is that dense text, menu layers, repeated battles, loading, or language dependence can slow progress. Platform conditions also include GamePad battery life and range, shifts between two screens, loading, performance, and retired online and Miiverse services affect the current release. This description covers only this platform release and does not import features from other editions.
Collected in series
Skylanders is a fantasy action-adventure series known for bringing physical character figures into the game through the Portal of Power. Switch heroes, battle enemies and explore Skylands using different abilities. Its main adventures combine collecting and upgrading characters with puzzles and treasure hunting.
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Wii U
AI review
AI reviews are subjective assessments, not player ratings. See each review for its evidence and limitations.Published date:
A charming family adventure whose Wii U screen features help, provided its physical-toy requirements fit your setup.
The native Wii U edition of Skylanders Giants preserves the satisfying trick of placing a physical figure on the Portal of Power and seeing that character appear in the adventure. Giants move obstacles, elemental heroes reach optional areas, and cooperative play, arenas and mini-games make the accessible action particularly family-friendly. Colourful HD environments and animated characters give the toy world an inviting presence. The GamePad is the edition's practical distinction: it can show objectives and character statistics while the television carries the action, enable Off-TV Play and support touch or motion mini-games. These are thoughtful conveniences, not a wholesale new combat system. The sequel still resembles its predecessor, and seeing every elemental side area requires extra figures beyond the starter set. The first player must use a GamePad; the included wired portal can limit how far one can take Off-TV Play. Contemporary Wii U criticism also mentions occasional slowdown in busy scenes. Crucially, the starter figures are enough to progress through the main story, so completion cost should not be mistaken for a mandatory entry cost. Anyone acquiring a used copy should ensure they have a compatible portal and figure.
Strengths
- Immediate toy-to-game character swapping
- Useful GamePad information and Off-TV options
- Good family co-op and side activities
Weaknesses
- Extra figures needed for all optional areas
- Wired portal constrains Off-TV reach
- Familiar sequel structure and occasional slowdown
Who it is for: Families and accessible-action fans prepared to use physical figures and a portal.
Play notes: Native Wii U release; compatible Portal of Power and figures are required, but a full collection is not required for the main story.
View scoring basis
| Dimension | Review state | Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimension Side activities add replay value, but optional completion depends on extra figures and the sequel feels familiar. | Reviewed | 7.6 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Toy swapping and elemental routes make approachable family action, though Giants do not reinvent combat. | Reviewed | 8.2 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Colourful HD scenes and lively animation make the toy world inviting, if visually familiar. | Reviewed | 8.5 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Helpful GamePad features meet a tethered portal, compulsory first-player GamePad use and occasional slowdown. | Reviewed | 7.4 / 10 | Not provided |
Review sources
Not provided
Core information
- Developer
- Toys for Bob
- Publisher
- ActivisionVicarious Visions
- Release date
- 2012
- Platforms
- Wii U
- Content kind
- Game
- Release state
- Released
- Region
- Worldwide
- Official website
- Not provided
- Offline minimum players
- Not provided
- Offline maximum players
- Not provided
- Online minimum players
- Not provided
- Online maximum players
- Not provided
- Categories
- Action · Primary genre
- Tags
- Long-term ProgressionStory-driven3D GraphicsLevel ProgressionExplorationThird PersonSolo-friendlyFantasyMain Story 20–50 HoursTurn-based Combat
- Supported game languages
- Not provided
- Requires base game
- Not provided
- Standalone
- Not provided
- Age ratings
- Not provided
- Play modes
- MultiplayerCo-opSingle player
- Perspectives
- Top-down
Release editions
Game gallery
Sources
Not provided