Skylanders: Imaginators is the biggest swing the franchise has ever taken. It drops the series’ familiar toy-to-life format entirely and replaces it with a full digital-only adventure, letting players build their own characters from the ground up. The result is a mixed bag that rewards creativity but struggles to justify its $60 price tag.
Building Your Own Hero
The core of Skylanders: Imaginators is the character creator. Players pick a base model, add gear, abilities and a color scheme, then send that custom hero into battle. It’s a genuinely fun system, especially for younger players who haven’t had much control over their on-screen selves before. The ability to build a character from scratch gives players a sense of ownership that the toy-to-life format never could.
But the creator isn’t perfect. Some categories of customization are locked behind paid purchases, and the range of available options feels limited compared to what the game promises. A player who wants a truly unique look may find themselves hitting the same handful of preset styles again and again. The frustration of running into locked options early on can sour what should be an exciting process.
The Adventure Mode
The main campaign sends players through a series of dungeons and boss fights, and it’s where the game shows its age. The level design is competent but unremarkable, and the pacing suffers from filler sections that drag out what should be quick missions. Dungeons often feel like they’re padding out the campaign rather than serving any real purpose.
Boss fights are the highlight here. They’re well designed, and the game does a decent job of ramping up difficulty as you progress. That said, the combat itself can feel repetitive, with most battles boiling down to spamming abilities until the enemy goes down. Even when the difficulty rises, the action beneath it rarely changes.
Multiplayer and the Arena
Skylanders: Imaginators includes a multiplayer mode that lets friends team up or compete against each other in arena-style battles. It’s a nice addition, but it’s not deep enough to hold the attention of players who want more than simple skirmishes. Team-ups are fine for casual sessions, but there’s little beyond that.
The arena mode is the strongest part of the multiplayer package. It offers a fast, arcade-style experience that’s easy to jump into and play for a few minutes at a time. It’s the kind of mode that works best in short bursts rather than long stretches.
Performance Across Platforms
Skylanders: Imaginators launched on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, and the performance varies across those systems. The older hardware shows its limits, with frame rate dips and occasional slowdown during busy battles. The PS4 and Xbox One versions handle everything better, though even there the game doesn’t push the boundaries of what current consoles can do. The difference between the two generations of hardware is noticeable, with the newer machines delivering a smoother experience overall.
| Platform | Performance |
|---|---|
| PS3/X360 | Dips and slowdown common |
| PS4/XONE | More stable, fewer issues |
What Works, What Doesn’t
The game’s strengths are its character creator and its boss fights. The weaknesses are its campaign length and its repeated combat. Here’s a quick breakdown:
- Character creator: Creative, fun, but limited by locked options
- Campaign: Solid boss fights, weak pacing
- Multiplayer: Fun arena mode, thin otherwise
- Performance: Best on PS4 and XONE, worst on PS3 and X360
The Verdict
Skylanders: Imaginators is a bold experiment that mostly pays off. The character creator is a genuine innovation for the franchise, and the boss fights are some of the best in the series. But the campaign is too short and the combat is too repetitive to justify the full price. The game asks a lot for a product that spends so much time repeating itself.
For younger players or fans of the franchise, this is a solid purchase. For anyone looking for a deep, varied adventure, the game falls short of its promise.
Key Facts Box
– Platforms: PS3, PS4, X360, XONE
– Price: $60
– Score: 7.8/10
Skylanders: Imaginators is a game of trade-offs. It trades the familiar toy-to-life format for a more open-ended creative system, and it trades depth for accessibility. The result is a game that’s fun to start but wears thin quickly.
