#skylanders mask of power series

[mothmanwarble]

Idk alot about eon's worm friend could you tell me about him?

Ohohohoho, absolutely! I will never turn down an opportunity to talk about Wiggleworth. Now, I’d like to apologize in advance— this might get a bit long.

Along with the Warrior Librarians and the Eternal Archives as a whole, Chief Curator Wiggleworth made his debut in Spyro Versus the Mega Monsters, the first entry in the Mask of Power series of chapter books. He’s introduced to the reader in the most normal, uneventful, not-at-all-overdramatic way possible: arriving at Eon’s Citadel completely unannounced on a massive, flying warship. Y’know. Average librarian stuff, I’m sure. Also, the warship is so massive that it effectively blocks out the beacon emitted by The Core of Light.

Understandably, everyone at the Citadel is freaking out. Even Master Eon is deeply concerned because, well, there’s a warship full of Mech-Piloting Murder Librarians hovering over his house. Not ideal!

The Warrior Librarians (who are all armed with laser swords, because why not) all descend from their ship and confront Eon who nevertheless greets them very formally. What follows is maybe one of the most adorable moments in any Skylanders book ever, in which Wiggleworth, upon recognizing Eon, reveals his itty-bitty worm self from within his mech:

“Greetings, Master Eon,” wheezed a tiny voice. “It is good to see you again.” Eon’s face broke into a dazzling smile. “I don’t believe it!” the Portal Master exclaimed, raising his hands in delight. “Chief Curator Wiggleworth, my old friend. How wonderful to see you.”

Yup! Surprise! Turns out the leader of the Mech-Piloting Murder Librarians is a very, very old and trusted friend of Eon’s! The two of ‘em go way back. Like. Many centuries back.

Wiggleworth is a bit like Eon in the sense that he too is an unfathomably old dude who leads a team of fighters and is burdened with immense responsibility. The Warrior Librarians are described as being the “archivists of forbidden knowledge” and the “curators of the arcane.” Their library and base of operations—the Eternal Archives—is home to every single book ever published “from every corner of the universe,” no matter how mundane, magical, or malicious. As such, Wiggleworth and the others take their job very seriously, hence the weaponized mech suits and ridiculously massive warships. (…But that’s also because he’s a bit prideful and self-important, too. His mech is the only one with a cape, which serves absolutely zero practical purpose. And despite each librarian having the same weapons, Wiggleworth’s weapons happen to be larger than everyone else’s. It’s so unnecessary, I love him.)

He shows up in almost every book in the Mask of Power series, but he doesn’t get much to do after his debut appearance. He basically stops being relevant by book 6, in which his one scene has him get (justifiably) scolded by Spyro in chapter 1. Why? Well, it’s revealed that one of Wiggleworth’s most trusted librarians was actually a double-agent gathering intel for Kaos (whoops!) who also (somehow??) succeeded in kidnapping Eon without anyone noticing (double whoops!!) After this catastrophic screwup, Wiggleworth is never heard from again.

…Until Skylanders: Trap Team for the 3DS! Not only does Wiggleworth act as your guide/tutorial guy/exposition machine, but the game’s main hub is the Eternal Archives itself! Since the events of the Mask of Power series were set before the events of SSA, Wiggleworth’s presence in STT 3DS confirms that he survived up to that point in the timeline while also suggesting that the Skylanders are all on good terms with him again (…maybe). Unfortunately though, Wiggleworth doesn’t really…do much outside of explaining game mechanics. He doesn’t even get to fight at all (he gets put under a sleeping spell while in the middle of a fight with a slightly-larger-than-normal exploding Chompy…off-screen). Furthermore, Wiggleworth and Eon don’t even acknowledge each other at any point in the game either! Needless to say, I feel robbed of an old man reunion.

While it saddens me that Wiggleworth ended up underutilized in both his book and game appearances, I’m glad he was added to the series at all (thank you, Mr. Beakman!) I find the concept of the Warrior Librarians both hilarious and compelling, and I absolutely adore the fact that Wiggleworth was introduced as one of Eon’s dearest friends. And hey! Although Wiggleworth didn’t make it into the game himself, his legacy lives on in SuperChargers, in which we meet the original founder of the Eternal Archives: Pomfrey! I think it’s so awesome that an idea originating from the books literally wormed its way into the games.

Chief Curator Wiggleworth, you’ll always be famous to me o7

[c0smiccom3t]

Ladies, gents and everyone in between with whatever gender you are,

My current hyperfixations.

Current Blorbo i love so much and also who i'm rooting for:

[hungry-skeleton]

Since the big internet archive lawsuit sniped most of the free scans of the skylanders books I highly recommend anybody who owns some to try and do some scans of your own, ESPECIALLY the mask of power series

[omnybus]

A Buncha Boneheads (Final)

Originally posted on My Patreon (Follow the link to see the full image)

Well, after drawing 88 different skeletal characters, here it is, the full series of "A Buncha Boneheads"! I was originally going to try and sell this as a poster but after looking into it, I don't think I can do that unless I want to deal with several dozen copyright laws.

This was quite the fun little exercise for me- the biggest challenge was trying to emulate the art styles of so many different series and properties. There are definitely more skull-headed characters out there that I could add, but frankly I think a nice even 88 is good enough, and there are other projects I want to work on for the future. Overall I'm pretty proud of this.

With that said, let me know if I've made a spelling mistake or something anywhere on here- I've tried my best but I just know I missed one or two somewhere.

The full list of characters is written below:

The Full list of characters are, in order:

Ainz Ool Gown (Overlord)

Astel, Naturalborn of the Void (Elden Ring)

Ben Bones (Freaktown)

Benny (Halloweentown)

Big, Little, and Dog (The Funnybones)

Big Steve (Doogal/The Magic Roundabout)

Bonejangles (Corpse Bride)

Boney (Weinerville)

Cadavre (Local 58)

Captain Barbossa (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Captain Boney (Rattle Me Bones)

Captain Flameheart (Sea of Thieves)

Carmine/The Bowler (Mystery Men)

Count Moneybone (Skylanders: Swap Force)

Crypt Keeper (Tales From the Crypt)

Cubone (Pokemon)

Curly (Goosebumps)

Dead Tom (Muppet Treasure Island)

Death (Castlevania)

Death (Discworld)

Death (Gregory Horror Show)

Doot Skull (Microsoft 3D Movie Maker)

Dry Bowser (Super Mario)

Duskull (Pokemon)

General Hadias (Mazinger)

General Skelly (The Barbarian and the Troll)

Ghost Rider (Ghost Rider)

Giant Skeleton (Kubo and the Two Strings)

Gravelord Nito (Dark Souls)

Gregg the Grim Reaper (Conker’s Bad Fur Day)

Grim (The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy)

Grimskull (Skeleton Warriors)

Gruntilda Winkybunion (Banjo-Kazooie)

Hèctor Rivera (Coco)

The Horned King (The Black Cauldon)

Horrorman (Anpanman)

Jack Skellington (The Nightmare Before Christmas)

Jack the Reaper (Spirit Halloween)

Jacques LaLean (Beetlejuice Animated Series)

Jägermonster (GWAR)

Jawbone/The Skin Taker (Channel Zero/Candle Cove)

King (The Owl House)

King Igos Du Ikana (The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask)

LeChuck (The Secret of Monkey Island)

Lego Skeleton (Lego)

Lewis (Mystery Skulls)

The Lich (Adventure Time)

Long Horse (Trevor Henderson Mythos)

Lord English (Homestuck)

Lord Hater (Wander Over Yonder)

Lord Xykon (Order of the Stick)

Manny Calavera (Grim Fandango)

Manolo Sanchez (The Book of Life)

Martian (Mars Attacks!)

Mr. Crypt (Mr. Crypt Comics)

Mr. Skullhead (Animaniacs)

Mumbo Jumbo (Banjo-Kazooie)

The Nowhere King (Centaurworld)

Papyrus and Sans (Undertale)

Red Death (The Venture Bros)

Red Skull (Marvel Comics)

Rito Revolto (Power Rangers)

R.M.S./Real Magic Skeleton (O.K. K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes)

Santara of the Dead (El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera)

SCP-1471-A/Mal0 ver1.0.0. (The SCP Foundation)

Sekhmet (Skullgirls)

Sir Daniel Fortesque (MediEvil)

Skeleton King (Clash Royale)

Skeleton King (Diablo)

Skeleton King (Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go!)

Skeleton King (Team Fortress 2)

Skeleton Princess (Adventure Time)

Skeletor (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe)

Skelly (Hades)

Skull Boy (Ruby Gloom)

Skullface (Madballs)

Skull Knight (Berserk)

Skullmageddon (Double Dragon)

Skull Man (Mega Man)

Skully Pettibone (Scary Godmother)

Smitty Webenjägermanjensen (Spongebob Squarepants)

Soul King Brook (One Piece)

Spinel (Killer Instinct)

The T-800 (The Terminator)

T-Bone (Cuphead)

The Stalker (Jumunji Animated Series)

The Wither (Minecraft)

[thedarklightcrypt]

the trolls and their polar opposite depictions

the trolls are easily my favorite species within the skylanders universe, they have a surprising amount of lore for being average mooks. but what I find the most interesting about them is how each set of writers go for a different way of portraying them. within the TfB games, trolls are depicted as intelligent and knowing their craft (heavy machinery). its rather uncommon to see the default evil minion archetype use both brute strength and complex craftsmanship, which unfortunately leads to people frequently missing the second component of the trolls. now VV takes a different approach where most trolls are just brute strength, I consider this due to the games made by them being more... "tropey", for lack of a better description, so its not surprising that the trolls are more barbarian rather than techy. but in my opinion, where it truly gets interesting is within the skylanders books. within the mask of power & book of elements series, the trolls are portrayed almost exclusively as stinky dim-wits. also to mention is how trolls have always been associated with tech, but in the academy timeline, theyre associated with life. something minor to note, though I still find it interesting. its only within the TfB games that the mabu-troll prejudice is brought up, VV never makes any mention of it.

[wjbs-aus]

Since this is having a resurgence kinda,

Reblog for a larger sample-size or something? Or not. Your call!

Context for each below.

Back in, like, 2016 or something, the Secondary School I was at did lifeguard training as part of its PE curriculum; one of the activities involved was rescuing a hollow plastic dummy. When it was my turn, I grabbed it, but it suddenly filled with water, and I was suddenly dragged to the bottom of the pool; eventually I managed to let go of it, and I was allowed to sit on one of the benches next to the pool for the rest of the session.

Last year, around Halloween, my dad randomly phoned me up and asked if I wanted him to buy me an axe or scythe from the Halloween section of Tesco. I said I wanted a scythe, and he bought it; it was very plain, and consisted of a hollow plastic tube and a simple-looking, poorly-moulded blade that slid over the top. It eventually got pretty badly-damaged, and my brother - in a fit of sleep-deprived impulsiveness - secretly bought me a cooler, much higher-quality one (the blade is actually a skull wearing a mask with a long "beak" attached to it!)

Technically, I don't have all the Skylanders figures I got when I played, since at least one is still at the flat I used to live in, but otherwise I have all of them. Also I only had Giants, Swap Force and Trap Team; I missed out on playing Spyro's Adventure, and I only had a Wii at the time so I couldn't play most of the games after it (except for Superchargers Racing, which is literally just the racing minigame from the fifth game but released on its own).

Play Hard Reset. Do it do it now. It's short, kinda frustrating at times and has questionable writing and voice-acting, but the aesthetic is really cool and it has an interesting mechanic where the player only has two weapons, but can unlock different modes for them that effectively mean the player has ten. I haven't played much of Hard Reset Redux, but it seems to be the same, but balanced a bit better and with much better dialogue.

I got into ZScript late last year, but I've got pretty good at both the inheritence system and making original stuff (which is technically jus the same as using inheritence, but you have to define everything yourself.

I can't remember exactly when this happened, but it was around either Halloween or Christmas (since Nightmare Before Christmas was on TV) and possibly in 2018; I made myself a cup of tea, but didn't notice that the kettle had limescale remover put into it (aside from the colour being a bit off). When I started drinking it, I immediately spat it out, and since then it's been known in my family as A Thing I Did Once™.

I love Sea Power! They make good music! Check out Let The Dancers Inherit The Party, it is their best album in my opinion!

Yep, done this one. Haven't finished Quake 1's second expansion and I'm only on, like, map 2 of Quake II, but I've played all of Quake IV's story campaign. Also, if it counts, Quake III's "singleplayer campaign", which is just a series of increasingly-difficult bot matches.

When I got Reaper one of the first things I recorded was a scream, which coincidentally ended up being a scarily-good impression of the headless bombers from Serious Sam.

A while ago, I tried playing the Game Boy Advance version of Bionicle Heroes with an emulator, since I wanted to check it out; when I tried playing it with VBA, it crashed on the second screen, and while another emulator (namely No$GBA) allowed to, I had to make a DS4 controller-profile specifically for use with it, since it wasn't registering my inputs properly with my regular one. Eventually I just bought a Bionicle Heroes GBA cartridge online so I could play using my DS Lite.

Anyway here's the new scythe.

This picture physically hurt to take, like I had to lean really far back and stretch my arm really far out

[unofskylanderspages]

Eruptor Meets the Nightmare King is the seventh installment in the Skylanders: Mask of Power series. Eruptor serves as the lead Skylander in this tale, joined by Grim Creeper and Slam Bam.

[boogerwithab]

Shows for Masculine Regressors by streaming service

prime video

0-3

Tumble Leaf

Creative Galaxy

Daniel Tiger's neighborhood

The Stinky & Dirty show

Leo the truck

Carl's car wash

Dino the dinosaur

3-6

Bug diaries

Fireman sam

Car City series

Dinosaur train

Wild Kratts

Sid the science kid

Overall rating: 💫💫💫 out of 5

Great toddler shows but it has minimal options for littles who regress to bigger ages

Netflix

0-3

Trotro

Twirly woos

Pocoyo series

Number blocks

Buddi

3-6

Archibald's next big thing

Justin Time

Titipo Titipo

Transformers rescue academy

Little monsters

Go go cory carson

Trash truck

7+

Jurrasic world camp cretaceous

Ninjago

Sonic X

Skylanders academy

Stone age the legendary pet

Pup academy

Power rangers series

Inspector gadget

The adventures of puss in boots

You vs wild

Zoidz wild

Alien TV

Overall rating: 💫💫💫

LOTS of options but most shows only have one or two seasons.

Disney+

0-6

The book of pooh

Gigantosaurus

Handy Manny

Imagination movers

Henry Hugglemonster

Little einsteins

Jake and the Neverland pirates

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

PJ masks

My friends tigger & pooh

Miles from tomorrow land

Bluey

The Lion Guard

Superhero adventures

Muppet babies

6-9

Puppy dog pals

The replacements

Weirdest bestest truest

Star wars rebels

Goof troop

Chip n Dale's Nutty tales

9+

Guardians of the galaxy

Hulk and the agents of smash

Duck tales

Gravity falls

Iron man armored adventures

Marvel rising

The wonderful adventures of Mickey Mouse

Mighty Ducks the animated series

Lego series

Overall rating: 💫💫💫💫 and ½

Infinite options but nothing specifically for the youngest of regressors.

Hulu

3-6

Ruff Ruff, Tweet and Dave

Blippi

Little Baby Bum

Ranger Rob

Curious George

Doozers

The Bravest Knight

Wildwoods

Chuggington

6-8

Where's waldo?

Rabbids invasion

Monchhichi

8+

Kick Buttowski

Wander Over Yander

Pinky & the brain

Chowder

Foster's home for imaginary friends

The marvelous Misadventures of flapjack

Thundercats

OK K.O.! Let's be heroes

The Amazing World of Gumball

We Bare Bears

Ben 10 Omniverse

Animaniacs

Overall rating: 💫💫💫💫

HUGE selection of nostalgic cartoon network shows. The best shows are for older kids.

Paramount+

0-4

Paw Patrol

Blaze and the Monster Machines

Bubble Guppies

7+

Danny Phantom

Fairly Odd Parents

Fanboy & chum chum

Avatar: the Last airbender

The Loud House

Monsters vs Aliens

The Penguins Of Madigascar

Overall rating: 💫💫💫 ½

Only place to find all the Nickelodeon shows. Downside is the only cartoons available are from Nickelodeon

[chelseacatgirl]

Here are Flame and Ember from the Classic Spyro series in Skylanders style, and both of them are in the Fire Element.

I have an idea where between Skylanders: SuperChargers and Skylanders: Imaginators, Hunter and Bianca sent them to the Skylander Academy in order to train to become Skylanders as cadets which took almost two years, around the same time the selected Skylanders went to rebuild the Core of Light while the Doom Raiders were re-arranging all the books in the academy's library after they made a deal with Master Eon to become Skylanders Sensei.

Trivia: Ember from the classic series shares the same name as the Fire Sentinel Sensei Ember, just like Buzz *the Mabu and bounty hunter* shares the same name as the villain from Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon, Otoro *from Spyro's Adventure* sharing the same name as the Gurglefin look-alike from Giants, Rocky *Of Rocky Roll* sharing the same name as the Molkin NPC from Trap Team and a stone golem from the Mask of Power series' Terrafin Battles the Boom Brothers, and Puck the Watch Wraith *From SuperChargers* sharing his name with Professor Puck from the same book.

Drawn on Comic Workshop 2.

Flame the Dragon and Ember the Dragoness (c) Activision

Comic Workshop 2 (c) Collavier

[burnyanocs]

Behold the Mage Trio, a trio of mages that master different magic and has some strange weapons for a mage. They live near the Castle Courtyard (I think that's what's its called)

(Each member is based on a character I like from different franchises.)

First member is Chandler, an old mage that uses a Magic bazooka.

He has an interest with the combination of magic and technology. With his magic bazooka, he can summon up to 3 robotic allies. For his super he summons a shockwave that deals alot of damage! (He is based on the Chompy Mage from Skylanders)

Next is Tox, a young robot that really likes poison!

This poison loving, magic power robot was made in collaboration between Chandler and G.U.A.R.D Labs to help with the study of magic powered robots due to Someone leaving G.U.A.R.D just to do crime. He attacks by throwing bootles of poison that poisons enemies. His super gives him a shield that returns the damage to the enemey that hit him. Tox is like a son to Chandler and is pretty much a young child, a young child that likes poison alot that is... His speech is similar to a robotic version of a cat trill. (He is based on Poison Mushroom Cookie from Cookie Run)

Finally is May, a mysterious Peafowl themed Mage that uses a Fan to attack.

May's origin is kinda a mystery but one thing for sure she is with the mages and that her mask is always on. She attacks with feathers and always has an ally with her. She changes allies with her super and if her ally loses their health, they won't work until time has passed. (She is based on Duusuu/Mayura from Miraculous Ladybug).

That is the mage trio. The next trio will be revealed some time I just need to do gadgets and star powers for all 9 remaining series 2 brawlers. Also with this day you are wondering what the joke is. There is no joke, that's the joke. The antiprank of some kind or something.

[mothmanwarble]

not to get all sentimental about skylanders characters again or anything, but an aspect of the mask of power novels that i will never ever get over is how they gave eon a close friend who is as impossibly old as he is. yeah yeah their friendship’s hardly the focus of the novels and we don’t even get that many moments of the two characters interacting with each other, but the fact that this friendship exists at all within canon is so so so sweet to me.

like. it’s not really alluded to in the games, but in various books it’s repeatedly implied and shown to us that eon—being the last remaining heroic portal master in skylands—constantly overworks himself as leader of the skylanders and has been harboring a fear of failure for literal centuries. despite being surrounded by hugo and the skylanders whom he no doubt loves like family and who certainly share some of his lived experiences, they are still so young compared to him. they haven’t seen what he’s seen, they haven’t lived as long as he has, and after repeatedly outliving his previous skylander teams, he’s come to expect that he’ll outlive this team as well and that hurts.

but he has this one friend. he has this one friend who has also dedicated his life towards protecting skylands. he’s not a portal master and he’s not a skylander, but he’s a warrior. he doesn’t have any magical abilities, but he has a suit of armor. he spends his days within heavily fortified walls, guarding dangerous artifacts and preserving historical records from people who seek to steal and destroy them. he too is burdened with immense responsibility. he too fears failure. he too has been alive for so, so long. in fact, he’s still alive during the events of the games. just. there are these two time-worn souls who find solace in one another and whose days are made brighter upon knowing that the other person exists. i can’t get over that.

also eon’s friend is named wiggleworth and he looks like this and also this

[chroniclesofmiddlegrade]

Books For Gamers

Do you have a child in the house who loves to play video games?  Or do you know a child who loves to play video games?  Or do YOU just love to play video games? Well, you’re in luck!  We have a great list of books that all these gamers will actually want to put the controller down to read!

Dragons vs. Drones Series

Author: Wesley King

Marcus Brimley was just four years old when his CIA analyst father went missing and the world branded him a traitor. Eight years later, searching for clues to find his father and prove his innocence, Marcus breaks a complex code that sends him shooting through a storm into an alternate realm . . . but he doesn't travel alone. When Marcus lands in this new world, Dracone, he finds that he has been followed by government drones. And they're out to destroy Marcus and all of Dracone.   While fleeing the drones, Marcus meets Dree, a twelve-year-old Draconian girl who comes from a family of dragon riders. Dree explains to Marcus that while humans and dragons used to be friends, Dracone's new prime minister has turned them into enemies, with humans hunting dragons for sport and dragon-riding families like Dree's pushed to the poorer outskirts of the city. But the drones are firing on both the dragons and the people of Dracone. Soon, Marcus and Dree discover that they must get help from the dragons if they want to stop an all-out war that will leave the incredible realm of Dracone decimated.

Puffin Pixel Series

Contributing Authors: Roger Lancelyn Green, Johann David Wyss, Robert Louis Stevenson

A collection of classic titles featuring 8-bit pixelated cover art in the style of vintage and contemporary video games. Gamers will be thrilled to get their hands on these old adventures in a new and exciting way!

Skylanders Universe Series

Author: Onk Beakman

Illustrator: Tino Santanach

Spyro versus the Mega Monsters is the first in an ongoing Mask of Power series of original novels set in the Skylanders universe. These all new stories feature favorite characters from Spyro’s Adventure, Giants and beyond.

Based on the hit toy and video game franchise, the Skylanders Universe publishing program includes early readers, storybooks, activity books, chapter books, handbooks, and guidebooks.

The 8th Continent Series

Author: Matt London

Kids must work to build a new and better continent on top of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch–like The 39 Clues meets Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego! Fans of Minecraft will love reading about Evie and Rick Lane’s journeys as they work to create a new land!

Shovel Knight Guidebook

Author: Lloyd Cordill

Series: Part of the Shovel Knight series

Shovel Knight is a classic action-adventure game with awesome gameplay, memorable characters, and an 8-bit retro aesthetic. This extensive guidebook, which features a full-color poster, provides eager gamers with detailed information about gameplay, including tips on completing each level, strategies for defeating villains from the Order of No Quarter, and where Shovel Knight can collect necessary relics and music sheets.

[hungry-skeleton]

Is there any other archived stuff of the other Skylanders books they made? Bc I’m trying to find them but nothing’s popping up!

Ya I got the entire mask of power series saved

[ladala99]

Spyro Reignited Countdown Super Bonus Round - Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled

I really did not expect the Spyro Grand Prix to drop before Spyro Reignited came out of Switch, but it did! I cannot describe the hype I experience watching the trailer, and of course the wide grin on my face using my hoarded Wumpa Coins to unlock everything I could on day 1.

So, now that Spyro is a playable character, Crash Team Racing is a Spyro game as per my weird definition. So, here’s a review!

Gameplay

It’s a kart racer, with the original game debuting on the PS1. That means it has to be pretty simple, right?

Wrong. It’s inspired by Mario Kart for sure, but it has a mechanic that makes it stand out: drift boosting.

You can hop into a slide and boost three times before you must hop again. Each boost gives you a little more speed, and you build up what fans call “reserves,” in which your speed keeps going even after you stop boosting. These reserves also apply to the boosts you get from boost pads, which are more powerful than you can get from drifting alone. New to the remake is Blue Fire, the fastest you can go. It’s really intense keeping control of your vehicle while continuing to boost so you don’t lose your fire!

And then there’s powerups that almost all have a direct equivalent in the Mario Kart series: you’ve got your rockets (red shells), bombs (green shells), warp orbs (blue shells), clocks (lightning bolts), masks (stars), shields (horn thingy? except automatic), potions (banana peels) and canisters (mushrooms). There’s also TNT crates, which stick to you and only go away if you hop a few times.

Another difference is the fact that you can “juice up” these items by collecting 10 Wumpa Fruit, which are sometimes scattered around the track but usually are in specific crates. The juiced up effects make the powerups stronger and/or last longer, and also make your kart go faster, like coins in more recent Mario Karts. Yes, Mario Kart copied Crash. Antigrav was in Crash first as well, but it’s not in this game.

It has really steep learning curve. If you want to play it like you play Mario, Easy Mode is the only mode for you. Because Medium assumes you have some skill with the boost system. But there really isn’t any bonus to playing any particular mode, so it’s pretty forgiving.

Playable Characters

You start out with eight playable characters, split into four categories:

Polar and Pura are Turning-based characters. These characters turn very sharply, which is nice when playing the game like Mario Kart, but is actively bad when you are trying to drift down straightaways. They’re also really slow. Once you have a handle on the game’s mechanics, these are the hardest to do well with, but when you first start, they’re a bit easier to navigate with.

Crash and Cortex are Balanced characters. They’re slow, but not as slow as the Turning characters, and they turn sharply, but not as sharply as the Turning characters. You still will have a hard time drifting down straightaways. They’re slightly more usable than Turning characters once you’re skilled, but they’re still really difficult. Also: the visible stats lie.

Coco and N. Gin are Acceleration-based characters. They can reach high speeds and still will turn fairly easily. As you get better, you’ll find these characters easiest to play, as you can drift straight or turn relatively easily. Again: the stats lie. They’re better than they look.

Tiny Tiger and Dingodile are Speed-based characters. Experts will use these characters most of all, since they are, naturally, the fastest. Their awful Turning stats make it so they can drift in a completely straight line, but makes it difficult to turn with them. Not impossible, though, as this game’s hopping mechanics make turning possible, if you just get used to it. These guys are difficult for beginners, but once you’ve mastered them, it’s hard going back to anyone else.

More characters are unlocked in Adventure Mode, one by completing Time Trials, and an ever-increasing number through Wumpa Coins (which you earn by doing just about anything). All characters fall into one of the above four categories, essentially making them skins of one another. There’s also actual skins and other aesthetic differences available, but obviously these don’t make any difference to gameplay.

Game Modes

There’s several:

Adventure Mode is the story mode. A lot of things are unlocked here, including characters, karts, and paint jobs. Also, you know, there’s a story.

Single Races let you pick an individual course to race on with various rules. These courses include the Adventure Mode courses, courses from the game Nitro Kart, and all courses made available by Grand Prix (and the PS4-exclusive track is here too, if you’re on PS4).

Cup Races lets you race in cups of four pre-selected tracks. They’re not all covered by this mode and there’s not custom nor random cup, so it’s a little pointless. It is the only non-Adventure-Mode location to show Podium animations, though.

Time Trials let you race the tracks with a timer. If you’re good enough, you’ll unlock time trials by N. Tropy and Oxide himself. If you beat all of the Crash Team Racing and Nitro Kart times set by those two, you’ll unlock N. Tropy and a special skin for him respectively.

Battle Mode has some special courses and types of competition. I never use this mode outside of what I have to for the Grand Prix.

And of course, the Grand Prix itself. There’s various challenges spanning many modes that earn you Nitro Points. These points will unlock new karts, skins, characters, and other related aesthetic unlockables. This is where Spyro is located, and he’s only located here this month. Unless they repeat it later or something.

Wumpa Coins?

You gain a small amount of these every time you do a race or a battle. You can earn a lot more of them online, as you get a 5X boost for 30 minutes of on-the-track time (which depending on loading times can last for about an hour to about two hours in real time. The Switch’s load times in particular are awful).

You can also get Wumpa Coins through *shudder* microtransactions. And because of that, you need to be connected to the server to get coins at all. Only online races require a subscription to your console’s internet service, but everything in the shop (called the Pit Stop) is balanced more to the online race reward rate than the normal reward rate.

What if no internet?

Then no coins, no Grand Prix and no Pit Stop. You still can earn things through Adventure Mode and Time Trials, but the rest is blocked.

If the servers shut down right this minute, anything you have already bought with Wumpa Coins or earned in past Grand Prix would still be available to use. You just would be unable to earn or buy more things.

Given that this is a remake/remaster/whatever this counts as, and everything that was in the original is obtainable through its original methods, while this state isn’t ideal, it’s fair. You’re not losing out on any gameplay, and unlike Skylanders Superchargers, you still can access anything you’ve already bought.

Spyro’s Role

Spyro is being introduced into the game in a Grand Prix, timed to celebrate the launch of the Reignited Trilogy on the Switch.

This Grand Prix features Spyro as an unlockable character through the Nitro Gauge, and Hunter and Gnasty Gnorc buyable in the Pit Stop. Spyro is a Speed character, Gnasty is a Turning character, and Hunter is a Balanced character.

I think these make some sort of sense: Spyro is pretty fast, especially with a Supercharge powerup or in the Speedways. Hunter can do a lot of things, so him being Balanced has logic. Gnasty at first seems more of a Speed type from his boss fight, but the fact that his level is made of dangerous twisty paths makes being agile and Turning-based make sense.

There’s also a track specifically based on levels in Spyro 1. This track changes Wumpa Fruit to gems, and crates to chests. Anyone who gets an invincibility powerup or is rescued from being off-course gets Sparx rather than a regular mask, and the three Spyro characters have Sparx as the “mask” no matter what course they’re in. This includes Gnasty, as little sense as that makes.

Other characters gain skins for this Grand Prix, but not many are direct references to Spyro. Some are generic fantasy or fantasy-related skins, and a couple are direct references to a different Crash game that has nothing to do with Spyro.

There’s also three new karts, one having a scale-like plating and Spyro’s color scheme referencing Spyro, one that’s spiky and has an underbite referencing Gnasty, and one that’s... Arkeyan. Referencing Skylanders.

And that is what made my grin go full-on tears of joy. It’s not just Classic Spyro, it’s Skylanders as well. And Legend, as the Decals (patterns for the vehicle for the paint to go on) have designs extremely similar to menus and architecture from that series.

Beenox is really going all-out, and I love it.

The Pit Stop paint jobs are all gem-based, with facets that give them a really cool texture, and the wheels are Elemental-based, and I’m not certain if they’re Skylanders or Legend-based. Perhaps they’re both?

AND Spyro’s alternate color schemes include Dark Spyro as well as I guess Reignited gives him patterns with the powerups. But Dark Spyro! Based on the Skylanders version of him. But Dark Spyro!

I’m just full-on hype, it’s a dream come true, it’s new Classic Spyro content (Reignited Spyro content, I suppose) and it shares love for the rest of the series, too, even if the focus is on the first game.

Conclusion

I don’t have anything bad to say about this game. It only got on my radar because of the Spyro Grand Prix, was worth every penny from what was included in the box from the get-go, and the Spyro Grand Prix was everything I hoped it would be and more. The only thing I would change is have Elora or Bianca present, but really I expected no more than Spyro himself so I’m satisfied.

This is primarily a Crash game, celebrating the Crash series. It’s a difficult as a Crash game is known to be. And that makes it fun.  “Dark Souls of Kart Racing” ha, Dark Souls is the Crash Bandicoot of... whatever genre Dark Souls is.

Of course, I’m reviewing while still in hype mode, but I’ve put so many hours into this game, and loved it. I can see myself playing it for months to come, and perhaps coming back to it for fun after years.

[mothmanwarble]

*voice cracking* oK,,,,,,

(Many thanks to @turquoisephoenix for sharing the Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure Official Sticker Book excerpt used at the beginning of the post!)

[mothmanwarble]

Ever think of what eon's dynamic is with some of his skylander groups?

I do think about this sometimes, yeah! In general, I strongly believe that he loves them all dearly— as friends and even like family (I’m a sentimental fool, what can I say?) But when it comes to the Skylander teams that I imagine he’d be closest with, I think I’d say his bonds with the SSA team, the SWAP Force, and the Senseis might be strongest. (…this is like…all based on vibes and personal headcanons so bear with me. also this might get kinda long.)

I feel like the reason I’m more inclined to believe that Eon’s got a particular fondness for the SSA team is due to the fact that they actually interact/acknowledge one another in the cutscenes (which isn’t something we really see in the following games, if memory serves me right). There’s also a fair bit of supplementary material (novels, picture books, comics, etc.) that have them interact as well. While there are a lot of books and comics that I don’t own/haven’t read yet, I’ve gone through the Mask of Power series several times and something that really stuck out to me was how sweet, kind, and even fatherly he was towards the Skylanders he had at the time. He cares a lot!

As for the SWAP Force: after literally getting caught in a volcanic eruption and being presumed dead for about 100 years, only to miraculously reappear at the beginning of SSF…yeah, I wouldn’t be too surprised if—for a little while at least—Eon became significantly more worried about their safety and well-being (because who knows if they’ll just disappear again?) I imagine that they’d all try to spend as much time as possible with each other as a means of making up for 100 years of lost time. They must’ve missed each other a lot :(

And as for the Senseis, I’ll be splitting them up into two categories for this: “Master Senseis” and “Reformed Villains” (sorry Guest Stars). For the Master Senseis, while I have no clue how long they’ve been working with him for, I’ve been kinda under the impression that they’re some of Eon’s most experienced recruits..? And since they all serve mentor roles and were entrusted with those roles, I’d imagine that Eon has a lot of faith and trust in them all. Basically, they’ve got those Eldest Children Vibes. I can’t explain it. He’s got an immense amount of pride for them.

As for the Reformed Villains, while I don’t doubt that a number of them would still be harboring some lingering feelings of (mild?) resentment towards Eon, I’m also just…so incredibly fond of the idea of Eon’s forgiveness/compassion being a primary foundation for a deep, shared bond between them. I wish I could articulate it better. It’s just real sweet to me.