QCF: Skylanders Imaginators

t some point, I think we all knew that this “Toys to life craze” was going to hit its peak much like the way Guitar Hero did around the sixth of seventh iteration—as much as we all want to deny it, we knew.

Skylanders Imaginators is a testament to that; a sequel that that promises an ambitious premise, and fails to deliver on anything more than just another Skylanders game, and that’s when the game doesn’t return to some gross old habits the series worked hard to break either.

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PPR Presents Play Play: Skylanders Superchargers

hile the announcement of Skylanders Imaginators (or Imagineers, George keeps mixing it up honestly, and he’s one we expect to keep better track of that shit) was a bit expected and yet still surprising all at the same time—mostly to the reveal of a certain iconic gaming mascot making a cameo.

The Imaginator gimmick seems like a hodgepodge of the Trap Team gimmick, and that sound like an awesome return to form, because like Banjo Kazooie, these critters had their own car “phase” in Superchargers.

Join Ser and George as they talk about how the Skylanders series hasn’t slowed down for the last 5 years, and whether or not that this is good thing; and a bunch of grown men groaning on about hard it still is to buy children’s toys, plenty of that too in this new Play Play.

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QCF: Skylanders: Super Chargers

 don’t make it a habit of comparing video games franchises to movie ones, but in this case, I couldn’t help but feel that the contrast that came to mind was an appropriate one to make—are any of you familiar with the Rocky series? I mean, I would hope you all are, but even if you’re not, there’s one fact about the franchise that’s universally known by the general public; the number of sequels it has, and which ones are the good ones.

It works out when it comes to setting the tone for this review because I think the movies, and their respective role as sequels within the continuity of Rocky help serve as a definitive allegory to the Skylanders series of video games.

The original Rocky is Spyro’s Adventure, and Rocky II is fairly comparable to Giants, Swap-Force is just barely up to par with Rocky III, and Trap Team is the same Magnum Opus for the series that Rocky IV is.

The latest entry to the series that pioneered the Toys-To-Life genre in video games is Super Chargers, Vicarious Visions’ second contribution to the franchise after Swap Force, and much like the aforementioned comparison, it’s a lot like Rocky V.

Super Chargers is an unnecessary sequel that hardly adds anything to the Skylanders formula, only working to show its age, and dwindling sense of appeal instead.

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PPR Presents Play Play: Skylanders: Trap Team

n a generation of gaming where the combination of the words “toys to life” holds more weight than a Fisher-Price-ass looking plastic music instrument; it will always circle back around to the adorable little plastic troop of creeps that pioneered the trend from the very beginning—Skylanders.

After three titles releasing a year after the other from one another, the title to proceed the upcoming Super Charged tapped into a colloquial sensation that has proven to appeal to all ages—trapping creatures against their will, subjugating them to fight your battle for you.

Dark, but true; so join George as he escorts Andrew through the world of Skylands, and the mechanic of switching out toys on a glowing pad to advance through a series of obstacles, fights, and shit, and stuff.

Here’s to hoping that Andrew will spend even more money on a hobby that drains him emotionally, and physically…it’s fun!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

PPR 92

t’s 2015 and yet, Jacob Marley’s ghost of Christmas gaming’s past has spilled over into the new year to haunt us some more, and well—that’s ok really.

We kick off the big Two-Oh-One-Five with our thoughts on Amiibos, Skylanders, and the rest of the interactive toy craze or as Andrew likes to call it “Toys-To-Life” trend that’s been sweeping video games as of late. In addition we talk about the values of owning a uninsured motorist policy on your car insurance premium, Evolve, AGDQ, Destiny, Neo Geo X, Lizard Squad, Twinkle Star Sprites, how dumb Linkin Park really was, and more! This latest episode is a bit of a doozy as far as content and length goes so settle down, and kick your feet up, because we’re here to help you get comfortable.

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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QCF: Disney Infinity 2.0

t was only a matter of time before a publisher decided to get their own piece of the action off of the Skylander toy trend, at least while it was still hot, and what a publisher it was; Disney Interactive Studios. The mere notion of a collectible toy-hybrid video game that would cast a ton of well-established, beloved characters from all across the various Disney properties sounded like a guaranteed recipe for success, that would give Activision a run for their money in this niche little market they carved out for themselves, and then some.

The reality of the situation however, was much different; Disney Infinity was more of a whimper than a bang.

The game still gained enough ground to earn a somewhat of a sustainable ground with consumers, as it the supposed “sandbox” adventure game had a loyal following, and by that merit, Disney went to task at the Infinity endeavor once again.

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PPR 80

ven though we are approaching the launch of new hardware to kick us off into a new generation of video games, there’s still going to be a lot of familiar franchises getting new entries with the same old gameplay in the years to follow whether we like it or not. IS that a good thing though, isn’t the idea of annual sequel to your favorite video game like the best thing ever? We talk about how it could be a good thing and spoilers; why it mostly isn’t.

The Wolf among Us, Sonic Lost World, Batman Arkham Origins, Next-generation talk, The Guided Fate Paradox, Corbin Bernsen, Quidditch, and so many other topics fly out of lips this week so enjoy it folks as we prep for the next episode—Next Generation launch impressions.

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QCF: Skylanders Swap Force

emember when you landed on those Card-playing mini-game spots that were scattered through various overworld maps in Super Mario Bros 3. that required you match three pieces of a Mushroom, Fire Flower, or Power Star? Yeah, and if you ever stopped the button press on the wrong piece to whatever you first choose, you would have this swapped abomination of Mario sin that awarded you nothing—Well, that’s the newest gimmick in the latest Skylanders entry.

A main entry into the franchise developed by Vicarious Visions entirely this time around, the Skylanders team is aware of Disney and Nintendo even are now dabbling in the toy craze that Activision and Toys for Bob have introduced to us back in 2011 and Skylanders has to do a little more than make them bigger. That’s where Swapforce comes in, the 2013 sequel encourages players to break the newest toys to join the line in half, and interchange them into different combinations.

While the notion of Portal Masters getting to play Frankenstein sounds like a promising one, the Pandora’s Box of seeking out and buying the new figures is starting to wear out its welcome, and it’s a shame too; considering all of the other improvements make it the best game yet otherwise.

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