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 On 02/13/2018 at 06:43 PM by goaztecs See More From This User » |
Well today is Fat Tuesday which means, this Friday I need to start remembering that I can’t eat meat. Hello McDonald’s Fillet O’Fish and other meals that are similar OR I can just fast until Midnight and then hit the local In-N-Out at 12:01. Either sound fine with me. Anyways since this is day 2 of Versus week I want to cover a genre of gaming that just recently ended for a franchise I kind of liked, and that is the Toys To Life craze. Remember a couple of years ago when Skylanders started this, everyone went crazy and soon clones appeared? Yep I think Skylanders is still going strong while the other two big names are now out.
For this entry I will only cover the three versions that I have, Disney Infinity 1.0, Lego Dimensions, and Skylanders Supercharged, while not mentioning the more recent ones because I never bought them. I may have an obvious bias towards one (it involves plastic bricks), only because it makes sense for me to like this franchise over the other two. Let’s get this battle started!
I first got into this genre when in 2013 on release day I showed up at the local Toys R Us, bought the starter pack, a couple of packs of discs, and I believe Cars Level Pack. Anyways I was ready to play until the PS3 owners found out that the game was broken. Yep, broken. That is a first impression! It eventually worked and I did enjoy the games it offered, I bought the all the first wave figures except for the Lone Ranger because I thought the movie looked like trash.
The game base
My bin of figures
The book of figure cards and discs. The cards had codes that enabled the user to import their figures into the online game.
After this I was done with the genre until 2015 when I walked out of Target with the Lego Dimensions Starter Pack, and The Simpsons Level Pack. Played through the game and it is basically a longer version of regular Lego games and instead of buying the characters in game with collected studs, you bought them in store. I played this off and on up to today.
The game base without the crazy tops
The crazy tops from the Starter Pack, The Lego Batman Movie, Ghostbusters, and Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
The figures for the game
The special vehicles and robots for the game
The extra parts I collected from buying extra minifigures (thanks .99 Cent Only stores). Eventually I will sort through them and add them to the Lego bins.
Superchargers was a different story altogether. I saw that GameStop was blowing them out and I think the starter pack was $10, used figures were buy 1 get 2 free or something crazy, and for around $20 I got the game, a couple of vehicles, and a couple of extra figures I never used. The main reason to buy this was that I only needed three characters to finish the game, which is a bonus for this line of games.
The game base
The Figures and a couple of stickers they came with
So what did I like about each? What did I hate? What could have been improved? Let’s find out
Likes
Disney Infinity
Character Assortment: the licenses that Disney has is incredible. Everything from original Disney properties to Star Wars and Marvel made their way into the DI Universe.
Character Models: They were big, solid pieces of plastic, and they were all designed in a way that the figures looked like they all belonged in the same universe.
Open World: This game shines in the Game Box world especially if you’re playing with someone else. Building worlds, doing crazy stunts, and making a paintball version of Call of Duty was easily the best thing about this game. All the toys, buildings, figures you unlocked in the story mode are available here which further adds to the customization of your world. Did I mention you can make a Paintball version of Call of Duty?
The Vehicles for Disney Infinity, and Lego Dimensions
Lego Dimensions
Minifigures: Lego didn’t do anything drastic and used their minifigures for the game. The only difference between the figures and the ones in the toy aisle are the removable bases.
Licence: Lego couldn’t use the Marvel license but they had access to DC. They also had licenses for Back to the Future, The A-Team, Ghostbusters, The Wizard Of Oz, Powerpuff Girls, and other pop culture items, along with their Ninjago line, as well as characters from The Lego Movie.
Everything Is Buildable: Being a Lego game it would only make sense that the accessory vehicles/robots as well as the main characters need to be assembled.
Skylanders Superchargers
Characters: Having the option to only use a Land, Sea, and Air characters without having to buy additional figures is a plus.
Can Be A Toy: There are no pads the figures sit on that look like they belong to a game. They can fit with a toy collection and a game collection
Dislikes
Disney Infinity
No Cross Play: This was the biggest gripe I had with this game: you couldn’t use figures from other worlds in the story mode. If the game was Pirates of the Caribbean, you could only use Pirates. Same can be said for Cars, Monsters U, etc.This limited the use of the figures.
Limited spots: The game only allowed two figures on the base at a time. The one good thing was that you could stack the discs for vehicles under the character figure and it would appear in game
Blind Bags For Discs: This was frustrating because each pack was I believe $5 and you didn’t know what you were going to get. Many times you get duplicates and the only way to get rid of them was to either give them away or go to trading events at Toys R Us.
Store Exclusives: Toys R Us has special versions of figures that were clear and they were clear in game.
Lego Dimensions
Presentation: The main menu isn’t the greatest. I don’t get why after the update there is a smaller version of the main pad to access the game. Also the presentation where you’re on a rock and the portals representing the different worlds just doesn’t feel like it’s part of the game.
Price: Fun packs being $12, Team Packs I believe are $20, Level Packs $28-30, and Story Packs were $50. It was hard to justify buying a lot of the extras because of the price.
Exclusive Figures: San Diego Comic Con figures are extremely tough to get without spending a lot, and some later starter packs came with a Supergirl (I would legit buy another starter pack for this figure) and the Toys R Us “exlusive” Aquaman that was bundled in box. Aquaman can be purchased separately.
Skylanders Supercharged
Selection: It seemed like the certain figures were easier to find than others, which made it frustrating especially if you walk into a Toys R Us and see a wall of a particular figure.
All three sets could have been improved it they took something from the other two. The obvious one for Disney is being able to use figures from other sets within the story mode. I do like that if I ever decide that I am done with the Lego Dimensions game I can always integrate the minifigures into my Lego collection. As for Skylanders from what I’ve seen this is the perfect set for me to get into because I didn’t have to buy additional figures/vehicles.
Another thing that Disney did right is that their game is available on PC and it includes all the figures. I wish Lego Dimensions or Skylanders offered this. Heck I wish they offered me being able to connect the game pad to the PC so I could play the game on my PC. Lego would be easy to translate to a game only because that’s where it got it’s start. Anyways these are my thoughts about the three Toys To Life franchises that I own. Thanks for reading!
That’s all for now, more tomorrow!
-Chris
I still haven't cracked open my Lego Dimensions starter pack. I'll get to it, I will.
The Lone Ranger play set was cool. Forget the movie, the game was fun.
Even with the sales on Skylanders, I still overdid it with buying figures. I just like the design of them.
I'll finally get to play the Lone Ranger set but on the PC. Speaking of I really need to get back to playing Infinity and at least finishing the Incredibles set.
That was one of the reasons why I didn't want to get into Skylanders. At some point I knew I would buy way too many figures. Everytime I walk into Toys R Us there are a couple on the pegs for .50 cents but I don't need anymore....unless they were the figures that unlock all the black doors than maybe.
You need one of each element in Skylanders to unlock all the areas in the game, if I remember right.
I need to find something to give up for lent. I think toys to life is a cool concept, but was always wary of spending. Then again it is cool to have figures and games. Neat blog!
Yeah I'm in the same boat. My brother has given up Lent for Lent for the last couple of years. I like the idea but I might stick with something like candy.
It was good idea because it was actual DLC that you could hold. I think in some cases the developers may have overcharged. Thanks!
I really liked these type of games but I had a feeling they were eventually going to go out. Skylanders I dont even think is gonna keep going. Everything Ive seen has been about how they are ending it as well. Nothing official of course, just rumors but with no announcemtns yet about it I think its over. I did enjoy the newest Skylander set. Being able to create a hero was great I just wish they hadnt of started doing loot boxes.
Wow if true Skylanders had one hell of a run. I'd like to see them eventually re-release their games but like what Disney Infinity did and have all the characters available in game. I would love to give that franchise a playthrough.
I reviewed every single Skylanders game that came out. I think they got things the most 'right' in the gameplay department and I liked the character designs of the toys. I would've been totally into that as a kid. Last year was the first year in seven that there wasn't a Skylanders game to review, so I think they may be on the way out.
I bought LEGO Dimensions with gift certificates, and that was one of the smartest game purchases I ever made, as I got to review TONS of expansion packs later on. My favorites include Portal, Sonic, Midway Arcade, and The Simpsons.
I reviewed the first Disney Infinity but it just didn't grab me like the other two did so I didn't bother with them anymore.
One toys to life line that you didn't mention was Nintendo's amiibo figures. I have every single amiibo figure released up to this point. I need help. :)
They do seem to have everything figured out. Their game seems solid, and man those figures feel like they can take a beating, and with a little cleaning they are good as new.
For Dimensions I need to get around to start buying the sets I am missing. I think I can get a complete set (with the exception of the exclusives).
Disney has held back because they wouldn't let their properties mingle within story mode. Having Anakin Skywalker or Ironman in Monsters University would have been fun.
I never got into the Amiibo's because I didn't want another series to take up space. You sir have one hell of a collection!
Im really thinking of buying the new Solo millenium falcon!
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