Every Skylanders Game Ranked Form Worst To Best

 

    I initially started playing Skylanders in December of 2017 and since then, it has become my overall favorite game franchise. I love the skylanders themselves, I love the idea of toys to life as a whole, I love the music, and I love the games. Speaking of the games, each one brought something new to the table and they're all enjoyable in their own ways. Not all of them are great, but none of them are bad either. It's because of these games that this blog even exists to begin with, and I will always be thankful for that. Anyways, I think that intro was good enough, so let's get into the list and rank every game from this amazing franchise.

#6. Giants

    Say what you will about the rest of the games on this list, but at least they did something new with the Skylanders formula. Giants does little to nothing new. It was marketed as an awesome sequel to Spyro's Adventure, but what we got was a decent at best game that feels like a clone of the original. Also, the Giants conceptually are very weak. They just feel like giant cores with a few special abilities. On that point, this game introduces 16 new skylanders: 8 giants and 8 cores. The problem is that only 5 of those characters are great, and while it is nice that you can play as characters from the previous game, it's a novelty that wears off when you factor in that there would later be games that had the same novelty. As for good things, I will say that unlike other sequels that feel like clones of the original, this one at least understands what made the original game a success. Also, even though there are only 5 great skylanders, the majority of the new skylanders were pretty good. Along with that, one element that all of these games have is that they are masters of world-building. In every game, you travel to new areas in Skylands and they never fail to be interesting. It's not the worst game ever, but when compared to the other games, there's no contest.

#5: Imaginators

    When people rank the Skylanders games, this one is usually #6. If it's not obvious, I simply don't agree with that. For starters, there are some noticeable flaws. The story is repetitive, most of the skylanders from the previous games got nerfed, the cake missions can go die, and the fact that the story doesn't even conclude is rather disappointing. Other than that, however, everything else ranges from okay to excellent. The majority of the senseis are awesome, the M.A.P. (Mysterious Ancient Place) is a very interesting location, the adventure packs are some of the best in the series, the graphics and music are still great, and the character creation system is a ton of fun. As a game on it's own, it's okay, but as a Skylanders game, it's easily one of the weaker entries.

#4: Spyro's Adventure

    Don't get me wrong, Spyro's Adventure is a good game. It's just that when you compare it to later games, it hasn't really aged that well. It still looks okay at best and the final battle against Kaos is way too hard considering the difficulty of the rest of the game. However, I will admit that I don't play this one enough to give it a higher rank. Also, there is plenty of good to be found here. For starters, it invented the concept of Toys To Life. We most likely wouldn't have games like Disney Infinity, Lego Dimensions, Lightseekers, Starlink, or even the Nintendo Amiibos and Angry Birds Telepods if Spyro's Adventure didn't exist. Along with that, some members of the original 32 are considered some of the best skylanders to date (Spyro, Bash, Ignitor, Chop Chop, etc.). This is one of the two games that I know that I like more than Giants and Imaginators, but I haven't played it eough to give it a higher ranking, and speaking of which....

#3: Swap Force

    This is the other game that's (in my opinion) better that the bottom two games, but because I haven't played it enough, I don't feel comfortable with giving it a higher ranking. However, what puts Swap Force above Spyro's Adventure is that it was released after Giants. As such, it did a lot of things that improved upon the flaws of the previous game. Not only does it look a lot better (besides the Wii version), but the amount of amazing skylanders has greatly increased. The cores from this game are some of the best cores in the entire and highlights of their respective elements. That's not to say that the swappers don't have amazing entries, but they do have a few that I'm not a big fan of. Speaking of the swappers, conceptually, these guys are great. The fact that you can basically break a skylander are reconstruct it is absolutely genius and tons of fun. With all of that being said, this game does have a few flaws. I won't hold the Wii version's graphics against it (after all, that's only one version), but my biggest problem with this game is that it has some of the most forgettable npcs (non-playable characters) in the entire series (and no, I don't expect everyone to know who these characters are). I like that they kept Captain Flynn and Tessa, Sharpfin, and Avril appear in later games, but the rest (Rufus, Tuk, Gorm, Snagglescale, etc.) are kind of forgettable. Other than that, Swap Force was a great entry into the Skylanders series, especially after the disappointment that was Skylanders Giants. Did I mention that this game added jumping, because it did.

#2: Trap Team

    Of the six games, Trap Team is probably the one that I've played the most. It's the game that many people list as their favorite and for good reason. First of all, it has (in my opinion) the best soundtrack in the entire series. In fact, a lot of my favorites Skylanders "songs" come from Trap Team. Along with that, unlike the other games on this list, there isn't a single skylander from this game that I don't like. I'm not a big fan of Blastermind, but compared to the worst skylanders of the other games, he's just okay. The idea of trapping villains was also a fun gimmick. Even though a few of the traps were harder to find than others, each element had their fair share of awesome villains (that I may or may not review). Also, even though the Trap Masters weren't the best group conceptually, there were still a good amount of great characters. The game even added two new elemeents with the light and dark elements; both of which had strong starts. If I had to pick out any flaws, I would say that I wish the cores weren't so overshadowed. I say this because the elemental gates (don't expect everyone to know what those are) can only be opened by the trap masters which really sucks. Also, this game had a very colorful cast of cores (try saying that five times fast) and it's a shame that most of them have been forgotten. Regardless, Trap Team is an amazing game, but I don't think it can top my #1.

#1: Superchargers

    I knew from the moment that I started this list that my #1 would be Superchargers. Everything that made the previous games memorable can be found here: great graphics, catchy music, amazing new characters, and fun gameplay. However, Superchargers has something that puts it at #1: the best story of the six games. The story is very unpredictable, makes great use of the game's gimmick (which in this case is the superchargers and vehicles), and it all concludes with an epic final battle against The Darkness (the ultimate source of evil in Skylands). Also, even though it doesn't have that many new skylanders, it does what Giants should've done and made the majority of them amazing. I know that my review of Astroblast wasn't very positive (and yes, it is true that I don't like him), I will say that of the skylanders that I've given a 2/5 to, he's the best out of all of them. I'm also a sucker for racing games, so that might be why I enjoy the racing segments of this game more than others. Speaking of which, the vehicles were also fun to play as, each with their own stats and abilities. Again, if I had to pick out any flaws, it would be with the only superchargers that I haven't reviewed: Turbo Charge Donkey Kong and Hammer Slam Bowser. There's nothing wrong with these characters, but I don't like how they can only be played as on the Nintendo consoles (Wii U, 3ds, Switch). However, that is a very small nitpick and once I eventually get a Wii U, I will post reviews of Donkey Kong and Bowser as soon as I can. Other than that one nitpick, Superchargers is nearly perfect and will always be my favorite Skylanders game.