Skylanders: SuperChargers Racing

Genre: Kart Racer

Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local Wireless)

Game Company Bad Behavior Profile Page: Activision Blizzard

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Review:

Note: Are you confused by all this “Toys to Life” stuff? Check out eShopperReviews’ helpful guide here!

Skylanders: SuperChargers is a family-friendly Action-RPG with 3D Platformer and Kart Racing elements released in 2015 on mobile devices, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U.

This… is not that game.

Rather, this is an entirely separate Kart Racing game called Skylanders: SuperChargers Racing, also released on Wii and Nintendo 3DS in 2022. This is the fifth game in the Skylanders franchise, the series that started the “Toys to Life” craze that has largely died out by 2022, save for Nintendo’s own Amiibos, which continue to linger on. Much like Amiibos, Skylanders figurines have NFC chips in the figurines, which can be read by a “Portal” device that connects to your Nintendo 3DS wirelessly via the Nintendo 3DS’s little-used infrared port (on the top of the handheld, near the L button).

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Getting Started

For those wondering about what additional toys/gadgets/doodads you’ll need to get to enjoy this game, know that in order to play this game, you need to get a compatible Skylanders portal – any Nintendo 3DS Skylanders Portal will do, but only those designed for Nintendo 3DS. Console portals won’t work. The Nintendo 3DS Swap Force portal is highly recommended, as this is reputedly the only portal that works with all Nintendo 3DS games in the series.

You will also need at least one compatible Skylanders figurine (this game only works with Spyro’s Adventure, Giants, Swap Force, Trap Team, SuperChargers, and Eon’s Elite figurines) – SuperChargers figurines will have improved stats over the other characters, but no specific figurine is required to play the game.

In addition to this, players will also need at least one sky vehicle figurine as well. Additional vehicles may help, as the generic land and water vehicles the game gives you have worse stats than Skylanders vehicles, but the game is still playable with only a single air vehicle.

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SuperCharging an Arm and a Leg?

Of course the first big question with any Skylanders game is what the new “gimmick” for the toys is, and this time, the Skylanders toys are joined by vehicles that players can swap out. Different vehicles have different stats and different attacks, and players wanting a wide variety to choose from will have to fork over to get more. The same goes for SuperChargers characters, the only characters that improve your stats in the game, a choice that seems to run counter to the whole point of Skylanders.

Before moving on, I need to bring up four figures made exclusively for the Nintendo platform versions of the game: Donkey Kong and Bowser Skylanders, and Barrel Blaster and Clown Cruiser vehicles (the Wii U version comes with a Donkey Kong Skylander and Barrel Blaster vehicle, and the Wii and Nintendo 3DS versions of the game come with a Bowser Skylander and Clown Cruiser vehicle). As you might guess, these exclusive Skylanders toys are only usable with Nintendo versions of Skylanders SuperChargers. However, the Donkey Kong and Bowser figurines have an extra bonus – they also double as Amiibo figurines. By turning the base of the figurine, players can change the figure so it scans as either an Amiibo or a Skylander, a really nice bonus.

Once again, players of this version of the game have the ability to keep track of all your scanned Skylanders figurines, meaning you’ll only ever need to scan each of them once, and after that point you can simply summon the Skylander you want from the touchscreen.

And once again, this game completely ignores the Traptanium Trap figurines introduced with the console versions of Skylanders: Trap Team. They’re not used at all here.

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SuperCharged Performance?

Of all the Skylanders games on the Nintendo 3DS, SuperChargers is the best-looking of the lot. This game once again features the excellent 3D characters with wonderful animation that the series is known for, but now they find themselves in large, detailed racing courses with a good sense of speed. The game still pales in comparison to the console Skylander games, of course, but for the first time the Nintendo 3DS version of the game doesn’t feel significantly “lesser” due to being on a far less powerful platform.

Many of the well-known voice actors from earlier games don’t reprise their roles here, but there’s still a reasonably well-voiced announcer, and a soundtrack befitting a racing game.

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Charging in a New Direction

Where all prior Skylanders games on Nintendo 3DS were 3D Platformers, SuperChargers arguably does something the console game may have benefitted from doing – it commits to just being a solid racing game rather than trying to jam a bunch of disparate gameplay types into one game.

This actually largely works quite well. The racing is fast and intense, there’s some surprising depth to it, each of the three vehicles controls in a unique manner and requires mastery in its own right, and the racing courses are varied and inventive (though not as inventive as some of the courses on the console game).

In fact, I would even go as far as to say that this game could have been a strong competitor for the title of “Best Kart Racer on Nintendo 3DS” – yeah, it’s good enough that it could almost rival Mario Kart… almost. Unfortunately, there are two problems. First, this game has some absolutely nasty rubber-banding going on. And second, the way this game hobbles players who don’t have SuperChargers vehicles and Skylanders figurines is really, really gross.

As you may have noticed over the course of my reviewing the Skylanders games, I’ve managed to collect a decent-sized collection of Skylanders figurines over the many iterations of the series. All of these can be scanned into the game and played as, but none of them contribute to the stats of your racer other than SuperChargers figurines. Not only does this make players feel like they’re being penalized for not buying more figurines, but it also means that players are actively discouraged from playing as their favorite characters.

Another issue that’s not the game’s fault per se is that the online lobbies for the game have been shut down, leaving only local wireless play available to players. I suppose even if those lobbies were still up, they’d likely be empty, but it’s still disheartening to see such an important feature essentially stripped out of the game.

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Super Good, or Super Disappointing?

Skylanders: SuperChargers has within it a truly great Kart Racing game. The visuals are good, the mechanics of racing are great, and this could have been a great way to branch out the Skylanders franchise. Unfortunately, the way this game essentially punishes players for using anything other than Skylanders: SuperChargers figurines and pushes them to buy more of those figurines to get a viable racing roster is really disgusting. As I said before, this game could have been a rival to Mario Kart. Instead, it feels like a game where greed led to a missed opportunity. It’s still worth playing, but know that unless you have a desire to buy a bunch of plastic, yo0u’re getting a deliberately crippled experience.

tl;dr – The Nintendo 3DS version of Skylanders: SuperChargers is a Kart Racing game, unlike its console counterparts. This game, and said console counterparts, are also the fifth game in the Skylanders series of Toys-to-Life games that kicked off the entire craze.Despite the complete shift in genre, SuperChargers has at its heart a truly great Kart Racing game… which is then hobbled by the way the game essentially handicaps players who didn’t buy a bunch of Skylanders: SuperChargers figurines. This is still a fun game, but it’s one that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Grade: B

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