Big Bubble Pop Fizz Review with Soda Skimmer
Big Bubble Pop Fizz is the SuperCharger version of a fan favorite Pop Fizz for Skylanders SuperChargers. He is a magic Skylander which has had many appearances in the games since his debut in Skylanders Giants. He’s always been a mysteriously interesting character. No one knows who he was before he became an alchemist. After years of experimenting with magical potions his true appearance (and color) has been lost. He’s a little crazy and his experiments are usually reckless causing more accidents than one can count. This had made it really hard for him to find a lab partner, so in hopes of making himself more appealing to others, he tried to make the most effective charm potion ever. Unfortunately that didn’t go too well, and instead, he turned into a big wild berserker. But that didn’t really change him. He still uses his prowess for potions and his wild berserker form to help the Skylanders fight off the evil in Skylands.
As a SuperCharger, Big Bubble Pop Fizz has traded in his potion tossing in favor of a brand new invention: The Bubble Blaster. This new weapon can hold even more of the potion mixture than his old bottles did. He can blow bubbles out of this contraption to attack his enemies.
At first it seems a little silly to look at Pop Fizz’s new figure with his puffed out cheeks and big bubble horn hovering over his head. It certainly doesn’t look very threatening. How much damage can a bubble do? Well if you have to ask that question, then you don’t quite understand the “Motion of the Potion”. When you look at the back of his figure you can see the large potion holding contraption that is strapped to his back like a backpack. There is a line in the window on the back where the liquid looks like it’s sloshing around. You’ll probably inspect it very closely to realize that there is NOT actually liquid stored inside the figure. This years figure is based on his normal “alchemist” form and not his “berserker” form as some of his older figures were. He also has an alternate version of his figure called Birthday Bash Big Bubble Pop Fizz. This version is slightly more colorful as he wears a red jumpsuit, and has one green glove and one yellow glove on. Even the inside of his bubble blower is decorated with yellow stars. He sits on a nice pearlescent silver base which looks rather nice. I quite like the Birthday Bash version of Big Bubble Pop Fizz.
Pop Fizz has always been a little confusing to use, but this year it’s taken to a whole new level with a new set of attacks. Big Bubble Pop Fizz probably has the most attacks of any Skylander to date. You really have to pay attention and learn his character if you want to use him effectively. He’s not really made for the casual player. He starts off pretty simple with his basic attacks. His main attack is called Bubble Blast and simply blows bubbles that bounce towards the enemies. His second attack is actually a modifier. By pressing Attack 2 you can transform into beast mode. Now that’s not necessarily a new attack but it is his iconic attribute. Once in beast mode, the Attack 1 button will attack nearby enemies with his typical berserker melee attack. Unlike in previous years, his time in beast mode is not limited. He now will stay a berserker until you press the Attack 2 button again to bring him out of it. Things really start to get crazy when you unlock his third attack, which again is another modifier. Unlock Mixture Modifier to be able to press the Attack 3 button to cause a chemical reaction which will transform the color AND effects of Pop Fizz’s liquid attacks. The blue liquid is his normal attack and with it he will create a bubble that will bounce towards his enemies. Next is the yellow liquid. This liquid squirts out of the blaster and knocks back nearby enemies. The final color is green and produces a ball of poison that will either damage an enemy over time, or contaminate the ground affecting anyone who steps in it. The poison effect last about 5 seconds. A couple of his other basic upgrades don’t do much. The Know Your Bases upgrade makes all base liquid attacks do more damage, and the Side Effects upgrade gives Pop Fizz a temporary defense boost when reverting back to normal mode after beast mode. Finally the Genetic Engineering upgrade opens up the Attack 3 button for an attack while in beast mode. This attack depends again on the color of the liquid before going into beast mode. A blue beast will get trapped inside a giant bubble as it bounces over enemies. The yellow beast will spin and spray the enemies with the yellow liquid in a close radius which will knock back the enemies. Finally, the green beast will spit a cloud of poison breath at the enemy damaging them over time.
To choose a specialized path you will need to decide if you like to play as the normal Pop Fizz or the beast Pop Fizz. The Alchemic Maestro Path let’s Pop Fizz master his potion creations as normal Pop Fizz. 
Larger Lungs lets you hold the Attack 1 button down to perform improved liquid attacks. These attacks depend again on the color of the mixture. The For Science upgrade allows you to hold the Attack 3 button down to constantly spew liquid and damage all enemies in the nearby area. This attack does not depend on the color of the mixture but will always turn the mixture back to blue first. I found that it doesn’t always activate either, making it kind of a useless upgrade once you have the Larger Lungs upgrade. Finally the Follow The Formula upgrade adds additional effects depending on the liquid color. I’m not sure what those effects actually are as it’s hard to remember what Pop Fizz was like before some of the upgrades. If you like the beast mode better then follow the Brass of the Beast Path. The Better Beast upgrade allows you to hold Attack 3 to perform enhanced and longer versions of unique beast attacks. It basically turns each attack of the Genetic Engineering upgrade into a continuous attack. These can be quite powerful and fun to use. The Juiced Up! upgrade makes the melee attacks in beast mode do more damage while the Feed the Beast upgrade allows you to press the Attack 1 button AFTER using the Better Beast attack to swing your claws to do more damage. Both are not very exciting because they only increase the damage output. But the Better Beast upgrade makes this path worth it. Spiked Punch is the Soul Gem ability and it allows the berserker Pop Fizz to charge up for a ground pound. This pound will knock all nearby enemies off their feet but it takes a few seconds to charge up and can easily get interrupted, so you need to have a bit of space around you to pull it off safely.
When it comes to driving vehicles, Big Bubble Pop Fizz is a man of the Sea and the Soda Skimmer is his vehicle of choice. When you take a look at the toy figure of the Soda Skimmer it looks a little odd because it doesn’t really match Pop Fizz’s figure in terms of color. 
Most vehicles stand out as clearly belonging to their Skylander. The Soda Skimmer almost doesn’t. The copper looking metal pieces are different shades between the two, and Pop Fizz is blue while the vehicle is purple and a darker blue. The only thing that really links the two toy figures together is the large bubble blaster type horn that they both have. In the game, the colors seem to match a little better because when the Soda Skimmer is “SuperCharged” the bubble blaster part turns fuzzy blue which looks much more like Pop Fizz. What really links the two together are the attacks. The main attack is called Alchemic Admixture and the attack is based on the color of the potion. The other ability of the Soda Skimmer is called Shake and Change and this will change the color of the potion just like Pop Fizz’s Mixture Modifier. Because there are three colors of potions, the vehicle actually has three separate attacks. Blue will shoot bubbles that lob far ahead. Green will shoot lasers directly ahead. Finally, yellow will shoot a cluster of missiles which are good for hitting multiple targets at a time. These three distinctly different attacks makes the Soda Skimmer slightly more useful for attacking than your average SuperCharged vehicle. On the race track the Soda Skimmer is also no slouch. The top speed and acceleration are great. However the armor and handling leave a lot to be desired. The handling is not a big deal to overcome, but the armor can make for some unfortunate spin outs at key times during the races. Overall though, the Soda Skimmer is a quality Sea Vehicle.
Big Bubble Pop Fizz is not the easiest Skylander to master. The use of three different colored potions which alter a number of different upgrades three ways each gives Pop Fizz many different attack options. None of these are ultra powerful, but they do offer a lot of flexibility if you are willing to learn how to use them. Having two playable forms and a modifier means that executing any single attack is not as easy as one button press. Sometimes you have to make several button presses just to get to the attack you want. Needless to say, Big Bubble Pop Fizz is not for the button masher. The Soda Skimmer on the other hand is pretty good for anyone. With three different attacks, it’s the most versatile SuperCharger vehicle. It takes slightly more than one button press to activate a different attack, but it’s certainly not very hard to do. On the racing side, there aren’t many Sea vehicles that are faster. It’s only the handling and the armor that can give the Soda Skimmer problems. Overall Big Bubble Pop Fizz and the Soda Skimmer are not a bad combination, but their gameplay won’t appeal to everyone. If you are a long time fan of Pop Fizz, then I think he’s only gotten better and you’ll probably like him. If however, you don’t want to think too much when playing Skylanders you may want to invest in other characters.
SkylanderNutts gives Big Bubble Pop Fizz… 7.0 out of 10
SkylanderNutts gives The Soda Skimmer… 8.0 out of 10
Big Bubble Pop Fizz and Soda Skimmer (Video)
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