Rip Tide – Character Review

Rip Tide - Character ReviewRip Tide is a new core Water Skylander for Skylanders Swap Force. He is an Aqua-Fighter and appears to be a descendant of some kind of fish himself. He is all blue with a light green underside and is wearing a full body, gold armored suit. Unlike a fish, he walks on two legs and has two arms. His character holds a swordfish in one hand as a weapon. In the game he can change his weapon to be a hammerhead shark or, after some upgrades, a large whale. He is moderately detailed with scales on the top side of his body and even the gold plated armor has scales. He looks like he’s ready for a fight and even his swordfish weapon looks to be ready for action. Overall he has a very interesting look, a fish-man wielding another fish looking for a battle.

Initially I was not too impressed with Rip Tide’s attacks. The swordfish attack was a good fast melee attack, but the hammerhead attack seemed too slow and not strong enough to use instead of the faster swordfish attack. Eventually you upgrade the ability to throw your weapon. This changes the character’s attack strategy as now he can stand back and perform more ranged attacks. However, each time you throw one fish, your weapon switches to the other. So you might end up equipped with weapon you do not want to use when you get back into melee. We chose the Fishy Fencer Path and the main ability that path added was a dash to the swordfish attack. This acts almost like another ranged attack as it allows Rip Tide to quickly get into a fight or quickly get out of trouble. The soul gem ability is also pretty interesting as it allows your weapon to turn into a giant whale which does a wide area attack and then also shoots out extra smaller fish to damage nearby enemies.

Overall Rip Tide is a fair character. He has a bit of a slow start but finishes with some good abilities.

7 out of 10

 

Rip Tide’s Video Review

Rip Tide’s Stats

    Card Stats
In Game Stats
Attack:120  Max Health300
Defense: 70  Speed43
Speed:75  Armor30
Luck:55  Critical Hit4
  Elemental Power25

Rip Tide’s Attacks

All Attacks
Tetra AttackPress Attack 1 to swing the currently held fish at enemies. Swordfish attacks are quick while Shark attacks are slow, but more powerful.Free
Fish TossPress Attack 2 to toss the currently held fish at enemies. Fish Toss will also change between Swordfish and Shark.Free
Whale On 'EmPress Attack 3 to drop a large whale and smack down a large number of enemies.500 Gold
Bigger Fish to FlyPress Attack 2 to throw the held fish, doing increased damage to enemies.700 Gold
Fresh FishPress Attack 2 to throw the currently held fish. Press Attack 1 to attack and critically hit with the new fish.900 Gold
Blistering BlubberWhale attacks do increased damage. 1200 Gold
Fishy Fencer Path
Nipping Needle NosePress Attack 2 to throw the sword fish which does damage over time to enemies that it hits.1700 Gold
Practiced ParrySwordfish attacks do increased damage.2200 Gold
Straight as an AnglerHold Attack 1 to charge a swordfish attack, release to dash through enemies causing them to take damage and be knocked back.3000 Gold
Flounder Pounder Path
Shark SurprisePress Attack 2 to throw the Shark which bounces off of enemies' heads before landing.1700 Gold
Time to HammerHammerhead shark attacks do increased damage.2200 Gold
Shark Bite BaitHold Attack 1 to charge a shark attack, release to dash forward biting any enemies in the way.3000 Gold
Soul Gem Ability
Reinventing the WhaleAngry fish explode out of the whale's spout, seeking out and damaging nearby enemies.4000 Gold
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Rubble Rouser Unboxing

Rubble Rouser UnboxingHere is the Rubble Rouser Unboxing! Today Conner unboxes his first Earth Swappable Skylander: Rubble Rouser! He once again has some slight problems with getting him out of the package but overall it looks like it will be worth it as we get ready to start using this dig ability Swap Force character.

Give it a watch and let us know what you think of Rubble Rouser!

 

 

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Swap Force Arena Battles – Shellshocks Curse

Swap Force Arena Battles Shellshocks CurseLias and I are back with another look at a Swap Force Arena. Today we play in Shellshocks Curse with Dark Mega Ram Spyro and Zoo Lou. This arena uses the same pit from the previous Arena: Sand-Pit-Fall. But this time it throws a curse cloud into the mix. This makes capturing the food thief, that much more important. Watch and see how we do.

Let us know what you think!

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Spring Edition Skylanders Available at Best Buy

Spring Edition Skylanders Best BuyWell, I was in my local Best Buy this afternoon and to my surprise the new Spring Edition Skylanders were on the shelves. There were not very many of them but I quickly grabbed Springtime Trigger Happy, Fryno, and Punk Shock. All of them are in their Easter Egg packaging. This was a little earlier as I was expecting since an earlier leaked web posting at Best Buy indicated that the release date would be April 6th. However, unlike at Target where they put a hard release date of 3/23 in their computer for Nitro Freeze Blade, no one stopped us at Best Buy to take away the characters. Who knows, I may have just been lucky, since they are not yet available online or for in-store pick up. So if you are looking for these new characters give your local Best Buy a call or stop by.

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Swap Force Toys Now at McDonalds

Swap Force Toys Wash Buckler McDonalds 2014
Click to enlarge

Today is the first day Skylanders Swap Force toys are officially at McDonald’s. Our local McDonald’s only had the pictured Wash Buckler toy, but I suspect there may be other toys available at other McDonald’s. If you find a different Swap Force character at McDonald’s let us know. Each toy comes with a coupon for $10 off the purchase of a Swap Force starter pack, and a $1 off coupon off a single figure. With the Wave 4 Skylanders starting to make their way onto store shelves the $1 coupon might be a little bit useful. The Wash Buckler toy rolls and as you push it, the bottom half spins. I’m not sure if all of the swappable toys will have this feature or if it’s just Wash Buckler. We’ll let you know as we find more of the toys. One last note. Many McDonald’s today probably still have the Peabody movie toys, so be sure you specify that you want the Skylanders toy or you may find yourself getting the old toys in you happy meal. Happy hunting!

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Grilla Drilla – Character Review

Grilla Drilla - Character ReviewGrilla Drilla  is a new Swappable Life Skylander with the Dig ability for Skylanders Swap Force.  The bottom half of Grilla Drilla is a large drill while the top part is that of a heavily armored Gorilla. In the game Grilla Drilla actually walks on legs but he can turn them into a drill. He has a mean look on his face and two large metal plated fists ready for action. The lack of any weapon makes you believe that he will be a melee attack character. Even though he looks mean, it’s hard to gauge how well he will perform in battle. Having a large drill bit for legs is cool for his digging ability but that is hardly a way to attack enemies. Just based on his looks he doesn’t appear to be a very useful Skylander.

Grilla Drilla does in fact start with a punch as one of his main attacks. But his punch is not a normal type of a punch. His fist actually has arm drills that spin and deal even more damage when punching. And it is quite the powerful punch. His card shows the maximum 200 for his attacking ability. His secondary attack is to plant a coconut turret by transforming his legs into a drill. As Grilla Drilla starts to get upgrades, his attacks become much more interesting. One of his early upgrades adds the ability to summon a pair of crazy monkeys. These monkeys run across the screen damaging enemies in their path. It’s basically a ranged attack. The turret attack can be upgraded to drop bombs and to gain the ability to plant two turrets at a time. And the punches can be upgraded to have a longer range, making them a good medium ranged attack option.

As a swappable character there are two different upgrade paths to choose, one for his body and one for his legs. The body paths let you focus either on stronger punching where he can use both fists at once, or on upgrading the monkeys to do more damage and to send four out at a time. We chose the monkey path and they do quite a bit of damage when they run across the screen. However, the dual punching fists sound pretty devastating as well. The leg paths both enhance the turret attacks. One path shoots coconut projectiles that explode while the other path turns the turrets into rapid fire banana turrets. Neither seem very useful in a heated battle. To take the time to plant a turret leaves you open for attack and even when the turret has done it’s job. Chances are you will want to move it or replant it, because the battle can quickly move on. And by the time you build up Grilla Drilla all of the way, the punches and monkeys become super powerful and a much quicker and easier decision to use.

Also as a swappable character he has two soul gem abilities. One turns his arm drills into shiny gold allowing punch attacks to do even more damage, and the other adds a thorny defense to the turrets making them very hard for enemies to attack. The turret upgrade is the more interesting upgrade, but the arm drills will be used more often so a little extra power doesn’t hurt.

Grilla Drilla is quite powerful, but I never really found myself using the turret attacks much. It just doesn’t have the power of the monkeys or Grilla Drilla’s amazing punch attack.

8 out of 10

 

Grilla Drilla Video Review

Grilla Drilla’s Stats

    Card Stats
In Game Stats
Attack:200  Max Health290
Defense: 130  Speed43
Speed:70  Armor24
Luck:70  Critical Hit4
  Elemental Power25

Grilla Drilla’s Attacks

Body Attacks
Punchy MonkeyPress Attack 1 to punch at nearby enemies.Free
Monkey CallPress Attack 3 to summon a pair of crazy monkeys!300 Gold
SilverbackPress Attack 1 to unleash punches that deal increased damage.800 Gold
Reaching MandrillPress Attack 1 to punch at a longer range.1000 Gold
Monkey Master Path
Team MonkeyMonkey Call summons four monkeys at once!1500 Gold
King of the JungleMonkey Call does increased damage.2000 Gold
Drilling Punches Path
Double PunchPress Attack 1 three times to attack with both drills.1500 Gold
Primate PowerDouble Punch does increased damage.2000 Gold
Soul Gem Ability
Ring of the Golden MonkeyArm Drills become shiny Gold, making punch attacks do extra damage.3500 Gold
Leg Attacks
Planted TurretPress Attack 2 to plant a coconut turret that attacks nearby enemies.Free
Explosive GrowthHold Attack 2 to charge a turret, release to plant a bomb plant that explodes and damages enemies nearby.300 Gold
Spreading Like WeedsExplosive Growth bomb plants will explode into three smaller bombs.800 Gold
Nature's BountyPress Attack 2 to plant a coconut turret that shoots at nearby enemies. Press Attack 2 again to plant another.1000 Gold
Coconut Caretaker Path
This is Coconuts!Turret projectiles now explode, causing damage to enemies in a small area.1500 Gold
Coconut MayhemCoconuts do increased damage.2000 Gold
Banana Blaster Path
Banana SplitCoconut turret upgrades into a rapid shooting Banana turret.1500 Gold
Go Bananas!Bananas do increased damage.2000 Gold
Soul Gem Ability
Adaptive NatureAll plants gain thorns that damage and push back enemies that step on them.3500 Gold
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Free Swap Force Gamer Pics and Theme on Xbox 360

Swap Force Gamer Pics
Xbox 360 Gamer Pics

While I was playing around on the Xbox 360 dashboard this afternoon I found some Free Swap Force Gamer Pics and a Free 2014 Swap Force Theme. I noticed an advertisement in the “Games” section for Skylanders Swap Force. It turns out that this more than just a common Swap Force commercial. This was promoting some of the newer characters. There are three new character videos to watch called “Short Cuts”. There is one each for Fryno, Slobber Tooth and Fire Kraken. After watching any one of the videos, you will have access to download a set of Swap Force Gamer Pics and the 2014 Swap Force Theme. (What? You didn’t know the Xbox 360 still had themes? Scroll to the bottom of the post for instructions on how to set a theme.) Now you only need to watch one character video to unlock the free downloads, but these videos are very entertaining. We loved them. It begs the question that we’ve been asking for a couple years now. WHERE IS THE SKYLANDERS CARTOON? The animated video’s and trailers that they do have always been pretty awesome. Why there isn’t a cartoon featuring these characters is beyond me. Anyway, I highly suggest you checkout the character videos, and also the Video Gallery. Here you will find some new commercials and one additional “Short Cut” video. You could also probably find these on you tube, if you don’t have an Xbox 360.

Check it out and let us know what you think of the Free Swap Force Gamer Pics and Theme.

For those that don’t know how to access your themes on your Xbox 360. Follow these instructions.

  1. Move to the “Social” tab.
  2. Highlight and click on your Name and Avatar to the right of the Friends, Avatar Store, and Sign In or Out squares.
  3. The third green box should say “Change Theme”. Click that.
  4. Viola! You should find your newly downloaded Skylanders 2014 Theme here and any other Themes you may have downloaded in the past.

 

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Nitro Freeze Blade Unboxing

Nitro Freeze Blade UnboxingHere is the Nitro Freeze Blade Unboxing! The Target exclusive Nitro Freeze Blade was released today (3/23) for Swap Force. After having found the character on the shelf the previous day and having the cashier take it away from us and refuse to sell it we were back this morning to pick up what seemed to be only one of two figures that they had. Watch and see if Conner breaks this one as he almost previously broke the original Freeze Blade.

Who do you prefer? Regular Freeze Blade or Nitro Freeze Blade?

 

 

 

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