Swap Force Archives - Page 4 of 11

Pop Thorn – Character Review

March 7, 2016April 21, 2014 by Michael McNutt

Pop Thorn is a new core Air Skylander for Skylanders Swap Force that only comes with the Tower of Time Adventure Pack. He is a creature called a Pufferthorn which sort of resembles a puffer fish. Like a puffer fish he has a puffed state where he is bigger, slower, and uses his spikes as an attack. His other state is popped or deflated where he is faster and uses his breath for an attack. He is a simple looking figure with a light and dark blue color and a yellow underside. He is covered in spikes and has two little wings which help him fly and move in his puffed state. Pufferthorns are known for their quiet and timid nature and this comes across in his pose. He holds no weapon and he doesn’t look very menacing. The only thing you can tell is that he has spikes which look like they are used for defense. Make sure you check out our unboxing video where you can see his spikes in action. Overall his look is somewhat unique but rather plain.

If you haven’t really though much of Pop Thorn because he doesn’t look like he’s powerful or exciting then you will be in for a big surprise when you play with him. A fully upgraded Pop Thorn might be the most powerful and dominating core Skylander that I have used. He is one of my go-to characters whenever I need to get through a difficult part. His basic attack while puffed is to shoot spikes at his enemies. These spikes are homing spikes which means they will always hit an enemy, no matter which direction you are moving. If you need to move faster to get out of trouble, then you want to “pop” and become smaller. This removes the spike attack but adds a wind attack similar to Spyro’s fire breath. Many of his upgrades are also not very exciting but they are extremely useful and powerful. Spike attacks become more powerful and add more spikes. Wind attacks become more powerful and can add multiple blasts at one time. He can even learn a Mario like ground pound which will damage and knock back all of the nearby enemies. The ability to attack with spikes from at a distance or while running away is very powerful. But combine that with an upgraded wind blast that occurs when you “pop” or a ground pound if too many enemies close in and Pop Thorn can clear an area in record time.

Despite Pop Thorns lack of Flash or complicated attacks, Pop Thorn deserves to be in every Portal Masters army.

10 out of 10

Pop Thorn’s Video Review

Pop Thorn’s Stats

Card Stats		In Game Stats
Attack:	90	Max Health	280
Defense:	110	Speed	43
Speed:	45	Armor	24
Luck:	65	Critical Hit	6
		Elemental Power	25

Pop Thorn’s Attacks

All Attacks
Puff	Press Attack 1 to Puff and damage nearby enemies. While puffed, rapidly press Attack 1 to shoot out homing spikes at nearby enemies.	Free
Pop	Press Attack 2 to Pop and shoot a large wind blast. While popped, hold Attack 2 to shoot gusts of wind at enemies.	Free
Fresh Breath	Press Attack 2 to Pop. After popping, hold Attack 2 to shoot more powerful air projectiles for a short time.	500 Gold
Puffball Pound	Press Attack 1 to Puff. Press Attack 3 while puffed to slam into the ground, damaging all nearby enemies.	700 Gold
Polished Spikes	Press Attack 1 to Puff. After puffing, press Attack 1 rapidly to shoot more powerful spike projectiles for a short time.	900 Gold
Wind Trap	While popped, press Attack 3 to leave behind a spiny mine. The mine puffs and explodes when enemies approach, launching them into the air.	1200 Gold
Tough and Puffed Path
Rollerpuff	While puffed, hold Attack 3 to roll forward, damaging all enemies in the way.	1700 Gold
Bounceback	Puffing deals increased damage and reflects nearby projectiles.	2200 Gold
Prickly Body	While puffed, taking damage releases a spike projectile that damages an attacker.	3000 Gold
Controlled Breather Path
Aero Trampoline	While puffed, hold Attack 3 to charge a powerful slam attack, release to bounce multiple times, damaging all enemies in the way.	1700 Gold
Deep Breath	While puffed, press Attack 2 to shoot three air blasts instead of one.	2200 Gold
Scattered Winds	While popped, air beams now shoot multiple projectiles that spread.	3000 Gold
Soul Gem Ability
To Puff or Not To Puff	While popped, speed is increased. While puffed, armor is increased, which reduces damage taken.	4000 Gold

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Swap Force Arena Battles – Snake in the Hole

April 19, 2014 by Michael McNutt

Lias and I show off another Swap Force Arena called Snake in the Hole. This is another “Boss Level” type arena where you not only have to fight off waves of enemies, but you also have to fight a giant Snake. Today we use Spy Rise and Rubble Rouser to try to charm the snake.

Check it out and let us know what you think of Snake in the Hole!

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Knockout Terrafin – Character Review

March 7, 2016April 14, 2014 by Michael McNutt

Knockout Terrafin is a Series 3 Earth Skylander for Skylanders Swap Force. He has appeared in each of the three games so far. For Swap Force he comes bundled with the Fiery Forge Battle Pack but he can also be bought separately. Being a Series 3 Skylander gives him a couple of advantages over his Series 1 counterpart. (Note: Series 2 Skylanders have the same extra abilities). First he is granted an extra attack upgrade called a “Wow Pow!” which the Series 1 Skylander does not have. This is usually the most expensive attack upgrade and is quite powerful. The second advantage is that you can switch upgrade paths after you have chosen a path to upgrade. Normally with series 1 characters you cannot switch paths without resetting the entire character.

Knockout Terrafin is a land shark. He has the unique ability to be able to burrow through the ground as if he was swimming. Knockout Terrafin is a rather plain looking Skylander. He is a two tone dark and light grey like a shark with arms and legs. The only exciting thing about the character are these two huge Wolverine-like brass knuckle claw gauntlets that he wears. It shows that he is a melee focused Skylander with some mean punching power. He wears no other armor or really has any other menacing looking features. Overall his look is a little bland and boring.

Even though Terrafin’s looks lack some flash, he does have a couple interesting and useful attacks. First he can burrow underground. This is a nice ability that allows him to escape easily when he gets surrounded. He can then use his heavy punches to work his way back through a large group of enemies. He can also unlock an upgrade that allows him to send out mini-sharks that can do some long distance damage. They can also help distract enemies so that Terrafin can move to get a better angle on his attack. Most of his other upgrades revolves around making his punches stronger, punching more enemies, adding new punching combos or adding speed. Despite this he can still be very useful in battle with a no nonsense attitude.

Overall Terrafin is a solid character. He lacks some flash and a lot of his upgrades are very basic. But he does have a few very helpful moves that makes him worth owning. However, if you already have a previous version, there is nothing new about this version that makes him worth a purchase.

5 out of 10

Knockout Terrafin’s Video Review

Knockout Terrafin’s Stats

Card Stats		In Game Stats
Attack:	100	Max Health	310
Defense:	100	Speed	35
Speed:	50	Armor	18
Luck:	70	Critical Hit	6
		Elemental Power	25

Knockout Terrafin’s Attacks

All Attacks
Punch	Press Attack 1 to punch the enemy. Press Attack 1, Attack 1, Hold Attack 1 to perform a combo	Free
Earth Swim	Press Attack 2 to burrow and while underground, press Attack 1 to perform a Belly Flop.	Free
Brass Knuckles	Punch attacks do more damage.	500 Gold
Mega Belly Flop	Belly Flop does increased damage and affects a larger area.	700 Gold
Feeding Frenzy	Press Attack 3 to spawn mini-sharks that burrow and latch onto enemies.	900 Gold
Multi Target Punches	Punch attack hits multiple enemies.	1200 Gold
Sandhog Path
Master Earth Swimmer	Increased speed while burrowing.	1700 Gold
Homing Frenzy	Mini-sharks home in on enemies and do extra damage.	2200 Gold
Razorfin	While burrowed, your dorsal fin does damage to enemies.	3000 Gold
Brawler Path
Pugilist	Press Attack 1, Attack 1, Hold Attack 2 for Body Slam. Press Attack 1, Attack 1, Hold Attack 3 for Uppercut.	1700 Gold
Spiked Knuckles	All punch attacks do even more damage.	2200 Gold
Frenzy Shield	You launch mini-sharks at enemies who damage you.	3000 Gold
Soul Gem Ability
Surface Feeder	Collect power-ups while burrowed.	4000 Gold
Wow Pow!
Have You Met My Kids	While burrowed, press Attack 3 to launch at enemies and hit them with a claw swipe move as well as with mini-shark allies.	5000 Gold

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Freeze Blade – Character Review

March 7, 2016April 14, 2014 by Michael McNutt

Freeze Blade Review — Normal Freeze Blade

Freeze Blade is a new Swappable Water Skylander for Skylanders Swap Force. You would think that Freeze Blade comes from somewhere cold. However, while he was born in the Frozen Wastelands of Vesh, he soon moved to the Great Lava Lakes. This is where he met Blast Zone. After helping Blast Zone defend himself from some Spell Punks, Blast Zone introduced him to Master Eon and Freeze Blade became a Skylander. It was also in the Lava Lakes where Freeze Blade learned he had a magical ability to skate on any surface. This ability allows Freeze Blade to always wear his ice blades. He has very thin looking leather armor which looks more like workout clothes than armor. This allows for greater mobility which is good since he is one of the fastest Skylander characters. He is a wolf creature with ice hair and ice cuffs. He also wields a boomerang like bladed weapon called a Chakram. Overall you can tell his character is built for speed. Freeze Blade also has an alternate version called Nitro Freeze Blade. Nitro Freeze Blade is identical in pose but wears a sporty golden race clothes and silver skin instead of grey skin. Nitro Freeze Blade doesn’t look any more powerful, but he certainly looks like a force of speed. Regardless of which character you choose, their starting stats are the same.

Nitro Freeze Blade Review — Nitro Freeze Blade

Freeze Blade starts off with a basic Chakram Throw. This is a short ranged/melee attack. The attack can reach enemies a short distance away but doesn’t fly far across the screen. It can be used in rapid succession like punches, so it has a very strong melee feel. He also starts with the Speedy Skate ability which is a dash attack that allows Freeze Blade to burst forward for a couple seconds, damaging any enemies in his way. An early upgrade unlocks an attack that allows you to freeze your enemies. This attack has a longer range than the Chakram throw. Several other upgrades increase the damage ability of Chakram, the Dash attack and armor. The ability to freeze most of your attackers combined with a dash attack and a strong Chakram throw allows Freeze Blade to become one of the most powerful Skylanders in the game.

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 either a stronger Chakram, or stronger freeze attacks. The leg paths both affect dashing, and are both pretty devastating. One path leaves a trail of ice behind Freeze Blade’s Dash. This trail will slow and damage enemies that touch it. The other path allows Freeze Blade to knock back any enemies hit by the dash which will also cause a freezing explosion when they land.

Also as a swappable character he has two soul gem abilities. The body Soul Gem gives the Chakram increased critical hit chance and damage, while the legs Soul Gem gives the dash attack more damage and prevents it from being broken by attacking enemies. Neither is a flashy upgrade, but both add even more attack power to what was already one of the strongest attacking Skylanders available.

Once upgraded, regardless of path chosen Freeze Blade’s power and speed are valuable assets that make him one of the best and easiest to use characters in the game.

10 out of 10

Freeze Blade’s and Nitro Freeze Blade’s Stats

Card Stats		In Game Stats
Attack:	140	Max Health	280
Defense:	75	Speed	50
Speed:	200	Armor	6
Luck:	85	Critical Hit	8
		Elemental Power	25

Freeze Blade’s and Nitro Freeze Blade’s Attacks

Body Attacks
Chakram Throw	Press Attack 1 to throw an icy chakram.	Free
Frostcicle	Press Attack 3 to fire a shard of ice that freezes enemies.	300 Gold
Icicles	Chakram gains a new layer of ice, making attacks do increased damage.	800 Gold
Frigid Whirl	Hold Attack 1 to charge the chakram, then release to throw it.	1000 Gold
Blizzard Blade Path
Shaved Ice	Hold Attack 1 to charge the chakram, release to throw the chakram and shoot ice in every direction.	1500 Gold
Whiteout	Ice projectiles from Shaved Ice do increased damage.	2000 Gold
Ice Sculptor Path
Oh Snow!	Hold Attack 3 to charge Frostcicle, release to freeze an entire area.	1500 Gold
Ice to Meet You	Frostcicle and Oh Snow! do increased damage.	2000 Gold
Soul Gem Ability
Winter Chakram	Chakram attacks have increased critical hit chance and do extra frost damage	3500 Gold
Leg Attacks
Speedy Skate	Press Attack 2 to dash forward a short distance and damage enemies in the way.	Free
Ice Trail	Dashing leaves behind a trail of ice that slows enemies.	300 Gold
Glacial Coat	Armor increased.	800 Gold
Bladed Butterfly	Hold Attack 2 to perform a fancy skating trick that damages all enemies nearby.	1000 Gold
Trail Freezer Path
Flash Freeze	Press Attack 2 to dash, dashing will now leave behind an ice trail that damages enemies.	1500 Gold
Nice Ice	Flash Freeze does increased damage.	2000 Gold
Ice Skater Path
Penalty Frost	Press Attack 2 to knock back an enemy, wherever the knocked back enemy lands will cause a large freezing explosion.	1500 Gold
Iced Skates	Penalty Frost does increased damage.	2000 Gold
Soul Gem Ability
Iceberg Endurance	Dashing does increased damage and does not stop when attacked.	3500 Gold

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Skylander Character Sales for 4/13

April 14, 2014 by Michael McNutt

It’s another good week for Skylander Character Sales from 4/13 to 4/19.

Best Buy is having a Buy 1 get 1 50% off on all Skylanders Swap Force Characters. Also Swap Force Starter Packs are on sale for $39.99.

Note: Best Buy’s ad says “ALL” Swap Force characters. But online the deal applies only to “SOME” Swap Force Characters.

Toys R Us is offering the same character deal where you can buy 1 get 1 50% off. However, their starter packs are $32.49. On 4/18 and 4/19 they will be having an Easter Sale where Giants characters will also be buy 1 get 1 free.

Target is having a buy 2 get 1 free sale if you are in need of at least 3 characters.

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Bumble Blast – Character Review

March 7, 2016April 10, 2014 by Michael McNutt

Bumble Blast is a new core Life Skylander for Skylanders Swap Force. He comes with the Fiery Forge Battle Pack, or you can buy his limited variant Jolly Bumble Blast as a single character. His back story says that he was originally a beehive where bees made a sweet magical honey. Then when Kaos launched an attack on the bees to take the honey for himself, Bumble Blast came to life as their protector. He is a very detailed character but I think he looks more like a smaller version of Tree Rex than a beehive. He is a walking tree with a beehive gun and a sweet honeycomb jaw with a honey tongue sticking out. The detail on his character is fantastic. There is a little stinger coming out the barrel of his beehive gun showing the bee he is about to shoot, and even the life element symbol carved into the wood knot on his shoulder. Bumble Blast looks great, but he has a limited colored variant called Jolly Bumble Blast who looks even better. He dons a Red Santa Suit with green feet and stands on a snow covered base. He even has a candy cane striped bee coming out of a green holiday beehive gun. It’s a fantastic looking colored variant and it might be my favorite Skylander character.

Jolly Bumble Blast - Character Review — Jolly Bumble Blast

Besides being a great looking character, Bumble Blast also has some pretty awesome attacks. He starts with a basic Beezooka attack which shoots homing bees at enemies. These bees hit their target as long as you are aimed fairly close to your target. He also starts with a Honey Glob attack which coats enemies in honey. As you begin to upgrade him, the bees will always target enemies coated in honey. This allows you to attack while running away from trouble. It’s a huge advantage. You will also be able to drop mines that explode to oat enemies with honey and be able to shoot multiple bees at one time. If you choose to upgrade the Bee Keeper Path, there is also an upgrade that shoots out a huge Queen Bee that knocks a group of enemies into the air. If you choose the Honey Tree Path, then you will improve your honey coating abilities.

For Bumble Blast’s Soul Gem Ability, he will gain a backpack that automatically fires bees at enemies. It’s an interesting looking change to the character and it allows you to worry more about coating enemies in honey than always firing your bees. No matter what upgrade path you choose, and even before you unlock the Soul Gem ability, Bumble Blast is a very strong Skylander and very fun to play with.

Overall Bumble Blast is a must have. He is on a short list of our all time favorites.

10 out of 10

Bumble Blast’s Stats

Card Stats		In Game Stats
Attack:	85	Max Health	320
Defense:	85	Speed	35
Speed:	50	Armor	24
Luck:	90	Critical Hit	4
		Elemental Power	25

Bumble Blast’s Attacks

All Attacks
Beezooka	Press Attack 1 to shoot honey homing bees at enemies	Free
Honey Glob	Press Attack 2 to shoot a big ball of honey that will coat enemies in honey when hit.	Free
Honey Beecon	Bees will always target and attack enemies coated in honey.	500 Gold
Hungry Bees	Bees deal increased damage against honeyed targets	700 Gold
Hive Mind	Press Attack 3 to shoot a beehive into the ground. The hive explodes into honey when an enemy approaches it.	900 Gold
Painful Stings	Bees gain more powerful stingers, increasing their damage.	1200 Gold
Bee Keeper Path
Bee Armada	Hold Attack 1 to charge the Beezooka, release to shoot three bees at once.	1700 Gold
Stirred up a Nest	A new Beezooka now shoots even more bees that do increased damage.	2200 Gold
Queen Bee	Hold Attack 1 and charge theBeezooka even longer, release to shoot a Queen Bee that knocks enemies into the air.	3000 Gold
Honey Tree Path
Honey Buzz Blast	Hold Attack 2 to charge a honey attack, release to shoot a honey glob that contains angry bees.	1700 Gold
Heavy Honey	Honey attacks deal increased damage and slow enemies.	2200 Gold
Honeycomb Bark	Armor is increased. Bark skin will sometimes drip out honey that coats enemy attackers	3000 Gold
Soul Gem Ability
Bee-Pack Backpack	Gain a behive backpack that automatically launches bees at nearby foes.	4000 Gold

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Skylanders Sale at GameStop

April 9, 2014 by Michael McNutt

It looks like GameStop has decided to add their hat to the Skylanders Sales that are going on at Target and Toys R Us. GameStop is also offering a Buy 2 get 1 free deal on core characters ($9.99) However unless you have no Skylanders, DO NOT take advantage of this deal online. When you order Skylanders online through a promotion like this, you have no control over what characters are sent to you. This is mostly due to the fact that GameStop seems to give each different character the same SKU. So if you want to take advantage of the Buy 2 get 1 free deal, I would suggest you actually go to the store.

Also on sale are the Starter Packs. This INCLUDES the GameStop Exclusive Dark Edition of Skylanders Swap Force. This is the only way to get the five Dark Swap Force Characters:

The regular Starter Pack is on sale for $49.99 while the Dark Edition is on sale for $59.99. GameStop is also offering an additional $10 off a Starter Pack when any old Portal is traded in.

These prices are good through 4/15. You can check out the rest of the GameStop spring savings days sale here.

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Magna Charge Unboxing

April 8, 2014 by Michael McNutt

Conner is in another singing mood for this Magna Charge unboxing. At least until he starts to get him open, then his singing starts to fade a little. 🙂 Watch as he compares Magna Charge to Nitro Magna Charge and decides which one is better.

Let us know what you think of Magna Charge.

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Rip Tide – Character Review

March 7, 2016April 5, 2014 by Michael McNutt

Rip 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 Health	300
Defense:	70	Speed	43
Speed:	75	Armor	30
Luck:	55	Critical Hit	4
		Elemental Power	25

Rip Tide’s Attacks

All Attacks
Tetra Attack	Press Attack 1 to swing the currently held fish at enemies. Swordfish attacks are quick while Shark attacks are slow, but more powerful.	Free
Fish Toss	Press Attack 2 to toss the currently held fish at enemies. Fish Toss will also change between Swordfish and Shark.	Free
Whale On 'Em	Press Attack 3 to drop a large whale and smack down a large number of enemies.	500 Gold
Bigger Fish to Fly	Press Attack 2 to throw the held fish, doing increased damage to enemies.	700 Gold
Fresh Fish	Press Attack 2 to throw the currently held fish. Press Attack 1 to attack and critically hit with the new fish.	900 Gold
Blistering Blubber	Whale attacks do increased damage.	1200 Gold
Fishy Fencer Path
Nipping Needle Nose	Press Attack 2 to throw the sword fish which does damage over time to enemies that it hits.	1700 Gold
Practiced Parry	Swordfish attacks do increased damage.	2200 Gold
Straight as an Angler	Hold 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 Surprise	Press Attack 2 to throw the Shark which bounces off of enemies' heads before landing.	1700 Gold
Time to Hammer	Hammerhead shark attacks do increased damage.	2200 Gold
Shark Bite Bait	Hold Attack 1 to charge a shark attack, release to dash forward biting any enemies in the way.	3000 Gold
Soul Gem Ability
Reinventing the Whale	Angry fish explode out of the whale's spout, seeking out and damaging nearby enemies.	4000 Gold

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Rubble Rouser Unboxing

April 3, 2014 by Michael McNutt

Here 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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