Additional figures will cost about $8, which seems fairly reasonable when you consider that they remember everything a player has done while playing a game, via the magic of the portal. However, we can't imagine kids being satisfied with just owning 3 of the 32 figures currently planned for Skylanders. You get three elements out of the box with the figurines, giving you access to the Tech, Magic and Water character types, which is apparently all you need to complete the game. Each character is also imbued with abilities based on their specific element, of which there are eight overall. Skylanders will ship with three figurines and the portal peripheral when it releases, giving players everything they need to get started.

Skylanders taps into a whole range of childhood pursuits, from collecting figurines and trading cards, to battling friends with their own characters. Ostensibly a children's game aimed at 7-10 year olds, we found ourselves being whisked back to a childhood collecting figures and trading cards, where the only boundaries were imagination. And it really does seem like magic too, which coming from a bitter, cynical games journalist like myself is high praise indeed. It's an adventure that he shares with a whole array of characters that can be purchased as physical figurines and instantaneously transported into the game's world via the magic of the Skylander's 'Portal of Power' peripheral.

Not only is it not really a Spyro game, but it's not really even Spyro's adventure either. Strictly speaking, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is a bit a misnomer.

E3 2011 spyro