I was skeptical too, since im 28, but I picked it up at that price on Black Friday. I think of it like Diablo for a younger crowd. Combat and leveling up is pretty decent. The only thing is that if you want to unlock everything you'll need a skylander of each element.

I was on the fence about Skylanders as well, but after seeing how popular it became, I decided it was something I wanted to try. My parents bought the Wii version for me for Christmas and I just started playing it the other day... I love it! Actually, I enjoyed the game so much when I just opened it up to make sure it worked that I went out and bought the 3DS version as well since they are completely different.

The game is definitely on the easier side because it is geared towards kids, but, they did add some extra challenges in there for adults. There are a lot of objectives in the game and if you want to try and complete it 100% it will definitely be a challenge. I have also heard that it can get really difficult toward the end.

Overall, I would say it is just a really fun game, it will not give you an extreme challenge, but it also isn't super easy as well... I don't find it to be that similar to the Lego games, I think Lego games are super easy and get boring way too quickly. I feel like Skylanders is more challenging than the Lego games and just offers that perfect mix.

As gr8asianman said, the biggest issue is that you really should have a character from each element, it isn't required, but if you want to play the entire game, then you need them all. That being said, if you like the game, you also have the expansions available, which is nice.

It is not a cheap game to get into because the starter pack is expensive and then extra characters cost more, so it will be a little bit of investment, but I'm happy with my purchase because the game is so much fun. That being said, if you still are not sure, I do personally like games that are a little more laid back, then I would just wait. I think we all know that the price of the game will continue to drop, characters and adventure packs will become easier to find, etc. but the popularity still seems to be there, so I don't know when that will happen... I would say there is a good chance prices will drop lower after Skylanders Giants becomes available.

Thanks for the input guys, I really appreciate it!

You both mention I'll need to buy extra characters to play everything. Are you saying that there are actual areas/levels that are inaccessible unless I'm a skylander of a specific element?

There are areas that are only accessible to Skylanders of that type (magic, water, life, etc.) There are no achievements tied to these areas, but there is equipment and collectibles that you'll need other Skylanders to collect. To collect everything, you'd need one of each type.

As Pyloric said, you don't have to buy all the characters to complete the game, you could just use the three that come with the starter pack. But each level has areas with "gates" that can only be opened with certain elements, so if you don't have all 8, you technically can't complete the game 100%. There are also areas in certain levels where one element is stronger, so you can get more gold and stuff by using that element. So it just depends if you want to be able to open everything in the game or not.

You can also open up additional Heroic Challenges (I think that is what they call them) for each of the Skylander's, so you get an extra little level for each of the Skylander's that you own. Just keep in mind, right now, the extra characters are hard to come by, all Skylander's items are pretty hard to get right now, at least for me. I ordered the last element I needed about a month ago from Amazon, they told me I should get it by the 8, I got an e-mail on the 8 that they still don't have it in stock and right now don't have an estimated day of when they are coming. The stores around me don't have any stock, etc. So unless you want to pay the crazy high prices they are charging on eBay, you may need/want to stick with the three characters you start with.

If you plan to complete the game 100% then I would recommend getting the guide for it as well, there are tons of little areas that are hidden away, so trying to find everything on your own would be a challenge.

I also just thought about this since you said you were looking for more of a challenge, I don't know if you owns 3DS or not, but I have heard this version is more difficult. In the console versions you have the ability to switch between characters as needed, where in the 3DS version you can only have two characters to switch between, so you have to think it out a little more and the levels are also, supposedly, more challenging.

Thanks again for all the info!

The base game isn't terribly challenging, but the heroic challenge sections actually can be; I think I failed the first 2 I tried. There seems to be a little bit of mix and match of which character to use for which scenario.

I just started it with my gf, and the main story does seem to be easy so far. Also, the dialogue and story are geared towards younger players. I don't think I would play it if she didn't like it.

My wife, my kids (I've got 3..all under the age of 10), and I have a blast playing together. We managed one of each type without undue stress (or $$ commitment)..spending 1/2 a Saturday running around to different stores and grabbing one here and one there. I had to buy exactly ONE (stealth elf) via Amazon...and only paid about double retail.
It was worth it! We're having a BLAST playing together.

Everywhere I go the characters are sold out! Any help in finding stores that normally one would not think would sell the skylanders characters would be great.

I'm 35. I bought the game for $35 on eBay for 360. My wife and I think its a lot of fun, and something my kid could be playing in 5 years. He's 9 months old now, way too young!

PROBLEM IS: Damn scalpers have gotten wind of this game, and are buying everything up to sell to collectors for twice the price. Nothing is retail price anymore, nothing is in stock. Damn shame. I hope Activision floods the market with these things and teaches the greedy bastards a lesson! Not only are they ripping off collectors, what about the poor kids who just want to play the game and can't find figures anywhere?!?

Bottom line: be prepared to be satisfied with just the 3 characters you get (which I heard you can still get 1000G/platinum with), or be prepared to spend HUNDREDS of dollars.

I was part of the development team from Alpha rev through GOLD working on the QA side on the first couple Spyros for SCIA (Now known as 989 Studios), so I had always wanted this to see what had become of my beloved little dragon. but because of the $70 investment price I waited and got this cheaper.

Im 36 myself (3 months off of 37 actually) and I enjoy it. It is totally geared towards kids so dont expect a super challenge from it. My niece and nephew whom I live with love like my own and take care of are stupid for it.

I wound up getting this used during the gohastings.com 30% off used sale and got it for $28 shipped and I think its really worth it. Gamestop locally sells used ones for $5 each if you can find a local gamestop with any (a REALLY hard thing to do). And if you want extras of the starter figs {to build each path 4 the character IE Sheep Burner Spyro / Blitz Spyro} (spyro, trigger happy, gill grunt) are a dollar each.

Ive heard that the 3DS version isnt the same and that its a different story and its harder due to character swapping and other things so I will definitely get that at some point after I get a 3DS

I really do wanna strangle the collector peeps that line up at the front door of stores when they first open and buy everything in the store and make people pay at least twice for them :/