If you're a parent with a PlayStation, you already know the deal about Skylanders - in fact, you've probably already shelled out a small fortune on some of the 55-odd toys involved in the game.
The introduction of Swap Force to the series isn't likely to ease the nagging heading into Christmas. Like Disney Infinity, Skylanders involves toy figurines being placed on a base called "the Portal of Power" to play them, and Swap Force is the game's third incarnation since its release in 2011.
With 16 new characters added to the franchise, that sounds like a whole heap of ka-ching. The good news is that even with just the basic beginner's package, Swap Force is a heap of fun for both kids and parents to play. My nearly-4-year-old spent a solid afternoon shouting and screaming joyfully at the TV as we bashed boxes, collected treasure, ate virtual bananas, rescued kidnapped buddies and worked our way through an oddball collection of mutant enemies together.
The graphics, game mechanics and characters are colourful and creative, the settings are teeming with life and, for extra entertainment, the Swap Force toys can swap tops and bottoms. The only downfall is you'll need to shell out on new characters to get into certain parts of the game - kind of like a gaming paywall.
But for those with younger children whose little fingers can't quite reach around the PlayStation controller, the two-player mode is fantastic: Dad can do all the hard work while the kids collect the rewards. A bit like real life really.
