Skylanders: Giants

Skylanders: Giants is a 2012 video game in the Skylanders series and a direct sequel to the 2011 game Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure. It features the voices of Kevin Michael Richardson, Greg Ellis, Peter Lurie, Steve Blum, Dave Wittenberg, Carlos Alazraqui, Kevin Sorbo, Bobcat Goldthwait, Patrick Seitz and Julie Nathanson. As the title suggests, it features larger Skylanders known as "Giants", along with other new gameplay mechanics. 16 new Skylanders were introduced, including 8 "Giants": Bouncer, Crusher, Eye-Brawl, Hot Head, Ninjini, Swarm, Thumpback, and Tree Rex.

It was released for Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 on 17 October 2012 in Australia, on 19 October 2012 in Europe, on 21 October 2012 in North America, and on 22 November 2012 in Brazil by Neoplay. It has also been released on the Wii U as a launch title in North America, Europe and Australia. It was the final Skylanders game to be owned by Vivendi before Activision became an independent company on 25 July 2013.

Gameplay
Skylanders: Giants builds upon the fundamentals of the first game, which merges a line of physical toy figures with a video game world. The game introduced over 40 new toy figures, some of which are more than twice the size of the original Skylanders cast in both physical and virtual form. The game involves connecting a physical toy to the video game console through a "Portal of Power"; whichever toy is used creates a respective character in the game. Toy figures from the first game are also forward compatible with Giants, although there are also new versions, called "Series 2", which have more powerful attributes than the originals. If the Series 2 Skylanders are used in the first game, they act as their own Series 1 counterparts. A new series of figurines called "LightCore" was also introduced, which glow when put on the Portal of Power and have a flash bomb attack in-game. The game has a new and improved "Battle Mode" for head-to-head play, featuring more areas and gameplay options as well as offering a new variety of alter ego Skylanders.

Plot
Following the events of the first game, Kaos, who was shrunk and put on display in a toy store on Earth, returns to the Skylands after finding a Portal of Power. The first level takes place 10,000 years ago and explains how the Giants became the first Skylanders. 10,000 years ago, the Arkeyans, an evil race of giant robots, ruled over the Skylands and forced its inhabitants to work as slaves, but the Skylanders rebelled and began war with them. Eventually, the Giants fought the king of the Arkeyans and removed the source of the Arkeyans' power; the Iron Fist of Arkus. However, this victory backfired on the Giants and they were sent to Earth, where they were miniaturized and petrified due to the human world's lack of magic. Over time, they came to be regarded as myths because of their unexplained disappearance.

In the present, the Portal Master and the Skylanders must repair Flynn's ship, the Dread-Yacht. Along their journey, they meet Brock the drow (dark elf) gladiator and Ermit the hermit, who reveals that Kaos has returned and accidentally awakened an ancient Arkeyan Conquertron, which has recruited him as its new leader, and is searching for the Lost City of Arkus and the Iron Fist. The Skylanders race Kaos to the Lost City, and Ermit tells them he has a giant robot of his own. While attempting to activate the robot, the player encounters a "machine ghost" which turns out to be the soul of Ermit's robot, who also aids the Skylanders on their journey.

The Skylanders travel to an ancient vault said to contain a map to Arkus, but Kaos arrives and attempts to crush the player with falling rocks. In an effort to save the player, Machine Ghost sacrifices himself to shield the Skylanders from the falling rocks. Kaos and his robot travel into the vault to find the map, but the map is destroyed after he accidentally pulls a mechanism. Glumshanks, Kaos' troll butler, remembers an image of the map, and with his help, finds Arkus's location. Meanwhile, Machine Ghost tells the player to go after Kaos and find Arkus before disappearing, presumably dead.

Despite the Skylanders' efforts, Kaos manages to reach the Iron Fist of Arkus and transforms into a large Arkeyan robot, preparing for his conquest over the Skylands. The player soon reaches Kaos within Arkus, only to discover that he cannot be stopped unless the Iron Fist is removed from him. With help from Ermit and the revived Machine Ghost, the Skylanders remove the Fist of Arkus, defeating Kaos and returning him to normal. The Arkeyan Conquertron carries Glumshanks and Kaos out of the collapsing city and to the safety of an island before shutting down completely.

Post-credits, Kaos and Glumshanks are shown entering Kaos' Kastle, where they encounter Kaos's mother, who is only shown in shadow. If players complete Nightmare Mode, they are given a scene where Chompies dance and party around the deactivated Iron Fist of Arkus.

3DS Plot
10,000 years ago, the dreaded pirate Captain Freightbeard terrorized the Skylands before he was imprisoned in the Chest of Exile, with his sword used as a lock. Eventually, he returns to find the chest and wreak havoc once more. The Skylanders and the Giants, along with Hugo, Flynn and Cali, must find the Chest by following the clues before Freightbeard does.

Console Starter Pack
These Starter Pack accessories are:
 * Skylanders Giants disc
 * Poster of all the Skylanders from Skylanders Giants
 * Portal of Power
 * Trading cards (3)
 * Stickers and codes (3)
 * 3 Skylanders figures: Tree Rex (Giant - Life), Cynder (Series 2 - Undead), and Jet-Vac (Air)

3DS Starter Pack
The 3DS Starter Pack contains the portal, 3DS game card, and a Punch Pop Fizz figure instead of Jet-Vac.

Development
It was shown at E3 2012.

Reception
Skylanders: Giants received "generally favorable" reviews for most platforms according to review aggregator Metacritic;   the Nintendo 3DS version received "mixed or average" reviews.

IGN gave the game an 8 out of 10 score, calling it a "...a more polished but by-the-numbers sequel that’s really fun to play". PlayStation Lifestyle, however, gave the game a lower score with a 70/100, saying, "The reality is that Skylanders: Giants is age-appropriate fun that harkens back to the delight you had collecting Pokémon cards or mashing your way through a dungeon crawler. If you've got little ones, then you already know the verdict here."

During the 16th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awarded Skylanders: Giants with "Family Game of the Year".

Sales
Skylanders: Giants generated over $195 million in U.S. sales in 2012. In the first two weeks of sales, 500,000 Starter Packs and Portal Owner Packs were sold in the U.S. and Europe. A few months after its release, Activision reported that they had generated a billion dollars in sales for the franchise overall, just 15 months after the first game.