Screen capture from iPod Touch playing Skylanders Cloud Patrol
I wasn’t exactly looking for another addiction, but the Skylanders folks have sent one to knock at my door. Skylanders Cloud Patrol has just surpassed Cut the Rope as my favorite smartphone game and promises to be another hit for the makers of the popular Skylanders.
Screen capture from iPod Touch
The premise of the game is simple enough: The trolls have escaped and it’s up to you and your favorite Skylander to take care of them. Start out by taking Trigger Happy to the skies in your flying gunship and tap or slide to shoot the trolls. Tap to shoot and slide to create combos. The more trolls you shoot in a combo the larger the bonus, but watch out for the bombs or it’s game over. Include the occasional crates, barrels, vases, and bouncing sheep to increase your combo points.
Leveling up is accomplished by achieving goals. The goals start out simple like “shoot 5 trolls,” but quickly get more complex like “shoot 40 trolls with a fire Skylander” or “get 15 5x or higher combos.” The levels are awarded to you, the portal master, and are not specific to the Skylander that you are controlling.
You can unlock more characters using in-game gems or using the code that comes with any Skylanders that you have purchased. Gems can be earned in game, or purchased with real money in the store. There are also a number of magic items in game that can be unlocked with gems and upgraded with coins. The game could get expensive if you want to level everything up fast, but earning coins and gems in-game goes fast enough.
Check after the jump for the summary and more screenshots.
The game is out today in the App Store and is definitely worth the $0.99 it will cost you. I’ll let you decide if buying in-game gems is affordable, but I feel that they offer a better challenge and goal if you earn them in the game.
Wired: Addictive fast action play. Plenty of goals and items to unlock in game. Unlock your existing Skylanders.
Tired: It is too easy to hit the bombs, but I guess that is part of the challenge. No Android version.
Here are my current goals. At level 17 they are getting more challenging, but I haven't been tempted to skip any (yet).
Anvil Rain is a great way to get past a level with a bunch of bombs. Level it up for even more anvils!
Lining up a combo shot with 3 trolls.
