So I beat SuperChargers...

As many of you know, or have guessed from my personality, I'm all for things getting better in subsequent iterations of a series. That sounds like it's a pretty reasonable thing to think is going to happen, but especially in game design, that's just not the case. I firmly subscribe to "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," but many game developers don't seem to subscribe to that formula. I can't tell you how pissed it makes me when a game removes something from a previous iteration. 

Take for example, something simple like how in Skylanders: Trap Team, they introduced an entirely new customization item, the trinket. The trinkets don't exist in SuperChargers, but then again, neither does your ability to capture villains, also a bummer. It's not just elements that get removed in subsequent iterations, let's look at Capcom for example. Marvel vs Capcom? The first game had six buttons. Then we lost a set of buttons, and they did the same thing with Power Stone 2. They removed an entire set of combos from the first game. Why? So you added two more characters, but you also removed a layer of depth. Is it worth it? I don't think so, since all the previous characters are now dumbed down.

I recently finished Skylanders: SuperChargers' story and while I loved the story and all the graphical updates and stuff... There's a lot missing from the game. I'm relatively certain that this game (number 5, if you're counting), is actually shorter in length than the first game. I'm 90% certain this is the shortest (story-wise) game in the entire series. Not only that, but they tried to make it longer by removing features that have existed for four games, namely the ability to bring in legacy hats to the game by putting them on characters' heads. You can't unlock hats that way anymore. Instead you have to buy/unlock each and every one of them one by one. In order to facilitate this need, they've made it really difficult to make money in the game compared to past iterations. It's been 3 games since they've raised the max level cap and this game is ABSOLUTELY the easiest to level up in. Before I played SuperChargers I think I had a single Skylander that was max level, and that's only because I had two people that exclusively played him for four entire games. Do you see what I'm getting at here? Why are games getting so short yet maintaining their price tags? Such a silly thing to be happening...

The fact that instead of regular PvP or the AMAZEBALLS SkyGoals mode, we have a racing mode doesn't really bother me. It's just that because they had to develop something all new they basically just have two short games put together. The racing is actually its own game (literally on the Wii and 3DS), and then there's the regular Story, which is incredibly short this time around. How about instead of mashing up two short games into one game, how about the next game goes as long as development needs to make a full game? How about that? 

AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HOW YOU NEED TO PLAYTEST CO-OP. FFS, IT'S BEEN FIVE GAMES.
PLEASE. PLAYTEST. CO-OP. BEFORE. RELEASE.

That's the one thing you keep!? Get real, guys.