The sequel to the highly successful Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, is called Skylanders Giants. One of the great new features of this video game is the introduction of Lightcore figures. The Skylanders franchise has successfully linked real world toys to a video game. When a Skylanders character is placed on to the Portal of Power, the character is instantly transported to the magical world of Skylands. The Portal of Power is sold with the Skylanders video game, and is the interface that connects the figures with the game.
Although there are some small differences between the Portal of Power in Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure and Skylanders Giants, they essentially work in the same way. If a person already has an original Portal of Power from the first game, they can use it in the Giants game. The Portal glows when it is being used, and can change color too.
The Lightcore technology introduced in the Giants game is found within the toys themselves. When a figure is placed on or near the Portal of Power, the figure lights up. 'Toy's For Bob', the Acitivison studio that developed Skylanders Giants went to great lengths to get the colors of light chosen for each character just right.
Which Skylanders Characters have the Lightcore Feature?
All Giant Skylanders have Lightcore technology. There are eight actual Giant characters in the video game, one for each of the eight Skylanders Elements (Air, Water, Life, Undead, Magic, Tech, Earth and Fire). Five of these Giants have already been released. Tree Rex, the Life Giant has an energy beam blaster that glows green, and his eyes glow blue. Crusher, the Earth Giant has shoulder spikes glow green and his eyes glow blue. Bouncer, a Tech Giant has a large gear on his chest that glows orange and his eyes glow white. Swarm, an Air Giant, has stingers that glow yellow and eyes that glow white. Hot Head, a Fire Giant has a flame on his head that glows red. The other Giants have not yet been released. These are Ninjini (Magic Giant), Eye-Brawl (Undead Giant) and Thumpback (Water Giant).
In addition, there are also eight regularized Skylanders that have Lightcore technology. Each of these characters has a normal version, and a Lightcore version. Eruptor, a fire type, has an open mouth that glows red when he is placed on the portal. Prism Break, an Earth type, has large crystal beams that glow green. Drobot has a small orange light on his back. The other five Lightcore figures have not yet been released. These are Hex (Undead type), Pop Fizz (Magic type), Jet-Vac (Air Type), Chill (Water type) and Shroom Boom (Life type).