Skylanders has changed the game so many times in the past four years and in the fifth iteration of the game they have changed it again! In addition to bringing characters (and soon vehicles) to life the Skylanders franchise will, for the first time, offer online multiplayer gameplay. That means that Skylanders portalmasters can join their friends and family in co-op play in Adventure Mode. However, that is not all, with the introduction of vehicles in Skylanders SuperChargers there is a whole racing component to the game and there will be four-player competitive racing! September 20th cannot come quickly enough! Here are the major details from this latest announcement.

Check out this very cool video with everything we know about Skylanders SuperChargers.

And more details about the Racing and Co-Op modes.

• Online Multiplayer Gameplay – For the first time in Skylanders history, Skylanders SuperChargers is offering online multiplayer gameplay on console. Whether it’s online co-op play in Adventure Mode or four-player competitive racing, family and friends are sure to have a blast. Voice-chat is available with players on your friends list and with friends of friends to fuel fun competition online.

This is huge! this is something that players have been asking for over and over. Finally this is possible. I am excited to connect with people that I have connected with on Instagram and other places who play Skylanders on the Wii U and who want to play multiplayer.

• Racing Mode – Racing Mode is an all-new way to play, featuring a mix of high-octane, supercharged racing and combat, accentuated by power-ups, boosts, hazards and more. What’s more, Racing Mode is available right out of the box in the Skylanders SuperChargers Starter Pack! There are a total of six race tracks in the Starter Pack for fans to play – two for each terrain type: Land, Sea and Sky. Players can also purchase Racing Action Packs that unlock additional content. A total of three Racing Action Packs, one for each terrain, will be available and include three special toys (a SuperCharger, Vehicle and villain trophy). The villain trophy unlocks two new tracks and new modes, including SuperVillain Cup, Boss Pursuit and Mirror Cup.

We’ve seen at least one of these Racing Action Packs surface online. The one with Gill Grunt and his vehicle, Reef Ripper is what I have seen online and I can’t wait to play that since Gill Grunt is one of my all-time favorite characters. As far as there people six tracks in the starter pack and then six more tracks if you buy the 3 racing starter packs then there should be at least a total of 13 racing tracks. What is number 13 you might ask? Well that would be the Kaos content. While I have not seen that confirmed the Dark sets have the Kaos racing cup that unlocks Kaos themed content and I would think that there would be at least one if not 3 (Land, Sea, Air) tracks with that racing trophy.

• Skylanders SuperChargers Racing for the Wii and 3DS: Fans can augment their SuperCharger experience with a complementary, dedicated racing combat game — Skylanders SuperChargers Racing — for the Wii™ system and Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system. All-new tracks, augmented with power-ups, boosts, hazards and more, offer up to 50 different and exciting gameplay experiences. On Nintendo 3DS, gamers can go head-to-head with competitive multiplayer via local play or online with up to four players. Iconic Nintendo character Bowser™ and his Sky vehicle, Clown Cruiser are available in the Skylanders SuperChargers Racing Starter Packs for Wii and Nintendo 3DS and can also be played on the Wii U™ system. The Supercharged character not only works in Skylanders SuperChargers Racing, but also as amiibo in compatible Nintendo games, so players can store their saved data in both modes with a simple twist of the figure’s base.

I’ve pre-ordered the Nintendo 3DS version of the game and was contemplating ordering the Dark Wii version for Dark Bowser. Since this will be something totally different than the Wii U and 3DS games I may just have to place that order. This might make it worth picking up the Wii version after all.

You can Pre-Order the game from Amazon.com right now. Just click the image.

I also looked at some gameplay of the racing and I noticed something interesting. I don’t know if there will be minis in this version of the game but one of the character names that was up on the screen was Smolder Dashling. That is a Skylanders mini name if ever I saw one. So I’m merely speculating here but that is what I think because of what I saw. There is still plenty of time between now and September 20th to learn more secrets and have more announcements about Skylanders SuperChargers.

I also received some additional images that I don’t believe I’ve posted before. Maybe Stealth elf but not her vehicle. You can click on any image below to be taken to the full size image.

READY, SET, GO — SKYLANDERS® SUPERCHARGERS DELIVERS RACING AND ONLINE MULTIPLAYER

Skylanders Charges into Gamescom with Exciting Announcements and Franchise Firsts

COLOGNE, Germany – August 5, 2015 – Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), continues to blaze the toys-to-life trail with Skylanders franchise firsts, racing and online multiplayer gameplay on console in Skylanders® SuperChargers, developed by Vicarious Visions. Whether fans prefer co-operative play in Adventure Mode or competitive multiplayer with up to four players in Racing Mode, Skylanders SuperChargers’ online gaming is fueled with adrenaline-pumping action right out of the box.

Skylanders’ all-new Racing Mode, playable in Land, Sea and Sky environments, features supercharged racing combat, layering in even more depth and excitement to the game’s online multiplayer component. The high-octane mode is further amplified with all-new time trials, which include three-lap races that take friendly competition up a notch as players battle for the best time score on the leaderboard. All Skylanders SuperChargers Starter Packs will come loaded with six dynamic race tracks – two each for Land, Sea and Sky. With hidden routes, power-ups, and diverse locations, Racing Mode offers completely new ways to enjoy the game. Whether played in offline split-screen or online multiplayer, gamers can choose the best route to finish a race, trying to avoid attacks along the way as they navigate through dynamic environments. Voice-chat is available with friends for an added layer of excitement.

Skylanders SuperChargers delivers more ways to play than ever before:

• ingle-player Adventure Mode
• Online and local co-operative Adventure Mode
• Local 2-player head-to-head racing in split screen
• Online competitive racing with up to 4 players

“Skylanders fans told us they wanted to go head-to-head in online multiplayer with their friends and family, and we delivered. Skylanders SuperChargers enables gamers to race against friends all over the world and brings an exciting new expansion to the Skylanders gameplay experience,” said John Coyne, senior vice president of consumer marketing, Activision Publishing, Inc. “We continue to be firmly committed to driving Skylanders’ spirit for providing originality, innovation, creativity and fun with each game.”

Skylanders SuperChargers continues to rev its engine with the addition of Skylanders SuperChargers Racing Action Packs at launch and beyond. These optional expansion packs, one each for Land, Sea and Sky, unlock even more thrilling racing content for Portal Masters. Each pack comes loaded with three special toys, including a SuperCharger, its signature vehicle and a villain trophy. The villain trophy unlocks two new tracks and new modes, including SuperVillain Cup, Boss Pursuit and Mirror Cup. There are 12 boss villains across all three packs, with four in each pack, which players can defeat and play as. Fans can then store these boss villains on their villain trophy toy to play at a friend’s house.

Fans can augment their SuperCharger experience with a complementary, dedicated racing combat game — Skylanders SuperChargers Racing — for the Wii™ system and Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system. All-new tracks, augmented with power-ups, boosts, hazards and more, offer up to 50 different and exciting gameplay experiences. On Nintendo 3DS, gamers can go head-to-head with competitive multiplayer via local play or online with up to four players. Iconic Nintendo character Bowser™ and his Sky vehicle, Clown Cruiser are available in the Skylanders SuperChargers Racing Starter Packs for Wii and Nintendo 3DS and can also be played on the Wii U™ system. The Supercharged character not only works in Skylanders SuperChargers Racing, but also as amiibo in compatible Nintendo games, so players can store their saved data in both modes with a simple twist of the figure’s base.

About Skylanders SuperChargers
Skylanders SuperChargers expands upon the franchise’s signature gameplay to introduce a brand-new play pattern to fans, vehicles-to-life. For the first time ever, kids can explore and navigate the mountainous terrains, deep sea environments and big blue skies of Skylands like never before by going behind the wheel of powerful, tricked-out land, sea and sky vehicles – bringing them from physical world into the digital world in a high octane action-adventure videogame. The game offers a diverse and dynamic story-driven gameplay experience, filled with vehicle-based and on-foot adventures featuring combat, puzzles, mini games, activities and platforming — all set within a variety of new compelling environments. Skylanders SuperChargers has 20 land, sea and sky vehicles that are fun to play in the game and in the real world. There is also a new class of heroes — 20 SuperCharger toys that feature all-new powerful attacks and moves, upgrades and personalities. The game supports all 300+ Skylander toys from previous games.

Skylanders SuperChargers will be available on September 25 in Europe and September 20 in North America on the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation® 4 system, PlayStation® 3 system and Nintendo’s Wii U™ system. Additionally, the complete Skylanders SuperChargers experience will be available on iPad®¹. Skylanders SuperChargers Racing will be available on September 25 in Europe and September 20 in North America for Wii™ and Nintendo 3DS.

About the Skylanders® Franchise
The award-winning, $3 billion Skylanders franchise has sold through more than 250 million action figures2 since pioneering the toys-to-life category in 2011 with the debut of Skylanders® Spyro’s Adventure. The game originated a play pattern that seamlessly bridged physical and virtual worlds across multiple platforms. In 2012, Skylanders® Giants further evolved the genre and added LightCore® characters to the collection of interaction figures. Skylanders® SWAP Force™, which launched in 2013, introduced an all new play pattern – swapability. In 2014, Skylanders® Trap Team reversed the magic of bringing toys to life by allowing players to pull characters out of the digital world into the physical world and became the number 1 kids’ console game globally².

About Activision Publishing
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading global producer and publisher of interactive entertainment. Activision maintains operations throughout the world. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com or by following @Activision.

¹Available on select tablet devices
² Based on revenue from January – June, 2015, according to the NPD Group, GfK Chart-track, and Activision Blizzard internal estimates, including toys and accessories.