Swap Force is another winning entry in the [i]Skylanders[/i] series, proving once again that games aimed at children can provide fun for those that detest them. Deep pockets will be required to get the most out of the game, but even the vanilla version still represents value for money.

With its kid-friendly content and massive range of optional toy figurines, it’s easy to write the Skylanders series off as a cynical cash-grab targeted at society’s most annoying and stinky demographic. If that is the case, it’s working incredibly well – Activision is building forts out of the fat stacks rolling in not only from the Skylanders games and associated toys, but also from book and mobile tie-ins. Fortunately, in Swap Force, any accusations of shaky ethics are largely held at bay by exceedingly well-designed core gameplay and what seems like a fair amount of content in front of the series' trademark paywalls.

Swap Force is the third title in the third-person fixed-perspective action adventure franchise, and sees up to two players platforming, puzzling, and battling their way across a swathe of beautifully rendered floating islands in an effort to thwart the suitably dastardly plans of a chap by the name of Kaos. Familiar to anyone who has played the previous games, Kaos is a great villain: a cowardly, ambitious, hilarious weakling who is expertly voiced by Invader Zim's Richard Steven Horvitz.

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