Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Wii version has a problem. We cannot get past the Dreamcatcher chapter (Telescope Tower) because the game freezes with the loud buzz (must pull the plug and completely restart the Wii). It does this at the same spot every time. It's at the battle with the Dreamcatcher right after you get the key from the "scientists" locked in the box - you play Skystones Smash to get the key from the scientists. Once you use the key to open the door, and go the spot for the battle with Dreamcatcher (right after her telling you she's setting her minions on you) the game freezes. We've tried multiple characters and get the same result every time. There's no system update for the Wii. Thought that with all the problems with Swap Force that Activision would make sure this sort of problem would not happen again....very disappointing!!!! FIRST UPDATE: Activision's website support suggest going through the chapter in segments...in other words go through and collect hats, treasures, etc., and when the game freezes, start all over again but don't back through the areas you've already been to. We got to the final battle with Dreamcatcher with that strategy and the game froze again (hard freeze). We are going to try redoing the chapter by going quickly to the end. The problem with this approach is it's extra effort to work around inadequacies in the software...ugh! I will update if we manage to get through this chapter. You'll probably have to go through this chapter four or five times to get to the end. Again, very disappointing!!!!! SECOND UPDATE: We've tried three times (using the strategy of using the quickest route to the final battle with Dreamcatcher) - all to no avail. In the final battle, the game does a hard freeze at the same spot. Dreamcatcher is down to just a little bit of energy and as the row of beds come down the game does a hard freeze. THIRD UPDATE: We finally finished Telescope Towers. The trick seems to be to go very, very quickly - don't try to pick up a single coin or anything - just get to the battle sequence as quickly as possible. This means you want to go through the first few times and find all the areas and gather all the treasures. Once you have been through the chapter and have everything you can get, then head for the battle. You can be in the chapter, pause the game, and then check Objectives to see what you've gathered. It's not an ideal solution, but it worked for us. Rather than having the game freeze on you, you can get through part of the chapter and then stop and return to the Academy. When you go back to the chapter, you will start at the beginning but you won't have to go through areas that you've already covered and the Objectives show that you have gathered those items. Activision's support has some comments on this issue. The answers from Activision basically are go quickly because it's a timing thing and don't fall off the edge in the battle. You have got to be kidding me - no one wants to fall off the edge but when the tiles you"re on are changing to red (meaning you can't be on them) and you're running to destroy beds and Dreamcatcher, it's a challenge not to EVER fall off. This "solution" is absurd - it's basically blaming the player for the freezing (if you don't fall off, maybe the game won't freeze). After all, Skylanders is a kid's game (although tremendously fun for all ages); Activision should not have solutions for software glitches that basically tell a little kid to be an expert. HEY, ACTIVISION: THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!! FOURTH UPDATE: Finished the chapters and defeated Kaos!!! Didn't have any more freezes during the chapters; HOWEVER, did have a hard freeze when scrolling through the hats for one of the characters. Had to unplug and restart. We also noticed that although the older characters do play on the Trap Team game, they don't seem to be as effective as they were in their original game. For example, Spy Rise (one of our favorites who is level 20 with 65,000 points and absolutely unstoppable for my type of playing) isn't as effective as he was in Swap Force. One thing that could be the issue is the button assignments. For all three prior games Attack 3 has always been Z (on the nunchuck). For Trap Team, Attack 2 is Z and Attack 3 is C. Not sure why they made another button assignment change (they changed in Swap Force) for this game, but I question whether or not it was really necessary. Since a Magic Trap Master hasn't been released yet, we will still need to go back to Telescope Towers to get all the stars. So, we have gone back to Telescope Towers and have confirmed that you absolutely need to do all your exploring and then go back to the Academy and restart the chapter BEFORE battling Dreamcatcher at the end. This chapter has issues even after you complete the chapter; you still have to get to the final battle quickly or the game will freeze. FIFTH UPDATE: The floating elemental block in the game room (the ones that go to the top and give you a reward) have stopped working. Not sure when this stopped working but it was near the final chapters. The blocks stop before the top rung...not sure if this is part of the game or if it's a glitch.