When an Activision game is successful, a sequel is likely to follow in the next year. Activision transformed “Call of Duty” into a multimillion-selling annual event, but exploited the “Guitar Hero” and “Tony Hawk” series until they reached bargain bin status. “Skylanders” appears to be the publisher’s next perennial cash cow.

Hitting store shelves just a year after the release of “Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure,” “Skylanders: Giants” follows its predecessor’s blueprint. As such, the Skylands are once again filled with block-moving puzzles, collectible hats, pushable turtles, breakable crates filled with gems, an annoying green creature that lives inside of locks, doors requiring multiple keys, character tokens that unlock videos of purchasable figurines, element-specific secret zones and boss fights against shadow versions of many of the popular Skylanders characters. Since “Spyro’s Adventure” covered the gamut of standard world types — be it fire, snow or haunted village — most of “Giants’” level designs retread these themes. It’s the same song and dance.

And that’s OK. If this were the fourth or fifth entry in the series, its charm may have worn off, but I had a blast playing this game even if it is painfully familiar most of the time.

The biggest difference between the two entries is the addition of new Giant characters. These lumbering titans stand in at roughly twice the height of standard Skylanders, and can be summoned to lift boulders, smash through weak floorboards, run through walls and pull gigantic chains. On the battlefield, they punch harder and move a little slower, but fit right in with the other Skylanders’ assortment of short- and long-range attack strategies.

When it comes to world exploration, the Giants are a little too slow, and are tight squeezes on narrow paths. As I looked for secrets, I would switch these sloths out for the faster dragon characters, but used them as much as I could in large-scale conflicts or against approaching swarms. The Giants are particularly useful in the new Arena challenges, which pit one Skylander against numerous waves of foes.

Think of the Giants as a ninth class, joining the likes of Earth, Fire and Undead. Although each Giant is aligned to one of those specific traits, only the fact that they are Giants matters in determining which areas they can enter. You won’t need a Water Giant or a Tech Giant at any specific point; one Giant (like Tree Rex, who is packaged with the game) is enough to uncover all of the hidden areas.

All 32 previously released “Skylanders” figurines work with this sequel, and can attain five additional levels to reach the new cap of 15. These levels pass slowly, allowing players to keep their favorite characters in play for a majority of the time. New difficulty settings up the challenge for seasoned players, but even Hard is a little easy. You unlock the most difficult setting, Kaos, after completing the game.

Two unexpected joys came from “Giants.” One: The story. I didn’t much care for the cinematics in “Spyro’s Adventure,” but laughed frequently at the nicely penned humor in “Giants.” Most of the jokes are tied to Lord Kaos, his bid for power, and his loveable butler Glumshanks. My second unexpected joy was a new collectible card game. In most of the levels, you obtain new cards by purchasing them from vendors or beating rival card players in matches. I always like it when games put a collectible item like these cards to good use.

Although “Skylanders” characters are rarely asked to leave their feet, these games remind me of the great Insomniac Games and Naughty Dog platformers from the PlayStation 1 and 2 eras. I wouldn’t necessarily categorize them as collect-a-thons, but the hunt for hidden loot is one of this series’ strongest elements, not to mention the thrill of racing through levels to hit a par time. Although “Skylanders’” gameplay more closely matches the hack ‘n’ slash genre, the spirit of the long-lost platformer is alive and well here.

Pending a retail disaster this year, I suspect another “Skylanders” sequel is already in development and slated for release next holiday. “Giants” makes a good case for the fun and collectability of this series but also raises the warning flag for franchise fatigue.

‘Skylanders: Giants’

8 (out of 10)

PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii

Activision

ESRB rating: E10+

Top 10

ACROSS THE BOARD

The editors of Game Informer Magazine rank the top games for the month of November:

1. “Assassin’s Creed III” (PS3, X360, PC)

2. “XCOM: Enemy Unknown” (PS3, X360, PC)

3. “Need For Speed: Most Wanted” (PS3, X360, PC)

4. “Paper Mario: Sticker Star” (3DS)

5. “Hitman: Absolution” (PS3, X360, PC)

6. “Borderlands 2” (PS3, X360, PC)

7. “Dishonored” (PS3, X360, PC)

8. “FIFA 13” (PS3, X360)

9. “NBA 2K13” (PS3, X60)

10. “Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward” (PS3, Vita, 3DS)

Game Informer Magazine

Gaming news

Xbox Smartglass a step to unify Microsoft content

Microsoft is launching this week Xbox SmartGlass, its bid to better connect the company’s phones, tablets and PCs to the entertainment content offered through its Xbox 360 console and Xbox Live service.

SmartGlass, which the company announced in June, attempts to create a more unified entertainment experience. Through the SmartGlass app — which will be available on Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 devices and also Apple and Google devices — users can stream and synchronize their Xbox online services including movies, TV shows, music and games.

Users can, for instance, start watching a movie on a tablet, then finish watching it on TV while getting additional information about the movie. The tablet or phone can also act as a remote control for the entertainment content on the TV, or act as a smart “second screen.”

The rollout of SmartGlass means Microsoft “will rapidly accelerate the reach of Xbox entertainment from more than 67 million consoles to literally hundreds of millions of devices worldwide,” wrote Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer for its Interactive Entertainment Division, in an official blog post.

— Janet I. Tu, The Seattle Times