I had the pleasure of playing a bit of the new Skylanders Giants for Wii U today. Let me preface my impressions with this: I have never played Skylanders before. This was my first time experiencing first-hand the figure-based phenomenon, which may have given me a different view than fans of the franchise. 

In short: I loved every minute of it. I played a portion of the game which took place on a pirate island and focused on a card playing aspect of the game. It was reminiscent of the card battles in Final Fantasy VIII and the like. The simple card game became increasingly addictive as I continued to play, but even the cards had to take a back seat to the constant character switching action I took part in.

The battles were smooth and beautiful. Each character I used had their own fighting style along with different strengths and weaknesses. The Giants were absolutely unbeatable (they had been leveled up) and were a joy to play as. 

The gameplay and structure of the game were just as great as everything else. The game was playable on the Game Pad as well as the TV and was just as easy to switch between as the characters. When the game is played on a television the Game Pad displays the stats of the character in play, including current health, defense and time played, as well as information like current objectives and stage completion. 

Skylanders Giants is awesome. Give it a try. It's goofy, imaginative, fun and endlessly entertaining.