Skylanders is no longer by themselves in the toys-to-life genre. By the time the fifth Skylanders game, called Skylanders SuperChargers, hits stores, it’ll be in a world populated by a Star Wars-backed Disney Infinity game and a Lego game that is filled with DC superheroes, Lord of the Rings characters, and much more. That’s not even factoring in whatever Nintendo has up their sleeve with Amiibo this fall. In the face of all that, the big hook in the Vicarious Visions-developed SuperChargers is vehicles. Aside from that, the game promises the same style of gameplay that has made Skylanders one of the biggest new series in the past few years.

SuperChargers adds 20 figures (eight of which are new takes on old characters such as Stealth Elf) and 20 vehicles to the large cast of characters. Each new figure pairs with a vehicle to make them “supercharged,” adding more power to their abilities. The vehicles themselves are split into three categories: land, sea, and air. The land segments feature a racing feel, as you take your race car or motorcycle on long stretches of road, drifting around corners and launching off of huge jumps. The sea sections have you gliding across the water in speedboats and hovercrafts while also diving down beneath the surface to find secret passages and avoid obstacles. The air portion has you flying through the air as jet planes and helicopters in gameplay that seems to resemble Star Fox to an extent.

The figures for the vehicles are novel, especially as some of the land ones feature wheels so you can roll them in real life. One of the sea toys we saw had a propeller that spins. Most of the new figures have some kind of physical element like that to them.

Every vehicle can be upgraded with mods, which are found randomly in hidden treasure chests throughout the game. This changes up their stats and also gives it a different look. One mod for a submarine involves a pool toy add-on named Mr. Squeaks that, as you’d expect, squeaks in game. You can also upgrade your vehicle permanently using gear bits, which are found in each area.

The different vehicle segments feature a mix of straightaways and arenas, filled with boss fights and secrets. They can even all be played in two-player co-op, though that takes on a Mario Kart: Double Dash style of multiplayer as one player steers while the other fires weapons.

The rest of SuperChargers seems to be as polished and fun as the past few games in the series. It’s the same Diablo-lite gameplay where you’re traipsing through wonderful worlds, fighting enemies, solving puzzles, and powering up your Skylanders. Part of what Vicarious Visions is trying to bring to SuperChargers are levels with a central gameplay hook. For example, the level we saw featured clouds that obscured the world around you. Part of the goal of the level is to clear those clouds so you can solve puzzles and progress. Another level features a shrink ray that grows and shrinks objects, which opens up other puzzle and combat concepts. One later stage places you on the back of a dragon that alters the environment as he sways back and forth.

All previous figures work with this game, even the Traps introduced in last year’s game. The Traps only add bonuses, such as upgraded mod boosts and unique Skystones cards.

Like other recent Skylanders games, SuperChargers also features new twists on popular mini-games. The lock-pick mini-game is called Livewire Lock, and tasks you with charging up the the little lock gremlin guy. The card games Skystones comes back as Skystones Overdrive, which adds new cards and gameplay mechanics (but we didn’t see it in action, sadly).

Skylanders SuperChargers is coming to Wii U later this year, in addition to unique Beenox-developed versions on Wii and 3DS. The Wii U Starter Pack includes Spitfire, Super Shot Stealth Elf, and the vehicle Hot Streak.

As someone who has enjoyed all of the past Skylanders games, I’m looking forward to trying out SuperChargers. However, there is definitely a part of me that looks at the addition of vehicles and doesn’t see it as more than a superfluous add-on. I was initially skeptical of the villain-trapping mechanic from last year, but in practice, it opened up the game in unique ways that it doesn’t seem like the vehicles will do. A good chance exists that my skepticism will wash away once I get my hands on the game, but that will have to wait until I see how the vehicles handle for myself at E3 2015.