Yep, in the original game they went up to level 10.
In the new game they go up to level 15.

The only thing that leveling does is give you more HP.
You have to buy the power-ups (new abilities) with in game $.
Plus to make your Skylander better, you can do Heroic Challenges.
These challenges are pretty tough, but if you complete them it gives one of your stats a boost.

The stats are Speed, Attack, Defense, and Elemental Power.
The one thing about the older characters when transferring over, is that any stat increases will NOT be transferred over.

Yes you can take the figures over to a friends house (they can have the version of the game for ANY system) to battle or team up.

There are battle arenas to fight in, or you can just help beat a level.

Yes if you are not careful, this game series can be extremely expensive.
If you want all the figures, that is. Some of the figures from the last game are still really hard to find, and I am talking about just normal figures, not the stuff like glow-in-the-dark, translucent, or even silver/gold figures.
Of course there were figures from various toy fairs/comic cons as well.

Though this time it looks like Activision might be on their game a bit better.
Cause right when the game came out (on Sunday) there were tons of the new figures to get. Apparently the second wave is already out as well.

Though I bet that after Christmas these are gonna be hard to find again.

Interplatform compatibility? This game just keeps sounding better and better.

I bought three PS3 games recently.

Marvel vs Capcom 3 (original) - It only cost $10 at Kmart and the game really surprised me.

Soul Calibur 5 - I bought it over the weekend for $30 (used a $25 gift card, final tally $7.24). Surprisingly, my local GameStop still had a couple copies with the free character DLC, so that's an extra $5 savings since I don't have to buy it on the PSN. Unfortunately, it's not as fun as Soul Calibur 4, but still enjoyable.

Street Fighter x Tekken - I just bought it a few minutes ago on NewEgg. It only cost $20 and I got free shipping (and no tax).

The last installment I played was Soul Calibur II on the Gamecube. I destroyed it! Lotsa fun. My soul was at one with Mitsurugi. I was also unstoppable with both Talim and Maxi.

I had the PS2 version.

The best game out of the bunch IMO is Soul Calibur 4. They perfection the create a character mode (introduced in SC3) and they had playable cameos of Darth Vader and Yoda from Star Wars in the game.

Great to see Talim and Maxi love. They were my favorites in SC2, I stopped at SC3 when they introduced CAC. No thank you, so glad Team NINJA is staying away from that so far.

Lately I've been playing Hotline Miami, a PC game available exclusively through Steam. I'm very far from complete with Dishonored (I'm on my second playthrough), but this game simply demands to be played.

I've had this game for two days, have racked up between 5 and 7 hundred personal deaths, yet still have zero reservations in diving back in for more fun. Fine tuning your tactic & approach is extremely rewarding. Both Dishonored & Hotline Miami are highly recommended.

Got some extra $ for watching my parents neighbors cats (they went with my parents to Florida last week).

So I decided to pick up a used DS Lite for $50 (sold my old one).
Cause I just "Gotta Catch Em All!" in Pokemon Black 2 (which I also bought).

Also got one Skylander figure called Fright Rider (Undead).
Mostly cause he looked cool.

Skylaners Giants is getting a release on the Wii U.

Just order -
Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland Limited Edition.
Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland Limited Edition.
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland Limited Edition.

Around $260....
Man, my wallet is crying out to me,

This hand of mine is burning red AND it's reaching for my wallet, it's loud roar tells me to stop! TAKE THIS AND THIS AND ALL OF MY MONEY! SHINNING FINGER PURCHASE! CREDIT CARD! CREDIT CARD! CREDIT CARDDDD!!!!

*presses the ENTER button to summit final order*

My wallets a sad Panda now ='(