The mischievous blue elves are back for some 3d platforming, fun filled goodness. Will publisher Microids deliver an enjoyable, endearing little platformer. Or, is this just another cheap cash-in on a popular cartoon brand destined for the trash bin?
Well, fans of the cartoon series/films can heave a sigh of relief as it’s certainly not the latter. Whilst not quite up there in the upper echelons with the likes of your Marios, Crash Bandicoots, and certainly the older Sonic releases. The Smurfs Dreams provides an authentic, enjoyable (if somewhat brief), mixed experience that doesn’t quite hit the highs of said games. (That influenced this title), but it holds up on its own to offer a relatively simple story that presents smooth gameplay, charming level design, and some eye-pleasing visuals.
Published by Microids, The Smurfs: Dreams is their fifth entry into the franchise’s video game catalog, providing gamers with a solo/co-op 3d platforming game spread across the Astral universe. Offering four dream worlds, 12 levels, and 16 mini-levels.
The game’s narrative starts off with the evil Gargamel cursing Smurf Village into a sleeping metropolis. With the majority of the beloved blue creatures powerless, caged up, and in a deep sleep it’s down to clumsy Smurf to enter their dreams, to save their friends from their nightmares, and rescue Smurf village.
So, onwards and upwards as the journey starts with the opening couple of dream worlds that involve Tailor Smurf and Chef Smurf. Navigating through these levels was comfortably easy, offering little challenge until chapter 4’s Bigmouth boss fight. (Sadly there aren’t many of these) and yet rather ironically, I found Bigmouth (the game’s first boss) the most difficult.
Getting through the crisp-looking levels is a breeze, with power-ups in the form of a gun that fires projectiles to stun AI and provide a long-distance switch flick for ledges, a lamp that identifies invisible paths to progress, and lastly, the hammer that helps build platforms, squash critters, and also demolish platforms to advance deeper into the game. Movement mechanics involve Jumping, dashing, and hopping through levels to progress the game.
Enemies come in the form of varying ladybug-like critters that scurry after you and come in numerous sizes. Watch out for the dark, threatening thunderclouds that obstruct pathways. Then, there are the menacing big bugs that pound down on you from above, crushing through brittle platforms/ledges.
Most worlds try to stay in tune with the smurf of which you’re rescuing. Chef Smurfs world is full of candy canes, chocolate egg shells, pastries, and other appropriate foods (Some great rendering I’d like to add). Latter worlds such as Gargamel’s are based around a prison-like environment (fits the theme of the Smurfs being trapped) and Handy Smurfs’ first chapter is titled “Tunnel Under Construction”.
Rather disappointingly object interaction isn’t great. Despite levels having themed designs linked with the Smurf being rescued. The immersion offers little as you can’t do anything within the environment to mix things up. Besides rummaging through bushes to find sarsaparilla and using the linear paths and platforms to advance through each stage, further environment interaction is annoyingly limited.
Some of the challenges to unlock the blue bonus mushrooms needed to unlock other worlds can be entertaining. (I was pleasantly surprised at the Smurfball mini-game).
In terms of dynamics and interaction within the environments, the game is restricted. The visually gorgeous and magical Smurf village is sadly lacking in exploration and depth despite the abundance of mushroom huts that could have been entered for further mini-games and background details on the main Smurf characters featured in the game. (For newcomers who have limited knowledge of the franchise this would have been most useful).
This area perhaps gives me the most disappointment with a what could have been perspective.
It’s certainly the most immersive area in the game, with neat little touches like signs flipping around as you run into them, and friendly smurfs dashing around the village, gardening, singing, and chatting. As you progress through the game, the village comes alive.
Yet, for all its clear vibrance it becomes evidently more obviously lacking in features and detailed interactions.
Microtransactions also play a part in the game (albeit a minor one) as the option to unlock numerous costume designs is available at mixed prices. In fairness, most appear to be purchasable with the in-game currency via orbs and boss tokens.
The presentation feels authentic and ticks the right boxes. Smurf NPCS, and Gargamel all look smooth and realistic. For the most part, the audio experience sets an exciting, fantasy-like tone that fits the vibe of the stage.
Long-term fans of the show will get a good kick out of how well the game plays, looks, and sounds. Gameplay animations, movement, and combat are smooth. There are no janky ness or awkward camera angles to be found, (unlike other platform titles). Perhaps their only gripe will be how easy the game is to sail through. Some of the later stages shake things up (a follow-the-shadow challenge for example). I guess what with The Smurfs: Dreams probably aimed at a young audience it’ll be an ideal purchase for teenagers after a captivating game offering some light-hearted fun.
The main story can be finished in just under five hours, levels can be completed in a matter of minutes making the price point at what would seem (between 34.99 and 44.99) fairly steep in my opinion. Whilst the co-op option is a welcome feature for folk who wish to play with others, I can’t see much replay value once all the worlds are unlocked.
This fits into my point earlier about the Smurf village lacking depth and lore. The developers (Ocellus Studios) arguably missed a trick here, as this home hub could have given trophy hunters and die-hards reasons to return.
Fans looking for an authentically smurftastic experience will get that in some aspects with this release but not in others. Environments stay true to their animated counterparts and the character models have never looked better. Yet, the issues aren’t so much with the gameplay or the aesthetics. If gamers are looking for a lengthy, more challenging puzzle-like platforming experience with added features, lore, and further replay value then this isn’t it.
The PlayStation 5 review code has been provided by Microids. The Smurfs: Dreams releases 24/10/24 for the Xbox family, PS4/PS5, Nintendo Switch Console, and on Steam.
