The Smurfs: Dreams, by Ocellus Studio and Microids, is a surprisingly enjoyable, highly competent, licensed platformer about tiny poisoned, topless blue creatures who live in the forest. Strangely, there is no movie or cartoon marketing tie-in. Stranger yet, does anyone even care or know about the Smurfs, especially in late 2024? But do not let the b-tier characters distract you; this is a wholesome “out of nowhere, why does this exist” platformer that is way better than you probably assume.
Gargamel Bill Cosbys all the Smurfs by lacing their berries with a knockout poison that puts them in a deep slumber. Playing as the only conscious Smurf, it is your job to wake them from their dreams one by one. With each woke Smurf, the town slowly becomes more lively and new features are unlocked. For example, once you save the tailor, the player can then change outfits. It is a rewarding mechanic and makes you want to save every Smurf especially when you see them defenselessly passed out on the side of the road. Bouncing on their bellies while passed out doesn’t seem morally right either.
Gameplay-wise, it is difficult to not draw comparisons to recent Mario titles, Super Mario 3D Land/World in particular. It isn’t a fully open 3D space but each stage is a contained linear area. Strangely, the playable Smurf has a 2-heart health bar as opposed to the video game standard of three hits. However, there is no penalty for dying. You just get sent back to the nearest checkpoint which is never far and all collected items remain collected even upon restart. The challenge also remains low but never boring even with a 2-hit health bar, making it a perfect game for younger players.
Speaking of collectables, there are tons. Instead of collecting gold coins, each stage is littered with hundreds of berries. Collected berries can then be used to purchase new outfits but only if the optional yarn rolls are found within each stage. In addition, each stage has multiple blue mushrooms to find. Collecting these blue shrooms are much more beneficial as they unlock more stages. Some are obviously hidden but others probably won’t be found on first attempts. In fact, I usually missed one blue mushroom in each stage and thoroughly combed each area… or so I thought. So the challenge of getting through each stage is never overly difficult but snagging all the collectables can be, which is a considerate trade off.
Which leads me to a somewhat minor complaint – some stages are actually too long. Main Smurf characters are often locked behind a series of three long stages which can take well over a half hour to complete. Thankfully, checkpoints are available if you want to go back and look for collectables you missed so you don’t have to replay the entire stage. However, right around the halfway point, the repetition sets in. Using one bumper to say “hey” to fellow Smurfs starts incredibly charming but eventually becomes a chore. The same goes for the objects and actions within each area. If you are not collecting a handful of puzzle pieces, you will be bouncing on the heads on the same slug creatures, timing jumps on dissolving platforms, or using the other bumper to shoot/throw something at the thing to activate the other thing. The puzzles and action segments are basically all the same but doesn’t really become obvious until half of the Smurf town is back on its feet. Even though the back half is basically reusing content from the front half, it still is pleasantly enjoyable and all stages are available in 2 player co-op.
Also, there really is no reason why a Smurf game should look and sound this good. Colorful vistas paint well into the distance of each area, complimented by sweeping orchestral tunes and cartoony animation. Seriously, why does a licensed game about a forgotten IP without a movie tie-in have this high of production values? The hub world is also filled with little details and secrets that reward the player if they look hard enough.
The Smurfs: Dreams isn’t Mario or Kirby quality but this is probably as close as a licensed 3rd party title has gotten to these A-List comparisons in recent memory. Even though there is repetition in the presentation and gameplay, this is still a quality, wholesomely charming co-op 3D platformer that really doesn’t have any business being as good as it is.
Also, if you want to try it yourself, there is a free demo available on pretty much all major platforms.
Also Play: Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Don’t Forget About: Revenge of the Smurfs (GBA) Single-Pak Link multiplayer mode
Wait For It: a good Shrek game
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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RATING
SCORE - 8
8
SCORE
A surprisingly fun, wholesome platformer that really doesn’t have any reason to be as good as it is.