In the late 1950s, Pierre “Peyo” Culliford, a Belgian cartoonist created The Smurfs. The comics centered on a diminutive Hob-like race of blue gnomes that lived in mushrooms and would go on adventures. The humble comic eventually became a multi-media juggernaut, with the little blue boogers plastered all over lunchboxes, theme parks, and was responsible for the most obnoxious theme song of all time. The Smurfs were even printed on minted Belgian currency.
Landfills and trailer parks would be overrun with endless Smurf merchandise. There was no escaping Smurf mania and just when you thought it had faded into obscurity, The Smurfs would make a comeback in big-budget Hollywood films and of course, video games. For some, seeing the Smurfs is like the sight of their dead grandmother crawling up their legs with a knife in her teeth. It’s familiar, yet you wish it would finally go away.
There are over 20 Smurf video games. It’s an IP that has been passed around from multiple publishers and developers like a bag of mushrooms in a hippie commune. With Microïds on watch and the venerable Ocellus Studios throwing their hat into the ring, how would a modern take on The Smurfs play? What would it be about? Find out in The Smurfs: Dreams review!
The Smurfs: Dreams
Developer: Ocellus Studios
Publisher: Microïds
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (reviewed)
Release Date: October 24, 2024
Price: $39.99
The dastardly Gargamel is up to his old tricks again and doses the entire Smurf village with a chemical agent, putting all of the Smurfs to sleep. The only Smurfs awake are Papa Smurf and the unnamed player Smurf. Players can choose between a male or a female Smurf, although that goes against the lore since Smurfette was supposed to be the sole female.
When Protag Smurf arrives in town, Papa Smurf puts him or her straight to work saving the village. Going inside the villagers’ dreams and fighting the big boss in their dreamscapes is the only way to wake them. The entire experience is structured like Super Mario 3D World, where players will roam an overworld, select a stage, and collect stuff to open up more stages.
The Smurfs: Dreams cleverly leans on its premise, sidestepping all logic for level designs. The developers won’t have to abide by any rules since anything goes in dreams. Why do Smurfs get guns? Why are they rail-grinding across surreal backdrops like Tony Hawk after a sip from a mystery brown bottle? It’s all a dream, so no explanation is needed.
Having everything be a dream is a cheat and deflates any tension in the story. Some details like how the passage of time may differ while dreaming are glossed over. How the magic works is also unimportant. The only thing that matters is getting players to run through these insane gauntlets. The fervent adherence to gameplay first ultimately robs all meaning in the game, making the experience feel disconnected with no emotional core to latch onto.
There needed to be some voice acting to give the Smurfs some personality. All dialogue is presented as illustrated images which is creative and cost-efficient, but this is a game made for children. Emulating aspects of the cartoons or CGI films would have gone a long way in injecting some character into the Smurfs. As is, The Smurfs: Dreams feels like it could be anything and comes off as a generic 3D platformer with no identity.
Fans of Super Mario 3D World will take to The Smurfs: Dreams like a Frenchman with a baguette. Both games are gauntlet-style 3D platformers, rife with obstacles, baddies, and stage gimmicks to keep the action fresh and interesting. The Smurfs: Dreams is also a game that can be played with a friend. While it does not feature the utter bedlam of a four-player co-op, having only two players maximum makes the experience manageable.
The Smurfs: Dreams control mechanics are basic and are like its contemporaries with a camera. There won’t ever be issues with the POV since the camera is fixed and controlled by the game’s designers. Protag Smurf can run, hop, and bop on enemies, blast ranged targets with a generous auto-targeting system, and hover in mid-air like Yoshi.
There is some skill ceiling involved when combining the dash, jumps, and bubbles to achieve momentum. It’s satisfying to clear shortcuts in levels and bypass areas by mastering these moves. The Smurfs: Dreams impressed me with its unique take on mobility and polished playability. This is a solid and tightly made game with care put into how it feels to play.
More advanced techniques is dashing which can be strung together with the bubble move which freezes Smurfs in mid-air. I’m not the most well-versed Smurfs guy and researching Smurfs lore, I couldn’t find any explanation of how this bubble thing works in the reality of the comics or cartoons. Perhaps it’s a result of the developers injecting something original into an admittedly bland product, but it’s assumed it’s another feature explained by dream-logic.
The graphics look amazing and the art is faithful to the source material. Once again, I am not a Smurf expert, but I am old enough to know that Peyo’s style has been accurately represented in most Smurf media. The Smurf’s: Dreams looks exactly how I remember the characters. Everyone is designed on model and has an appropriate cartoon squash and stretchiness to their animation which feels great while running around and avoiding threats.
Most of the 3D models have pleasing round edges. Nothing ever looks harsh or jagged. This is a very illustrative and cute-looking game that kids will resonate with and runs at a perfect 60 frames per second. The art sometimes resembles a CGI-animated TV show. Various particle effects and reflective surfaces make the visuals pop and make the dreamscapes look spectacular.
The Smurfs: Dreams may not be very original or do much with the source material, but the boys at Ocellus Studios are superb artists and crafted the prettiest Smurfs game of all time. Boss battles are a highlight and boast the biggest spectacles this game has to offer, with huge and expressive characters filling the screen.
The same cannot be said for the sleep-inducing music. Some stages can get a little hairy, and the background music fades into the background and never tries to feel like there is any sense of urgency. It usually sounds like a stock-whimsical cottagecore score. The Smurfs don’t have an inherent musical identity or style. It’s an IP that has usually relied on pop songs and that couldn’t be an option for Dreams.
The Smurfs: Dreams is surprisingly fun and beautiful-looking. This is the best outcome for an IP that is traditionally used as shovelware fodder. It is disappointing that the core gameplay is overly safe and derivative, but the young target audience won’t know that. The lack of effort for the narrative and characters makes it hard for anyone to care about The Smurfs as a concept, but the trade-off is imaginative and wild levels.
The Smurfs: Dreams was reviewed on a PlayStation 5 using a copy provided by Microïds. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. The Smurfs: Dreams is now available for Windows PC (via Steam), Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
