The Smurfs – Review
The Smurfs have been around for quite some time and are most commonly known for their magical adventures. After many years, these small adorable blue critters still have a gift of getting into trouble, even though they are the most gentle creatures one could find on this blue giant. It seems they smurfed themselves into a new predicament, as their village is completely destroyed. Smurf up some Smurfs and smurf everything back to its original smurf.
Story
Out of the blue, the Smurfs’ town has been destroyed and the poor blue victims have no clue who could have done it. Nonetheless, they did not fall to despair and merrily brainstormed about how they could fix the village and even make it better than it used to be. Other than that, there’s not that much story value this game will deliver but it might be enough to captivate a young(er) audience.
Overall the story is brought to you through small dialogues, which lack in content. These conversations usually only last a few minutes at max, often with a small witty remark or an amusing situation that will surely make some people giggle, slightly.
Graphics
Graphically, The Smurfs is actually a decent looking title for the Nintendo 3DS. The 3D rendered animations are bright, colorful and above all, the animations stay true to the original comic book series. All of the Smurfs look like a 3D version of their drawn counterparts and the color palette captures them just perfectly. Same can be said about the village the blue critters dwell in. All of the curvy roads, the colorful mushrooms and the luscious forest surrounding the village are present.
A fun touch the developers put a decent amount of effort into is making sure that the Smurfs have a decent amount of facial expressions. Whilst this may be common in most modern games, children’s titles often overlook these small details. Especially when playing the hide and seek game, nothing beats looking into the eyes of a pissed off Smurf.
The Smurfs also has a few 2D images, like the map and the unlockable artwork. Just like the 3D interpretations, these also follow the comic book designs to the letter and give the game an authentic feel.
As expected, the 3D capabilities of the 3DS aren’t fully exploited, as it has already been proven that 3D effects that are too strong aren’t that well for children. Nonetheless, some pretty 3D animations can be seen when you turn on the 3D mode of the handheld.
Sound
Except for the few different catchy tunes and simple sound effects, there’s not that much to say about the overall sound quality of the game. The different songs are decent, pleasant to listen to, but they are never groundbreaking. The effects are simple but get the job done.
Sadly, the game does not have any voice acting, which feels like a missed opportunity. A game such as this one would be great if there was a storyteller or some voice acting during the limited conversations, to create another layer of authenticity or a fairytale-like experience.
Gameplay
The Smurfs is a collection of mini-games that revolve around the reconstruction of the mushroom village. Whilst there aren’t that many different mini-games, they evolve throughout the game, which makes the game slightly more interesting.
At the beginning of the game the village is a total mess. There will not be a single mushroom that is still standing and thus you’ll have to concern yourself with some reconstruction, before you can find the culprit. You’ll have to start off with rebuilding Papa Smurf’s house, as he will be leading the entire operation. From here on out, for everything you will have to do in order to gain materials or build something, be it houses or decorations, you will have to play a mini-game in order to perform any of those actions.
These mini-games are often quite straightforward, seeing you will frequently have to tap the screen on pinpointed areas, make circular movements or perform other predetermined strokes with the stylus. Whilst the games themselves are quite limited, they offer enough variety to keep things interesting. You’ll go from cleaning the town to chopping wood, mining rocks, to mixing potions, making pies and so on. Things will certainly stay fresh for a younger audience.
As you progress through the very short storyline of the game, you’ll notice that all of the existing mini-games will get harder and add extra options and commands for you to perform. Even though the games will never become extremely hard, it’s fun to see some kind of evolution, instead of copy pasting the same few mini-games over and over.
Whilst most mini-games will add to the reconstruction of the village, there are some games that will boost the ‘morale’ of your fellow blue henchmen. When their morale meter is filled up, you will gain bonuses after completing other mini-games, in terms of extra materials and faster construction. At the beginning of the game you will have no opportunity to boost morale, but as you start building enough decoration pieces for your tiny town, the morale meter starts getting bigger and bigger, making sure you will be able to use it for several games, before having to refill it.
As an adult, you’ll be able to beat the game in roughly three hours, but even then you will still be able to enjoy yourself, to a certain extent. As children will have a tad more effort in getting the hang of everything, they should be able to have some fun for several hours to come. Even when the village is finished, they can still play all of the different mini-games, add decorations to the houses or try to get some higher scores.
For some reason the game feels a bit as if it could also have been created for a smartphone. You’ll constantly be tapping things onscreen, gathering items and repeating the same process over and over again. If they added timers that delay the gathering of materials or construction times, this would fall in line with many of the current ‘mobile’ games. Luckily, this wasn’t the case.
Conclusion
Overall, The Smurfs is a basic collection of mini-games but the game also has a decent amount of appeal. The overall atmosphere is quite bright and colorful and will give many children a 3D glimpse of the beautiful world of the Smurfs. The games are quite simple, but they evolve throughout the game, keeping things interesting. Whilst this might not be a top title, children will surely be able to have some fun with it.
The Smurfs - Review,
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