The Smurfs – Dreams review

When it comes to interactive adaptations, The Smurfs have long struggled. For decades they’ve starred in shovelware rather than anything that approached success. But that began to shift with the 2021 release of The Smurfs – Mission Vileaf. Building on the versatility and ingenuity of Super Mario Sunshine’s F.L.U.D.D. robotic backpack, developer OSome Studio looked toward Nintendo’s accomplishments when building their game.

And largely, that’s the case for Ocellus, the team behind Marsupilami: Hoobadventure. With The Smurfs – Dreams, the Lyon, France-based developers draw unmistakable inspiration from Super Mario 3D World. But that comparison expands past proficient platforming in a three-dimensional, cartoonish world. Dreams truly excels due to skillful level design, too.

Dream Analysis

But let’s start where Dreams underwhelms: its connective tissue. The game’s premise centers around old Gargamel casting a spell on the sarsaparilla plants that the Smurfs devour. You play as one of the few blue folks who didn’t eat the leaves that lured everyone else into a deep slumber. To awaken your comatose comrades, you’ll need to journey into their subconscious, much like the Psychonauts series.

Sure, there are a few worries like imprisonment or sharp objects. But largely, Dreams keeps the journey frothy and vibrant as you plumb psyches fixated on sweets, mirrors, and naturally, a gargantuan Gargamel. And while keeping the tone light meshes with the source material, there’s little justification for having a labyrinthine hub world or non-interactive rail-riding sequences between areas. Fortunately, The Smurfs stirs to life once you enter one of its 12 stages and 16 mini-levels.

Smurftastic Stages

Move into one of these digital dreamscapes and you’ll discover proficient stage design. With the ability to leap and hover at the peak of your jump (as well as create a floating bubble), your Smurf has a moveset that feels a bit like controlling Yoshi. And save for the intermittent tumble that feels like it wasn’t entirely your fault, traversing each dream feels engaging. And yes, there’s a myriad of collectables if you favor exploration and light puzzle solving over platforming.

Undoubtedly, the difficulty skews just a bit higher than Nintendo’s approach, extending a satisfying but not overwhelming challenge – especially if you’re hoping to gather every last concealed object. Thankfully, generous check-pointing and a mechanic that forgives a single collision with enemies keeps things from feeling unfair.

Smurfing With You

Across the six-hour campaign, Ocellus provides a wealth of creative gimmicks, such as when your Smurf is forced to navigate by looking at a mirrored reflection. So, while you’re scampering across invisible walkways on the bottom of the screen, you’ll see platforms on the top of screen, which is brilliantly disorienting. You’ll also encounter more than the typical number of interactive tools, getting access to weapons that range from a pop gun to a substantial sledgehammer.

Technically, Smurfs – Dreams is solid. Optionally, you can bring another person for local co-op play. Here, the screen attempts to zoom out to capture both Smurfs. But if you’re too far apart, the trailing player is automatically teleported back into the action, which is a simple solution to a common problem. The game attempts to scale things down for lower-end rigs. As such, Dream is quite playable on Steam Deck. If you drop the graphical fidelity down to medium, you’ll be treated to a solid, 60 frame-per-second output.

The Smurfs – Dreams was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.