What has blue skin, wears a Phrygian cap and has the most infectious theme song ever to grace our television sets? The Smurfs are back and doing everything they can to escape the clutches of the ever-devious Gargamel. Sing a happy song with me as we dive into The Smurfs: Dreams, developed by Ocellus Studio and published by Microids for the Nintendo Switch.

Gargamel is always cooking up new evil schemes to capture the Smurfs. His latest scheme sees the evil sorcerer casting a curse on the Sarsaparilla bushes, causing a deep slumber over the Smurfs after consuming the delicious leaves. Thankfully, Papa Smurf was busy in his mushroom hut and concocted a cure to wake the sleeping Smurfs. The campaign’s setup reminds me of the typical Smurf adventures seen on television, only this time I get to be the Smurf that foils old Gargamel’s evil scheme.

Players take on the role of an unnamed Smurf, who must traverse the Astral Plaine and wake his fellow Smurfs trapped within their worst dreams. To successfully wake Smurfs from their slumber, the player must bounce, run, jump, float, dive, and solve puzzles across multiple levels before defeating giant bosses on the final level of each Smurf dream. 

Defeating enemies is simple for the most part. Most enemies are defeated by bouncing on top of them. Tougher enemies require a little more thought and at times you’ll even need to puzzle-solve on the fly to defeat them.

Even when the puzzle fight is easily solved, the added stress of a spiked enemy threatening to roll over the top of you can be challenging and very enjoyable. Boss battles play out similarly, except they have cranked the danger level up to the max. These battles are intense and managed to put a veteran like myself through some hell. 

To progress the story further, players must rescue the required number of Smurfs from their dreams. On top of this main story progression, players can also collect Astral Mushrooms hidden throughout each level. Collecting enough Astral Mushrooms will unlock mini-dreams that allow you to rescue even more Smurfs. Once you have awoken Tailor Smurf from his slumber, you will unlock the ability to customise your Smurf and change your outfit. Outfits are unlocked by collecting coloured threads awarded within major character dreams. Other outfits can be purchased with Smurf-berries collected within each level. 

The gameplay is incredibly well-refined, and controls are easily picked up and mastered. My only concern is that the game might be far too tough for our younger players. Thankfully, local co-op is supported, which could help to ease that burden on our young gamers. Sharing this experience with my young nieces and nephews when they come over is a priceless joy. I feel that there could be a slightly easier difficulty included so that our young ones can also enjoy the solo experience.

Ocellus Studio has done such an amazing job bringing the Smurfs to life. I enjoyed slowly watching Smurf Village spring to life as I rescued more smurfs. Each Smurf to rescue has a dream world that is unique to their personality, which makes each new dream world feel fresh and exciting.

I love the vibrant art style and top-notch level design on display. I particularly enjoyed the free-fall levels. Not only were they the visual spectacle, but they kept the heart racing the entire time. Visual performance sadly takes a small hit when playing undocked, with a slightly blurrier image. 

I would have loved to have heard loads more voice acting instead of the few Hey, Hi, and gentle snores of sleeping Smurfs. I did enjoy the sense of encouragement as I made the leap from Lilypad to Lilypad and heard the crescendoing Ooooh from the group of Smurfs cheering me on.

The accompanying soundtrack ties every aspect of the game together so well that it almost completely steals the show. Boss fight music is intense and perfectly suited to each encounter. The background music in the Astral Plaine is so relaxing and dream-like that I could quite easily listen to it to switch off and go to sleep. 

The Smurfs: Dreams is a 3D puzzle platformer bursting at the seams with creativity in level design. A vibrant journey into the dreams of Smurfs, with each new dream feeling unique and fresh. A thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish that will constantly have you thinking on your feet, especially in those incredible boss battles. Best played in local co-op with our little gamers and is the perfect stocking filler for Christmas. The question now is, do you have what it takes to rescue all of the Smurfs from the evil Gargamel?

Written by: Gary Nielsen