The Smurfs Dreams PS5 Review

I always enjoyed watching the Smurfs. I think that the franchise should be studied by economists, as it provides effective crisis management strategies for small societies. Microids releases another game with blue humanoid individuals right now. What kind of crisis are we to deal with this time?

In The Smurfs – Dreams from Ocellus Studio Gargamel strikes again. The evil wizard curses sarsaparilla bushes, making all the creatures that eat the plant fall asleep. The player travels through dreams of several Smurfs, aiming to awaken them. Each dream constitutes a different world.

The mechanics in the game are charming and highly enjoyable. The protagonist jumps, evades obstacles and solves simple environmental puzzles. Amongst the less obvious tasks there are slipping on big bagels and freezing enemies with icing. Also, a few collectibles wait for us.

Besides, the character can carelessly hop on entirely every Smurf he – or she – meets in the game. Sounds quite stupid, but once you try it, you’ll love it. This is one of the mechanics nobody asked for but everyone needed.

I associate the games about the Smurfs with the third-person view. I remember Mission Vileaf or The Prisoner of the Green Stone, both published by Microids, though developed by a different studio. In The Smurfs – Dreams, the perspective slightly changes. It becomes more remote, almost like in top-down titles. The camera is still fixed to the protagonist, but the player has no chance to move it.

Is it okay? Yes, it is: it works well and I experienced no issues with that. However, it took me some time to get used to it – this perspective remains rare in 3D platformers.

I am a huge fan of the title’s world. Locations look vivid and diverse. I especially liked levels packed with candies, meringues and chocolate bars. Jumping on gigantic pieces of the dulce de leche cake is exactly what I wanted to do after work. I don’t remember the last time I felt so relaxed when playing a game. Visiting the Smurfs’ dreams was truly a delightful experience.

By and large, the game is easy – a piece of cake, one might say. I have no problem with that, as it seems to be addressed to kids. What, in fact, may be quite problematic, are boss fights, which consist of several phases. I find them frustrating. Are boss battles really necessary in family friendly platformers?

The idea that a thin line separates sweet dreams from nightmares (and boss encounters actually are the latter) does make sense in The Smurfs – Dreams. However, I couldn’t help the feeling that this element somehow spoilt my joy of playing the game. The one who decided to add boss battles to so soothing a title should be sentenced to two weeks of labour in Gargamel’s castle.

The game offers local cooperation via a shared screen. Every time we launch The Smurfs – Dreams, it asks us if we want to play alone or in co-op. To dive into the dreams with a friend, one needs an additional controller – and, of course, a friend (finding the latter is probably more problematic).

Playing on PlayStation 5, I experienced no performance issues. The title isn’t technically demanding, so seemingly no one should be surprised; however, considering that nowadays even technically undemanding games perform badly around the release, I appreciate the platformer’s smooth run.

Yet, it doesn’t mean that The Smurfs – Dreams is a technical miracle. Judging from the quality of cut-scenes, the title had a low development budget. Cut-scenes aim to tell the story there, so they indeed are essential; however, they appear extremely rarely in the game, and once they do, they’re painfully short and simplified.

Final thoughts

The Smurfs – Dreams is a cute platformer with enjoyable mechanics and enchanting locations. The optional co-op makes it an ideal choice for kids and parents. Occasional difficulty jumps ruin the overall experience – this game would have done better without multiphased boss encounters. But I heartily recommend it nevertheless.