Thanks Microids for providing us with a review code!

I’m a big fan of cartoons, but I never grew up watching the Smurfs, so my biggest exposure to them was the 2011 reboot films that were less than stellar. Thankfully, there have been efforts to create a reimagining of these characters that didn’t involve live-action films, and while The Smurfs – Mission Vileaf isn’t a tie-in to a particular film, it is a surprisingly solid platformer that’s family-friendly and a blast for its runtime.

The Smurfs – Mission Vileaf opens with the villainous Gargamel devising a way to trap the wacky community of the Smurfs using the titular Vileaf to terrorize the land. It’s up to four brave Smurfs (Hefty, Brainy, Chef, and Smurfette) and the Smurfizer machine to heal the world and save their people from Gargamel’s devious plan.

Papa Smurf tasks the cast to acquire ingredients for an antidote that can stop the Vileaf’s influence, and it’s here where The Smurfs – Mission Vileaf opens up. Spanning five chapters, you get to play with each playable Smurf when a new lead opens up in the village (Hefty gets used twice). The Smurfizer is the source of innovative gameplay mechanics, and it feels akin to the Poltergust 3000 or F.L.U.D.D. from the Luigi’s Mansion and Super Mario Sunshine games. The main move you can do is expelling healing spray with the Smurfizer, but later chapters will allow you to hover, ground pound sprint, and use the device as a vacuum. These moves are given piecemeal throughout the story mode, and are used in a way that feels organic and not rushed. The pace of learning these moves is perfect for younger gamers, who might be overwhelmed with having to deal with a lot of different mechanics at once.

Something that surprised me was just how fun it was to zip around the different worlds with the Smurfizer. There are quite a few challenges that require smart usage of the hover and sprint mechanics, and whenever they popped up in gameplay I was excited to try them out. The moves control perfectly (though they can be upgraded to have better control through the in-game upgrade system), and it was so entertaining to fight enemies with different moves. I also liked the variety of ways the mechanics were displayed, especially at the end of the game where you have to rely on pure platforming without the Smurfizer to get past a treacherous swamp, or a stealth sequence in the final world where you have to dodge Gargamel’s lantern in order to proceed. While your main goal is getting to the end of each world for ingredients, you also can heal the world’s fauna to grab extra materials to upgrade the Smurfizer. Peppered in each chapter are collectibles that are mostly in hard-to-reach spots. You can replay any chapter and world with new moves you learn later in the game, and these upgrades will help immensely with late-game challenges, so there is a lot of replay value for those who love getting 100% in a game.

For those considering getting this game for their children, keep in mind that older gamers will probably breeze through the game in a matter of hours. While there were multiple challenging platforming segments in the game, the campaign lasts around five hours if you were to run through it quickly. However, there’s still a ton of things to collect which means the length of the game could easily double for completionists. That said, there’s also a drop-in/drop-out co-op mode where another player assumes the role of a robot that can assist the first player in combat, so even the youngest gamer can enjoy this title.

There are some issues with the framerate when playing in handheld mode; it’s not a game-breaking issue, but even in docked mode the drop was a little noticeable. This didn’t affect playability, but it does make the otherwise lush settings look slightly worse. The soundtrack works pretty well here, and sometimes has an orchestral vibe with some of the better tracks. The voice acting is surprisingly well done for most of the cast, which is saying something since most NPCs are generic Smurfs with different names. However, the fact that the whole cast sans Gargamel has a tendency to replace random words with the term “Smurf” can feel annoying at times, especially when it’s done multiple times in a sentence. Otherwise, the presentation for this game is great for a game of this caliber.

In addition to being a solid game, there’s a lot of family-friendly aspects to this game that gamers of all ages can enjoy. While there is some cartoon violence with enemies, the protagonists are explicitly said to heal their foes, which means these actions are non-lethal (though enemy bodies disappear after they are defeated). The joke that the characters use the term “Smurf” to mean a variety of other words might also censor things, such as the utterance “Holy Smurf!” being a substitute to “Holy cow!”. Gargamel is a wizard and is known to use magic, but while spells and magic are mentioned by him and the story, they are not seen except through the powering up of the Vileaf.

Whether you’re a fan of the original 80s series or trying to find something all-ages for the kids to try, The Smurfs – Mission Vileaf is a wonderful choice for a potential Christmas gift.