The Smurfs - Mission Vileaf Review

The Smurfs - Mission Vileaf is a title developed by OSome Studio and published by Microids. While as a kid I never really got into The Smurfs, I was quite excited for this title because I think they're so adorable; unfortunately, if there's one thing I've learned throughout my life as a gamer is that games built around a cartoon usually fail to impress.

The premise is quite simple — Gargamel has been messing around with an evil formula that can create mean plants called Vileafs; this plague has been spreading all across the forest, contaminating the flora and creating new little creatures called Vilecritters. Thanks to that, we get to unravel the story and play as four different iconic Smurfs while we travel from area to area.

Just like any good platformer, you'll spend a large portion of your adventure trying to find a way to nab the collectibles spread around the world; this was my favourite part of the game, as they were well-hidden but not so much that it became tedious. The numerous abilities unlocked throughout the game really add to this fun, too, as I'd get to revisit older locations to get past new obstacles and unlock even more upgrades! For this reason, I suggest anyone who picks up the game holds off on exploring too much until they get Handy, as it's much more fun to platform with different skills.

I thoroughly enjoyed each area, as the locations were vibrant and chock-full of collectibles in nooks and crannies. I especially had fun the more abilities I had, as I originally thought the platforming was going to be clunky; thankfully, it works quite well, and the later into the game I reached, the smoother the parkour felt. 

Another thing that really charmed me was the soundtrack! It sounds a lot like the ones from back in the Nintendo 64 era, with multiple instruments and soft tunes. It really added to the ambience as I ran around combing for upgrade materials.

Unfortunately, there are some downsides. The last level wasn't great, as there were a lot of elements that ruined the peaceful gameplay of just running around exploring and collecting items. I would have rathered that during the more tense moments, there would be no items to collect around so I could focus on the tension and not die repeatedly trying to heal contamination or grab a collectible. Additionally, I encountered a few issues throughout my experience, like a boss who glitched out and a game-breaking bug after my first four hours; I have no idea how it happened, but the dialogue stopped, and I couldn't trigger cutscenes. 

Truth be told, I had a lot more fun with The Smurfs - Mission Vileaf than I expected! Despite not knowing the cast at all, I was able to enjoy the storyline and even came out having a favourite Smurf or two. This is a great title to pick up, even if you know nothing about the characters, as the gameplay was satisfying, the dialogue charming, and the graphics and soundtrack phenomenal! This game is just smurfy.