It’s time to ask the question again: has anything been left behind in the wonderful gaming autumn that is still worth discussing? The answer is The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone.
The Smurfs, are they still hip?
You would think not. After all, the blue creatures with their white hats are approaching retirement age. In 1958, cartoonist Peyo introduced the Smurfs for the first time in the comic series Johan en Pirrewiet. The blue people were popular and soon got their own comic strip and later a cartoon series, films and games. That alone makes it clear that there is still plenty of life in the cheerful blue forest inhabitants.
What is the latest game about?
Crafty Smurf has smurfed something together again. A Smurfomixer, with which he wants to treat the entire village to treats. However, the mixer is not powerful enough. The mysterious green stone could help him make the device work optimally. And who owns that stone? That’s right, arch-enemy Gargamel. As always, the Smurfs dare to battle the somewhat clumsy wizard, but something goes wrong during the mission to get the stone. The stone shatters and the shards fall scattered across the so-called cursed land. A team of Smurfs then sets out to collect the shards.
Then Gargamel must be furious?
Well, you won’t believe it, but for the first time, the Smurfs and Gargamel are working together. Of course there is something behind this, because the evil creature Stolas escapes during the explosion. And that can disrupt Gargamel’s plans again. If the stone is not fixed, chaos will be unprecedented.
How do you retrieve the shards?
By looking for shards with Clumsy, Brainy, Crafty Smurf and the cool Storm. Platforming is an important part of this colorful adventure. Jump, clamber, run and puzzle to discover new routes. Each of the four team members has their own special ability. For example, Storm can shoot a hurricane arrow and Clumsy has a carrot to lure enemies. You can also shoot in the game. Not with deadly bullets of course, because the Smurfs are extremely child-friendly, but a sticky gunk also does enough damage.
Who is the game intended for?
Initially, the Smurfs are ideally suited for younger gamers. With a big ‘but’. Anyone who grew up with the Smurfs, and that includes entire generations over those 66 years, will also have a lot of fun with this game.
Will it last long?
The levels are quite challenging. Sometimes it’s best to figure out how to move forward. And in each of the three areas the difficulty level of the obstacles increases slightly. That keeps the game fun. However, the levels are much the same and that can get a bit boring at a certain point. But this is probably mainly what older Smurf fans think.
The Smurfs 2, The Prisoner of the Green Stone. For Playstation, Xbox, PC and Nintendo Switch. Developer Osome Studio and publisher Microids, age 7+.