🍄 Received: June 1st, 2020 🍄
🍄 Written: July 23rd-August 14th, 2024 🍄
(As played on Super Game Boy)
Year: 1993, 1994 | Developed by: Bit Managers | Published by: InfogramesHello, gamers and readers alike, welcome to my blog and thank you for taking the time to tune in today, I really appreciate it! 😃
Ah, The Smurfs! A very lovely franchise as far as the '80s and '90s content was concerned! Originally appearing as guest characters in the late Pierre "Peyo" Culliford's prior comic series Johan et Pirlouit in one of the dynamic duo's adventures, these blue humanoid characters (whose names derived from Peyo forgetting the world for "salt" when conversing with his late friend André Franquin at a dinner and using the word schtroumpf instead, a happy accident that led to the two brainstorming the eponymous Smurfs' language) as tall as three apples high would eventually star in their own comic series in 1959. Their popularity would culminate in a franchise over the decades which included a multitude of toys, movies, animated series, and video games.
Screengrabbed while watching Nenriki Gaming Channel's ColecoVision playthrough video on YouTube
The first video game based on The Smurfs would arrive in the form of the 1982 video game Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle, hot off the success of the '80s Hanna-Barbera series, on both the Atari 2600 and ColecoVision consoles. Made during a time when laws revolving around using public domain music in video games was fairly lax*, the game was well-received at the time as Peyo's beloved license made a good first impression on the video game stage.* In the background music you get to hear "Simple Gifts" by The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing (or Shaker) and Ludwig van Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony
Image from MobyGames
Responsible for development of the 8-bit console and handheld incarnation of The Smurfs is Bit Managers, a Barcelona-based Spanish video game firm founded by former New Frontier lead programmer and software manager Isidro "Xydro" Gilabert in 1993. Among Bit Managers' works are the 8-bit Astérix game and sequel Astérix & Obélix as well as the Game Boy versions of Spirou, Tintin in Tibet, and Tintin: Le Temple du Soleil. In 1998 it would be acquired by Gaelco, which Xydro managed to bring back the company from in 2001 continuing to run it until 2005 when Virtual Toys ended up buying the firm.
Images from GameFAQs
During the course of 1993, Xydro programmed the Game Boy version which was designed by Stéphane Baudet and Xavier Schon, was published by Edith Protiere, produced by Infogrames founder Bruno Bonnell, and executive produced by Infogrames co-founder Benoît de Maulmin. Infogrames would release the Nintendo handheld edition in native Europe in 1994, which would also be made available to play on the Game Gear, Sega Master System, and NES systems. Come 1998, the Game Boy edition would end up selling a million units and be released in North American shores (albeit with a 1994 copyright attached) with Super Game Boy functionality on the Nintendo 16-bit console. This review of the 8-bit incarnation of Peyo's series will exclusively focus on the Game Boy version.
Left: Traipsing through the forest | Right: Subduing a purple Smurf
In the action-sidescrolling platformer The Smurfs you take control of Hefty Smurf whom you can move left and right, duck down, pick up a sarsaparilla spring or one of Jokey Smurf's presents by pressing down beside it so you can carry it and put it back down by pressing down again after the fact, climb up or down, jump up in the air with A button* (with the gained altitude based on how lightly or how hard you pressed the button), run across by holding down the B button* while going in the desired direction, and while holding Jokey's* On the Super Game Boy, you can set the controls to Type A in order to use the B and Y buttons on the Nintendo 16-bit controller respectively
Left: Entering a secret area found inside a large tree stump | Right: On one side is a buzzing fly and in another a squirrel will occasionally toss an acorn in an attempt to cause harm to Hefty
present you can press B to kick it at a low angle. During the course of the game there are items for you to collect (oftentimes out in the open but sometimes concealed inside a mushroom for you to split open by jumping on top of) which will aid you in the long run such as the sarsaparilla leaves (where collecting ten will reward you with a life), smurfberries to help replenish your lost health by one (where the capacity is four hearts), a Smurf doll to gain a new life, and stars (whereby reaching the end of an act with all five in tow will grant you
Left: Guiding himself away from the big fish | Right: Weaving between large logs 🪵
access to the bonus level). The goal for each act is to the reach the exit under the allotted time that you are given, but along the way are enemy creatures for you to contend with. You can dispose most of them by hopping and bopping on top of them, except for those of a spike-heavy nature. After clearing a specific amount of acts you'll find yourself coming face to face with a boss who is guarding the captured Smurf where upon emerging victorious will grant
Left: Being spied on by a squirrel from inside its home | Right: Bird hopping
you a key that you'll need to pick up and carry to the cage to free a Smurf. For each Smurf you save you'll be granted a simple four-character password, but should you lose your life in any manner (be it losing all your health, falling offscreen, or running out of time) you'll be sent back to the start of the act (with the star count reverted back to zero). Upon losing your last life, you'll be taken back to the title screen for there are no continues.
Left: Jump from log to log | Right: Walking through a bridge
The Smurfs' visuals look very endearing and lighthearted, with the graphics worked on by Rubén Angel Gómez, Alberto José Gonzalez Pedraza, and Sergio Palacios. The introductory forest act has got nicely drawn leaves and incredibly detailed trees (some of which house a squirrel who keeps its eyes locked on Hefty in relation to where he's positioned from it), during the river act there are the body of water is divided into three layers that all scroll at
Left: Climbing | Right: Taking a ride on top of a mosquito skittering across the swamp like a spider 🦟
their individual pace which almost makes for an impressively parallax scrolling visual for Game Boy standards, the swamp act has got imposingly tall cattails in the background, the act for when Hefty rides on Feathers the stork has got a beautifully drawn mountainous backdrop, I like the snowy frigid nature of the mountain as the descent is being made, and the inside of Gargamel's manor house looks intimidating with the sturdy stone walls, almost
Left: Discovering a secret swamp area | Right: Only jump on a toad once you see its head emerge from the swamp's depths
vacant bookshelves with the exception of potions, carnivorous plants, or evil books of spells, and during the central portion a large cauldron on top of the fireplace. Hefty Smurf is designed in a very likable manner with a remarkably fluid walk cycle, his jumping and ducking animations are good, as he remains idle he'll occasionally blink his eyes, and I like how in certain acts he's designed in a way that's curtailed to the present environment he's in
Left: Slithering snake 🐍 | Right: Wow, a handshake, that's more respect than Brainy usually receives in the series as a whole! 🤝 Well, to be fair, he is intelligent, just not emotionally...
that doesn't involve standard platforming wherein his size is considerably smaller: riding on a raft in the river act, riding on Feathers in the flight act (where the faithful stork flaps his wings in a solid yet graceful manner), riding on a mine cart, and riding on a sled with a scarf around his neck during the descent. The enemies Hefty contends with are solidly drawn in their own right, like the worms, Purple flies and Purple Smurfs, spiders, bees, acorn
Left: Maintain your distance from the water drops lest you wish to sustain damage from it | Right: Jump over the spiders once they lower themselves down
dropping Howlibirds, porcupines, polar bears, and Gargamel's cat Azrael is menacingly drawn once you've made it to the manor house. The boss are all big in stature and are very well-designed, all reacting in such an incredulous manner upon sustaining damage by having their eyes bug out, like the slithering snake, the fire-breathing dragon residing inside a volcano, and Gargamel at the end for which this game captured his creepy likeness to a T.
Left: That hedgehog is unpredictable as it bounces and ricochets about in its little corner of the sarsaparilla fields 🦔 | Right: Hopping from a fluttering leaf 🍃
Composing the music to Bit Managers' The Smurfs is Alberto José Gonzalez Pedraza, whom outside of working on the visuals for this game has also provided his music skills for it as well. Some of Pedraza's music credits comprise of New Frontier's ports of Foursfield's adaptation of the late Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters II for the MSX, Infogrames' Hostage: Rescue Mission, The Light Corridor, North & South, and Mystical on the MSX and ZX Spectrum computer formats, the Game Boy adaptations of Loriciel's Pop-Up/Cool Ball and Tehkan's Bomb Jack, and Bit Managers' Astérix and Astérix & Obélix. Pedraza had an incredible knack for cranking the sound quality up to eleven when it came to music made specifically for the 8-bit gaming formats, and with The Smurfs, of all properties, he manages to do exactly that. The result is one of the most impressive pieces of music one would hear on Nintendo's Game Boy system, it certainly blows my mind listening to it. 🤯
Left: Pouncing a happy worm 🪱 | Right: Replenishing lost health with a smurfberry
The late Hoyt Curtin's "La La Song", which serves as this game's title theme, sounds absolutely fantastic on the Game Boy and provides an infectiously catchy beat in the process, and the second intro theme (which also doubles as a victory theme upon defeating a boss) offers a slower and melancholic take of the "La La Song". The theme used for the acts taking place in the forest and on the cliff has got a very pleasant adventurous melody, the river act theme sounds perilously engaging, the bridge act theme is bouncy yet catchily upbeat, the theme for the swamp act and for when you reach Gargamel's manor house has got a lightheartedly threatening vibe with an amazingly emulated banjo-style instrumentation (considering the Game Boy's software limitations), the sarsaparilla fields act theme sounds invitingly atmospheric, the mountain act theme has got a slow tempo but manages to wield a
Left: Scaling the mountain | Right: Sustained damage thereby knocking Hefty backwards because he stood by the edge unwisely
fun journeying melody in the process, the theme for when you ride on the stork Feathers is enthrallingly intense with a melody that is easy to bop your head to, the mine cart act theme sounds fun and lighthearted, the volcano act theme is relentlessly foreboding and menacing with its reasonably fast tempo and energy, and the descent act theme sounds adventurous as you're sledding down on the snow. The bonus chance theme is short but sweet, normal boss theme sounds perpetually hectic, Gargamel's theme is dark and imposing as you confront him at the end, and the ending theme sounds nicely uplifting and celebratory. The sound effect is also good in its own right, especially authentic sounding buzzing sounds for when you're near pesky flies, drops of water landing on the ground in the sarsaparilla fields, and Azrael's meows are remarkably cat-like at the very end.
* Removed from the Rev 1 version was the choice to play it in Spanish, which I find ironic given the developer's nationality
Screengrabbed while watching Dosgamert's MS-DOS Longplay video on YouTube
When I was a kid I enjoyed The Smurfs, I found the Hanna-Barbera animated series entertaining from what episodes I caught of it way back when and got to play a couple of the video games back when I lived in Italy during the '90s. The first The Smurfs video game I played was the East Point Software conversion of the 16-bit platformer on the Microsoft Windows personal computer, which I believe was my initial introduction to the rainbow-colored Infogrames armadillo logo way back, and even though I didn't get particularly far in it as a child I remember finding it fun. Alas, the 16-bit title was a European exclusive and never saw a North American distribution in any official capacity.
Left: Making your way up by riding on top of a bird | Right: 🐝
Sometime in 2020, I felt a strong desire to replay the 16-bit platformer after so many years of not playing the Microsoft Windows edition (as I watched some gameplay videos of it, regardless of version, on YouTube), but with neither 16-bit The Smurfs title being released in North America (which is where I've lived since the Summer of 2002) the chances of actually playing it in this continent appeared rather slim. I knew of Bit Managers' 8-bit Game Boy platformer, which I wasn't that quick to try out in the past but I was feeling an itch for some Smurf action, so I figured why not give that take a go (especially since I knew beforehand that it had Super Game Boy enhancements with the color palette)? So that Summer, I decided to
To me, this is the quintessential The Smurfs platformer of the '90s! 😄
I felt, at the time, that Bit Managers' The Smurfs was a compensation title and the closest I could get to replaying the 16-bit game in any capacity. That was until one fateful February 2021 day I saw that there was a Sega Genesis repro cart of Virtual Studio's console conversion with a clam shell case and manual on eBay which filled me with excitement that I decided to get it (with the aid of a couple of eBay gift cards). As one of my most cherished games in my physical Sega Genesis collection, I have no regrets for it's a very fun Euro platformer.
Screengrabbed while watching Longplay Center's playthrough video on YouTube
On the subject, Bit Managers would return to contribute to Peyo's license on the Game Boy Advance in 2002 by adapting the first 16-bit The Smurfs game to Nintendo's latest handheld format, but for whatever reason* Infogrames decided to rename it as The Revenge of the Smurfs. This version of the game features enhanced visuals with added animation frames, the mine cart and descent acts have been retrofitted to be sidescrolling segments much akin to the 8-bit incarnation and is apparently the easiest edition of the 16-bit game that exists. Like all the other takes of the 16-bit title, it was only ever released in European shores.* Well, I say that, but the guess I can hazard is that after having three licensed games under their belt sharing the simple name "The Smurfs" on the 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit formats, Infogrames simply did not wish to have a fourth such instance with the Game Boy Advance installment while they still had the rights to Peyo's characters hence the altered title choice, this despite in actuality being the latest conversion of a TV console platforming classic from the '90s
Left: Those birds are about to feel the wrath of Feathers' pecking order | Right: Introducing those pesky Howlibirds who will drop acorns any chance they get
The approach of the first Infogrames 8-bit The Smurfs platformer is simple, it doesn't try to do too much with the license, but that's okay because at the end of the day I found it very fun. Hefty Smurf controls well and is fairly responsive, the occasional detour from the normal platforming for certain acts (like riding on Storks and later sledding downhill) is refreshingly welcome, and the gameplay scenarios presented during the journey offer a solid array of challenges ahead of you: traversing the forest while being careful not to sustain damage from the purple flies and oncoming purple Smurfs, carefully maneuvering your way through the river while riding on a raft, hopping from bird to bird if not from broken bridge
Left: Steer clear of that bolt ⚡ | Right: Flying through a creepy stalactite and stalagmite-filled cave
piece to broken bridge piece, timing your jumps on top of the toads who surface their heads for a little bit before submerging them seconds later in the swamps, riding on a mosquito sucking swamp into its system, cautiously making your way past the sarsaparilla fields while being contacted by drops of water and sporadically bouncing hedgehogs ricocheting off of every angle, riding on Feathers the stork who'll fly about gracefully and peck any oncoming bird foes (by pressing the B button) while occasionally avoiding bolts of lightning emanating from thunder clouds, quickly making your way up the volcano as the lava rises by jumping on springs and nimbly platforming from platforms that buckle under pressure, learning to
Left: Jump over the rolling boulder | Right: Be especially carefully of the occasional drops of water along the way
accurately time your jumps with ample rhythm for the event that the wide log in the cliff rolls, and while heading up the stairs on the way to confront Gargamel to duck down or making your distance from the apples that tumble down each step, et al. I also appreciate how thorough searching is rewarded for it will lead you to a secret area (even if it is simply to access helpful items if not a star) like when you press down on top of a tree stump in the forest, when you climb up certain slippery vines in the swamp, or by seemingly walking to a dead end when scaling up certain bits of the mountain. The difficulty is manageable regardless of the setting you choose to play it as, though I'd honestly say that the end battle
Left: Quickly make your way up the volcano as its lava rises | Right: Kick Jokey's gifts toward the dragon but at the same time be sure to avoid its harmful fiery breath
against Gargamel might be among the hardest challenges in The Smurfs for you must operate with a steady rhythm for you must stand on the back end of the seesaw (you must be exact and specific) so that the Howlibird will drop the acorn when it swoops onscreen thereby allowing you to catapult it toward an oncoming Gargamel by jumping on the opposite end hitting him, with you requiring to rinse and repeat but with each hit the misanthropic wizard sustains the slightly faster he'll be compelled to walk towards you, and if he touches Hefty regardless of how much health you have you lose a life and must start the battle again. It might take several tries until you get it right, but it can be done with enough practice.
Left: *BOUM* 💥 | Right: Well, I don't know what you expected, Heftmeister
Even though the Super Game Boy implementations might come off as rather underwhelming in terms of the frame border when playing it on the Nintendo 16-bit peripheral cartridge, I love the preset color palettes accorded to each act for I feel it adds a lot to the proceedings atmospherically and lend these settings a proper mood: the baby blue color is on point during the title and congratulations screens, the use of regular green goes well with the foliage of the forest, the aquatic blue of the river and brown colored logs are pleasing to look at, the use of turquoise in the swamp is eerily unnerving, I like the contrast of the dark green and leafy
Left: Descending down from the snowy mountain 🛷 | Right: Leaping over polar bears 🐻❄️
white background in the sarsaparilla fields, the mountain has got a likably bright orange affect, when inside the volcano with the rising lava it is an ominous shade of orange while the battle with the dragon afterward is scorching red, I enjoy the glacial blue that's been utilized during the descent down the mountain, and Gargamel's manor house provides an effective mixture of violets and browns (where Azrael's feline fur is accurately colored, but due the Game Boy's color limitations his face and eyes end up looking violet instead of white, but that's a minor nitpick). Taken as a whole, I think this game is good in its own right and I like
Left: With proper timing, jump up in the air right before the log rolls | Right: Jumping over a porcupine
to think that Peyo, had he not died so soon, would have approved of Bit Managers' efforts to translate his characters to video game format. The more I thought about it, the more I've come to consider that this 8-bit The Smurfs venue served as a template of sorts for the 16-bit edition (which also came out in 1994); it makes sense, honestly, as many of the challenge
Left: At last, you've infiltrated Gargamel's manor house | Right: Taken damage right by the cauldron
scenarios here also show up there (including the end battle against Gargamel) and follows a similar plot but with area layouts and ideas expanded upon, a harsher penalty upon being touched by a purple fly or purple Smurf thereby making you become a purple Smurf, sometimes getting to play as a Smurf that Hefty has rescued from their cage like Jokey and Greedy, new challenges and areas presented, and the introduction of the Smurf Village where
Left: Drop just enough of Jokey's gifts toward Azrael and you may just be rid of him (completely optional and won't affect the ending one iota, but it can be done if you feel the need) | Right: Duck by the right steps as the apples tumble down 🍎
you have to carefully navigate Hefty across so as to not sustain damage from his fellow Smurfs who are simply minding their own business. 😆 The 8-bit game walked so the 16-bit title could run, and playing the former before catching up with the Genesis repro cart of the latter has made me appreciate the technologically advanced take even more.
Left: Allow the Howlibird to serve as your unwitting ally against Gargamel | Right: Congratulations, you have released Smurfette, may she be playable in a future game (preferably a fun one)
For as simple as the gameplay is plus the possibility to beat it in the span of a half hour (even if you decide to make an effort to collect all five stars in each act), Bit Managers' take on Peyo's beloved franchise may be the briefest of the Infogrames-handled The Smurfs licensed platformers of the '90s but I enjoy it nonetheless. It captures the series' lighthearted and endearing charm with aplomb, has got plenty of solid challenge scenarios with well thought-out solutions to overcome them with enough practice and exercising good timing, and is wholesome fun from beginning to end. Alongside the 16-bit counterpart, I consider this 8-bit edition to be among the best The Smurfs platformers the '90s offered. 👍 Smurf it out!
My Personal Score: 8.0/10
● I've been working on both reviews for this game and Velez and Dubail's The Smurfs' Nightmare at the same time, pretty much, so that I would have them both published in the same day. I would've liked to have gotten it done sooner, but I've taken hundreds of screenshots in total and had to determine which ones to use (I did not wish to recycle the screenshots I used for this review onto the review for The Smurfs' Nightmare, and vice versa). I'm glad it's done (it is all effort in the end), but it's taken a lot out of me... 😵💫
Happy 30th Anniversary,
Game Boy The Smurfs, you've earned it!!!! 🥳
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