Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle

The Good
Smurfs was kind of a guilty pleasure. Players led a non-specific Smurf through forests, caves and fields into Gargamel's Castle to rescue the only female Smurf in the Village, Smurfette. The graphics were bright, detailed, and colorful, looking exactly like the cartoon. The music was also bouncy through the outside areas, using classical music, and gloomy in the caves and castles. It was an easy quest, but the environments were diverse, and the gameplay was satisfyingly addictive.

The Bad
Unfortunately, Smurfs also had some odd control issues, mostly with its jumping. Double jumps were often a pain, especially if mistimed at all. But it's really hard to place the blame, as it was either the game, or the awkward ColecoVision controller, which handled like a dead moose. Simply walking into an obstacle would result into an instant death (fences and tufts of grass were ferocious in the fields, it seems). Even turning the character around could be a minor annoyance at times, especially trying to run away from a spider or trying to position for a jump.

The Bottom Line
Given its control issues, Smurfs was a surprisingly fun title, and one of the ColecoVison's earliest and best games. The graphics and music really made it stand out, and Smurfs were still a popular show at the time of its release (after all, what other character could use its name as a noun, verb and adjective?). Fortunately, it wasn't a title that simply cashed in on the popularity of its license, and offered some entertaining gameplay and occasional challenges.