Smurfs Kart Review (FLIESIsHere)
*Cracks fingers* Okay, let's get into this
Firstly, there are very few settings options in this game. The settings cog in the main menu might as well open an image of Papa Smurf giving you the finger and saying "Get Smurfed." So you have to mostly make do with what you are given.
And what have you been given? What you'd expect... I often try not to compare all games of this genre to Mario Kart but this title wears its inspiration on its sleeve to a "How does a company just get away with doing that?" standpoint. It's a shame because there were a lot of genuinely ambitious elements to "The Smurfs - Mission Vileaf," but nothing here. Any speculation of more interesting things that could have been done with this game is pointless because Smurfs Kart was made to make money off an IP in the Kart genre, nothing more.
Getting into the more serious issues:
The game never reaches the point of unplayable but there are some serious bugs like the other karters just not moving, giving you a free win to your items getting stuck in place when shooting them.
The time challenges make no sense, some are almost impossibly hard with other ones being so easy that you will achieve gold in your first try.
THERE IS NO ONLINE MULTIPLAYER??? Completely baffling as that would have at least given people a reason to mess around with friends on this game and for bundle purchases, but again, this game was made to meet the bare minimum standards of a kart game in the hopes mums will take it off the shelf for their children on Christmas, not much more.
With less maps and less items than its primary competitor and seventh generation graphics, the most fun you are going to squeeze out of this game is within achievement hunting but this game walks a THIN LINE of "challenging" and "tedious." The achievements will genuinely take you a long time to get because they mostly include choosing one smurf at a time and doing maps over and over and over and over. Also, don't ask me how to get the "Smurfy Smurf" or "Smurfing Smurf" achievement, because I genuinely have no clue.
The Smurfs all have different abilities which is kind of fun but considering the game is super easy and you will almost always be up front where they don't give you those items, a lot of the interest is taken away.
So look, if you buy an IP tie-in Microids game and you are not the mother of some poor kid who is going to get this in his Christmas stocking instead of Mario Kart, you know what you're getting. It's a shame though because with the quality of Mission Vileaf, this was a genuine opportunity to improve that status of The Smurfs IP and work it to becoming a household gaming title. Microids have great franchises under their belt like Blacksad, Syberia, and HOPEFULLY the upcoming "UFO ROBOT GRENDIZER," more serious gamers should invest in those.
I am recommending this game on the condition it is SERIOUSLY discounted or you are achievement hunting.