In the distant past, long before streaming services and 24-hour cartoon channels, there was a thing called Saturday Morning Cartoons.  Kids back then, me included, looked forward to this time because it was one of the only times TV was made just for kids.  And as a child of the 80s, one of the most popular of these cartoons I remember was The Smurfs.  Originally a European comic strip, The Smurfs gained popularity in the US from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon.  I was never a super big fan of it, but I watched it anyway because, one, kids will watch pretty much anything.  And two, it came on right before the Pac-Man cartoon.  In recent years, The Smurfs have had a bit of a resurgence with a handful of computer animated movies and specials, and a new series on Nickelodeon.  And there’s been a few Smurfs video games I’ve reviewed in the past couple of years, like a kart racer and two 3D platformers.  And now the youngest players get their turn on the Switch with The Smurfs: Colorful Stories, a virtual coloring book on the Switch.

This is about what you’d expect from a virtual coloring book.  Although I have to say, there’s quite a lot here with 80 pages to color!  I also like that even though the menu screens have the more modern 3D renders of the Smurfs, the coloring pages are the 2D ones I remember from the old cartoon.  You choose your brushes and colors with the buttons, and can draw by either holding down the R trigger button and moving the cursor with the L stick, or just by using the touch screen, which is easier.  There doesn’t seem to be a way to save your colored work when you turn off the Switch that I could find, which is the only problem I had with this game.

Kid Factor:

Nothing violent or objectionable here.  Reading skill is helpful for some of the menu text, but not necessary just to play.  The Smurfs: Colorful Stories is rated E for Everyone.

Tags: Game Reviews, Movies with Children, Television