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Prerelease:The Smurfs (SNES)

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This page details prerelease information and/or media for The Smurfs (SNES).

A handful of magazines show earlier versions of The Smurfs. Preview screenshots can also be found in the instruction manual, from a slightly later build.

There appear to be at least three known releases.

Concept Art

French magazine Console Plus had a 5-page article on the SNES version of The Smurfs in issue 27. This included a prototype along with concept art.

Map Concept

Smurfs-CP27-Concept-1.png

A concept art of the map shows the Sarsparilla Fields to the left of Smurf Village, rather than further below and to the right. The different forest levels are shown to have differences in their appearances, whereas in the final, they both use the same tree clump design. A plant was also cut from the lake. The cave entrance is a lot more detailed, and seems to be on the upper part of the map instead of the bottom. Lastly, Gargamel's house has no trees in the final, just stones.

Movement Concept

A couple of concept arts showing the initial designs for jumping and crawling.

Bubble Mechanic Concept Art

Smurfs-CP27-Concept-4.png

This is particularly interesting, as it shows that Brainy originally had an entirely different role in the game from lighting up caves. Here, he's shown blowing the bubble out. In the final, there are no levels with two playable Smurfs, and the bubble is automatically waiting for you. The end of the pipe cannot be seen in both the final and the concept art below, suggesting that this was a very early idea.

Gargamel's Manor House Concept Art

Smurfs-CP27-Concept-3.png

An early level design, showing a much easier version of the first part of the level with only a single, mildly brambly tree. You also start at the far right of the level instead of the level, and neither the flowers nor barrel are there since there are frogs here instead.

Early Sprites

Smurfs-CP27-Sprites.png

Also included were some early sprites. Although the sledding spritesheet appears to be the same as the final, the other sheet shows a few differences, particularly with Brainy Smurf. As seen in some concept art above, Brainy's original use wasn't lighting up caves, but helping with the pipe. Judging by the sheet, he may have had a more general role in the game as well.

Earliest Release

General Differences

  • The heart counter is at the bottom left instead of the upper right. It also shows Jokey's icon instead of Hefty's, and shows him starting with 5 hearts instead of 4. There appears to be no lives counter.
  • The score is on the upper left of the screen rather than the upper right.
  • The Sarsparilla leaf counter is at the bottom right, as opposed to the upper right.
  • The timer exists, using a different sprite to the final. It seems to be either non-functional, or instead tracked time differently.
  • HUD numbers are red instead of yellow.
  • HUD icon shows Jokey Smurf's regardless of which Smurf is playing.
  • No timer for the main levels.

The Village

Pre-release Final
Smurfs-CP27-1.png Smurfs-VillageWell.png
  • The puddles are longer, reaching to the well.
  • The branches can be seen from here, but they're further back in the final.

The Lake

Smurfs-CP27-2.png
  • This level is played by Jokey in the final. Also, Hefty seems to be floating in the air a little.
  • The bullrushes cover the heart counter.

The Field

Pre-release Final
Smurfs-CP27-6.png Smurfs-Helmet.png
  • The helmet has an eloquent blue design compared to the final, which appears rusted with less decoration.
  • The spiders are missing.
  • The top leaves overlap the score and timer.

The Dam

Pre-release Final
Smurfs-CP27-3.png Smurfs-Bridge.png
  • There's a ladder here that was removed completely from the final. None of the Smurfs have a back-facing climbing animation, and the springs must be used in this level instead.
  • The rocks are closer to the right logs.
  • There are two additional poles poking out.
  • The clouds appear lighter.

The Descent

Smurfs-CP27-4.png
  • Mostly the same, just the general differences are still there.

Gargamel's Manor House (Outside)

Smurfs-CP27-5.png
  • The tiles appear to be the same as the final, but this particular area doesn't exist in the retail version.

Gargamel's Manor House (Inside)

Pre-release Final
Smurfs-CP27-7.png Smurfs-GargamelsHouse.png
  • The bricks are blue instead of grey.
  • A few of the bricks have different patterns.
  • The biting plant is missing.

Later Release

Seen in Nintendo Accion, ConsolePlus and the game's instruction manual.

General Differences

  • HUD numbers are red instead of yellow.
  • HUD icon shows Jokey Smurf's regardless of which Smurf is playing.
  • No timer for the main levels.

The Bridge

Pre-release Final
Smurfs-PreManual2.png Smurfs-Bridge2.png
  • The hedgehog enemy is missing.
  • The branches appear to be lower.
  • The sky is bluer.
(Source: The Smurfs instruction manual)

The Plant

Smurfs-ConsolePlus30.png

This screenshot hails from ConsolePlus issue 30. Aside from the usual differences in this build, one of the heads from the boss has been taken off, but the score counter still reads as 000000. In the final, each head is worth 500 points.

(Source: ConsolePlus 30)

The Dam

Pre-release Final
Smurfs-Prerelease3.png Smurfs-Final3.png
  • The ropes on the bridge are in different positions.
  • The Smurfberry has been moved closer to the cliff in the final.
  • The cliff stops at the bridge in the final, instead of overlapping it here (it's possible to see where the edit took place, since the rocks don't match up).
  • The upper level beam goes on for much longer than it does in the final.
  • The pillars are different sizes.
  • The leaves on the tree reach further.
  • The sky appears to be more blue.
  • The Howlibird seems to grip the acorn a little closer to his talons.
(Source: "Nintendo Accion" Issue 020)

Gargamel's Manor

Pre-release Final
Smurfs-Prerelease2.png Smurfs-Final2.png
  • In the final version of this level, Greedy Smurf is the playable Smurf rather than Jokey, suggesting that Greedy hadn't been programmed in at this point.
  • The walls are much bluer here, and aligned differently.
  • The Smurf doll seems to have regular eyes as opposed to the sad ones he has in the final. It appears to be darker, though this could also just be the magazine's low-resolution screenshot.
  • The top platform is further to the left instead of directly above the side cabinet, and the smaller platform is absent entirely.
  • The table to the left can be seen from this position, whereas in the final you can't see it from this far away.
(Source: "Nintendo Accion" Issue 020)

The Raft (Bonus Level)

Pre-release Final
Smurfs-Prerelease1.png Smurfs-Final1.png
  • There's a rather long timer on this level, whereas in the final the timer always displays 00 since the level only ends when you leave the screen from the left or finish the level.
  • The rocks and raft appear to be a lighter color, though this could just be due to the magazine.
(Source: "Nintendo Accion" Issue 020 & The Smurfs instruction manual)

The Stork (Bonus Level)

Whilst the graphics appear to be the same, nothing in the final game matches up with this particular area.

Smurfs-PreManual1.png
(Source: The Smurfs instruction manual)

Other

  • The magazines state that there are four languages to select. The final version of the game includes five.
  • The articles claim that there are over 50 different enemies. There are around 40 enemies in the final game, including obstacles such as apples and falling books.
  • Two of the screenshots show a life counter of 30, and in the screenshot of Gargamel's Manor the score counter is 0. In the final game, there is no option to start with 30 lives.
  • There are only 3 screenshots used in the manual, and the rest of the pictures use images from the comics (perhaps due to the earlier version being shown). Due to this, some of the listed enemies do not match up with the enemy found in the game, and some are absent entirely (such as the hedgehog and rabbit enemies). Since the hedgehog is missing from the screenshot of The Bridge, it's possible that it had not been implemented at that time, meaning the manual was made much earlier than the final game, which would also explain the lack of screenshots.
    • On that note, one of the enemies shown is a caterpillar, but there are no caterpillars in-game. There are, however, worms. It's unknown if the caterpillar is a deleted enemy, or if they simply couldn't find a picture of a worm from the comic book artwork.

Near-Final

SmurfsPre-NearFinal.png

In issue 22, more screenshots surfaced. However, they all appear to be final or near final, with the only noticeable difference being the red HUD numbers.

(Source: "Nintendo Accion" Issue 022)