Sonic Rumble takes a wild swing with a collaboration with The Smurfs starting next week

If you were thinking of collaborations for Sonic Rumble, I imagine your first thought would be something like Mario. Harken back to the Olympic titles. Maybe another Sega series, Shenmue say. And yet, no. Instead, starting March 16th, we will be able to collect coins with The Smurfs. I suppose they look a little like Chaos, if you squint.

As a Sonic Boom fan, how do we have Papa Smurf before Sticks the Badger? Also, The Smurfs is such a left-field pick. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds had the likes of Joker from Persona, Mega Man, and Ichiban from Like a Dragon. Or Pac-Man, he was there, and he's doing crossovers. Different Development teams, sure, but come on, Sega, pick up the phone.

Although maybe not Joker, let's not tempt the curse.

Anyway, we get what we get. The Smurfs Crossover Event will introduce Skins such as Blossom Smurf, Papa Smurf, and Smurfette. There will also be special crossover stages to tangle with, until this collaboration ends on April 15th. Happily, this wild team-up is not the only thing happening in Sonic Rumble.

There is a lot happening in non-crazy collab news, too 

A major update will be adding a fresh game mode and a shiny new system. Party Rumble is effectively a set of minigames you can jump into fairly quickly for that casual enjoyment. 30 minigames are being added exclusively for Party Rumble, too, so there will still be a lot you can learn.

Collectors will be very interested in the Toy Capsules system. By completing milestones based on the number of rounds played, you will be able to earn Skin fragments. The rewards will change as the system is upgraded, and you will also have a shot at pulling Puzzle Pieces. Stick enough of these together, and you can walk away with rewards like Red Star Rings. A grind, but anything to avoid The Smurfs stuff. 

Sonic Rumble is available to download from the App Store and Google Play.