An Incredibly Fun, Even Flawed, Platformer

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An Incredibly Fun, Even Flawed, Platformer

It’s been thirty years since one of the most infamous flops in gaming history.

Bubsy 3D looked to be one of the first 3D speakers and embraced the jump from 2D to a fully three-dimensional gaming experience. The success of Super Mario 64 will only build anticipation. There was one problem: Bubsy 3D fell flat on its face.

So here we are, three decades later, and Bubsy 4D is looking to make up for its father’s sins as a 3D broadcaster. Don’t forget, this isn’t the first recent revival of Bubsy, either; Bubsy: Woolies Strike Back was a 2D platformer from 2017 that also fell flat on its face.

Every 3D Mario Game, Counted

Every 3D Super Mario game has a special place in my heart, but screw sentimentality, let’s measure these things!

As I was told during my preview of the game earlier this year, everyone loves a good comeback story. Even if you think we’ll see a new Banjo-Kazooie or Spyro before Bubsy 4D, the infamous cat is at least able to make the most of his opportunity.

It’s not a perfect game, and I really would have liked to see more polish, but I can confidently say that I enjoyed my time with Bubsy 4D.

Wait, Bubsy 4D is actually fun to play?

Here’s the question on everyone’s mind: has Bubsy released a fun 3D platformer after all these years? Yes. Definitely. There’s always a delicate balance on any platform to give the controls some sense of personality while ensuring you’re always in control. To its credit, Bubsy 4D pulls this off…most of the time, anyway.

My first impression remains that Bubsy feels a little floaty, but in a good way. She’s a cat and balances the quickness and weirdness that cats are known for. One minute he’s pulling off an impressive leap across the field, then the next he’s dying. I know that cats are known to live nine lives, but Bubsy, my boy, that doesn’t mean you need to be careless.

On the other hand, it’s a unique experience that makes Bubsy overconfident yet uncomfortable. Having said that, there is nothing more annoying than dying over and over again. The times I found myself in a rhythm, only to be dropped for dead, were more often than I expected.

Yet despite those frustrating moments, I moved forward, learning from my mistakes. Before long, I find myself gaining confidence and feeling soft, as if I were a cat, you guessed it. It is compatible with the open structure of each level. Of course, you can race to the finish line and even race for speed, comparing your times on the leaderboards. You will miss out on the variety of collectibles, which allow you to buy new skills and skins, however.

The Open-Ended Nature of Bubsy 4D Is Its Best Part

Being able to experience Bubsy 4D as you see fit is undoubtedly my favorite part of it.

First things first, though, it’s important not to beat the bush: this is a very short game. You will be able to experience a total of three planets, each with five stages, one of which is a boss fight. This is the kind of game you can knock out in one sitting, but I wouldn’t be wrong about that. After all, it’s a $20 game that I’m happier with than most $40 games.

Here’s the question on everyone’s mind: has Bubsy released a fun 3D platformer after all these years? Yes. Definitely.

You better believe I’m going to go back and work on perfecting those runs, too. As for collections, however, that’s a different story. Remember how I talked about controls making a cat mirror, for better or for worse? As amazing as some of the platforming action can be, there were a few moments where I wanted to snap my controller in half. Getting through some of the hardest parts of the level to collect everything was more frustrating than fun at times.

It’s not the fault of the game camera, so it has its own motion, which is good. There is, however, some time to get used to learning how Bubsy controls, especially when he rolls himself into a ball, which is something you will do quite often. This isn’t the exact platform you’d expect from something like Crash Bandicoot, but you’ll certainly be making more mistakes than you realize.

He’s not afraid to make fun of himself

The Bubsy franchise has never been one to shy away from giving its mascot personality. Originally, it was a product of a time when one-liners were common. Remember, the ’90s were an era filled with pop-culture-inspired Gex comics and Crash Bandicoot bringing a megaphone out of Nintendo’s office.

Given the poor reception of Bubsy 3D, the actor has adopted a self-deprecating attitude, first used in The Woolies Strike Back and now fully adopted in Bubsy 4D. This is a game that knows the public’s perception of the franchise well, and it’s fun to see it poke fun at itself.

Yes, it’s a very meta look at what is ultimately a surprisingly fun game, but one that feels in the vein of Bubsy and friends. Equally in character is the fact that Bubsy isn’t afraid to constantly spout one-liners based on what’s happening. The problem here, however, is that there isn’t enough variety to keep things interesting and fresh. Thankfully, you can reduce the number of times Bubsy talks, a move that other games desperately need to follow.

It’s a shame, because this is one of the few ways that Bubsy 4D’s limitations come into play. I’ve already mentioned how short the game is; You can generate credits in just a few hours, and collecting everything honestly won’t take more than ten. The fact that the humor wears out quickly in a “campaign” that lasts almost as long as Mixtape’s entire runtime is extremely frustrating.

Bubsy 4D could have benefited a lot from more polish

The biggest thing that kept me from liking Bubsy 4D as much as I wanted to was that it felt like, at times, I was playing an early access game.

While there’s a lot to explore in each section, the visuals won’t overwhelm you. They give off a cute, cartoony vibe and vibe, but there’s not much going on behind the scenes. Sometimes, things are literally lifeless, and there are repetitive textures and things that have been given a fresh coat of paint rather than providing real variety.

As amazing as some of the platforming action can be, there were a few moments where I wanted to snap my controller in half.

Equally frustrating are the occasional bugs that tend to crop up, including one that required me to hard reset the game. I encountered a few cutscenes in the level, and falling from a high place meant I had to watch Bubsy fall for 15 seconds or so before he died. When I’m already annoyed by some of the arena issues, this makes me want to close the game.

But despite that, I didn’t. I continued with it, looking to find as many fur reserves as possible. To see how often I can push the controls to their limits and reduce my time to complete a level. It’s a testament to how powerful Bubsy 4D can be, but sadly, it never quite lives up to that.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Bubsy 4D, and I’m someone who had fun playing it. The platformer genre is arguably in its golden age, with Nintendo firing on all cylinders following Super Mario Odyssey and Donkey Kong Bananza. Sony has been on a roll with the 2024 Game of the Year winner, Astro Bot. Seeing Bubsy finally overcome his infamous legacy and deliver a fun, albeit flawed, experience gives me hope that Atari will build on that solid foundation and give a possible Bubsy sequel some polish and investment that might (I can’t believe I’m saying this), make it good. For now, though, despite its flaws, you can’t go wrong with the Bubsy 4D, especially at that discounted price.