Bubsy 4D Is The Sleeper Platformer You Shouldn't Miss
Bubsy might finally have a hit on his paws.
After his last two outings didn’t exactly set the world on fire, no one expected Bubsy, one of the few memorable anthropomorphic leads in the gaming mascot rush of the 1990s, to return so quickly. As revealed during Opening Night Live’s pre-show, the sassy bobcat is back in a sequel that will stray from the character’s 2D days in favor of a 3D platformer.
While the words “Bubsy” and “3D” may bring about flashbacks to the gnarliest days of early 3D gaming, I’m pleased to report that Bubsy’s second go around in the third dimension is already looking plenty smoother than his first. Much of that credit goes to indie developer Fabraz, whose past work on games like the underrated Demon Turf proves it has a way of making exhilarating new additions to the genre. That same charm is very much present in Bubsy 4D, a surprise hit that left me wanting to play more at the end of the three levels I played during an Atari event this month.
Bubsy 4D revels in the fact that its titular character is from a bygone era. He lives with characters younger than him who will throw the occasional jab about his age, the same way a teen would to their parents. As Fabraz developer Ben Miller tells Inverse, “Bubsy has a complicated history,” one that they don’t want to shy away from nor laser-focus on.
Bubsy 4D is well aware that the character has become a bit of a lovable loser.
“We've been trying to strike a delicate balance,” Miller said. “We don't want to just dunk on him, but Bubsy’s had a tough go of it, more so than any of us. We want to acknowledge that, and that means a little bit of poking fun at him being a bit of a has-been. But we definitely wanted to also uphold him. Actually gonna embrace that he persisted for this reason. That there’s something about the character that people liked and that they resonated with.”
“We’re trying to latch on to that rather than what the meme became, which is this is a garbage game for garbage people,” he continued.
“We’re trying to latch on to that rather than what the meme became, which is this is a garbage game for garbage people,” he continued.
While the world of Bubsy is spared this playful ribbing, with returning side characters like Terri, Terry, and Virgil, our lovable lead is not. I was thankful that jokes at his expense never felt cruel or mean-spirited (he’s still a cool cat meant for kids after all). They just offered some chuckle-worthy story beats for players in the know of Bubsy’s history.
Bubsy’s Hairball form is an addictive mechanic that seems tailor-made for speedrunners.
While I appreciated its spot-on tone, how Bubsy 4D plays is what really hooked me. Fabraz understood the assignment when making a Bubsy game. As a Sonic copycat, Bubsy’s 2D games always prioritized speed. Bubsy 4D isn’t exactly Sonic Frontiers, prioritizing speed over precision. Players can carefully navigate platforms at their own pace, free of consequences. But like Demon Turf before it, Bubsy 4D introduces a handful of specific movement mechanics that, when combined, can feel oh-so-exhilarating to put to master.
Bubsy can scamper up and down walls, glide, pounce, and double jump (which can be reset with a pounce or glide), all without the player losing control of where Bubsy is headed. The newest feature is Bubsy’s Hairball ability. In this form, which can be activated with the touch of a shoulder button, Bubsy becomes a giant inflatable ball that can roll at high speed. Here, Fabraz took the sense of forward momentum of the original games (even the maligned Bubsy 3D) were known for and created a brand new mechanic. Instead of letting inclines in the level determine his speed, players can accelerate and slow Bubsy down at will with the triggers.
It’s hard to explain how much fun it is to use this moveset to get around, but gameplay videos do it some justice. Combined with the wide-open level design, which are laid out like modern revisions of the surreal neon-hellscapes from Bubsy 3D, I could already tell that this game will warrant exploratory replay. Even better, the versatility of the Hairball seems tailor-made for the speedrunning community. Since the game’s announcement, Fabraz has already posted devs running through the game’s opening level (which took me upwards of 10 minutes to complete) in just over a minute.
I only got to play a tutorial and two levels of Bubsy 4D. But in that short amount of time, it was clear to me that Bubsy’s got the stuff to be one of the year’s must-play platformers. What it doesn’t have in Donkey Kong Bananza’s top-level production and budget, it more than makes up for with mechanical density and gratifying gameplay. The tongue-in-cheek yet still family-friendly tone was also refreshing.
While there’s still plenty of time before it releases, Bubsy 4D could be not just the aging video game star’s best game, but one that finally puts him in the same conversation as his biggest rivals in the genre.
