So, Does Bubsy 4D Scatch an Itch or Choke on a Hairball? We Played it to Find Out

Let’s get 1 happening retired of the way: I hatred Bubsy. Not Bubsy 4D, the interesting, vibrant crippled I’m really previewing here, but alternatively Bubsy himself, the mangy, atrocious feline, a poisonous merchandise of a cynical property of mascot marketing. Born successful a acheronian hr erstwhile it seemed practically each video crippled institution tied their fortunes to immoderate clone of a clone of a Sonic sidekick, Bubsy has a well-deserved estimation arsenic a D-tier cash-in quality amended near forgotten.

Fortunately, I person overmuch much affirmative things to accidental astir what I’ve seen of Bubsy 4D, a brand-new reconstruction of the furball’s tainted bequest that, portion acold from perfect, distinctively improves connected Bubsy’s dubious past successful astir each way. During a small implicit an hr with the Bubsy Steam demo, I recovered a large woody worthy exploring... arsenic good arsenic immoderate little encouraging signs.

It’s true: determination are rather a batch of things to similar astir Bubsy 4D. It’s a colorful crippled with immoderate cute originative accouterments scattered astir the thematic worlds, similar the knitted doily highways successful the thread-and-needle themed opening stages. Voice enactment is coagulated (even if the publication is simply a spot uneven) and my preview physique was mostly glitch-free. The question mechanics are reasonably solid, extracurricular of a small camera vexation connected precise agelong jumps to immoderate tiny targets.

The tutorial country is concise and useful, a uncommon capable operation successful games, teaching invaluable skills with minimal exposition. Bubsy’s leap mechanics are logical but instrumentality a small getting utilized to – with assorted kinds of combinable jumps tied to a look fastener and some triggers – and it’s bully to beryllium capable to signifier getting astir with minimal hazard oregon consequences earlier moving into the main campaign. Not that dying is that overmuch of an issue... checkpoints (represented by litter boxes) are reasonably generous, and adjacent if helium dies, Bubsy seldom respawns each that acold from wherever helium past fell.

And the obnoxious small feline gets astir beauteous well. Bubsy’s main spot is his airborne mobility. He tin jump, treble jump, leap guardant and mildly descend similar a parachute, and pounce up to screen large horizontal distances... oregon bash them each astatine the aforesaid time. Bubsy tin besides inflate himself into a shot to rotation on hills and half-pipes, gathering momentum to execute adjacent longer jumps. He tin pounce connected definite sheer surfaces and scramble up them, oregon claw astatine peculiar points to summation mid-air region boosts. He’s precise susceptible of getting around, truthful overmuch truthful that helium tin occasionally get up of the camera erstwhile stringing his pounce onto the extremity of a combo.

That pounce doubles arsenic Bubsy’s superior attack, though successful information I recovered precise fewer threats successful Bubsy worthy attacking. The demo stages are populated with plentifulness of steep jumps and acrobatic challenges, but determination are very, precise fewer enemies wandering about, and those that are contiguous are braindead and rather easy dispatched. Platformers with fewer enemies aren’t unheard of (Portal, Super Meat Boy, and Thomas Was Alone travel to mind) but it was inactive a small unusual however remarkably vacant the colorful platforming environments felt without the accustomed crowds of Goombas, Koopas, oregon Giant Enemy Crabs. And portion Bubsy’s level layouts are cleanable and competent, nary of them attack the much subtle complexity of the classical platformers listed above.

And that’s my biggest question astir wherever the afloat mentation of Bubsy 4D volition yet land. The demo stages conflict somewhat successful the cardinal level design, not successful presumption of the aesthetic production, but successful the layouts themselves. The worlds, portion adequately themed, are not particularly good laid out. Most are evident main paths with clearly-visible spokes and isolated islands. Scattered astir the spokes are the astir invaluable collectables, portion on the main way are myriad yarn-balls hovering successful space. The results are mid-sized, explorable levels which should promote curiosity and discovery... but often neglect to bash so.

The occupation is not successful the wide method, but its glaringly evident deficiency of refinement. It is, successful a sense, a instrumentality to the PlayStation 1-era satellite plan of galore mascot platformers, oregon possibly much accurately, the kitchen-sink, haphazard-style popularized by galore C64 and Amiga level games, including classics similar the Turrican series. Wherever the inspiration comes from, it doesn’t rather enactment yet here. The goals of each tiny conception of a level consciousness repetitive, with the layout either excessively evident oregon the goals not challenging enough. You tin archer wherever you should astir apt spell next, which is simply a bully thing, but it’s often truthful evident that the consciousness of find truly suffers. There are a metric ton of collectables to question out, but they’re seldom concealed successful absorbing ways oregon blocked by compelling challenges. And the deficiency of enemies greatly reduces the layered threats that mightiness different heighten the nuance and challenge.

Jumping betwixt towers and collecting baubles is arsenic aged arsenic video games, but what separates the mediocre from the classical is the refinement that takes spot successful implementing these rote mechanics into practice. After playing Astrobot and Donkey Kong Bananza wrong the past year, I tin accidental that Bubsy 4D’s level plan feels unfinished by comparison. The play areas, portion visually interesting, are unpolished successful their dynamic interactions. Leaping betwixt obstacles and avoiding spikes feels clean, fair, and competent, but seldom feels exhilarating. There’s conscionable capable openness to the worlds to evidently necessitate tremendous investigating and refinement connected the portion of the developers erstwhile designing obstacles that tin beryllium approached from aggregate disposable angles and elevations, yet it’s painfully evident this investigating process has not travel adjacent last fruition. It’s not atrocious astatine all, it’s conscionable not astir arsenic bully arsenic you cognize it could be. Within a fewer minutes of getting into Bubsy 4D, you recognize you’ve done astir of this before, but overmuch better... and that’s not a feeling you privation a video crippled to springiness you.

Fortunately, these are problems that tin beryllium addressed with clip and attraction connected the portion of the developers. This is simply a preview of a enactment successful progress, not a reappraisal of a finished product, and there’s a batch of country yet for immense betterment earlier merchandise adjacent year. The imaginable is surely there... Bubsy’s MASSIVE horizontal mobility is simply a large woody of amusive successful practice, and if the environments proceed to beryllium tightened up to lucifer the cat’s halfway abilities, the squad astatine Fabraz could beryllium connected to thing truly fun.

I bash person 1 circumstantial ailment astir a plan prime that doesn’t enactment truthful well: the demo’s lone mandatory timed challenge, a racing romp crossed immoderate steep unsighted hills and a span that beauteous overmuch demands memorization to beryllium successfully completed. I had hoped that successful the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty-Five we mightiness person moved beyond cramming an unskippable, reasonably unintuitive, timed obstacle contention into the aureate way done a level, yet present we are with Bubsy 4D. These were not amusive successful the PlayStation 1 era, and 30 years aboriginal they are unforgivable sins.

Elsewhere, Bubsy purchases further abilities from a cardinal hub store tally by his annoying niece and nephew, trading collectables for power-ups. My favourite of these was a Wile E. Coyote-inspired powerfulness that allowed maine to interval supra bare abstraction for a 2nd similar a Looney Tunes cartoon quality who’s conscionable tally disconnected a cliff, a flavorful and genuinely utile inclusion. It was thematically due and adorable.

Finally, connected the audio front, Bubsy 4D’s illustration scores ranged from unremarkable to droning. The taxable euphony for the archetypal 3 stages started with an innocuous quality, but aft a fewer loops became grating. I tin lone suffice the dependable arsenic thing that began its beingness arsenic elevator euphony that was past tally done an N64 nostalgia filter and digitizer, and what came retired the different broadside did small to adhd to the platforming experience. Maybe that 1 is conscionable maine and others mightiness bask it more.

Voice work, connected the different hand, is solid, and the publication has a batch of nods to the mascot-platformer era. Bubsy maintains a heightened self-awareness passim his caller journey. He’s openly unenthusiastic astir his latest quest for the aureate fleece. He’s older, tired, and benignant of implicit it all, and the comments that bespeak that consciousness of 40-something exhaustion mostly work. The occasional sarcastic quips and poop jokes look obligatory nods to the epoch that birthed Bubsy, but thing I heard was laugh-out-loud funny. I did not similar Bubsy’s household and cohorts, who benignant of came crossed arsenic worse iterations of Sonic’s unspeakable friends oregon DK’s annoying extended catalog of characters.

Overall, Bubsy 4D is, frankincense far, a bright, absorbing template for a 3D platformer. Whether it volition turn to fulfill its afloat imaginable earlier merchandise is hard to predict. The evident attraction of the developers successful treating the quality with immoderate reflection, adjacent a imaginable wisp of dignity, works successful 4D’s favor. Hopefully the last merchandise volition capitalize connected the beardown commencement evident successful this demo.

Jared Petty likes penning astir however fantastic and silly video games are. You tin find him astatine Bluesky arsenic @pettycommajared and Threads arsenic @pettycommajared.