Five more lives to go…
Bubsy must have made a deal with some entity in the past. If you grew up in the 90s like me, you heard about this infamous bobcat. Every game released with his namesake in that era was bad, yet we all remember them, and they just kept making them. Over the years he has had multiple comebacks, and again, all of them were not great. Fast forward to 2026, Bubsy is back, yet again, and once again, the results are not great. Bubsy 4D had so much going for it, developer Fabraz felt like the perfect fit, their other titles have been excellent whimsical platformers. Sadly, the Bubsy curse has struck again.
With all that being said, Bubsy 4D is the best game in the series to date. Fabraz did manage to conjure up the most competent game Bubsy has ever starred in, but that bar is extremely low. This game would feel right at home next to all those Mario 64 clones that were released at the end of the 90s. It has its moments, decent control, and plenty of things to collect and unlock. The problem is that it just never ascends to the heights of those games, even 30 years later.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $14.99
The plot revolves around yet another invasion of Woolies and it is up to Bubsy to save the galaxy. The Woolies are joined by a new enemy known as the BaaBots and the game leans into the idea that Bubsy is washed up and plays on the awful legacy of the series. It comes across charming and understands how the series is perceived. They do lean in too hard at times though. There are modern jokes mixed in with the nostalgia, and I get what they were going for, it sadly just does not always land.
Bubsy 4D is your typical platformer with collectibles. What makes this game unique is that it feels built for speed running and momentum game play. Busby controls loosely with a variety of moves. He has the normal jump and double jump alongside a glide and float jump. He can also roll into a ball and increase speed. At first, it feels fine, but the game seems to focus a little too much on these mechanics. When you nail the moves, it feels good, but most of the time I was dying because the momentum carried me off the stages. I was frustrated more than I was having fun, and that is not a great sign for a platformer.
Each stage has its own theme and they are fine, but also very sparse. Levels have hardly any enemies and a muted template that is just not interesting. The levels look like they will be filled with fun activities when you spawn in, but upon exploration it is mostly finding yarn balls and not much else. These levels are bare most of the time and just not that interesting to explore.
Busby also has a set of moves that can be unlocked with the collectibles. Some are useful, while others are just kind of there. For example, the Wile E. Coyote fall animation is fun, but useless. There is also a collection of outfits, again mostly taking stabs at Bubsy’s past. It is clear the developers leaned into his checkered past with most of the stuff in this game, it is just sad most of it does not succeed in making an interesting game.
Visually the game is fine, but I am not a fan of the soft look to it all. It has this haze over everything that mutes a lot of the vibrant colors. Not sure what this is, but I do not like it. As mentioned, the stages look cool at first glance, but the more I explored them, the blander they became. There just isn’t a ton of interesting things in each one. Stuff that looks like it would be fun to traverse just isn’t. The voice work is what I expected with a ton of commentary from Bubsy and his cohorts, and most of it being annoying, which is par for the course.
Overall, Bubsy 4D had my attention and when it hits, it is fun to play. Sadly, most of the time it just isn’t. I tried very hard to love this game, and while it is the best Bubsy game to date, it still falls short to most similar platformers. Thirty plus years later I am still waiting for the Bubsy game that will be considered a classic, but at this point I feel it just might not be in the cards for everyone’s favorite bobcat.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
