Lordy Lordy, Look Who’s 4D!
HIGH Bubsy is genuinely back, baby
LOW The game is heartbreakingly short
WTF The Sonic spoof outfit with pixelated erogenous zone
Doesn’t it provide a melancholic twinge, in these fallen times, to recall that not long ago one of the biggest issues plaguing the games industry was a surplus of mascot platformers?
In remembrance of the heady simplicity of those days, let us walk through the Mascot Platformer Graveyard, filled with the fallen and the forgotten — Acro the Bat’s carnival finery now covered by dust; Glover flat and desiccated, his once-pristine satin skin cracking under the merciless sun; Chuck D. Head looking, well, more or less the same actually, in his usual cerements; Dynamite Heddy behedded; Boogerman crumpled, forlorn, picked by no one now; and the horrid corpse of The Great Quest-era Frogger putrescing in a swamp…
A grim place indeed. But in the remake-remaster-rerelease hyperreality of today, dead things rarely stay dead – not when there’s a chance for IP holders to exhume them and parade them around in front of the nostalgia-infected crowds for a quick buck. So, it came as no surprise to me that whatever corporate bandersnatch now wears Atari’s skin, rummaging around their bin of acquisitions, found Bubsy in there and decided to cash in.
It did surprise me, though, that the Atari entity handed over Project NuBubsy to Fabraz. Fabraz is an indie outfit and fashioner of platforming titles par excellence. Bubsy 4D lands mere months after the release of Fabraz’s Demon Tides, the magnificent sequel to Demon Turf and easily the best new game I’ve played so far this year, with movement so good that, for weeks after finishing it, every other platformer felt lesser in the hands. Letting them handle Bubsy’s rebirth seems too cool of a move for a clunker like Atari, but I’m glad it happened anyway.
And I’ve always been Bubsy-curious, so I decided to see what these artisans of aerial acrobatics could do with the freaky little bobcat.
First things first — thanks to Fabraz, Bubsy’s now the proud owner of a versatile, expressive moveset. I was worried, given that it’s obviously made in the same engine as Demon Tides, that there would be too much Beebz in Bubsy – but thankfully, that’s not the case. Bubsy is more squirrely, with a powerful forward dive, a Yoshi-like hover kick, and the ability to claw his way up a wall for a bit before slipping. He can also transform into a giant ball for rolling around Monkey Ball-style slides and chutes. He feels real cartoony, befitting his heritage as a mascot platformer, for what were those elastic goofballs if not playable cartoon characters?
The badge system in Demon Tides returns here, albeit in simplified form. Snagging blueprints (one per stage) lets Bubsy buy permanent ability upgrades from the hub shop. These abilities do not take up slots, so beyond the order in which players acquire them, they’re all able to be active at all times. Generally they’re not as cool as the ones in Tides, although I loved the one that boosted Bubsy’s “Coyote Time” – the brief moment when he thrashes his feet mid-air before falling. It’s a canny, characterful option, and evidence Fabraz clearly understood the assignment here.
As mentioned, this appears to be the same engine as Tides, but there do seem to be improvements throughout. Character animation, while not good, inches closer to good than it in Tides. Beebz & Co. were constantly gurning awkwardly, as if each individual facial feature were controlled by a separate, microscopic, drunken pilot. Bubsy and the supporting cast move and act much more naturally.
Moreover, the color schemes and world themes here are better. Not only are they easier on the eyes than the sometimes painfully lurid stuff in Tides, but the handicraft aesthetic is just innately charming. I will never tire of clambering over giantized office supplies, sewing tools, computer parts, and other everyday objects. Give me as much of that stuff as you got.
The actual level design also pleases. Fabraz has always encouraged creative platforming puzzle solving, and while there’s plenty of pleasure to be had in trucking through the levels as intended, I can imagine that those who like sequence breaking and speedrunning will be able to make major hay here.
Speaking of things that go quick, I need to talk about the major, unignorable catch — Bubsy 4D is short. Shockingly short. I beat the entire game in less than three hours, and I didn’t even know the last boss was the last boss until credits started rolling. There are a total of four levels in each of Bubsy 4D’s four worlds, with four boss fights on top of that – and, as was the case in Demon Tides (and indeed every platformer in history), the boss fights weren’t all that great anyway. So really all we’ve got here are 16 main levels.
I love and appreciate short experiences, and I wasn’t expecting Bubsy to be a 30-hour epic on par with Demon Tides. But, there’s a fine distinction between ‘short’ and ‘truncated,’ and Bubsy 4D sadly falls into the latter camp. The levels never get more difficult, and there isn’t much sense of progression – this is a case where the short length impacts the quality. Everything here is good, but it doesn’t have the space or structure to cohere. This feels only marginally more complete than a demo, if I’m honest. I’m not sure what went on behind the scenes, but my suspicion is that Atari insisted on releasing at a certain time and Fabraz had to make do — or maybe they always intended to make a short game? But if that’s the case, then the price of entry here is way off.
So yeah, Bubsy 4D is a good game – of course it is, Fabraz made it! The bobcat couldn’t have gotten luckier with these developers. And if they make another one, or add on to this one, I’ll happily check it out. With that said, people should play Demon Tides first, and then Demon Turf, and then, even then, wait for a steep sale — there’s just not enough content here.
6.5 out of 10
Disclosures: This game is developed by Fabraz and published by Atari. It is currently available on PC, PS4/5, Switch/Switch 2, and XBO/X/S. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PC. Approximately 3.4 hours of play were devoted to the game, and it was completed (Yikes). There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: This game has an ESRB of E10+ for Comic Mischief and Fantasy Violence. The official description reads: This is an action platformer in which players help a wise-cracking bobcat battle cybernetically enhanced sheep. From a third-person perspective, players traverse platform levels while collecting balls of yarn and battling enemies (e.g., sheep, aliens). Players use pounce and rolling attacks to defeat creatures; enemies disappear amid puffs of smoke when defeated. Boss encounters involve more protracted combat, as players battle larges robots from a closer perspective. The game contains some bathroom humor: save-point litter boxes; dialogue referencing bodily/digestive humor (e.g., “Sniff, sniff. Leather and farts”; “I have a small bladder”; “Why are there fireworks in my litterbox? Scared the poop out of me!”).
Colorblind Modes: The are no colorblind modes present.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Almost all the dialogue in the cutscenes is voiced, but accompanied by dialogue boxes. The plot isn’t the important thing here but it is absolutely followable without sound. Neither the levels nor the bosses rely on sound cues whatsoever, but Bubsy’s mid-level quips and remarks do not have subtitles.
Remappable Controls: The game supports keyboard + mouse and gamepad, and the controls are fully remappable.
The post Bubsy 4D Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.
