Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back

 PlayStation 4
  • Publisher: Accolade
  • Release Date: Oct 31, 2017
  • Also On: PC
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 139 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 61 out of 139
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 139
  3. Negative: 52 out of 139
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  1. Untitled94
    Feb 17, 2018
    6
    Game's ok. Not recommended for anyone looking for a good platformer, but it's not bad either. It is very short, and there's not much more to do other than collect yarn and kill enemies, but there's still some enjoyment.
  2. JPK
    Aug 12, 2019
    5
    Mediocre Return
    The Woolies Strike back is definitely a massive step up from Bubsy 3D, But it’s still not very good.
  3. ConsoleArgonaut
    Nov 10, 2017
    5
    Enjoyable.

    When buying this game, I expected a badly controlled, unfair, blend platformer, but what I got in the end was rather enjoyable. This game play like any other typical 2d platformer. Start a level, run, jump, climb and glide to the right till you reach the end of the level and move on to the next one. There are 3 bosses in the game. These are actually quite enjoyable and even    Enjoyable.

    When buying this game, I expected a badly controlled, unfair, blend platformer, but what I got in the end was rather enjoyable.
    This game play like any other typical 2d platformer. Start a level, run, jump, climb and glide to the right till you reach the end of the level and move on to the next one.
    There are 3 bosses in the game. These are actually quite enjoyable and even a tiny bit difficult.
    The soundtrack is enjoyable and you may even listen to it from time to time again.

    So whats the bad thing about the game?
    There are 2 things that really put me off. First, there is the length of the game. There are only 14 levels and I finished the game in about an hour.
    Second is the level design. The levels feel like they created some assets and just copy pasted them in that they made somewhat of a sense.

    Still, if you like 2d platformers, then wait some time for a price drop and try this game out.

    Rating:
    Gameplay: 3/5 - Standard plattformer controls
    Level Design: 2/5 - Not very creative.
    Soundtrack: 4/5 - Pretty enjoyable
    Story: 2/5 - It's there
    Graphics: 3/5 - Typical Unity look
    Length: 1/5 - Only 1 hour long!
    Replay Value: 3/5 - Collectables and a no death challenge are there for each level.
    Enjoyment: 3/5 - Pretty enjoyable

    Overall rating: 21/40 => 5/10    … Expand
  4. Brentopi888
    Nov 15, 2017
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game is the best out of the Bubsy franchise great controls and mechanics. However im kinda dissapointed with the amount of levels and the lack of orginality in them. I finished the game very quick because it was only 12-14 levels i had to complete.… Expand
  5. DoritoFan80
    Dec 9, 2017
    7
    Maybe it has a few issues , but it is NOT AS BAD as the first person shooters of today (78% of games).Sidescrolling action is they type of games that I like
  6. Olicomix
    Aug 24, 2019
    5
    While the levels, visuals, and gameplay are decent, the forgettable music, boring collectables, and short length makes this an incredibly by the numbers 2D platformer that is certainly the best of the Bubsy series, but incredibly paltry in comparison to the countless better options out there.
  7. Your_seruy
    Jul 26, 2018
    7
    Nice gameplay, but VERY SHORTLY STORY. Pleasy make second part, with the long story
  8. LeopoldTheBrave
    Nov 6, 2017
    6
    It's honestly not the worst the bobcat could've done. But it's still far from the best. The platforming is pretty solid and it feels nice to play, even having some visuals much more pleasing than I expected. The main problem comes in not only the level design, but the games length as well.

    It's much too short and levels are much too basic to stand out from the crowd. It may be a good    It's honestly not the worst the bobcat could've done. But it's still far from the best. The platforming is pretty solid and it feels nice to play, even having some visuals much more pleasing than I expected. The main problem comes in not only the level design, but the games length as well.

    It's much too short and levels are much too basic to stand out from the crowd. It may be a good game for Bubsy, but an extremely subpar game for the rest of the world. There's not much to say, so like the game, this reviews length is short.    … Expand
  9. SuperNorst
    Oct 31, 2017
    6
    Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back is a competent platformer which feels similar in gameplay to Giana Sister's Twisted Dreams. The side scrolling levels are large and spacious with an emphasis on collecting yarnballs for the high score.

    The Good: Fans of platformers may enjoy this game. The levels are amusing and the bubsy character is a fun throwback to the past. The Bad: This game is    Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back is a competent platformer which feels similar in gameplay to Giana Sister's Twisted Dreams. The side scrolling levels are large and spacious with an emphasis on collecting yarnballs for the high score.

    The Good: Fans of platformers may enjoy this game. The levels are amusing and the bubsy character is a fun throwback to the past.

    The Bad: This game is extremely short. Imagine seeing the credits after the 3rd castle in a New Super Mario Bros game. It was abrupt, disappointing, and left much to be desired. I would have scored this game much lower if I wouldn't have atleast enjoyed myself up until the ending.    … Expand
  10. GBG_Jason
    Nov 1, 2017
    5
    Growing up in the 16 bit era of gaming, we didn’t have many choices when it came to genres. Sure, most of what we have today were around to some extent, platformers were one of the more prevalent offerings at the time. While not as popular as Sonic or Mario, Bubsy did have a few enjoyable entries and didn’t deserve to be forgotten like he was. Twenty plus years later, we have gotten theGrowing up in the 16 bit era of gaming, we didn’t have many choices when it came to genres. Sure, most of what we have today were around to some extent, platformers were one of the more prevalent offerings at the time. While not as popular as Sonic or Mario, Bubsy did have a few enjoyable entries and didn’t deserve to be forgotten like he was. Twenty plus years later, we have gotten the Bubsy game we deserved. Kind of.

    Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back is not a bad game, but it won’t be winning any awards either. There’s not much of a story to be offered in this. A short, motion comic style opening will show us how the Woolies, a race of aliens that seem to have an affinity for balls of yarn, have busted in Bubsy’s wall Kool-Aid man style and stolen his golden ball of yarn. Our hero isn’t having it, so he sets out to retrieve his stolen toy.

    You’re given the option to complete a tutorial, but it isn’t really needed as Bubsy has a pretty limited tool box to work with. You’ll be able to lunge forward, which doubles as a means to cross wider gaps and works as a sloppy attack. I found this to be less effective than just jumping on the enemies’ heads, as the game did not always register I was attacking an enemy and resulted in a cheap death. You’ll also have the ability to glide and a very mediocre jump. The tutorial will also explain how the moving platforms work, as certain colored platforms will react differently when landed on. Again, nothing that is too hard to figure out on your own.

    The level and enemies do look decent and on par with similar styled platformers, such as the recent Giana Sisters or Max: Curse of the Brotherhood. The variety in enemies is kind of lacking, as you’ll face the same three variants of the aliens along with a few area specific adversaries. The music was also passable and nothing out of the ordinary. I did enjoy some of Bubsy’s one-liners, most of which are plays on sayings or quotes from popular film, game and television franchises; a particular rip on Game of Thrones even got a legitimate chuckle from me.

    Much like the presentation, the controls are passable but could have been much better. The jump never feels like it is enough to make a number of the jumps you need to complete, which makes successful platforming feel like luck opposed to skill. A number of the platforming segments require you to use the additional abilities in ways that don’t make sense, nor are ever fully explained. I found using the glide ability after jumping often resulted in adding just the little bit of extra height I’d need, even when I was touching the wall opposed to the ledge above it. With no real gap to traverse, this strategy was found completely by accident.

    While I can handle a mediocre game, as sometimes it’s what we need to appreciate the real gems we come across, I really hate short games with little to no replay value. You’ll find a total of 1 tutorial level, 9 platforming levels, and 3 boss fights in this title, which put my playtime at around 2 hours before seeing the finale. The boss encounters were a highlight of that time, with each boss featuring a space ship with different abilities similar to Robotnik in the Sonic series.

    While each level/encounter features hundreds of collectibles to be found, there is not much content here for those who don’t enjoy collectible hunting. Without trying to find all of the collectibles, each level’s playtime ranged from 2 to 5 minutes; the levels I did actively search out each ball of yarn, key, or tee shirt put the time at approximately 20 minutes. With no additional game modes or difficulties, this will keep most experienced gamers busy for no time at all, but is too difficult for most younger players, which puts the title in an awkward place as I’m unsure what target audience it was meant for. With this being said, I would exercise caution if purchasing this title at the current $30 price point.    … Expand
  11. NeoSonic
    Nov 1, 2017
    5
    Back from the grave, Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back seemed to be questionable at first glance but pleasantly ended up being decent. This is by a landslide the best Bubsy game. . .but honestly, that's not saying much.
  12. SuperkenGaming
    Oct 31, 2017
    5
    Bubsy the Woolies Strike Back
    not much here
    it’s been 21 years since we got the last bubsy game, which happened to be one of the worst PlayStation one games of all time… Bubsy is back in a much better sonic styled 2d platformer game, but saying it’s much better than bubsy 3d isn’t saying much… Here you of course play as bubsy going after a golden ball of yarn.. This game features 9    Bubsy the Woolies Strike Back
    not much here
    it’s been 21 years since we got the last bubsy game, which happened to be one of the worst PlayStation one games of all time…
    Bubsy is back in a much better sonic styled 2d platformer game, but saying it’s much better than bubsy 3d isn’t saying much…
    Here you of course play as bubsy going after a golden ball of yarn..
    This game features 9 platforming levels, a tutorial level and 3 boss battles...
    and took me a little under 2 hours to clear…
    As bubs you can pounce to break walls, jump, or glid through the air.. avoiding water cause you’re a cat… and other enemies like bees, robots, and woolies…
    There’s yarn around for you to collect, 5 keys in each level to collect so you can open a yarn vault towards the end of each level, and there are shirts around that allow you to take a free hit, and if you have that free hit still active the next time a shirt shows up it counts as an extra life…
    Excess life’s sadly don’t carry over to other levels though..
    You always start fresh with 9 lives and I just realized while writing this how clever that is cause you’re a cat…
    if you lose all 9 lives you restart the level,
    Though each ending does give you a code to throw on the internet to skip a level if you’d like…
    I found these levels towards the end to be a bit challenging, and I’d have to slow myself down and not run through like sonic the hedgehog, I had to time my glides, pounces, and jumps.. Getting from checkpoint to checkpoint with the least deaths possible…
    or should I saw paw…sible
    guys, subscribe to me…
    The level design isn’t anything memorable, but what it is is engaging, and it offers challenge if you’re a score chaser…
    But if you’re not a score chaser... the woolies strike back has nothing really to offer you…
    it’s a mediocre platforming experience otherwise…
    the boss battles here are the worst part of this game..
    They’re not bad...
    They’re just ridiculously frustrating at times…
    They’re satisfying to finally take down as dying doesn’t reset the fight...
    But these bosses are unfairly unpredictable…
    They have way too many moves that look like other moves in their arsenal, and the game gives you no time to react and get to safety for a few of them…
    This leads to these encounters feeling cheap instead of satisfyingly challenging most of the time..
    But again you do get 9 lives to get lucky...
    It’s just a shame that you do indeed need to get lucky…
    Bubsy the Woolies Strike Back exists...
    It’s not bad... it’s not good...
    It’s just there
    I give Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back
    a 5.5/10    … Expand
  13. SuperIsaias64
    Nov 2, 2017
    6
    I was actually glad Bubsy made a triumphant(?) return with this new game, but I feel like this was a missed opportunity.

    First, the gameplay is a HUGE step up from previous Bubsy games in the sense that you can actually control Bubsy fairly well. Although, jumping on enemies can feel weird because it has to be 100% accurate. The music is fairly okay. Nothing terrible. Nothing    I was actually glad Bubsy made a triumphant(?) return with this new game, but I feel like this was a missed opportunity.

    First, the gameplay is a HUGE step up from previous Bubsy games in the sense that you can actually control Bubsy fairly well. Although, jumping on enemies can feel weird because it has to be 100% accurate. The music is fairly okay. Nothing terrible. Nothing outstanding. I love Bubsy's new pounce move. Gives the player an opportunity to do some air attacks to reach higher platforms. It was also nice that you can change how often Bubsy speaks in-game so all those people who complain about him being annoying have no excuse now!

    Now for the bad, and this is a major complaint.. The game is SHORT. Not Yoshi's Island short, but still short. This game consists of only 11 platform levels and 3 bosses. I would have liked maybe 2 more worlds to make it worth the asking price. There is no unlockables or bonus content. It's just that.

    If Accolade is reading this I know a sure fire way of truly making Bubsy a respectable gaming icon rather than a joke.

    First: Include more levels next time. 30 levels can be just enough. And maybe some secret extra tough levels for completionists.
    Second: Change the art style. These 3D models in 2D gameplay don't look appealing. (Metroid 2, NSMB, etc). Maybe make it hand drawn like Rayman Origins?
    Third: For the love of GOD give the enemies more variety and personality. Donkey Kong has the Kremlings and Mario has the Koopas. All with different variations and personalities. Stop using the same Wooly model for everything. They're an alien species, right? Maybe make an alien blob form or something? ANYTHING.
    Fourth: Make the stages more unique. Most of the time I felt I was marathoning the same level because of how generic the stages are and can't recall a single unique level. I did like the lava rising in one of the final levels.

    I hope Accolade puts more effort next time because gamers will now be very wary. Please please PLEASE improve the formula! Don't settle for "good enough". This is definitely a step in the right direction.    … Expand
  14. JamesDrawsThngs
    Jul 21, 2020
    5
    Nobody. Not a single. Solitary. Soul. Seriously wanted Bubsy to come back from the dead. However, by the power of memes alone, we were graced with a new Bubsy game in 2017, coming out around the same time as both Super Mario Odyssey and even Sonic Forces. Yeah, I'm fairly certain most people were paying attention to either the portly plumber's globetrotting or Original the CharacterNobody. Not a single. Solitary. Soul. Seriously wanted Bubsy to come back from the dead. However, by the power of memes alone, we were graced with a new Bubsy game in 2017, coming out around the same time as both Super Mario Odyssey and even Sonic Forces. Yeah, I'm fairly certain most people were paying attention to either the portly plumber's globetrotting or Original the Character creator. Bubsy only continues to exist today because our jokes and memes have gotten to the point where it was able to revive one of the most reviled platforming mascots of the '90s.

    I will give Woolies Strikes Back this much credit. It certainly is the best Bubsy game ever made. That is not really saying a whole lot since this game is just so painfully average and by-the-numbers. It controls perfectly fine, with some nifty quality-of-life improvements that make it a thousand times more bearable than the original games. It looks nice and colorful. The soundtrack is just sort of...there, and you can still have Bubsy shut up just like you can in Bubsy 3D (how many of you even knew that was possible). The problem, though, is that being functional, yet boring is always going to be far worse than being bad, but interesting. This game gives very little to talk about. Much of the level designs are your basic platforming fare. You can collect tons of yarn balls throughout the stages, but collecting them all is there purely for completionists sake as they are not necessary for progression. Most of the boss fights are decent, toward the end of the game they really start to drag through mud. Oh, and the entire game can be beaten in about 2 hours. The fact that it's so short is not the bad part. The fact that it was released for $40 in 2017 is what makes it egregious.

    I mean, there really isn't a whole lot to say about this game other than, "It's a functional Bubsy game". If you desperately wanted one, here you go, but I would not spend more than maybe $5 at most for this game. Its normal asking price is asking for far, far too much. The Woolies Strike Back is ultimately a game that doesn't need to exist, and frankly, at this point, I think even most people have quickly forgotten about it. I don't think memes are the best form of marketing, Acclaim.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

63
#63 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
45

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 20
  3. Negative: 12 out of 20
  1. GameCritics
    Nov 21, 2017
    30
    Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back is a mess. Bad controls, uninspired enemy and level design, and a total lack of motivation to keep playing. I want to find something nice to say about it, but even the three boss fights are tedious, confusing slogs. The game ends with a promise that Bubsy will return in another installment, but it feels more like a threat.
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  2. Digitally Downloaded
    Nov 20, 2017
    30
    Sadly, Busby: The Woolies Strike Back barely meets the quality standards and expectations of the genre in its infancy, let alone all these years later.
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  3. GameSpew
    Nov 15, 2017
    50
    Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back has a degree of retro appeal and may even stir up fond memories if you were around for Bubsy’s first outing. But it’s so unremarkable that it never really manages to get its claws into you.
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