Bubsy 4D

I had a lot of fun with Bubsy 4D. The platforming is frantic and flailing, but somehow still precise and forgiving. The writing is corny yet charming. And the visuals feel nostalgic for a world that existed for a handful of Saturday mornings. At the same time, this game can be pretty frustrating. Not nearly as much as I was expecting, but still! A significant reserve of patience and persistence is essential for getting to the end credits. If your memories of Bubsy are either bad or blissfully absent, you may be shocked at what you find here. Although the bar is comically low, this game absolutely clears it. Bubsy 4D is easily the best game in the franchise.

Summing up Bubsy 4D is a much more enjoyable task than I'd ever dared to hope for. Sure, the short playtime, the occasionally barren environments, and the visual compromises made for the sake of frame rate prevent the title from reaching the very highest echelons of platforming. But once the controls are where they should be and you're whizzing across the screen with a smile on your face, the graphical shortcomings fade into insignificance. Fabraz has achieved the seemingly impossible: they've removed the old source of embarrassment and made the red-haired Bubsy relevant again. It may not be a ground-breaking and flawless masterpiece, but it is a genuinely strong, challenging, and incredibly entertaining platforming gem that far exceeds expectations.

Bubsy 4D is definitely an improvement over the last 3D outing for the wise-cracking bobcat, but there's still lots of room for improvement. Both the camera and controls will feel like your biggest enemy here at times, and unless you're into speedrunning the experience may feel rather brief.

Bubsy 4D isn't the best 3D platformer out this year, and probably doesn't even rank in the top ten, but it is a solid return for the character, if you can stomach the various issues.

As with many platformers from the era of the original Bubsy games, mechanical issues with the camera and controls can disrupt the smoother moment-to-moment gameplay. The snarky sense of comedy is likewise hit or miss, scratching a nostalgia itch while never fully escaping the drawbacks of this style of game. Bubsy 4D is a flawed but fun retro title that, at its best, makes a good case for 3D platforming’s modern applicability. The stronger moments of the game’s refined platforming deliver some solid fun and make a good case for Bubsy’s modern revival. If you like older platformers, this is a short, sweet, and imperfect example of that genre. Hopefully, the team behind the game gets another opportunity to continue sharpening the gameplay and addressing the drawbacks of the genre so that Bubsy can truly step out of the past and into a brighter future.