You know that saying “That wasn’t on my bingo card” whenever something surprising and/or shocking happens during a year? Well, I’m pretty sure a new Bubsy game wasn’t on ANYONE’S bingo card for 2026 but here we are with Bubsy 4D! The first fully 3D entry since Bubsy 3D - a game I do not think was as bad as everyone made it out to be - and coming from the talented folks over at Fabraz who created the Indie hits Demon Turf and its sequel Demon Tides; two games I will freely admit I’ve yet to play and are now in my list of games to check out (I’m never going to get through this backlog, aren’t I?). Did Fabraz make a paw-some game that breaks the so-called ‘Bubsy Curse’? In short, yes they did as Bubsy 4D is paws-itively paw-some!
Everything Is Pawsome!
Well, OK, not EVERYTHING is awesome as I do have a few slight issues with the game. I guess the biggest issues are the controls and this was something I’d hope would’ve been slightly tweaked from the demo. They aren’t bad in any way and nothing is outright broken, they’re just a tad too slippery for my taste. I found myself, at times, struggling a bit to stay on certain platforms or even just get onto the platforms themselves, resulting in a few moments of me huffing out of my mouth in slight frustration. Yes, I got used to it after a bit of messing around but the threat of falling still lingered like a smell from a kitty litter box that just won’t go away, no matter how hard you clean it. This goes double for his new Hairball move, which turns him into a rolling ball of fur Critters 2-style, allowing you faster traversal speed and a new means of attacking enemies. Good idea on paper and there were spots where I had fun - and, yes, Bubsy looks both silly and cute when in Hairball mode, especially depending on what costume you have him - but, again, the controls did hamper the fun in some areas, as well as the physics of the ball itself. At times, in areas where I was supposed to use it? I ended up sticking with Bubsy’s non-Hairball form and just sprinting through the area. I did find the Hairball’s controls to be decent during the first boss, which did come as a slight surprise but I think that was because the arena was better designed for it. There were also areas where you have to traverse pipes as a Hairball and these were a nice diversion and, like the boss arena, easy to control. Though, I couldn’t ever get the trajectory from shooting out of the cannon pipes right as it felt like I was always undershooting the target, but usage of the pounce-glide combo did help in this area a lot.
I will give the game props that it includes the original tank controls from Bubsy 3D as an option and when I switched to them to experiment for a bit? Many of the control issues went away and I was having no problems playing the game afterwards. Mind you, it’s probably because I was so used to playing Bubsy 3D prior to this release that maybe I just got too used to the tank controls that moving to something with non-tank controls just felt off to me for a while. In fact, after switching back to the non-tank controls, I did get used to them and found myself pulling off some nice moves here and there, even though they still felt slippery and I still found myself sliding off of platforms or missing them completely at times. But, even with that said? The controls aren’t all that bad and it wasn’t really enough to hurt this game for me, let alone even put a dent in my enjoyment. One area where I felt the controls were highly responsive is in regards to his pounce attack. Whenever you see an enemy, be it a Woolie, Baabot, or one of the three bosses, a targeting reticle appears and you can pounce on them. This is also very useful in platforming as, if you time everything right, you can make long jumps by combining your pounce and float ability - Yes, that ridiculous move Bubsy had from the last three entries is back and I’m still wondering if he’s part flying squirrel and related to Rocky The Flying Squirrel - and I had a lot of fun going all Mirror’s Edge with those moves and chaining them together into this sort of rudimentary dance. Even the slippery controls surprisingly resulted in some fun moments of unintentional parkour in some areas, especially on the moving and rotating platforms on later stages.
What Could Paw-ssibly Go Wrong?
Controls aside? I’m just gonna say it: Despite me loving the original mainline trilogy, this is the best Bubsy game in the whole franchise, with one of the funniest stories I’ve played through in any game in a long time. The basic gist of the game is that the Woolies have returned and, instead of stealing the Golden Fleece, they kidnap the world’s sheep population to make their own (insert your Futurama reference here). But, the sheep? They decide to fight back and form their own faction called ‘Baabots’ and they, in turn, steal the fleece. Now, it’s up to Bubsy to stop being a lazy cat and fight the Baabots to get the Golden Fleece back. Like I said, this is a completely ridiculous story, reminding me a lot of the Saturday morning cartoons I grew up with, and I loved every minute of it. The game has this aura of self-awareness that I do miss in the media nowadays and I love how it poked fun at Bubsy’s previous games, including 3D, while also showing some love for them as well. Not just with little quips here and there, but also with the costumes you can unlock at Terry & Terri’s Shop on his ship, with one being his original 3D form, complete with the game over screens whenever you lose all your health points, and another being his iconic exclamation point shirt. There’s also one costume you can get that not only got a huge laugh out of me, but also made me realize something a bit eye-brow raising about the character it was referencing, as well as leading to some pretty funny moments in the cutscenes. This goes double with the aforementioned quips, including one referencing Gex that I actually had to play a second time cause it caught me off guard and got me laughing hard. Now, not all the jokes hit as there were a few that fell flat and some of Bubsy’s one-liners, at times, only elicited a quick smirk out of me.
The same can be said about the three bosses of the game as they can be either pretty funny or just OK at best. Yes, there’s only three as this is a relatively short game, but they are creative and fun to fight. I say only the second boss gave me a bit of a problem near the final stage - each boss has three stages - due to its attack pattern catching me off guard, but the bosses really are pretty easy to fight and, like I said, pretty funny. The final boss, in particular, I swear is a straight JoJo reference with their design and poses, as well as being a fun and creative boss to fight. But, remember when I said this game is short? Well, it is but that’s not to say it’s a negative. You only get three worlds and five levels on each world and they all can be beaten relatively quickly if you just focus on getting to the golden fleece at the end. Sure, you can spend time and collect all the other yarn balls, as well as blueprints which unlock optional new moves, but believe me when I said I was surprised when the credits appeared after the third boss. That’s not to say the shortness is a negative as I don’t mind short games. In fact, I tend to have more fun playing them over games that take weeks and months to beat (I’m looking at you, Civilization VI). I was just surprised when the game ended and I guess I just wanted just a bit more gameplay which, there is if you want to go back and replay levels to find the blueprints, try your best to speedrun a level, or try to beat the game on Nine Lives mode, which basically means if you get hit nine times? You gotta start the game all over again from the beginning.
Something else I loved about Bubsy 4D is the love and care Fabraz put into this game. From its various worlds to the quips to even the unlockables and options menu. I kid you not, the option menu has personality all of its own! For example, turn on Tank Controls and Bubsy will react in disdain and annoyance. Turn down his speech and he’ll actually call you out, with even the voice actor himself Sean Chiplock breaking character and saying he worked hard for this. That’s something else I should mention: The voice acting is surprisingly pretty good! Sean Chiplock does an amazing job at voicing Bubsy, nailing the personality of a character who wants to be a hero but still has to deal with his past failures. The rest of the cast are great too, though I'm not a fan of Terri's, the cat in the purple sweater, dull tone. It may just be me, but it reminds me of the iterations of Wednesday Addams after the original classic TV series and I was never a fan of that take on them. What I am a fan of are the world designs and the overall soundtrack. Beginning with the music, this is another great gaming soundtrack and one I seriously want to get on CD to listen to in my free time. The first stage’s music, for example, had this funky beat that gave me some Primus vibes, in particular their song ‘Lee Van Cleef’, and I found myself tapping my foot to it while it played. The rest of the game’s tracks are equally catchy, though there was only one I felt was a bit on the weak side and was slightly annoying but that was pretty much it. In fact, there were times where I just stopped playing and just listened to the background music, soaking it in and really getting into it.
The same praise can be said about the various worlds you visit, with each one having this cool arts and crafts design going on. The first world you visit is completely made of wool while the third was all computer parts which, as someone who would love a dedicated gaming rig, made me honestly jealous with how easy they assembled the PCs in the world. I even liked how the second world had some cool environmental hazards like glue that can slow you down when stepped in. Though, to be fair, the third world did have a few sections that I wasn’t too keen on, namely these fast moving walkways that took me multiple tries to get through as it either launched me like I was a certain blue hedgehog hopped up on chilli dogs or I misjudged a jump thanks to the timing. Other than that little section, the worlds are fun to navigate and I never got lost in them, even when I was searching for the hidden blueprints as, despite it being open world, there is a clear beginning and end to each stage. Which is good because spending hours just searching for an exit is not something I like to do in games most of the time…unless I honestly forget where said exit is (I’m looking at you, parking garage in the Resident Evil 2 Remake).
A Purr-fect Game!
Now, I’ll be brutally honest here: The demo for Bubsy 4D didn’t give me a good first impression of the game and I was admittedly slightly worried that this was going to be a disappointment. But, thankfully, that wasn’t the case with the full release. Fabraz managed to take what was once a laughing stock amongst gamers and make a legitimately fun and entertaining Bubsy game. Is it a perfect title? Almost, as the controls are the only real sour point and a few of the jokes did fall flat. But, did I have a purr-fectly fun time playing this title? Yes I did! I’ve honestly had tons of fun with the Bubsy series and Bubsy 4D is no exception. Again, it brings me back to my youth and many of the classic 3D platformers I used to play on my N64. To me, that’s a sign of a great game: If it can bring back memories of a youthful past of not having a care in the world and just sitting on the floor, controller in hand, and exploring incredible worlds beyond one’s imagination. Bubsy 4D is paw-sitively a purr-fectly claw-some game with a-mews-ing levels, hiss-terical comedy, and fur-nally shows that Bubsy isn’t a cat-astrophe of a fur-anchise and can be a claw-somely radi-claw series.
Thanks to the Developer for a Review Key! | Bubsy 4D is available on Steam, Xbox, Playstation, and Switch 2
