Bubsy – A Misunderstood Platformer?

Even though I am a keen reviewer, it is rare that I let them influence me in my games division. Particularly if they are negative; if anything, I am more inclined to try a game the more poorly it reviews. Surely it can’t be that bad? Take the latest Saints Row for example: reviewed poorly, but that steered me to try it. And I ended up loving it.

So the Bubsy collection is a chance for me to play games that have passed me by, but that I have heard aren’t all that great. Surely, they can’t be that bad?

Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection is a compilation of four ‘classic’ platforming titles, with platform variations also included. The titles are: Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind for the SNES and SEGA Mega Drive, Bubsy II for the SNES, Mega Drive and Nintendo Game Boy, Bubsy in: Fractured Furry Tales for the Atari Jaguar and finally, Bubsy 3D for the PlayStation. 

They all feature the titular Bubsy, a wise-cracking anthropomorphic bobcat that is so ‘90s you would probably call it ‘hip’. And they all vary from the pretty average to the pretty terrible.

Collection Starts Off Well…

The first game in the quadrilogy is surprisingly the best one. Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind is a colourful platformer with some decent variation in the environments. You travel through some rural looking areas with hills and rivers, to theme parks and the Wild West. He has to protect his yarn balls from an alien race known as Woolies who have arrived to clone them.

What is bemusing though is how Bubsy controls. It feels like there is a strong wind blowing against him at all times. At first, I thought it was the enemies blowing him back, but it was happening even when there weren’t any on screen. Bubsy’s momentum is all over the place, sometimes being too much or not enough, but never feeling quite right. In a platformer game, where precision jumping is crucial, this is a bit of a dealbreaker. And unfortunately, none of the later releases seem to fare any better.

Bubsy II – at least on the SNES and Mega Drive versions – continues the same gameplay with some even more varied environments. Bubsy is also a bit more robust, able to take a couple of hits before losing a life this time, a big gripe from the first game.

…Before Falling Off a Cliff

The Game Boy version of Bubsy II is also present, and worthy of an individual mention. It speaks volumes though when the game itself advises against playing it. A message on the main menu says “Actually, just walk away from this one…” and the associated achievement for completing it is called ‘I’m so sorry’.

It isn’t necessarily as bad as these warnings would suggest. It plays, but often the frame drops significantly whenever more than a couple of sprites are on screen at once.

And then we get to Bubsy in: Fractured Furry Tales, a clever mash-up of Bubsy platforming where he visits various classic kids stories. The likes of Alice in Wonderland, Jack and the Beanstalk and Hansel and Gretel are all up for being Bubsy-fied. Which you can interpret however you would like.

Fractured Furry Tales highlights the issues with the 2D Bubsy games, by being the worst examples of them. The levels are maze-like in the design, but made unnecessarily complicated to the point that they aren’t fun to play. That is very much the case in Fractured Furry Tales.

Somehow, Bubsy 3D manages to be even worse than everything before it. Originally released in 1996 – the same year as Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot I hasten to add – it is the most primitive looking PlayStation-era game. It looks downright ugly, and doesn’t play much better.

Comes With All The Features For a Retro Collection

It is here that the rewind feature comes in handy, because jumping onto an enemy needs to be so precise that you will find yourself repeatedly rewinding missed jumps. But landing on an enemy is so hard due to this attempt at a 3D setting, and it has failed spectacularly. There is a reason that the Bubsy franchise has lain dormant after this game for so long, and you only need to play for a short time to understand why.

Attempts are made to make this Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection stand out, and with the other inclusions, you can’t knock it. All the standard features are present including the ability to change borders and screen sizes, filters to make things look more authentic, boosts, cheats and a rewind feature. There is also a ‘Meowseum’ where you can view a lot of bonus features from the Bubsy annals, and a ‘Mewsic’ player. Useful, because that Bubsy theme can, and will, get stuck in your head.

As a collection and a retrospective anthology of Bubsy games, Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection ticks all the boxes. The issue here though, and it is a fairly major one, is that the games weren’t ever very good in the first place. Even with the modern additions to make them palatable, these are bad platformers. And unfortunately, nice inclusions can only get you so far when the gameplay is sub-par.

Important Links

Ready for a Furry Tale of Gaming History in Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection? – https://www.thexboxhub.com/ready-for-a-furry-tale-of-gaming-history-in-bubsy-in-the-purrfect-collection/

Buy the Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/bubsy-in-the-purrfect-collection/9NLS3J4N6418/0010