Bubsy 4D Review

Bubsy 4D revives gaming’s most infamous mascot through surprisingly strong platforming and chaotic momentum-based movement.

For years, Bubsy was more of a joke than a true gaming hero. Unlike mascots like Mario, Sonic, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro, Bubsy has been stuck in the shadow of one terrible reputation as the platforming genre progressed. The original Bubsy games from the 1990s were already uninspired mascot platformers trying to cash in on the fame of Sonic the Hedgehog, but Bubsy 3D was the final nail in the coffin.

That PlayStation game was infamous for its clunky controls, bad voice acting, unattractive visuals, and dull gameplay design, cementing Bubsy's status as one of gaming's biggest cautionary stories. Even later attempts to resurrect the character did not wash away the stench. Few games had as much baggage as Bubsy coming into a modern revival.

It seemed unthinkable that Atari would transfer the franchise over to Fabraz, the studio behind the critically acclaimed Demon Turf series and upcoming Demon Tides. Fabraz has already proven they were capable of making fast, expressive, movement-heavy 3D platformers with a passionate fanbase. The developers didn't try to hide Bubsy's heritage; instead, they embraced it.

They made a game that respects the series' history while also trying to make the character truly happy. Bubsy 4D doesn't fix the franchise's longstanding problems, but it does something arguably more important. It finally offers Bubsy something to talk about besides sardonic nostalgia. Bubsy 4D’s story is deliberately ridiculous, self-referential, and oddly entertaining.

The Woollies are back as the main villains, stealing sheep and causing havoc in a series of weird worlds. Initially, Bubsy dismisses this until other sheep-like spaceships arrive, forcing him into yet another uncomfortable adventure involving the mysterious golden fleece and an even odder robotic menace, the Baabots.

While the game does have a supporting cast of characters such as Oblivia, Virgil, and Bubsy’s niece and nephew, Terry and Terri, it doesn’t go into detail about who they are. The game doesn't explain anything in any meaningful way; it just expects that you'll roll with the insanity.

Bubsy 4D knows nobody’s looking for deep mythology or emotional storytelling.

The plot is largely a vehicle for humor, fourth-wall jokes, and constant commentary on Bubsy's own irrelevance. Basically, everyone sees Bubsy as a former celebrity trying to stay in the spotlight obnoxiously. The running joke that no one takes him seriously can become a little old at times, but the writing typically avoids becoming nasty.

The core earnestness underneath the cynicism makes the characters surprisingly charming. Special mention should go to Sean Chiplock’s performance as Bubsy, who makes the character approachable without completely abandoning the harsh temperament that longtime fans expect.

Bubsy still talks a lot during the game, but thankfully the game offers options to lessen or entirely mute his dialogue. However, the way cutscenes are presented is one of the worst features of the game. Character actions are often stiff and sloppy, the camera work is unpolished, and awkward pauses between lines of dialogue get in the way of the comedy's timing.

Especially terrible vocal direction is a mismatch for the better performances elsewhere, and the villain suffers. None of these flaws completely ruin the story, but they are a continuous reminder that Bubsy 4D is made on a much smaller scale than most recent platformers. If you’ve played Demon Turf or seen any footage of Demon Tides, you’ll probably realize where this is coming from.

Bubsy 4D shares much of the same movement philosophy, physics systems, and overall structure as Fabraz's prior platformers. Bubsy can double jump, wall jump, glide, pounce in the air, cling to surfaces, and combine many movement capabilities with great fluidity. Controls are initially sloppy and overly loose, but as the movement system clicks into place, navigation becomes incredibly enjoyable.

The core gameplay loop is based around exploration, momentum management, and platforming precision. Each planet contains five semi-open levels featuring items such as balls of yarn, blueprints, and skill scrolls. Yarn is primarily currency for cosmetics, although blueprints and scrolls unlock new mobility abilities in the central area.

When you first arrive in each level, you'll probably spend some time carefully studying your surroundings, seeking valuables, and figuring out how the mobility systems work. Later returns to the same stages become speedrunning playgrounds, where mastery of Bubsy's talents lets you skip large sections of courses with innovative movement chains and shortcuts.

Bubsy can roll into a ball at any time and utilize momentum-based physics to bounce around stages at speed.

This feature seems basic at first, like a traditional speed-boost option, but it eventually becomes the most exciting element of the game. Instead of reverting to ball form, Bubsy boosts his speed and jump height by bouncing often. Some upgrades further enhance this ability.

This helps you maintain your momentum longer or go straight into the next phase of movement without losing any speed. Maintaining bounce chains while crossing hard terrain is one of the most thrilling portions of the game. The physics system is great; you can launch off slopes, ricochet around bends, and do huge jumps with the momentum preservation.

Unlike many recent platformers, which have largely automated movement assistance, Bubsy 4D always dares you to understand how its systems function. You may simply brute force your way through levels, but the game is a lot more fun if you learn some sophisticated movement methods.

Certain stages offer impressive vertical platforming sections and clever traversal puzzles that make players use Bubsy's moveset in interesting ways. Others feel strangely hollow, lacking the depth of obstacle design and signature set pieces that made Fabraz's prior work so memorable.

Bubsy 4D feels safer and more accessible than Demon Turf and Demon Tides, perhaps to appeal to a wider audience with little expertise in difficult movement platformers. This makes the game easier to get into, but it also takes away some of the depth and intensity that made Fabraz’s previous releases so good.

There are plenty of enemies in the levels, and Bubsy can target them with a lock-on pounce attack, although most encounters are inconsequential. Enemies you encounter generally aren’t that dangerous and are more like background scenery than actual obstacles in your way. The combat mechanism is mechanical, but the game is obviously more about movement than fighting. 

Boss fights are much better and feature larger battles that revolve around platforming, evading projectiles, and navigating environmental hazards.

The game mixes fast navigation with calls for reactive movement, and certain bosses become extremely magnificent spectacles. Sometimes they are just long gaps between rounds. Sometimes they are repeated attacks. The adventure is a little light on the puzzle design. Bubsy 4D is a traversal problem, not your average logic puzzle.

Most environmental obstacles center around mastering the mechanics of movement, timing jumps accurately, and finding different routes through stages. This method is usually effective, as the mobility mechanic is complex enough to engage players without the need for additional puzzle elements.

Yet several late-game pieces rely too heavily on trial-and-error platforming or awkward leaps of faith, in which camera placement obscures important threats. The camera is one of the biggest issues with the game. The camera, at its best, offers you a great perspective for high-speed platforming and vertical exploring.

At its worst, it actively harms the movement. Sometimes it clumsily bumps into the surrounding geometry, blacks out large parts of the screen, or shifts perspective at odd periods. Some of the wall-jumping sections are unpleasant because the fixed camera angles make it tough to judge depth correctly. Others involve blind jumps that seem unjust on the first few attempts.

The lock-on targeting mechanism is likewise hit-or-miss and sometimes doesn’t latch onto targets properly, even when enemies or traversal items are directly in range. These challenges are especially keen in the halfpipe sections built around hairball movement. When it works, navigating Bubsy on curving surfaces can be fascinating, but frustrating accidents and slippery controls can lead to senseless fatalities.

Also, checkpoint placements feel random in some stages, and you have to repeat long sections for small mistakes.

Bubsy 4D mixes hand-drawn character models with full-on 3D environments for a colorful graphic look. The visual presentation leans into exaggerated cartoon craziness, creating worlds around wool, arts and crafts, and strange alien landscapes. Some settings are beautiful to look at; others are visually overwhelming with oversaturated colors and rich textures.

Character models have a relatively low geometry yet are expressive and attractive. Bubsy’s redesign, in particular, is a successful modernization of the character while preserving his wild mascot attitude. Performance is generally equal across platforms. The Switch 2 version targets 60 frames per second and generally runs smoothly, whereas the original Switch version operates at 30 frames per second.

There are still some visual pop-ins, occasional glitches, and strange crashes, especially later in the game. Still, overall performance is solid given the pace of movement and the complexity of the physics. As for the soundtrack, the results vary depending on your expectations.

Some of the tunes, with their forceful electronic compositions, fit well with the momentum-heavy gameplay, while some seem startlingly plain and dull. Fans of Demon Tides' music will definitely hear some similarities here, though Bubsy 4D doesn't quite hit the same memorable highs.

Voice acting, on the other hand, always makes the experience better by adding personality. Bubsy is still deliberately obnoxious, but the ensemble manages to make dialogue exchanges interesting despite the low production values. One of the more common criticisms of Bubsy 4D is its length.

An average play session will probably take about four to five hours.

Unless you get really into the trinkets, challenge runs, and leaderboard stuff. The replayability tools go a long way to extending the experience, but the campaign itself stops suddenly at a point where the movement mechanics are really starting to click. The game honestly feels like it’s missing a whole world of stuff.

It would have been nice to see stages that incrementally raised the difficulty and complexity of navigation mechanics. Challenge modes, speedrunning incentives, hidden collectibles, and unlocked cosmetics make for a very replayable game. The Nine Lives option, which limits you to nine total hits during the game, completely alters the experience into a high-stakes mastery duel.

Online leaderboards drive more optimization and experimentation among people who want to perfect their movement routes. At the end of the day, Bubsy 4D is a game that’s stuck between ambition and restrictions. Underneath the rough aesthetics, inconsistent level design, and technical issues lies a great movement system that can offer really exciting platforming.

Fabraz clearly understands what makes movement-centric platformers fun, even if the overall structure often doesn’t fully support those ideas. If you’re searching for a polished, genre-defining platformer like Mario Odyssey or Astro Bot, Bubsy 4D will most likely disappoint.

But there’s a lot more to it than the series' reputation might suggest if you’re a fan of momentum-driven navigation systems, design built around the idea of being replayed for speedrunning, and experimental platformers that aren’t afraid to try new things. Bubsy 4D goes beyond the impossible.