It’s been three decades since Bubsy’s last 3D adventure – so long, in fact, that most people have probably forgot he existed. Should you care that he’s back?
The short answer to that question is no, not really. The anthropomorphic bobcat, who started life on the SNES back in 1993, comes with buckets of his own lore, some built-in sidekicks, and a set roster of enemies for him to fight, but he’s never managed to scale the heights of his contemporaries, Sonic and Mario.
Maybe that’s because many of his gaming appearances have been bad – especially the 3D title of the late nineties, which was universally panned and makes this new iteration (cheekily billed as ‘4D’) a pretty big swing. There have been more 2D titles between then and now but Bubsy 3D on the PS1 is widely regarded as one of the worst video game ever made.
This time around, Atari has put the game into the hands of indie studio Fabraz, the brains behind the actually very good Demon Tides, who have given him a fresh lick of paint (as well as a rather snazzy shirt and tie combo, as opposed to his original white T-shirt) and sent him off to fight his old enemies, the Woolies. Or rather, a sub-faction of the Woolies, called the Baabots.
As ever, the Woolies are seeking wool (despite the fact that they’re literal sheep, but it’s best not to think about that) and, specifically, Bubsy’s infamous Golden Fleece, which they steal in the opening credits. Cue a race to get it back, which spans three of the Woolies’ fabric factory worlds, including cities, planets made of paper, and many, many mini-levels – all laid out via very basic graphics that toe the line between minimalist and cheap.
Bubsy’s controls are pretty simple and are explained right at the start of the game: he can jump, lunge, glide, and turn into a massive buoyant hairball which can clock up some serious miles per hour when speeding around at full speed.
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Zooming around the map collecting balls of wool and tackling Baabots (which, honestly, are a mild annoyance rather than an actual threat) is good fun, as are the levels, which are inventive enough to offer a proper challenge.
However, the controls can also be very clumsy, and when paired with the exceptionally narrow paths Bubsy is often asked to navigate above the void, this means death is less a possibility and more of an inevitability. Another clanger is the cannons, which are underpowered and never fire Bubsy where the crosshairs promise he’ll end up.
That would be manageable if the save points were numerous enough but unfortunately, they’re not. After Bubsy uses up his three lives (why not nine?) and dies for real, you often find yourself spawning way back in the map, and asked to navigate it all over again. It’s challenging, but not in a good way – more in a way that asks how much a person can bear before they put down the controller.
Another issue is the man himself. Fabraz has clearly decided to lean into the fact that Bubsy has been gone a while, and have reimagined him as an aging fella who nevertheless has dropped none of his wisecracking tendencies.
More’s the pity. There’s no getting around this: Bubsy is really, really annoying and, even worse, not blessed with many different lines of dialogue. ‘Whoever thought checkpoints should be litterboxes probably thinks they’re real funny!’ comes up pretty much every time a save point is encountered. Yes, it’s meta. But it’s not all that amusing.
Arguably, the gaming experience is best enjoyed with the volume turned off. Plus, like with many of these vintage properties, the franchise’s sense of humour must also have gotten stuck somewhere in the rad nineties, and characters frequently come out with groan-worthy lines like ‘Yo!’ and ‘Am I coming through to you losers?’
That said, for all the jokes that definitely don’t work, there are some that do manage to stick the landing. The fact that all of Bubsy’s friends and family seem to low-key despise him makes for a rather funny running joke, as is the fact that it’s possible to buy a hedgehog themed outfit (clearly inspired by Sonic, upon which Bubsy is based) in the in-game shop.
Said outfit, naturally, comprises only a pair of running trainers, with the area around Busby’s waist permanently pixellated out. It’s a chuckle in a playing experience that mostly feels like one long groan. But hey: isn’t that Bubsy all over?
Bubsy 4D review summary
In Short: Bubsy may be a cursed franchise, as despite the developer’s previous work this is a frustrating and frequently cringe-worthy 3D platformer, with some truly clunky gameplay.
Pros: The game is occasionally funny, when Bubsy is the butt of the joke. The levels do feel fun and engaging, while the in-game shop offers some amusing skins and power-ups.
Cons: A lot of the game is spent falling off the edge of the map and the save spots are annoyingly infrequent. The graphics look cheap and the game’s controls are too sensitive. True to form, Busby is exceptionally annoying.
Score: 4/10
Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC
Price: £15.99
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Fabraz
Release Date: 22nd May 2026
Age Rating: 7
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