Bubsy 4D Reviews
Bubsy 4D is one of those surprises that pop up when you least expect them. What could have been a simple nostalgic throwback ends up being a pretty solid 3D platformer that’s fun and full of personality.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Much like sausages and ice cream, Bubsy 4D tries to mix together two great things to make something less than the sum of its parts. A good Fabraz game hindered by Bubsy and fun Bubsy dialogue which is hindered by a game designed without much to talk about. A great experience without a doubt, but one that feels lacking in places.
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.
Bubsy 4D came out of nowhere, promised little, and delivered a lot. The mascot, always considered the underdog and the bane of gaming, finally showed that he can be more than a repetitive joke and be genuinely interesting, unlike the failed attempts of The Woolies Strike Back and Paws on Fire! It's not a foolproof adventure, nor one of the best platformers of recent years, but Bubsy 4D's value is undeniable: redeeming an infamous character and offering him a chance to show his potential. Not bad, Bubsy. Not bad at all.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Bubsy Pawsome Edition on the Nintendo Switch 2 completely turned things around for me, offering a wonderfully fun and vastly superior experience compared to the tedious PS5 version.
Bubsy 4D is a flawed but fun retro title that, at its best, makes a good case for 3D platforming’s modern applicability.
Hampered by a surprisingly short play-time and some frustrating game decisions, Bubsy 4D comes up just shy of being something that everyone could pick up and enjoy. As a game in the Bubsy series, however, 4D shines as easily the best game the mouthy bobcat has ever given us, and is easily worth the time of platformer fans and those looking for a quick fix.
Bubsy 4D manages to do something I honestly didn't expect: transform a franchise that has always been surrounded by criticism into a fun experience full of personality. Fabraz and Atari really understood what the character represents and delivered a simple yet charismatic platformer, with good movement mechanics and an interesting replay value for those who enjoy collectibles and speedruns.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The biggest question has been, “Is this the return of Bubsy that we hoped for?” While it is still a decent revival of the iconic series and an above-average platformer, some repetitiveness becomes evident throughout its levels
It’s hard not to compare Bubsy 4D to Demon Tides because the foundations are so similar, and I think I would’ve walked away more positive if Bubsy had launched first. That’s not to say Bubsy 4D falls short—it’s a solid 3D platformer that is mechanically deeper and feels better than most in the genre. It’s just not a game that shoots for the stars the way Fabraz proved they could before. Still, this is the best rags to riches revival I’ve seen in gaming, turning a laughing stock of the industry into a franchise that can sit alongside Mario’s biggest rivals. The bobcat is back by no demand—and he’s actually a lot of fun this time.
Bubsy 4D has proven to be a massive missed opportunity; despite featuring some good ideas in terms of gameplay and writing, it fails to give the old chatty lynx a comeback worthy of note. What the player experiences during gameplay is the sense of playing a title thrown together in a hurry—one that, with more care in the execution of many of its aspects, could easily have turned out to be an excellent 3D platformer.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Bubsy 4D finally solves the broken base of the series. Whether that foundation is strong enough to support future games remains to be seen, but for the first time in decades, Bubsy feels like a character with real potential rather than a relic of the past. Bubsy may have a few unfixable problems, but is delightful to handle, something thought impossible once. And that feels like a small miracle in itself for this brand.
I can confidently say that Bubsy 4D is Bubsy's first competent game. It's not spectacular, and you certainly shouldn't expect much more than 15 short, fun levels with great movement, but the game isn't as awful as Bubsy 3D or as bad as… well, the rest of the series.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
“Bubsy 4D” certainly seems like a project thrown together in a hurry, in which the ambition to create a game that actually works has been sacrificed in favor of a marketing strategy centered on a character who has long since lost his charm. It’s hard—really hard—to find anything truly positive about this game.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Still, depth alone doesn’t completely save the experience, which clocks out after a good five or six hours of story-driven gameplay. Why? Because ultimately, Bubsy 4D remains trapped between reinvention and nostalgia. It wants to modernize Bubsy while simultaneously preserving everything people remember about him, including many of the frustrating parts. The game constantly brushes against greatness without ever fully committing to it. You can see glimpses of an incredible platformer buried underneath the noise, but those glimpses never fully stabilize into something consistently excellent. And maybe that’s the most fitting outcome possible for Bubsy. Because, against all odds, Bubsy 4D actually succeeds in making Bubsy relevant again. Not purely as a meme, but as a legitimately entertaining, occasionally brilliant platformer revival with genuine mechanical ambition behind it. That alone feels borderline impossible. Unfortunately, even breathing new life into the franchise couldn’t fully save Bubsy from the same issues that have haunted him for decades. The uneven pacing, the frustrating design decisions, the technical roughness, and the overreliance on repetitive collect-a-thon structure keep dragging the experience back down whenever it threatens to truly evolve. Bubsy 4D is fascinating. It’s weird, it’s ambitious, and it’s messy. Sometimes it’s even genuinely great. But in the end, it still feels like Bubsy, and maybe that’s exactly the problem.
"A Fun but Limited Action Experience" Bubsy 4D succeeds in delivering a solid mechanical foundation based on fast and fluid movement, making the experience enjoyable in terms of control and direct interaction. However, the game fails to balance this excellence with rich level design or sufficient interactive variety, making it feel limited compared to the best 3D platformers. The result is a fun and polished game in its core aspects, but it lacks the depth to ensure sustained enjoyment.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Bubsy 4D could have easily been written off as another disappointing attempt to revive the series, but developer Fabraz put some love and care into it and gave us the best Bubsy game since at least the original two. The controls actually work well, the humor is there, and the actual gameplay is quite fun in a 3D environment. The biggest downside to the game overall is just how short it is, with only 15 levels, which feels more like a demo in that way. Even so, at least the series appears to be on the right track, and hopefully, this will be just the foundation to build upon for more fleshed-out adventures for Bubsy.
One of the most unexpected video game releases in a very long time, Bubsy 4D marks a triumphant return for the charismatic cat. With the platforming acumen of indie legend Fabraz, Bubsy finally gets the great game the series has been looking for in its 30-plus year history. Surely this mean's Bubsy's here to stay, right? I mean . . . what's the worst that could happen?
Bubsy 4D tries to modernize, yet still feels stuck in the past. Uninteresting level designs, underwhelming bosses, and a short game overall leave one wanting more.
Bubsy 3D is finally a good game worthy of the bobcat, offering a fun adventure with varied movement options and accessible yet satisfying 3D platforming. While the visuals lack personality and some stages feel repetitive, especially the tube-rolling sections, it still manages to revive the classic mascot with a genuinely enjoyable experience.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review