Bubsy 4D Reviews
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
Bubsy 4D marks an enjoyable return for the iconic bobcat that goes a long way in repairing his long-tarnished reputation. It is a short, breezy adventure that doesn’t reinvent the genre, but between the rewarding platforming mechanics and the sheer satisfaction of speedrunning through levels, there’s a hell of a lot to like here. And sure, there’s still plenty of room for improvement, but this is certainly proof that even the most maligned of gaming mascots deserve a second chance.
Bubsy 4D has some charm and seminal fun in its platforming, as well as spot-on controls and feel. However, the stages aren't that memorable, and it's over so quick unless you're doing Nine Lives/Tank mode and practicing for future speedrunning, and is very bare longevity-wise. Even for indie gaming standards, there's a good number of cracks that make this sequel feel more like a cash-in rather than a genuine send-off, as lovely-sounding as its soundtrack is.
Overall, Bubsy’s return after all these years isn’t a milestone in platform gaming history. It’s certainly great to see an icon from the 90s return for the modern age and Bubsy’s charm, wit and self-awareness (which is either a blessing or a curse depending on your sense of humour) is still in place which grants him a certain level of charm. The game doesn’t reinvent the wheel as far a platforming goes, however, this in my book is necessarily a bad thing. Gameplay is solid, with a good variety of worlds and the move to 3D, Sorry 4D this time around agrees with this Bobcat. Although it is easy to break the camera slightly during rolling segments at high speed, the game as a whole holds up well overall. The fact that you’re allowed you to complete each world using whatever type of movement and controls you want is a neat touch, despite the frustration of insta-death and respawn with a single misplaced step or hit as this could certainly frustrate and put off younger players new to the series. My only gripe really is that the worlds can often feel barren, with very little in the way of enemies initially. Although I only managed to complete the first world during play for the writing of this review, the levels, although varied, seem to have a lot more platforming than enemy encounters. This might change as the game progresses, but like I said, could be off putting to some people. The Baabot boss encounters provide a good challenge at the end of each world, meaning you have to master Bubsy’s full range of moves if you want to stand a chance. One of the best things for me though, is that the game isn’t charging full price on the Xbox Store at launch, meaning that it’s going to be a lot more tempting for the casual gamer to try. If you’re looking for a solid, fun, yet challenging, colourful slice of gaming goodness reminiscent of the old school platformers from the early days of 3D, then Bubsy 4D might just be the game for you to scratch that platforming itch (great, Bubsy’s humour has started to rub off on me too).