Platforming games may have seen a major dip in popularity after the 2000s, when major AAA developers (not named Nintendo) began moving away from them as a big seller, but the indie scene has not only kept the genre alive, but has caused it to flourish. Thanks to titles like Psuedoregalia, Corn Kidz 64, and the Toree series, we are experiencing something of a Platformer Renaissance. This has led to many companies re-evaluating their old platforming IPs, including Atari, who has decided to team up with indie developer Fabraz in order to give us the best of both worlds: Recognizable characters from classic IPs mixed with top-notch gameplay cooked up with love.
Unfortunately, in this case, the classic character in question is that irascible Bobcat, Bubsy, the aging star of Atari and Fabraz’s new title, Bubsy 4D.
Mascot choice aside, however, we were given an early look at the new platformer, slated for a 2026 release, and our expectations were instantly met and exceeded. Bubsy 4D absolutely breathes new life into this meme-ified franchise as Fabraz finally graces the Bodacious Bobcat with a game that truly encapsulates what the original developers had been attempting after all this time.
Long gone are the days of Bubsy 3D’s tank controls and clunky movement, and even longer gone are the overly floaty and fast days of Bubsies beyond. The Bubsy of the modern age now has the controls to match, artfully double jumping, wall hopping, and pouncing across these oversized stages with a sense of precision and intuitiveness that the series has never seen before. After going through the mandatory tutorial and entering my first actual stage, I was immediately recognizing and putting together new ways to combine Bubsy’s various leaps and attacks to reach new heights and rewards.
The graphics look nice, lots of saturated colors in a look that sort of offers the feeling of a Saturday morning cartoon. So, too, does the dialogue, even if the writers are probably only about half as clever as they think they are. I did catch myself laughing out loud a few times, at least. Thankfully, there are options to lower the frequency of Bubsy’s mid-stage quips if you can’t stand them. In fact, there are numerous settings available even from the jump, including lots of quality of life options to optimize your platforming experience, and the inclusion of the dreaded “tank mode” controls to… do whatever the opposite of optimization is, if you so choose.
There are some criticisms to be had – as I said, the writing and dialogue aren’t always as funny as they want to be, the inclusion of enemies almost feels like an after-thought, the first special move you can unlock feels more flashy than practical – but compared to what came before, Bubsy 4D really shines. Even in just three stages, I felt a charm and ease of gameplay that really invited me in and kept me wanting for more. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the rest of the game unfolds!
Bubsy 4D is scheduled to release sometime in 2026 for Playstation 4&5, Xbox One and Series X|S, both Nintendo Switches, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.
