Bubsy 4D PS5 Review. The art of self-deprecation is a gamble; it can be really funny when done correctly, and downright depressing when overused. Bubsy 4D’s entire sense of character is constructed on this house of cards, and unfortunately I found it disruptive enough to get in the way of what is actually a pretty solid 3D platformer, developed by an independent studio with a good bit of heritage in the space.
There are only so many times I can hear Bubsy wisecrack about how knowingly bad his older games are before I start to question whether this series even wants an identity outside of laughing at itself. I was under the impression that Bubsy 4D would genuinely try to push the series forwards, and it does, in some respects, but in others it revels in its own misfortune.
Beneath this bravado is a 3D platformer that is pretty great in its foundation, but never manages to truly find its feet for me. It’s a game of two halves that never feels fully complete. The potential is there, I just think it needs an extra shove in the right direction.
Bubsy 4D Review (PS5) – The Start of Something New, We Can Hope
A Comedy of Errors
Bubsy 4D’s approach to storytelling is comparable to that of a Saturday morning cartoon, with the pacing to match; a brisk introduction cutscene introduces the threat of the Baabots, a robotic race of sheep that are looking to steal the Golden Fleece to turn the world into a non-organic wasteland. There isn’t much more to it than that; and arguably you don’t need more than that?
Bubsy 4D’s interest is in quick-paced quips and throwing you straight into the actual meat of platforming around, rather than story. Still, I was initially pleased to see a new threat introduced for a new era of Bubsy. I had thought that this was a green flag that the series might be moving past its troubled history, and into something better, but those hopes were dashed as soon as I started actually listening to the type of dialogue that was coming out of Bubsy’s mouth.
I’ll get this out of the way now, so it doesn’t linger over the game like a shadow, but Bubsy 4D is a very good platformer, bordering on great. It has a brilliant movement system and level designs that mostly facilitate flexible play and experimentation with a brilliantly fluid moveset, derived off of the work that Fabraz has put into Demon Turf. With that in mind, I cannot fathom why Bubsy 4D is so obsessed with mocking itself and playing itself down.
It comes across as your incredibly talented friend beating themselves up for no reason other than making others laugh; the first time that Bubsy 4D makes fun of the oft-maligned Bubsy 3D, I did laugh. It’s entertaining for the villains of the last game to be absent for a stupid throwaway reason, it’s funny to have a costume based on the weird design from Bubsy 3D. I like it sometimes. But for the series to continue beyond this point, it needs to learn that being self-aware about how bad you are does wear thin after a while.
Flexible Movement, Given Space to Breathe (Sometimes)
Bubsy 4D is a game of two halves; one half of the game is spent slowly combing through levels with the intention of finding collectable yarn balls and move blueprints to steadily expand Bubsy’s base moveset, where the other half of the game is spent speeding through the critical path in the hope of getting a record time.
Both of these are entertaining in their own right, and I applaud a platformer that can so keenly cater to both casual platformer fans and a more dedicated speedrunning audience, but I can’t help but feel like Bubsy 4D misses the mark when it comes to making compelling speedrunning material.
That isn’t to say that the level designs are bad for speedrunning, but each level tends to be structured in such a way that you’re either speedrunning, or collecting, with absolutely no in-between. Wider areas are connected with linear paths that you rush down using Bubsy’s new furball movement ability. These wider areas are then rendered pretty much irrelevant if you’re going for a quick time, as you’ll just be rushing down the linear path set out in front of you.
To draw attention to one of Bubsy’s direct competitors in the space, the very best level designs in Sonic the Hedgehog have every player playing through the same level and having to navigate the same challenges, with some players able to twist those level designs in interesting ways to save time. Bubsy 4D instead pushes you to skip most of the level by design; so many wider areas are just completely skippable, where I would have preferred to have been forced to actually platform through some of them.
One Miraculous Moveset
If there’s one place where Bubsy 4D doesn’t slouch, its in the core movement of Bubsy. His entire moveset is built on the strongest fundamentals possible, and the result is so good that it makes me frustrated that there simply isn’t more to play. It’s a bit of a whiplash coming from other Bubsy games, but everything has a distinct feel and flow that all feed into one another.
Off of one jump, you can double jump, pounce forward, and then glide in order to maximise air time and momentum. In casual play, you’re able to clamber and scale a variety of platforms in order to find collectables, and in speed runs you can really get creative to skip particular challenges, or scramble your way out of a mistake.
Learning this intricate flowchart is intuitive, and never felt overstuffed with options. Your base moveset is complete from when you start a new game, with the blueprints adding supplemental moves to sharpen it slightly. You can unlock the ability to drift while you’re in a ball, take an extra hit before death, and unlock the ability to jump quickly between unlocked checkpoints. Each unlockable is a supplement, rather than necessary.
Bubsy 4D gives you options in the way that you want to experience it, but I worry that this comes at the cost of focus. So many levels are built with expression in mind, that I found some obstacles blending into each other.
Nothing If Not Inspired
It’s just as well then that Bubsy 4D is generally a great looking game, with some inspired aesthetic choices that again set the stage for a brilliant comeback, potentially. In a clever adaptation on what Bubsy 3D inflicted on us, a lot of Bubsy 4D’s design actually recontextualises those abstract levels into something built entirely out of arts and crafts.
Each world of the game is themed around one particular ‘type’ of craftwork, with the first world being knitwork, the second being papercraft, and so on. It’s a great excuse for some inspired level designs and obstacle design, that feels well realised, for the most part.
Each level of the game is bathed in thick atmospheric light that makes each look incredibly unique, a far cry from the standard “grass world,” “desert world,”, and so on.
If nothing else, again, I wanted to see more. Bubsy 4D is a pitifully short game, that is aching for more in terms of content. Each level can be (and is intended to be) blistered through in mere minutes, and with a little over a dozen main stages, that makes for an incredibly meagre run time.
I’ve got nothing against a game that wants to be speedrun, but when the world map of the game has a tiny selection of worlds in what looks like a far bigger map, you have to question what the intention was. Despite enjoying my time with the game, the credits rolled out of the blue and left me totally confused at what I’d just played.
What was here, I really did enjoy. This is undoubtedly the best playing Bubsy game. I don’t think anybody is particularly surprised to read that, but I wish that 4D gave itself a bit more credit, and dared to try and break out of bad habits.
Bubsy will be Bubsy, but he can be better. I believe in him.