You Asked For It (Or Did You?) It’s Bubsy 4D

When the Bubsy Purrfect Collection was announced earlier this year, we wondered if something was up. Sometimes, when these collections are assembled out of nowhere, they’re meant to re-introduce a character to the market before something new and original is produced — for example, Toys For Bob followed Crash N-Sane Trilogy with Crash 4. And it didn’t seem to us like there was a huge existing demand for Bubsy 3D to recirculate, so…might there be bigger plans afoot? Or a-paw?

We sure called that one. Bubsy 4D was just announced at Gamescom — yes, he’s not only back, he’s gained an entire extra dimension. Publisher Atari (which is not the same Atari, they just hold the name) and developer Fabraz are working on it. Fabraz is best known for Demon Turf, a 3D platformer with a 2D main character that rotates in sharp 45-degree angles because that’s how she was drawn. They didn’t go THAT artsy for Bubsy 4D, but they did dare to change up his outfit. Gone is the familiar exclamation point tee, in its place a proper suit and tie.

Here’s the situation he’s dealing with: Bubsy’s original enemies were the Woolies, the source of all those yarn balls in the first game. In order to make so many they had to steal the Earth’s sheep. But now the sheep have turned the tables, using their technology against them to turn themselves into (wait for it……….okay, that’s long enough) the BaaBots. Now the BaaBots have taken over not just Earth, but every other planet the Woolies conquered. I guess Bubsy feels he has to get involved.

“Bubsy has always had a reputation – some of it notable, some of it infamous,” said Ethan Stearns, VP of Games at Atari. “But through it all, Bubsy has remained memorable, and we felt the character deserved a truly great game behind it. In teaming up with Fabraz, we believe we’ve finally delivered just that with Bubsy 4D: a fresh take that both respects the past and brings something entirely new to the table.”

Bubsy 4D will be out at an unspecified time for all modern consoles, including PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, both Nintendo Switches and the PC.