Bubsy 4D

Genre: 3D Platformer

Players: 1

The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

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Review:

The Bubsy series of Platformers is one that keeps coming back despite that no one seems to be asking it to. The series has been around since 1993, and while that first game and its sequel was well-received (I would argue undeservedly so), everything that came after has been generally panned, with the series’ highest Metacritic score since then being 63. Oof.

Yet for better or worse, here we are again in 2026 with a new Bubsy adventure releasing on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2. A 3D Platformer this time around, Bubsy 4D has the titular bobcat and his friends piloting a UFO to strange planets to retrieve his planet’s stolen balls of gold yarn, collectively known as the golden fleece.

The presentation here is off-putting in a way I would go so far as to describe as “repulsive”. The game’s 3D characters are poorly-animated using amateurishly-crafted cel-shaded 3D, but the real offender here are the nonsensical, sparsely-adorned levels that sprint past “colorful” and “garish” to the point of “actively attacking your eyeballs with color”. If you play this game, you will want periodic breaks to rest your eyes, and I’m not even joking. Oh, and while I’m criticizing, I need to also mention the plentiful aliasing and pop-in too.

These visuals are backed by a whimsical soundtrack that I honestly soon forgot in the wake of the onslaught of color and the tiresome character voice work. By the fifth time I heard Bubsy enthusiastically shout “T-Pose, baby!”, I firmly understood why Nintendo chooses to have Mario’s verbal utterances generally limited to “wah!” and “wahoo!”.

Despite the negative start to this review, I don’t have all bad things to say about this game. Bubsy 4D gives its titular character a diverse selection of jumps that makes him highly maneuverable, able to chain multiple jump types in mid-air to cross wide gaps or navigate a tricky mid-air obstacles in a way that evokes Super Mario Odyssey. Unfortunately, Bubsy lacks Mario’s tight controls, making movement throughout the game constantly feel like you’re wrangling Bubsy to where you want him to be. The resulting emotions this game evokes are a mix of satisfying and frustrating.

Beyond the mechanics of the platforming itself, the gameplay of Bubsy 4D is mostly arranged like an obstacle course with occasional brief moments of exploration, vaguely like Super Mario Odyssey. However, since the worlds you’re exploring are largely nonsensical, it’s not always clear which way is the main path forward and which is the brief diversion – every path seems just as random as the next.

Also, I have to mention, this is one of those games where you feel like you need to constantly babysit the camera, and this combined with the loose platforming has made for a lot of infuriating missed jumps.

Ultimately, I do still find Bubsy 4D to be enjoyable, but it’s the sort of enjoyable where you’re constantly having to put up with an onslaught of frustrations and irritating elements to get to that enjoyment. The eye-watering visuals, the loose and difficult-to-wrangle controls, the lackluster level design, the terrible camera… despite all of this, I still think you can get a good amount of fun out of this game’s speedy physics. But on a Nintendo platform, where you have a wealth of riches in the Platforming genre… why would you?

tl;dr – Bubsy 4D is a 3D Platformer with some fast-paced flexible movement, and a lot of problems, from loose controls that are difficult to wrangle, to a camera that requires you to babysit it, to uninspired level design, to graphics that are bad to the point that it actually hurts my eyes to look at it. To be sure, there is plenty to like here too, but it’s hard to recommend this game on a game platform with so many better options.

Grade: C

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The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

Bubsy 4D (Nintendo Switch 2)

Genre: 3D Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

If you read above, then you know I’m fairly conflicted about Bubsy 4D, and when it comes to the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game, I’m even more conflicted because this version features no upgrade path from the Nintendo Switch version. But who knows, maybe this will help with the game’s graphical issues, right?

Well, actually yes, both the resolution and especially the framerate get a noticeable bump on Nintendo Switch 2, there’s less aliasing (but still a lot) and less pop-in (but still too much). This is still an ugly game, but its ugliness is somewhat more tolerable on Nintendo Switch 2.

There’s also an improvement to the loading times – on Nintendo Switch, this game took 43 seconds to load to the main menu and an additional 9 to load up a level, and on Nintendo Switch 2 those times are cut in half to 21 seconds and 4 seconds.

The change in this version’s graphics and performance over the original Nintendo Switch release are enough to convince me to bump this up a grade. But even with this being the case, all of this game’s biggest flaws remain. Bubsy 4D is more enjoyable on Nintendo Switch 2, absolutely… but it’s still far from a great 3D Platformer.

tl;dr – Bubsy 4D is a 3D Platformer with some fast-paced flexible movement, and a lot of problems, from loose controls that are difficult to wrangle, to a camera that requires you to babysit it, to uninspired level design, to graphics that are bad to the point that it actually hurts my eyes to look at it (though at least they’re much-improved over the Nintendo Switch version). To be sure, there is plenty to like here too, but it’s hard to recommend this game on a game platform with so many better options.

Grade: C+

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