The story of Bubsy 4D is that Bubsy’s classic adversaries, the alien Woolies, orchestrate a plot to capture all of Earth’s sheep. Bubsy doesn’t care, they’re sheep. That is until the sheep violently overthrow their captors and emerge as highly weaponized, tech infused “BaaBots.” They did this by stealing Woolie technology. Now this robotic flock sets its sights on Bubsy’s ultimate prize: The Golden Fleece. Left with no choice, Bubsy and his quirky crew of acquaintances blast off on an intergalactic rescue mission to stop the mechanical menace and reclaim his prized possession.
The core gameplay of Bubsy 4D is built entirely around physics based momentum rather than the rigid jumping of a typical 3D platformer. Bubsy features an expansive toolkit consisting of a standard double jump, signature floating glide, a pounce for wall climbing, and an omnidirectional air dash. The defining mechanic is his circular “hairball form,” which trades platforming precision for pure velocity. By curling into a ball, Bubsy can roll down slopes, bounce off geometry, shoot out of cannons, and chain massive aerial arcs across expansive, craft-themed alien worlds.
The path to each stage’s boss arena is rather straightforward for beginners, which is good for those getting into Bubsy for the first time. Even though the game is very beginner friendly, it transitions into a deeply technical speedrunning sandbox for the more advanced players. Levels are filled with hidden blueprints that unlock functional moveset upgrades, alongside thousands of collectible yarn balls that serve as both cosmetic currency and visual guides for those looking to speed run stages.
In fact, the entire endgame loop is driven by a highly competitive Time Trial mode, where mastering the split-second transitions between running, gliding, and hairball rolling is required to trim fractions of a second off runs and climb the global online leaderboards.
Visually, the game takes what was a horrendous mess on the original PlayStation and tries again, this time on modern hardware. The 1996 title on the Playstation was a victim of severe hardware limitations, rendering blocky, untextured polygons at a jagged low resolution and a choppy 15 to 20 frames per second. At the same time utilizing a pitch-black fog to hide its barren, abstract levels.
In contrast, the 2026 entry leverages modern hardware to deliver a native 4K, 60 frames per second experience, transforming the franchise into a vibrant, living cartoon through a high-quality cel-shaded art style. By trading empty voids and rigid animations for a nearly infinite draw distance, a cohesive craft themed aesthetic, and fluid character physics, the modern title completely replaces historical technical struggles with intentional, polished art direction.
This modernization of Bubsy does well to highlight the fact that Bubsy can transition from 2D into 3D if done right, and this game was definitely done right!
The audio in Bubsy 4D is really done well. Offering a dynamic mix of jazzy platforming music along with punchy synth laden space beats, it manages to elevate the pace of level exploration without becoming too repetitive. For hardcore fans and purists, the one liners are back, and in full force! While these snarky lines are wonderful and fun to listen to, the developers did give the option for players to dial back the voice frequency if the constant puns and one liners.
Though I appreciate the option for those that want to dial it back, I feel like it really is a disservice to Bubsy’s character. Bubsy is known for being snarky and unapologetic, and to limit the dialogue doesn’t really seem right. But the option is there for those that wish to do this..because options are always needed in modern titles right?
Ultimately, Bubsy 4D achieves the seemingly impossible by turning a gaming punchline into a genuinely fun, mechanically sound 3D platformer. By blending Fabraz’s brilliant understanding of momentum physics with Atari’s colorful mascot, the game successfully distances itself from its tragic 90s heritage.Bubsy 4D treats its source material with the exact right amount of irony that really feels like Bubsy.
While I love the character of Bubsy and this entry is beautiful and an awesome modern game, it’s not a game I would really recommend for Bubsy fans. Like the 3D experiment before it, Bubsy wasn’t meant to make the transition to 3D; at least in my opinion. I mentioned earlier that this game highlights that the transition was done right this time around, it was and I meant that. As a 3D modern take on Bubsy, I couldn’t have asked for a better game than this one. But Bubsy was always a 2D game series and it should have remained a 2D game series.
If you’re looking for a great modern 3D platformer that has a lot of charm, definitely pick this up. If you’re a die hard Bubsy fan and really enjoyed the previous entries, you may want to go back and revisit those rather than dive into this game.
Jon’s Thoughts:
I will admit that when Bubsy 4D was first announced, I was skeptical of the project. Previous attempts to revive Bubsy have not exactly gone well, with Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back and Bubsy: Paws on Fire! falling short of being good games, and so I was ready to write this game off. I am glad I did not though, because Fabraz managed to do something special here and made a Bubsy game that is actually a great game.
Bubsy 4D addresses all the issues with previous entries, including numerous jabs at Bubsy’s talkative nature and how infamous his games have been, with Fabraz adding an option for tank controls like Bubsy 3D, which Bubsy will comment on with disdain, and thank you for turning off. But there are also deeper cuts such as characters from the Bubsy cartoon pilot, and references to fan theories regarding the characters.
In terms of gameplay, Fabraz gave us what may be Bubsy’s definitive game so far, with responsive controls, fun gameplay and lots of replay value. When I was playing this, I was going through an illness that made prolonged play difficult for almost every game, but Bubsy 4D was one I felt was worth continuing to play despite the issues. Let’s be clear, this is not on the level of Mario Odyssey of Sonic Frontiers, but this is not only the best Bubsy game so far, but one of the best indie 3D platformers in years.
Everything just feels natural, and the level design, music and visuals all lend themselves to a great experience. The characters have gotten some adjustments that fit them well, and the voice acting is top notch, along with the various customization options you can unlock. Bubsy has been a punching bag for gaming media for years, and so Bubsy 4D is not only a redemption story, but a true success for Atari and Fabraz in showing that retro IP can be revived properly. Now here is to Bubsy 5D sometime soon hopefully.
Disclaimer: Review keys were provided
In addition to writing articles, Ryan Byers also creates content for his YouTube channel called "Obscure Games and Consoles", collects video games, and dabbles in video game development.