Bubsy

Bubsy is a series of video games released by Accolade for the SNES, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Atari Jaguar, the PC and PlayStation in the early and mid-1990s.

Though the games were platform games similar to "Super Mario Bros." and "Sonic the Hedgehog", the titular anthropomorphic bobcat never came close to the popularity level of the two bigger name mascots, despite early hype that made Bubsy out as "the next Sonic the Hedgehog". Nevertheless, the first "Bubsy" was a big hit and met with positive reviews for the SNES version. The success of the first game spawned a series of Bubsy games, none of which could reproduce the success and acclaim of the first game.

Bubsy had a pilot episode for an animated series in 1993, produced by Calico Creations.

Bubsy's abilities

Bubsy has two key abilities.

* Jumping - Bubsy can jump more than twice his own height. Jumping can also be used to prevent losing a life from great falls and when used upon landing on enemies and objects, allows him to bounce much higher than a regular jump could.
* Gliding - Bubsy can glide, which cuts his downward acceleration by 1/2, allowing him to cross large gaps.

List of games

Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind

The basics

The first "Bubsy" game was released January 1, 1993 by Accolade, for the SNES and Genesis. The game features five main worlds with three levels in each, and a final level after completion of the first 15 levels. Bubsy collects yarn balls coming in four different colors. Bubsy's enemies are primarily "Woolies," rabbit-like beings of a tan color from the planet Rayon. A password is given at the end of each world, which can be used to continue the game after getting a "game over". (In this game, "continues" are special items which must be found.)

There are several cartoon-like animations in the game. If Bubsy collides with a wall at high speed, he becomes disoriented with a comical bird effect appearing above his head -- this is one of only two "injuries" that doesn't kill him; the other is being frozen solid for a few seconds by an ice cream cone, which he then thaws from. The third world, which features a western desert theme, has similarities to a Wily E. Coyote/Roadrunner episode; Matt Berardo wrote the musical score. The voice samples "(performed by John A. S. Skeel)" were present in the Genesis version, but they were encoded in PCM, whereas the samples in the SNES version were encoded into individual SPC modules.

Game mechanics

The player moves Bubsy left and right along the screen with the D-pad and jump with the B button and glide with the A button. Enemies are defeated by jumping on top of them. Touching an enemy while not falling on top of him will cause Bubsy to lose a life. The player scores points by collecting yarn balls, defeating enemies and finishing the level. T-shirts conferring temporary invincibility and invisiblity are present.

In Bubsy: Claws Encounters Of The Furred Kind the titular character, being a cat, starts with 9 lives but they can easily be lost -- by touching ANY enemy or projectile, touching sharp objects, drowning, or by falling too far (or into a chasm). Even walking ankle-deep into standing water will cause the loss of a life. Another problem is Bubsy's lack of traction, which results in many deaths, whereupon a comical "death animation" is always shown.

Super Bubsy for Windows 95

ATI's DirectX game development group made a special version of "Bubsy: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind" as one of the first games to use the new 2D features of DirectX in Windows 95. This version featured graphics redrawn for higher resolution, new game elements and the entire Bubsy Cartoon television pilot. In addition to the powerups found in the original game, there are bouncing TV's that Bubsy can collect which allow the player to view more of the cartoon.

Bubsy II

"Bubsy II" was released in April 3, 1994 and features five zones (a music-themed world, a medieval era, an Egyptian area, an outer space zone, and an aerial zone with Bubsy flying a World War I biplane). It also features three levels of difficulty.

In this game, a new popular center has been made that can transport people to great places and adventure, but what the people do not realize is that it is not fantasy but dangerously real. Bubsy sets to out to "humble" the boss Hog who set up the complex and close the fascinating but deadly portals before anyone faces a hairy ending.

Bubsy collects trading cards which he can use to buy various items. These include a "portable hole" "(a small portal he can step through and disappear to the main menu)", a diver's suit, a Nerf gun, a pie he can throw, or extra lives.) The game features the addition of Bubsy's nephew and niece that can be played by another player to help or hinder Bubsy. There are also secret stages involving Bubsy and his unwilling sidekick, Arnold the Armadillo. Additionally, Bubsy could take two hits, and on a third, he would lose a life -- though some hazards will still instantly kill him.

Bubsy II is the only Bubsy title to be reprogrammed for the Game Boy as a black-and-white game with limited Super Game Boy support for limited colors. This version of the game features the three levels of difficulty, but only has three of the original worlds (Egyptian, Musicland, and Aerial) available for play.

Bubsy in: Fractured Furry Tales

"Bubsy in: Fractured Furry Tales" was released December 1, 1994 to the Atari Jaguar.

This title sets the familiar bobcat in a string of fairy tales. It is up to Bubsy to help the children of the world by "humbling" the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland", the Giant in "Jack and the Beanstalk", the Djinni in "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves", a sea monster in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Hansel & Gretel in candyland. After wading through all those opponents a captured Mother Goose is set free, making all right again at storytime.

Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales was released on the Atari Jaguar system. While Bubsy does not have any of the gadgets or band aids of Bubsy 2, he was graced with level codes for each level. This is an improvement over the first Bubsy game that had level codes for the beginning level of each set of three levels.

Bubsy 3D: Furbitten Planet

"Bubsy 3D" is the first and only Bubsy game in 3D and was released in 1996 for the Playstation. It is a sequel to the original in terms of the story and takes place on the Woolies' home planet, Rayon. Bubsy 3D has 16 main levels and two boss levels and the main characters goal is to defeat the two queens of Rayon, Poly and Esther. The player can collect rockets, as well as atoms, in order to eventually escape from planet Rayon. The graphics are very simplistic, even for their time, with a dense fog that covers entire levels throughout the game. Bubsy actively speaks throughout the game based on various actions performed by the player. There is an option to turn Bubsy's voice off during the gameplay.

Game Mechanics

Bubsy can jump high, glide, as well as swim in some levels. He defeats his enemies by simply jumping on top of them. Hit points are handled similarly to Bubsy II. The main differences are that although the player starts with 3 hit points, called "Paw Points," he can have as many as 99; also, assuming the enemy attack/environmental hazard is not automatically lethal, the player will only die after a hit if he does not have a spare paw point in reserve (in other words, the player can take 3 hits from default health and still survive, but dies from any further damage). The player gets extra paw points by earning 40,000 points, collecting 50 atoms, or setting up a chain in which a thrown atom hits 4 others in its path - each atom beyond those four gives an extra life.

Collecting 150 out of the 200 available atoms in a level made a bonus level filled with atoms and 1-ups available. The bonus level ends when Bubsy take any damage or when time expires. Additional time can be earned by collecting all 200 atoms.

Reaction

"Bubsy 3D" was panned by both critics and fans alike due to its confusing control schemes and camera angles. It was featured on "Seanbaby's EGM Crapstravaganza: The 20 Worst Games of All Time" list as well as in eighth place on Gametrailers.com's top 10 best and worst games list from 2006. Games Radar also recently called Bubsy the most unlikable character in the history of video games. Its failure is usually said to be what killed the "Bubsy" series, as no new games have been released since.

Additional Release

1993 "Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind" - Accolade, Inc.
1994 "Bubsy II" - Accolade, Inc.
1994 "Bubsy In: Fractured Furry Tails" - Atari Corporation
1995 "Super Bubsy Windows" - Accolade, Inc., Atari Europe S.A.S.U.
1996 "Bubsy 3D - Bubsy in the Furbitten Planet" - Accolade, Inc., Telstar Electronic Studios Ltd.

External links

* [http://www.bluies-island.com/BubsyHQ/ A Bubsy fan site]
*moby game|id=-group/bubsy-series|name="Bubsy" series
*imdb title|0287945|Bubsy Pilot
* [http://www.gametrailers.com/player/18892.html ScrewAttack's Top Ten Big Names That Fell Off]
* [http://www.sega-16.com/feature_page.php?id=145&title=Interview:%20Mike%20Berlyn Sega-16 interview with Bubsy creator Mike Berlyn]
* [http://www.sega-16.com/feature_page.php?id=174&title=History%20of:%20The%20Bubsy%20Series Sega-16 retrospective on the entire Bubsy series]
* [http://195.92.228.121/XLeagueNew/watch.aspx?Video=Admin3@10 XLEAGUE.TV's "Retro Corner" Video Feature on the Series (Voiced By ScrewAttack.com's Guru Larry)]
* [http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=234& Bubsy Bobcat Fan Blog:Collection of Bubsy related artwork, stories, & various mentions.]
* [http://www.xgd.com/game/Bubsy-in-Claws-Encounters-of-the-Furred-Kind/21301 Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind Review at XGD]