Remember Bubsy? The platforming bobcat? It’s likely that you don’t. Back in the 90s, during the video game mascot war, Bubsy was one of the contenders attempting to dethrone Mario as the face of video games, specifically platforming games. Other contenders, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, are still remembered to this day, though none ever quite reached the same level as Mario.
Reminiscing aside, there’s a reason most people don’t know who Bubsy is. Bubsy simply could not compare to Sonic and Mario, and it is the popular opinion that the Bubsy games did not age particularly well. This is especially the case in the latest entry in the franchise, Bubsy 3D, which showed Bubsy transition to a 3D-platforming game, the way Mario, Sonic and others were also doing at the time. Bubsy 3D was received abysmally, with GameRankings reporting terrible 50.9% aggregate score of the game.
Bubsy 3D came out in 1996 and was the last entry in the Bubsy franchise. Until now…
Kotaku reports that Accolade, the developer behind the original Bubsy games, is working on new game for the franchise. The new game is called Bubsy: the Woolies Strike Back and is slated for release on PlayStation 4 and PC this fall. Accolade states, “Bubsy must use all of his classic moves and a few new ones to dodge and out bobcat a battalion of Woolies, not mention the gnarliest UFO bosses to ever grace a Bubsy adventure.” If you have nostalgic memories of playing the original Bubsy games when you were a kid, then this new game may be right up your alley. You can watch the trailer for the game below.