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Bubsy 4D: How Fabraz transformed the infamous mascot into one cool cat
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Paul Cecchini
Unfortunately, to say Bubsy’s attempt at 3D was less successful than Mario would be an understatement of cosmic proportions. Even three decades later, Bubsy 3D remains widely regarded as one of the worst video games ever made. The series has been the butt of countless jokes among the gaming community ever since. Several studios have tried to revive the series, with middling results.
But a new day is dawning for Bubsy. Not only is he returning to the realm of 3D for the first time in 30 years, but he's doing so with the backing of Fabraz, developer of the critically acclaimed 3D platformer Demon Turf. With such a pedigree behind it, the upcoming Bubsy 4D is looking extremely promising.
Interestingly, it was fan support that helped get Fabraz’s partnership with Atari off the ground. Several years back, Atari mentioned in a podcast that they had acquired the rights to Bubsy and sent out an open call to developers for game pitches. This led to a deluge of social media posts where fans tagged Fabraz, expressing their desire to see how the developer might tackle a new Bubsy game. Just like that, the wheels were in motion.
“We came up with a basic idea,” says Fabraz founder and Bubsy 4D lead developer Fabian Rastorfer. “Atari liked it, and the rest is history.”
But how does one determine the best way to tackle a brand-new Bubsy game, of all things? Naturally, the starting point was studying the history of the series to see what worked and what didn’t. Fabraz even looked at the short-lived Bubsy animated series for characters and world elements they could incorporate.
“When we were first tasked with this game, the team and I played through the entire series, which quickly made me perplexed why it's that infamous,” says Rastorfer. “There are certainly things you can take apart, but there's a lot to love in those games.”
While many gamers might argue there isn’t much to love about Bubsy 3D in particular, Rastorfer is willing to give it grace considering its position as a pioneer of 3D platforming. “Bubsy 3D was in the midst of trying to define what a 3D platformer even is, a brand-new dimension to explore and figure out. Of course, history will tell that Super Mario 64 was more successful at it than Bubsy 3D was,” says Rastorfer. “Now we're taking that concept with our own modern flourishes, and that's why it's called Bubsy 4D.”
“We wanted to put our own twist on it, but one that felt true to Bubsy,” adds co-lead developer Ben Miller. He notes that several of the series’s core concepts have been updated and expanded, such as Bubsy’s glide move, which allows for more precise platforming.
At the same time, to embrace Bubsy’s traditional emphasis on speed and momentum, Fabraz went in a slightly different direction from previous games. “You turn into a hairball and roll around the level chaotically. That was probably the weirdest, out-there pitch we made. Some of the movements, like wall-clinging and going into ‘zoomie mode,’ contextualize him being a cat. That was our way of trying to approach what makes Bubsy 4D a Bubsy game.”
Bubsy will need to utilize every move at his disposal, because his wool-loving alien archenemies, the Woolies, are back once again. This time, they’re eschewing their usual tactic of pilfering the Earth’s wool supply and instead abducting Earth’s sheep to harvest their own wool straight from the source. The sheep have risen up and overthrown their captors, though—and stolen Bubsy’s most coveted possession, the Golden Fleece, in the process. Now, Bubsy and his crew must reluctantly head to space to stop this new threat and recover what’s rightfully his.
When we say “reluctantly,” we mean it. See, Bubsy isn’t quite the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed adventurer he used to be. The hyperactive “too cool for school” kid of the '90s has blossomed into a more mellow, self-reflective character. He's even traded in his classic exclamation mark T-shirt for a classy white jacket with an exclamation mark tie that showcases his newfound maturity. Along with these major glow-ups in the looks and attitude departments comes a shift in his life priorities.
“Because he's now a bit older, he's also not really up for any adventures,” says Rastorfer. “He doesn't really want to do all the jumping and stuff. In the setup for Bubsy 4D, he gets dragged by the collar by another character to even start this adventure. He's lazing about like a couch potato, which we reflected in gameplay with his animation and sound design. When Mario jumps, there's enthusiasm and energy. With Bubsy, he's strained and scared.”
Bubsy 4D isn’t afraid to poke fun at its titular character and his history, giving this title a unique flavor that only a series like Bubsy can pull off. For example, as one of the first 3D platformers ever made, Bubsy 3D experimented with tank controls, which quickly fell out of fashion due to players finding the control scheme cumbersome and unenjoyable. As a nod to that, Bubsy 4D offers optional tank controls—but if the player enables them, Bubsy will audibly say, “Why? Why did you do that? Turn them off.”
In order to pull off the game’s self-referential humor, Fabraz strove for both subtlety and balance. “With Bubsy himself constantly saying, ‘Remember this game I was in? Har har har,’ it can get very boring as a meta joke,” says Rastorfer. “Our goal was, how can we recontextualize Bubsy in a way where it's not just constantly making fun of itself, but still acknowledges the past?”
The answer Fabraz landed on was to make Bubsy a B-list celebrity who doesn't fully acknowledge his previous failures. Rather, he's fully convinced that fame is waiting just around the corner. “It isn't mean, but just straight-up good old fun,” Rastorfer continues. “In general, the way we approach it is just to make a good game. That means that you treat the world with a certain level of respect. You want to root for him. You want him to succeed. It's always fun to root for the undercat.”
And fans certainly are. Reactions to Bubsy 4D thus far have been overwhelmingly positive. “We had confidence in what we were making,” says Rastorfer. “We just didn't expect the reaction to be that bombastic, which of course is amazing.”
The excitement showcases not just a morbid curiosity over how a brand-new 3D Bubsy game might turn out, but a genuine continued interest in the Bubsy series. Fabraz wants that interest to grow. “I realized that there's actually a pretty dedicated community behind it,” says Rastorfer. “I'm always chuckling to myself when people say, ‘Who wants this? The two Bubsy fans?’ No, actually. There's a dedicated Discord server. I think with Bubsy 4D, our goal is to bring in more newcomers.”
“And shake off how people presume it's a guilty pleasure or something people are embarrassed about,” adds Miller. “No—be proud. There's a lot of other platformers and characters from that era that you don't see getting the same kind of treatment and that don't have a legacy. Bubsy was still getting games, revivals and returns. He’s a tenacious cat. He survived for 20-plus years for a reason.”
With a passionate developer at the helm and renewed interest from fans new and old alike, Bubsy looks well set to survive for another 20 years. Unlike more traditional platformer staples like Mario and Sonic, the bobcat’s unique ability to demolish the fourth wall, poking fun at both himself and the gaming world in general, places him in prime position to become (Fabraz hopes) the Deadpool of games.
“The interesting thing is that Atari essentially wanted us to make a Fabraz game,” says Rastorfer. “In every way, in terms of its humor, its gameplay, it's a Fabraz game. If you're a fan of Demon Tides, of Demon Turf, you absolutely can also have a good time with Bubsy 4D. And if you are hungry for some really fun 3D platforming, then there's no reason not to give Bubsy 4D a shot.”
Bubsy 4D releases on the Epic Games Store on May 22.