Bubsy 4D

A genuinely good Bubsy game, against all odds

Bubsy 4D earns its Very Positive rating on a premise that would have seemed absurd a year ago: the notoriously bad 1990s mascot now controls well. "If you told me that one day I'd be excited for a Bubsy game I'd call you a liar, but here we are. Bubsy 4D finally lifts the bobcat's curse and delivers one of the best-feeling 3D Platformers I've played in an incredibly long time. The movement and momentum feel great, the music is fantastic and Bubsy is actually kind of charming for once!" reads one review. A separate reviewer, self-described as a former "certified Bubsy HATER," describes a similar reversal after finishing the campaign. This review treats that consistency as real: reviewers repeatedly frame their enjoyment as a surprise, and credit Fabraz, the small studio behind Demon Turf and Demon Tides, with delivering a movement system that stands on its own rather than merely being competent for a Bubsy game.

A deep, Odyssey-indebted moveset

Beyond the novelty of a good Bubsy game, this review found reviewers praising real mechanical depth. "I opened the settings and heard Bubsy roasting tank controls. Already a 10/10 game... The moveset is fluid and feels really good, performances and optimizations are great and the level design feels more polished and linear," reads one review. A separate reviewer draws the direct comparison many others echo: "If you like platformer mechanics with depth like Mario Odyssey, this game is right up your alley." Gliding, wall-climbing, pouncing off enemies, and a high-speed rolling hairball form combine into chainable movement options, and several reviewers specifically recommend chasing the game's time-trial medals as the point where the moveset's depth is most rewarding, well beyond what a single story playthrough demands.

A widely repeated complaint about length and price

Set against that praise, this review found the single most consistent complaint across the review base by a wide margin. "Non-glazing, non spoiler, honest review incoming: It's a good game... however, it's biggest Achilles heel is that it's short, especially for it's asking price. I was actually able to beat this game in 3.4 hours, totaling 15 stages and 3 bosses. Personally, I think that warrants a price between $12.99 and $14.99, not so much $19.99 [USD]," reads one detailed review. A separate reviewer, recommending the game despite the same issue, agrees: "For a Bubsy game, this is genuinely really good... However I have to agree with a lot of the people saying that this game is too short. Its 15 levels total... I beat around 80 percent in around 3.2 hours." This review treats the volume of that specific complaint, echoed across strongly positive and more lukewarm reviews alike, as fair and central: even reviewers who loved the moveset repeatedly wanted more of it.

A confirmed, substantial response to that exact complaint

This review checked Bubsy 4D's own news feed directly, and found the developer's response was not a minor gesture. Roughly three months after the 22 May 2026 launch, Fabraz shipped a free "Black Hole Update," which the patch notes introduce directly: "We heard you loud and clear, you screamed 'we want more content' and we've come to deliver!" The update added an entire Black Hole campaign of 15 brand-new levels revisiting each planet with new hazards and enemies, five new unlockable outfits, 15 new time medals and leaderboards, and four new achievements, alongside a further quality-of-life patch. This review treats that as a genuine, proportionate answer to the game's most common criticism: the update roughly doubles the original level count, and reviewers posting update notes to their own reviews after the patch describe it as a meaningful improvement rather than token added content.

A fair complaint about precision platforming and collectible tedium

This review also found more specific, less universal complaints worth weighing. "It begins to unravel in any section requiring precision from the player, especially if you try to maintain speed in these sections. This doesn't become too big of a problem until the 3rd... world," reads one review, describing handling that works well in open spaces but strains under tighter demands. A separate reviewer who otherwise praised the game at length adds a different specific complaint: "My thoughts on the collectathon part remain the same: it's boring and painful to search for the last three yarn balls you somehow missed." This review treats both as fair, specific weaknesses rather than the widely repeated length complaint: they surface in a smaller share of reviews, but consistently enough, and specifically enough, to be worth flagging for players who weight precision platforming or full completion heavily.

Crashes and smaller bugs, mostly since patched

A handful of reviewers reported more serious technical trouble. "I had three crashes during regular gameplay for example," notes one review, otherwise positive about the game's controls and presentation. This review checked Bubsy 4D's patch history directly and found the developer's 1.1.1 and 1.2.1 patches addressed a run of specific, oddly-described but real fixes: softlocks tied to a specific ability, a wall- climb exploit that made one mode "OP," a floating checkpoint causing a death loop, boss music failing to play, and button prompts appearing incorrectly on certain platforms. This review reads that pattern, several distinct fixes matching specific reported issues within weeks of launch, as evidence the crash reports above reflect real if uncommon launch-week instability that has since been substantially reduced, rather than an ongoing, unaddressed problem.

Achievement data confirms a short original campaign with a real completion tail

This review checked Bubsy 4D's own global achievement data directly, and found a curve consistent with reviewer accounts of a short but engaging original campaign: an early achievement sits at 94.1 percent, several mid-campaign achievements cluster between 32 and 56 percent, and the hardest achievements, several added specifically by the Black Hole Update, sit between roughly 5 and 12 percent. This review reads that spread as confirmation that most players who start the game finish its core content, a pattern consistent with a short, accessible campaign, while the newer, harder achievements show real engagement with the post-launch content among a smaller, more dedicated group.

Final verdict

Bubsy 4D backs up its Very Positive reception with a genuinely fluid, Odyssey-indebted moveset and self-aware writing that turns one of gaming's most mocked mascots into a legitimately likeable lead, from a small studio that clearly understands 3D platforming. Its clearest weakness at launch, a widely repeated complaint that its original campaign was too short for its price, is one this review confirmed the developer has substantially addressed with a free content update roughly doubling the level count, alongside smaller but real complaints about precision platforming and collectible tedium. For fans of movement-focused 3D platformers willing to buy in today rather than at launch, this is a genuinely strong recommendation.