Bubsy
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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". Bubsy seems very influenced by the Sonic games: the scenery in the background of the first level of 'Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind' is similar to Sonic the Hedgehog's Green Hill Zone, and the bridges and waterslides featured in the game are reminiscent of features in the Sonic game. However, Bubsy does have some ambitious features that mean that it may not deserve the 'also ran' status that some regard it as having. For instance, the levels are impressively large and varied in theme, the graphics are bright and colorful and there is some catchy music in the game, for instance the Mexican-style guitar sound on the Wild West train level. There is also a sense of humor to the level names that is not evident in the Sonic games. Control of the character is sometimes relatively jerky, though, making Sonic-style steaming through the stages a more difficult task, a matter worsened by the fact that Bubsy doesn't have any fallback, unlike Sonic's rings, with which to avoid losing a life. Nevertheless, the first Bubsy was a big hit, 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.
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[edit] Bubsy's abilities
Bubsy has two key abilities.
- Jumping - Bubsy can jump more than twice his own height.
- Gliding - Bubsy can glide, which cuts his downward acceleration by ¼, allowing him to cross large gaps. Gliding can also be used to prevent losing a life from great falls and, when used on certain objects, allows him to bounce up much higher than a regular jump could.
[edit] List of games
[edit] Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind
[edit] 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. There are at least 500 yarn balls in each level, some with over 1000 (however, the counter will only display up to 999). 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.)
If Bubsy collides with a wall at high speed, he then becomes disoriented with a comical bird effect appearing above his head -- this is the only "injury" that doesn't kill him. There are several such cartoon-like animations in the game. 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 inferiority of the Genesis' sound hardware to that of the SNES becomes evident in this game: much of the 8-channel polyphony possible with the SNES' Sony SPC700, was lost when rewritten for the Genesis' YM2612 and TI SN76489 -- many of the discrete instrument sounds become "bleeps."
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.
[edit] Game mechanics
The game has fairly simple 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 (these controls can be swapped in the options menu). Enemies are defeated by simply jumping on top of them. Touching an enemy while not falling will cause Bubsy to lose a life. The player scores points for collecting yarn balls, defeating enemies, and finishing the level. Gliding allows Bubsy to cross large gaps and, if used correctly on certain objects, can allow for bounces of up to four times the normal height. There are plenty of powerups around, in the form of a T-shirt, mainly extra lives. The game has quite a few glitches, the most noticeable one is the background scenery.
A real problem with the game is Bubsy's lack of traction, which makes the game intensely difficult and results in many deaths (whereupon a comical "death animation" is always shown). Bubsy, 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 (presumably because cats don't like water.)
[edit] 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 TV 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 and more of the cartoon. Some of the music from Super Bubsy has found its way into cell phone ringtones.
[edit] Bubsy II
[edit] The basics
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 the task 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 in 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 mechanics are much different from Bubsy Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind or Fractured Furry Tales. The most interesting to note is that the gravity in some worlds seem to be stronger than others, allowing Bubsy's glide distance to change slightly. Bubsy II uses the same base animation for the character as seen in Claws Encounters or Fractured Furry Tales, with many additions. You also have 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 (such as spikes) will instantly kill him. Restoring hits was accomplished via Band-Aids.
Unique to this game from all others is Bubsy's use of a diver suit for underwater adventures. (In Fractured Furry Tales, Bubsy gets around under water with just a bubble around him.)
Once again, the music in the SNES version is superior to that of the Genesis version. Like a few other late-era, higher-level SNES games, the SNES version featured a scheme where SPC samples could be switched on the fly, depending on what part of the level the player was in. As a result, each level used several different musical samples. The Genesis version could not do this, so the entire tune for a level would be written in a single VGM instruction set.
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. One interesting thing to note is that the Nerf gun has unlimited fire in the Bubsy 2 Gameboy version, which is different from the other versions of Bubsy 2.
[edit] Bubsy in: Fractured Furry Tales
Bubsy in: Fractured Furry Tales was released December 1, 1994 to the Atari Jaguar.
[edit] The basics
"Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales" shares the animations and voice of Bubsy from "Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind". Some would call this Jaguar title "Bubsy 3" due to the release date after Bubsy 2, and some Bubsy fans consider this the last true game in the Bubsy series and not Bubsy 3D which is debatably deemed the worst video game ever. 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 is currently unique to the Atari Jaguar system, though Jaguar hardware emulators do currently exist. The Atari Jaguar joypad keeps the actions simple as the player have the choice of jump, glide, and look for the A, B, & C buttons. 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.
[edit] Bubsy 3D: Furbitten Planet
[edit] The basics
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 32 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 the entire levels. 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.
[edit] 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. There are plenty of platforms around, some of which move around. The controls are fairly simple, except in the water levels where they can be quite confusing.
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 or she 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 or she 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. Other ways of picking up extra lives include earning 100,000 points, collecting 100 atoms (10 in bonus rounds), and collecting a 1-up item.
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.
[edit] 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 come out since.
[edit] 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.
[edit] External links
- A Bubsy fan site
- Bubsy series at MobyGames
- Bubsy Pilot at the Internet Movie Database
- Bubsy Pilot Episode: "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?"
- ScrewAttack's Top Ten Big Names That Fell Off
- Sega-16 interview with Bubsy creator Mike Berlyn
- Sega-16 retrospective on the entire Bubsy series
- XLEAGUE.TV's "Retro Corner" Video Feature on the Series (Voiced By ScrewAttack.com's Guru Larry)
