Bubsy

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Step aside Skylar, Bubsy is the new voice in town!
by Christopher J. Bean

May 12, 2008

Bubsy was an outspoken mid-90s flavor of the week bobcat that made his way into the Jaguar game library in 1994. The game was Bubsy: Fractured Furry Tails and while it surpasses the 16-bit versions of Bubsy with nice graphics and good music it still has a number of flaws that take away from the enjoyment factor. With a combination of choppy animation and sloppy controls, this cartridge will more than likely collect dust in your Jaguar game library.

Bubsy: FFT is a classic jump on your enemies while collecting goodies platform game. There are 15 challenging "chapters" in which Bubsy must correct the fairy tails that have gone astray and restore peace to the universe. Unfortunately, completing the game in its entirety can in fact be a long and very tedious process. There is no way to select the level of difficulty which might discourage some players because the levels are tough. The levels themselves engross the player with a slow but precise pace which is a world away from the speediness of Zool 2. Bubsy has no life meter, so one single hit from an enemy will send Bubsy to his grave after a brief animation of death.

Each of the large levels contains many bonus items which don't really add much originality to the formula. Some of these items included are a flashing invincibility t-shirt, extra lives, an item entitled the "Big Ball O' Fun" which awards you a random number of points and the countless number of colorful rotating orbs. The game also includes level markers which act as "half-way" points and are scattered throughout every level. There is no original formula like found in Rayman that will make players want to play this platformer time and time again.

The music in this game is probably the game's most interesting aspect due to the upbeat tempos and nice driving bass lines. Each different world has a different theme song and each one seems to be appropriate for that environment. The sound effects are crisp but nothing to be celebrating over. There is one downfall in the audio department and that's the voice of Bubsy himself. At the beginning of each chapter Bubsy will babble out different phrases which might seem comical the first time but will really get annoying after about the tenth time. It would have been nice for the game programmers to incorporate a volume control for Bubsy's voice!

The sloppy controls in Bubsy: FFT will ultimately test your patience, especially if you're accustomed to the fine-tuned and responsive set-ups of Zool 2 or Rayman. If you really want to dive into this game it might take a while to master the faulty controls. Bubsy has two basic abilities which include a simple jump action and a gliding through the air technique, which can be quite useful at times. This game would have been very enjoyable if the controls were accurate. Instead of preciseness, there seems to be a slight delay when moving around or jumping and this frequently leads to mistakes and lost lives. This alone takes away from the gameplay value in a serious way.

Bubsy: FFT is not a Jag title that shows off any of the system's great attributes. Die-hard platformer fanatics might find this title to be enjoyable due to the challenge factor and quantity of levels. This title is worth taking a shot at for nostalgia purposes but if you're looking for a quality platformer stick with Rayman and Zool 2!