A Look at the Return of Bubsy in ‘The Woolies Strike Back’

The return of the bobcat platformer

The classic platformer, Bubsy, which made mediocre waves in the gaming world back in the 90s is making a surprise return for PS4 consoles and PC. On October 31st, the gaming community will see yet another faithful return of an iconic platformer, this time in the cat-tastic adventure, Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back.

The series of Bubsy titles took the player through a heroic adventure to save the world’s limited supply of yarn. As corny as that may sound, the creators did a fairly decent job of competing with the big guns that ran the platforming gauntlet of the early 90s. A casual approach to the already simplified category of games, Bubsy would jump from rooftop to rooftop, ledge to ledge collecting yarn balls and stomping the antagonist, Woolies in rhythm. With the world’s largest collection of yarnballs, Bubsy will not let the dreadful Woolies take what he holds closest.

A look at Bubsy’s confusing past

The game featured all of the mechanics that made popular platforming what it is today. The run-and-jump approach to traversing the sidescrolling levels, collecting hundreds of yarn balls to increase your total life count, as well as the useful feature to spread out and glide through the skies, making good time by hovering out of reach of enemy Woolies. Of course, if the evil Woolies did end up in Bubsy’s path, a simple jump on the noggin would clear the way for the feline hero.

While the game was opening up to great anticipation, and the reviews to follow the initial release were above excellent, Bubsy seemed to sink with time, more recently being known as a Sonic rip-off with awful collision detection and stale level design. The colorful cartoon character was loved by parents with kids into the video game phenomenon, but dedicated gamers and critics scoffed at the poor attempt at dethroning the kings. With a collection of solid scores under its belt, one wonders why the franchise disembarked from the world of video games, choosing not to build upon the adoring fan base it had patiently created.

Since the year of 1996 the adventurous bobcat hasn’t graced a console on the market, admittedly cowering in defeat to the greater platforming giants. Though numerous remakes and re-imagines were released for the PC, as well as a sequel created by a different development team, Bubsy never returned to the glimmer of hope it once had. Accolade published these furball encounters to mostly positive reviews initially, but still only able to garnish only a small cult following of anti-Mario/Sonic rebels. But, even with a microscopic reception that was the Bubsy birth, that didn’t stop the publishers from giving Bubsy a go in the world of 3D gaming.

With Bubsy 3D, the yarn-collecting feline made a leap to the Playstation console, appearing in the updated 3D polygon graphics. Once again, the Bubsy title didn’t make huge strides in gaming, but instead sunk even lower into the depths of gaming obscurity. Since, the Bubsy franchise has been stored away and covered in dust, only to be long-forgotten about in the ever-expanding realm of video games.

Until now…

A new team, covering old territory

With Accolade not in the picture since the end of the millennium, it now rests upon foreign publishers looking to try to win fans back with the once beloved(?) bobcat. Tommo, a game publishing company based out of California, is looking to knock the yarn socks off of the gaming world this Halloween. With the help of developers Black Forest Games, Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back is gaining surprising momentum from the community of gamers who remember the good times with the original titles.

Now in search of the Golden Fleece, Bubsy will scavenge the planet fending off the enemy Woolies. Tons of Woolies await the return of Bubsy, and all-new ultimate boss fights will surface in the surprise release. As if the return of the smart-mouthed lynx wasn’t enough, the developers promise over 100 new one-liners at the disposal of the feline’s dialogue.

With all of his returning moves in his arsenal, and the promise of a few new skills, Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back is hoping to be more than just a surprise announcement; but a surprise new release among the video game community. Retaining the integrity of the franchise while boosting the excitement and overall fun or “juicyness” level will be key in making the Bubsy return a successful one.

Surrounded by heated competition

Taking part in a year where Bubsy’s two closest rivals have high hopes for their upcoming releases – with Sonic Mania already returning long time platforming fans to the glory days of the blue blur’s origin. Just days before the new Bubsy releases, Super Mario Odyssey will release, finally scratching that itch for current Switch owners looking for the latest installment of the main series of the beloved franchise. And if that’s not enough, the Sonic team will be releasing the second title featuring the fastest thing alive this year in, Sonic Forces; just days after Bubsy hits store shelves.

With a lot of heated rivalry in the mix, Bubsy will need to stick to what made the platformer stand tall against all odds, and bring with it crisp and intuitive gameplay mechanics. Keep the game lively and fun while introducing exciting new features to help keep players reeled in and entertained. The game will run players through 14 different levels, gaining powers and collecting treasures to help Bubsy win the fight over the army of Woolies.

Longtime fans, newcomers and platforming enthusiasts will gather around for one of this years most surprising announcements in, Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back. Look for the return of the adventurous feline coming to PS4 and PC on October 31st, at a reasonable cost of $29.99.