It’s testament to the power of nostalgia that despite not really liking the Bubsy series when I was a kid, I was all-in when Atari announced plans to release a brand new game in the long-running platforming series. (I also immediately grabbed a copy of Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection when it launched late last year.) The 2D Bubsy games always felt a little less than when compared to the more mainstream mascot platformers like Mario and Sonic, while Bubsy’s first foray into 3D for the PlayStation… well, the less said about that the better.

Developed by Demon Tides studio Fabraz and published by Atari, Bubsy 4D also goes down the 3D platforming route, albeit far more successfully than its 1990s counterpart.

The intergalactic adventure begins with a visit from Bubsy’s long-standing enemies the Woolies, whose plans to steal all of the Earth’s sheep backfires and results in the creation of an even deadlier foe known as the BaaBots.

These technologically enhanced enemies are in possession of the prized Golden Fleece, and it’s up to Bubsy to get it back.

While most of us don’t play games like this for the story, the combination of Bubsy’s 1990s attitude, self-referential and self-depreciating humour is more entertaining than expected. I particularly enjoyed the description of the Bubsy 3D skin, the appearance of the Hedgehog Bubsy skin, and some of the sillier puns.

It pairs up nicely with the cel-shaded visual style, with cutscene characters having a 90s, Saturday morning cartoon vibe. It’s certainly not as pretty and as polished as the average first-party Nintendo platformer, but for Bubsy, this scrappy style kind of works.

The stages, on the other hand, lack the same visual consistency, sometimes looking a little barren, to the point where they almost appear incomplete.

Fortunately, the development team has spent more time where it truly counts. Compared to its 1990s 3D predecessor, Bubsy 4D is the cat’s pyjamas.

Key to the game’s success are the controls and Bubsy’s surprisingly vast arsenal of navigational skills that can be chained together to blast through stages at blistering speeds.

Bubsy can flutter like Yoshi, glide like Batman, and claw up walls like he’s Mario in a Cat Suit. He can jump, double jump, dive forward and even transform into a hairball where he can reach almost uncontrollable speeds.

Then there are the additional skills that can be purchased from the shop by collecting blueprints. These include the Mario-inspired Twirl and Crouch jumps, a hairball drift skill, and even the ability to continue running for a few steps after sprinting off a ledge, similar to the Coyote from the Roadrunner cartoons.

There are so many different platforming skills that if you’re anything like me, you might occasionally find yourself accidentally transforming into a hairball and plunging to your doom, instead of gliding to the relative safety of the next available platform.

The flipside is that Bubsy’s extensive arsenal of platforming skills often means that you can scramble to safety even when you do momentarily lose control.

When you finally master Bubsy’s entire arsenal, then the game is a real joy to play and a speedrunner’s delight.

While there’s a veneer of freedom, particularly when you land on a planet, the stages are mostly linear, barring the odd detour to find a blueprint. Still, this means that when you do revisit a stage after mastering Bubsy’s skills, there’s a lot of fun to be had by trying to beat your best time. The addition of player ghosts only feeds into the speedrunning element and is a real positive.

However, much like the inconsistent visuals, there’s a sense that Bubsy 4D could have been even better with a bigger budget and more time spent on the sandbox/exploratory elements. Fleshing out the stages with more side content, secrets and hidden areas would have given platforming fans the best of both worlds, offering a gentler experience for newbies while retaining the fas-paced platforming for speedrunners.

Bubsy 4D is not a purrfect game by any means, but if you like 3D platformers and have some nostalgia for the character, then you’re mostly in for a good time.

The controls aren’t always as tight as they could be, and some sections are a tad busy, resulting in frustrating moments when failure doesn’t always feel like it’s your fault.

Like most 3D platformers, the camera can also be an issue, sometimes going haywire and causing you to lose a life.

However, considering some of Bubsy’s past efforts, Bubsy 4D feels like a massive step forward and something of a fresh start for the much maligned mascot.