Bubsy 3D has a terrible reputation. What if it came out in '94-95 (or '97 in a complete state) instead of late '96?

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

Bubsy 3D gets a lot of hate. The graphics were awful even for the time; Super Mario 64 had launched 2 months earlier (September 29 vs November 25, 1996), and looks a whole generation newer, not to mention plays much better. But before Super Mario 64 came out, the writing was still on the wall as to what a 3D platformer would play like. If Bubsy 3D had come out JUST before Super Mario 64, it probably wouldn't have made a difference as SM64 launched in Japan 3 months before its US launch, not to mention the buzz which covered pretty well all of 1996. Bubsy 3D's graphics and gameplay could have easily remained largely the same on one of the "fake" 5th gen systems, especially the 3DO. The game looks and sounds okay for 3DO/32X/Jaguar standards, not surprising when you consider that the game started development on the 32X.

There are two things I think could have saved Bubsy 3D:

1- If the game stays in its current state as we know it, release in 1995 (or even 1994) for the 3DO or 32X. Development would have had to start earlier; the game could have been made as a direct sequel to Bubsy II (launched October 28, 1994). Accolade released Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales for the Jaguar for their 1995 Bubsy release. If they'd skipped out on the Jag and instead used that time to develop Bubsy 3D as a direct sequel, it could have been released in 1995, hopefully ahead of the PS1 release. A Bubsy 3D released in mid 1995 would have been seen as more of an evolutionary step from 2D platformers to the good 3D platformers like SM64 and Crash Bandicoot (both launched in September 1996). Even then it wouldn't have been considered a triple-A title but at least it would have been competitive in the pre-PS1/Saturn 3D area. Obviously its success would have evaporated in '96 when Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot launched but by then Accolade may have made enough money to make a proper 3D Bubsy game for a 1997 or 1998 release.

2- This is probably the better option. Bubsy 3D was obviously unfinished at release on November 25, 1996. As the development cycle went, there was no hope of making a good Bubsy 3D game for 1996. If we looked in the game databases and saw "Bubsy 3D (1997)" it would have probably been a much better game. The head developer of Bubsy 3D, Michael Berlyn, was very worried when he saw SM64 in a much more complete state than Bubsy 3D. Bubsy is a great character with lots of potential. Had the game spent another year in the oven, going for a late 1997 release, then it could have looked and played much better. I think a Bubsy 3D released in 1997 could have been a good, even great game.

[T2KFreeker]

The problem is, a bad game, is a bad game. Doesn't matter when it released. Bad is BAD! Praise for the technology and the graphics is one thing, but still, horrid games are just that, horrid games.

[FieryReign]

Bubsy was not a great character with great potential. It was a garbage attempt to cash in on the mascot craze of the early 90s, drawn up in about 5 minutes by some old white dude in a board meeting. Just look at his name. Bubsy? A bobcat wearing a sweater with a giant exclamation point? Cringe worthy puns and ear piercing voice? I could muster something better up in my sleep.

They didn't even get the basics of 2D platforming down. Way out of their league attempting 3D, again trying to cash in on the evolution of 3D polygons. They should've focused on creating a good game instead of riding coattails and cashgrabs. Not like Accolade/Ballistic were very good at any type of game. They were an unlicensed Sega publisher for a few years. They botched Double Dragon, which should've been an easy port for the Genesis.

[Tanooki]

And Bubsy right now is working on a greenlight to have the two classic 2D titles released shortly on Steam. :) I never played #2 but I guess despite hating most of those mascot games of the era I did like it. I can't remember how I ended up with it back in the day but I got used to the odd jump/float physics and it was decent, not an A game by any means but not an F either.

On point though, Bubsy 3D done or not was a poor attempt to make a 3D transition of that character and it's awful. A year earlier or so called 'finished' a year later it still would have sucked, felt dated, and not played well not due to delays or whatever, but bad design at its core. A turd is a turd, and they couldn't even bother to polish that one before release. Even if they got it out months after Mario and re-drew the entire thing to look and have a camera behave like it did fairly much so in Mario it still would have been bad, just noted for looking nice and sucking, not just sucking across the board.

[Aussie2B]

It's a horrendous game in any year. I wouldn't care even if it came out a whole decade earlier, being a technical marvel, it'd still be miserable to play. I don't see extra development time making it much better either. All the previous Bubsy games were crap too (granted, to a lesser degree), so I'd suspect it'd be bad no matter what.

[Niku-Sama]

I never really liked bubsy period. thankfully I missed this travesty

[WCP]

I actually kinda like Bubsy 3D.


For a very short period of time.


Like, I can play Bubsy 3D and for the first 30 minutes or so, I'm actually really enjoying myself. You just have to come to grips with the tank controls. The camera sometimes causes some real problems as well. Still, I can actually enjoy this game in short bursts.

[Tanooki]

Was Bubsy 2 worse than the first? I never bothered because despite being alright with the first I didn't want to pay for the second.

[SparTonberry]

I can't remember anything specifically bad about the second compared to the first but I just didn't like it as much.

I remember the big change being they added a Sonic 2-like 2-player mode and also power-ups (including some Nerf bazooka I think they were cross-promoting).

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

I really think it woulda tanked just the same. Look at Sonic 3D Blast. Not a great game. It came out on the Genesis before Mario 64 and it's just a rough game. They just had to go 3D with Sonic. He works ok in 3D in later games but he's designed for 2D sidescrollers.

[Tupin]

For some reason Bubsy has become a cult classic game/in-joke on some sections of the Internet, which turned into some people genuinely liking the series. I don't get it.