Why I will always be a Bubsy Bobcat fan – Reader’s Feature

Despite one of its entries being a candidate for the worst video game of all time a reader insists he is a Bubsy Bobcat fan and advocates for more new sequels.

In the 1990s, on the Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo, a platform game series was released known as Bubsy Bobcat. I first was introduced to this when watching an episode of the then popular show GamesMaster and was interested in seeing if it was a good platformer. I got to play the first game in the series when I was at a market stall, which in the 1990s sold used Mega Drive games.

After seeing this being played on GamesMaster, and wanting to give it a shot, I bought the first Bubsy Bobcat game and immediately could tell I would really enjoy it. The first game involved Bubsy forced to take on aliens called Woolies, who had chosen to invade Earth.

You could enjoy manoeuvring Bubsy across 16 levels in total, which was praised by many reviewers as a good alternative to Sonic The Hedgehog. It also managed to win a parent’s choice award, which was for being fun and non-violent. Adding to this, the first game had a good soundtrack and did well, given the competition it faced.

The second title, sadly, did not appeal too well to players, while offering the feel of recycled content, confusing layouts, and bland presentation. These issues did not help the series and, very sadly, the release of Bubsy 3D essentially killed off the franchise for two decades.

That was until Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back in 2017 got released and then after that a collection of the Bubsy Bobcat series in 2025, featuring the first game and the 16-bit and 3D games, which ensured that a fourth game in the series, Bubsy 4D, would be released.

Despite the failures of the previous 16-bit and 32-bit games the first Bubsy game did so well that it ensured its series would continue on even today, despite the challenges and setbacks the previous games had given the series. Although the previous games did not appeal to some players there are fans, such as myself and others, who still enjoy this series.

So what could be next in the franchise and how can it ensure that a new title will inspire and entertain many players?

Learning from previous developers, who used clever ideas such as the positions of enemies, as well as items and power-ups, changing each time you play the game would be good. This could be done in future games to add replay ability and keep players interested, while offering a fresh challenge.

Platformers should provide curiosity for players as well as keep them coming back for more. Multiplayer modes such as unique maps would be ideal, as well as exclusive enemies for specific maps and bosses could appear on different maps each time. This would ensure you never fight the same game boss on the same map and keeps the game fresh and interesting each time it is played.

Introducing new characters who players could play as would allow unique perspectives and could create multiple endings. This would add better content as well as ensure players would enjoy the challenge of finishing the game with different characters and could create trophies or achievements. Adding to this an unlockable theatre mode would be great for enjoying the game’s soundtrack and endings when unlocked.

Bubsy Bobcat will always remain one of my favourite Mega Drive platformers.

By reader gaz be rotten (gamertag)

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