The first Bubsy game was released in May 1993 by Accolade for the SNES, and later for the Genesis. The plot focuses on a race of fabric-stealing aliens called "Woolies", who have stolen the world's yarn ball supply (especially Bubsy's, who owns the world's largest collection). A special version, titled Super Bubsy, was later released in 1997 for Windows 95, featuring graphics redrawn for a higher resolution, new game elements and the entire Bubsy television pilot. In addition to the power-ups found in the original game, there are bouncing TVs that Bubsy can collect which allow the player to view more of the cartoon.
Bubsy II was released shortly after the first game, on October 28, 1994. In the game, Bubsy faces antagonist Oinker P. Hamm, who has created the "Amazatorium", a theme park that saps information away from history and puts it on display for his personal profit. The game features five levels: a music-themed world, a medieval era, an Egyptian area, an outer space zone, and an aerial zone with Bubsy flying a World War I biplane. Bubsy collects trading cards which he can use to buy various items. These include a "portable hole" (a small portal he can step through and disappear to the main lobby), a diver's suit, a Nerf gun, screen-clearing smart bombs, or extra lives. The game features the addition of Bubsy's nephew and niece that can be played by another player to help or hinder Bubsy. There are also secret stages involving Bubsy and his unwilling sidekick, Arnold the Armadillo. Additionally, Bubsy could take two hits (denoted by his expression next to the "lives" counter), and on a third, he would lose a life – though some hazards will still instantly kill him. Bubsy II is also the only Bubsy title to be reprogrammed for the Game Boy as a black-and-white game with Super Game Boy support for limited colors. This version of the game features the three levels of difficulty, but only has three of the original worlds (Egyptian, Musicland and Skyland) available for play.
A re-release of both titles titled Bubsy Two-Fur (a collection of the first two games) was released on Steam in December 2015 by Tommo division Retroism.[2][3]
Bubsy 3D is the fourth Bubsy game, and was the only title in 3D. The game was released in 1996 for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to the original in terms of the story and takes place on the Woolies' home planet, Rayon. Bubsy 3D has 16 main levels and two boss levels, and the main character's goal is to defeat the two queens of Rayon, Poly and Esther. The player can collect rockets, as well as atoms, in order to eventually escape from planet Rayon. Bubsy actively speaks throughout the game based on various actions performed by the player. A planned release for the Sega Saturn was cancelled.[4]
A sixth Bubsy title, Bubsy: Paws on Fire!, was released on May 16, 2019, for PlayStation 4 and PC. The game was developed by Choice Provisions, who previously worked on the Bit.Trip series and Woah, Dave!.[6] The Nintendo Switch version was released shortly after in August 29.[7]
The soundtrack by Stemage was released by Materia Collective on the same game's release date.[8] A CD sampler containing the first 7 tracks of the soundtrack was included with the Limited Edition of the game.
Future
In April 2023, Atari SA, the parent company of Atari, Inc., re-acquired over 100 titles from Tommo and Billionsoft, including the Bubsy franchise,[9] ten years after losing them following the bankruptcy liquidation. In October, Atari CEO Wade Rosen announced in a YouTube interview that the company was open to pitches for a new installment in the franchise.[10] In June 2024, the company announced Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection, a multimedia release with games, videos, and original interviews about the franchise slated to be released in 2025.[11]
Television pilot
Bubsy also had a pilot episode for an animated series sponsored by Taco Bell in 1993,[12] titled What Could Possibly Go Wrong?[13]Calico Entertainment and Imagination Factory jointly produced the pilot for airing on Bohbot CommunicationsKid's Day Off syndication package for Thanksgiving 1993.[14] It featured new additions to the Bubsy franchise not made by the original Bubsy producer (Michael Berlyn) as he was on hiatus from Accolade at the time. These included Virgil Reality, a genius inventor and scientist; Oblivia, Virgil's assistant and planned future love interest for Bubsy; Ally, the main antagonist, along with Buzz and Sid, her two Henchmen. The pilot was produced by Calico Creations. Rob Paulsen provides the voice of Bubsy, alongside voices from Tress MacNeille, Jim Cummings, Pat Fraley, B. J. Ward and Neil Ross. The pilot was not picked up for a full series.[15] Virgil later appeared as a playable character in Bubsy: Paws on Fire!
