Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back

Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back
Developer(s) Black Forest Games
Publisher(s)
Director(s) Jean-Marc Haessig
Producer(s) Christian Kruger
Dennis Schiefer
Designer(s) Rolf Beismann
Stefan Schmitz
Artist(s) Stefan Schmitz
Composer(s) Chris Huelsbeck
Fabian Del Priore
Series Bubsy
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4
Release
  • WW: October 31, 2017
Genre(s) Platform
Mode(s) Single-player

Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back is a platform video game developed by Black Forest Games.[1] The game was released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 on October 31, 2017. The game is the fifth entry in the Bubsy series, and the first new entry in 21 years.[2][3]

Gameplay

The game returns to the 2D side-scrolling platformer gameplay found in the first Bubsy games, Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind, Bubsy 2 and Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales,[4] albeit now with 3D character models, a first for the side-scrolling entries in the series.[5]

Story

The game sees Bubsy going against the "Woolies", the antagonistic race of creatures from the first Bubsy game.[6]

Development

The game was first announced on June 8, 2017, as a brand new game in the Bubsy series of video games.[7] The entry is the first one in the series in 21 years, following 1996's Bubsy 3D.[8] The game was announced as the first of many game franchise revivals of Accolade games (which, along with Bubsy, is a brand name now operated by Hong Kong company Billionsoft[9]), including potential revivals of HardBall!, Slave Zero, Deadlock: Planetary Conquest, Eradicator, and Redline.[3] The game was published by Tommo's subsidiary UFO Interactive Games, and developed by Black Forest Games, who previously worked on reviving the dormant Giana Sisters series with Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams.[10] Like Twisted Dreams, the game was developed using the Havok physics engine.[11]

In August 2017, a limited edition, called the Purrfect Edition, was announced for the PlayStation 4 release, which contains a physical copy of the game, a soundtrack CD, a copy of Bubsy's official "business card", and a "Mystery Bubsy Movie Poster postcard".[12]

The game announcement was generally not well received by video game journalists, whose reactions ranged from indifference to irritation.[13][14][15] Accolade seemed to expect this, taking an approach similar to Sega with promoting Sonic the Hedgehog on social media; a dedicated Twitter account for the character that makes self-deprecating and aware comments about the franchise's negative reception of some past titles was created.[13]

Reception

The game was met with a negative reception, with review aggregator Metacritic giving the PC version a weighted average score of 44 out of a possible 100[16] and the PS4 version a score of 45 out of 100,[17] indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Brian Shea of Game Informer panned the game, calling it "an unnecessary resuscitation".[18] Patrick Hancock of Destructoid questioned why the character of Bubsy was brought back and made note of its release in the same year as other more well received platformers.[19] Heidi Kemps of IGN dismissed the game as "an extremely short and completely forgettable platformer based on nothing but irony and nostalgic notoriety".[20] Christian Donlan of Eurogamer wrote "Bubsy's return is more than a little underwhelming".[21] Conversely, Hardcore Gamer gave the game 3.5 out of 5.[22]

The game was a runner-up for the "Worst Game (That We Played)" award at Giant Bomb's Game of the Year 2017 Awards.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "Accolade returns with new Bubsy game". MCV. NewBay Media. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  2. ↑ "Accolade brand returns with a new Bubsy game".
  3. 1 2 O'Connor, Alice (9 June 2017). "What could possibly go wrong? New Bubsy announced".
  4. ↑ "Bubsy is returning from mascot platformer hell to torment us all". 8 June 2017.
  5. ↑ "Nostalgia mining reaches perilous low with the return of Bubsy The Cat". 8 June 2017.
  6. ↑ "Accolade returns, announces Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back for PS4, PC - Gematsu". 8 June 2017.
  7. ↑ Matulef, Jeffrey (8 June 2017). "Bubsy returns in his first game in 21 years".
  8. ↑ "Bubsy Makes His Return To Videogames For The First Time In 21 Years". 9 June 2017.
  9. ↑ "Billionsoft". Billionsoft.
  10. ↑ Campbell, Evan (8 June 2017). "Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back Announced".
  11. ↑ "Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back Announced". 9 June 2017.
  12. ↑ "Bubsy announces October 31st release date for regular and limited edition version". Official Accolade Game website. 22 August 2017.
  13. 1 2 "Bubsy's back, and even Sonic is being mean about it".
  14. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (8 June 2017). "Bubsy ... they're making another one of those". Polygon.
  15. ↑ Metro.co.uk, GameCentral for (9 June 2017). "Bubsy The Bobcat is back, but not even Sonic The Hedgehog knows why".
  16. ↑ "Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back - PC".
  17. ↑ "Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back - PS4".
  18. ↑ Shea, Brian (1 November 2017). "Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back". gameinformer.com. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  19. ↑ Hancock, Patrick (2 November 2017). "Review: Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back". destructoid.com. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  20. ↑ Kemps, Heidi (3 November 2017). "BUBSY: THE WOOLIES STRIKE BACK REVIEW". IGN. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  21. ↑ Donlan, Christian (3 November 2017). "Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  22. ↑ "Review: Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back - Hardcore Gamer". www.hardcoregamer.com.
  23. ↑ Giant Bomb staff (29 December 2017). "Game of the Year 2017 Day Five: Best, Worst, Cast, and Capture". Giant Bomb. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
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