Bubsy 3D

Bubsy 3D (also known as Bubsy 3D: Furbitten Planet or Bubsy is 3D in "Furbitten Planet") is a platform video game developed by Eidetic and published by Accolade for the PlayStation video game console. A Sega Saturn version was developed but never released. It is the "Bubsy" series' fourth game and the first in 3D. The game was released in North America on November 25, 1996 and in Europe during August 1997. The game's complete name is a play on words referencing "Forbidden Planet", a 1956 sci-fi film. "Bubsy 3D" follows Bubsy, an orange bobcat and the "Bubsy" series' central character. Bubsy must stop the Woolies, a race of aliens, from stealing all of the Earth's yarn by traveling across Rayon (their home planet) and collecting rocket pieces and atoms in order to build a rocket ship and return safely to Earth.
While 3D video games had existed years before its release, "Bubsy 3D" was one of the first platform games to enable fully 3D exploration, alongside "Super Mario 64". Following the disappointing commercial performance of "Bubsy II" and "", Accolade turned to series creator Michael Berlyn, who made the game a 3D platformer. Though "Bubsy 3D" has often been referred to as a "Super Mario 64" clone, the two games were developed at the same time in almost complete isolation from each other.
"Bubsy 3D" received mostly negative reviews, with heavy criticism of the title character's personality and the game's controls, camera and voice acting, though the two-player mode was praised. The game has attracted infamy; some consider it one of the worst video games of all time. "Bubsy 3D" was the series' last game until the 2017 release of "".
Gameplay.
The objective of "Bubsy 3D" is to defeat the Woolies' two queens, Poly and Esther, and escape from Rayon by collecting atoms and rocket parts. Players control the player-character Bubsy, who says many catchphrases based on the player's actions. Bubsy can jump high, glide, swim, and in some levels pilot a rocket car. The player can control the camera, or make Bubsy run faster.
Bubsy defeats enemies by pouncing on them (either by jumping or gliding) or shooting atoms at them. He can take four hits before losing a life. Bubsy can extend his hit capacity or lives by getting a high enough score, collecting atoms, or attacking running clams which give three random prizes. If he gets 150 atoms, he goes to a bonus round with atoms and extra lives. If he collects all 200 atoms in a level, he gets extra time in the bonus round. Bubsy can find two Rockets in each level; collecting all 32 gives the player a different ending.
Power-ups can be collected; they give Bubsy temporary abilities. There are puzzles where Bubsy needs to jump on four colored platforms (similar to Simon) or activate four switches in a specific order; completing these gives Bubsy a rocket or power-up.
The game has 18 levels. Three of them take place underwater; in these levels, Bubsy has an oxygen meter that depletes over time and his gliding action is replaced by a jetting dive which makes him swim faster and attack enemies, but depletes oxygen more quickly. Air tanks in these levels refill Bubsy's air supply. There are also two levels which are boss fights; these have no rockets to collect. To complete a level (except a boss level), Bubsy has to touch the goal.
In the two-player mode, Bubsy competes against an opponent in a race to collect atoms and rockets, and bop Woolies to get the highest score in a single level.
Plot.
"Bubsy 3D" takes place on Rayon, the home planet of the Woolies, a recurring race of aliens from previous installments in the series. It follows the title character, a bobcat named Bubsy, whose objective is to travel to the planet in order to collect atoms and rocket pieces and build a rocket ship. Led by their two queens, Poly and Esther, the Woolies invade Earth and kidnap Bubsy, , intending to stealing all of Earth's wool. However, Bubsy escapes from the Woolies' siege due to a chemical malfunction with the ship he is being carried in, and breaks loose onto Rayon, resulting in widespread panic across the planet. The Woolies determine Bubsy is attempting to gather atoms and rocket parts (both of which the Woolies consider worthless) to build a rocket ship. None of Rayon's scientists understand why Bubsy is doing this, but they believe him to be dangerous nonetheless, prompting them to call for a military campaign to locate and destroy the bobcat.
The game's ending is dictated by the player's in-game performance, specifically the number of collectibles obtained in each level. If fewer than 32 of the rocket parts required to build a space ship are collected, Bubsy, after the Woolies capture him, uses his acquired rocket pieces and the atom discharge withheld in his own fur to build a rocket and attempt to escape back to Earth; lacking the necessary components, the rocket becomes stranded in outer space, allowing the Woolies to invade Earth without interference. If the player collects all 32 rocket pieces, the rocket is unable to handle the density of the atoms he has collected and Bubsy, despite escaping the planet with a complete ship, becomes stranded in the Stone Age due to a rip in the space time continuum, allowing the Woolies to go through with their plans.
Development.
Planning and release.
"Bubsy 3D" was developed by Eidetic and published by Accolade. The game was designed by Bubsy creator Michael Berlyn, and veteran games developer Marc Blank was also a key member of the development team. According to Berlyn, after the second and third installments of "Bubsy" experienced mediocre commercial performance, Accolade asked him to head production of the next game in the series in hopes that he could revive the franchise. He agreed under the condition that the game would not be a rehash of the original game, but a 3D platformer- a genre which hadn't been vastly explored yet at the time. Development of the game started in April 1995. The development team consisted of approximately eight people. Programmer Christopher Reese cited the development as a challenge, due to the team having no prior experience with making games in 3D. The game was showcased at the 1996 Electronic Entertainment Expo.
A release for the Sega Saturn in Spring of 1997 was planned but ultimately cancelled. It was announced that it would be compatible with the Saturn analog controller to enable more sophisticated movement than the PlayStation version. Berlyn attended the January 1996 Consumer Electronics Show to help demonstrate the "Bubsy 3D" beta personally. While wandering the floor he saw the demonstration for "Super Mario 64", another 3D platform jumping game, but one built with Nintendo's best resources in order to serve as the flagship title for a new gaming console (the Nintendo 64). Berlyn realized that "Bubsy 3D" looked greatly inferior to "Super Mario 64", but as Accolade was already committed to releasing the game, it was too late to do anything except make "Bubsy 3D" as good as possible within the remaining time.
In Europe, distribution was handled by British publisher Telstar Electronic Studios under their budget label "Telstar Fun & Games".
Art.
Inspiration for character poses came primarily from Warner Bros. cartoons. The team paid particular attention to Bubsy's body language. Some art direction was provided by Chuck Jones during the 1996 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Due to console limitations, the developers used flat shaded polygons instead of textured polygons, which most console games did not use at the time. However, the characters were Gouraud shaded and texture mapped. Berlyn said he chose this unusual combination because it made the characters stand out, ensuring the player's attention would be on Bubsy and the gameplay rather than on the environments. At the time, "Bubsy 3D" was one of the few PlayStation games that ran in high resolution. The cutscenes between stages were animated by hand in 2D, and the 3D polygonal models were then made to mimic this animation. Sprites were used for the HUD, menu items, and power-ups.
Audio.
Sound effects, music and voice lines for the game were implemented with ADPCM as separate layers. The voice of Bubsy was done by actress Lani Minella.
Reception.
"Bubsy 3D" received a wide range of reviews upon release, but the majority were negative. The game holds an aggregate score of 51% at GameRankings based on five reviews. Subjects of praise included the vast size of the levels and the unique two-player mode, which some critics said is the highlight of the game. However, most reviews criticized the disorienting camera, Bubsy's annoying voice, and especially the tank controls, a control style they said worked well in other genres, but is crippling in a platform game where precision and split-second response time are needed. Mike Salmon wrote in "Ultra Game Players", "In order to create a 3D platform game, you absolutely must have complete control over the character, something "Bubsy 3D" just doesn't do." Victor Lucas of "The Electric Playground" found the untextured, largely homogeneous visuals both aesthetically displeasing and very confusing. He added, "As disappointing as the visuals of Bubsy 3D are, it is the game's lack of speed and sloppy control that really make it a pain to play. ... even rotating around to see what is behind you is like trying to Scuba dive in Jell-o". Mark Skorupa of "Gamezilla" said the game had potential but fails to effectively stand up to recent platformers, chiefly because of its controls: "Platform games require precise actions and split second decisions. Bubsy 3D's controls are very prohibitive to this type of gameplay.", though he still gave an overall score of 81.
A few critics also said the environments are barren and bland, though Crispin Boyer clarified in "Electronic Gaming Monthly", "I could easily forgive the lackluster visuals if the game played well. But it doesn't. Not even close." "GameSpot" found the game mediocre and unenjoyable in almost every respect, and emphasized the voice clips: "Thank god the programmers included an option to turn off the sound bites Bubsy spews during the game; after having to endure that lispy, grating voice two or three times, the player may be tempted to kill his or her television." N. Somniac of "GamePro" said that apart from the camera often hindering the gameplay, he had no problem with the controls. However, he found the single-player mode repetitive, slow, and predictable, and concluded, "Bubsy fans should rent this game to see him in 3D, but action fans may find Crash [Bandicoot] more their speed." Outright positive reviews for the game also appeared: "PSExtreme" gave the game a 93%, along with their "Gold X Award", and the reviewer favorably compared it to a WB cartoon (a comparison also used by Accolade in press releases for the game). Three reviewers in "GameFan" gave ratings of 80, 79, and 80 with E. Storm commenting ""Bubsy 3D" weighs in as a slightly peculiar, vastly unique, and very addicting 3D adventure that I found not only highly addicting but quite refreshing." NowGamer credited "Bubsy 3D" with being the first genuinely 3D PlayStation game, and said that "younger players will be enthralled by its bright colours and simple gameplay, even if adults reach straight for the sick bucket." Martin of "Absolute PlayStation" stated that Bubsy's voice (which he compared to that of Bugs Bunny) may not appeal to older gamers but younger ones should think otherwise, and described the game as slightly difficult but should still attract players looking for a challenge. Brazilian magazine "Ação Games" scored it a 7 out of 10, criticizing the graphics and sound but approved the numerous items in the levels which should still make fun-loving players like the game.
Less than a year after they reviewed "Bubsy 3D", "Electronic Gaming Monthly" listed it as the seventh worst console video game of all time.
Retrospective reception of "Bubsy 3D" has been more vehemently negative, with some sources citing the game as one of the all-time worst. Seanbaby ranked it 17th in his 20 worst games of all time, criticizing its controls, the character's personality, and the graphics, which he calls "ass". IGN's Levi Buchanan used it as a prominent example of an unsuccessful attempt at the transition from 2D to 3D, criticizing its controls as well as the character design, which he felt was ruined from the previous games in both appearance and personality. "GameTrailers" named it the eighth worst video game ever made. In addition to citing the annoying voice clips, they argued that the tank controls are jarringly inappropriate for a conceptually agile character like Bubsy, and called the game a rip-off of "Super Mario 64", despite the two games having been in development at roughly the same time. "The Guardian" included it on their list of the 50 worst video games of all time. Game Revolution suggested that the reception of "Bubsy 3D" may be why developers are reluctant to make another 3D game in the series. Josh Wirtanen at Retrovolve blamed "Bubsy 3D"'s modern negative reception on such comparisons to "Super Mario 64", which he pointed out is technologically unrepresentative of games of the time, whereas the PlayStation game was a better representation of games of the period.
In a 2015 interview, Berlyn called "Bubsy 3D" "my biggest failure", but also said he thought it was pretty good in light of the fact that when his team started work on it, there were no other 3D platformers for them to look to as a precedent. Following the game's release, Berlyn opted to take a couple of years off from designing video games to "rethink things". In an interview, Minella cited her voice work on the game one of her least favorites, listing it among other video games in which she had to do "a totally irritating voice that everyone should hate."
Legacy and impact.
As an early 3D platform game, "Bubsy 3D" was one of three games released in 1996 that Josh Wirtanen of "Retrovolve" said established the template for the genre, along with "Super Mario 64" and "Crash Bandicoot".
In 2013, indie developer Arcane Kids released a sarcastic tribute to the game titled "". In the game, the player guides an effigy of Bubsy through a nightmarish simulation of the James Turrell exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. A remaster of the game was released by Arcane Kids in 2017, featuring an additional epilogue to the story in which Bubsy reflects on the events of his experience.
Following "Bubsy 3D", the "Bubsy" series went dormant, not having any games released for 21 years; a new game in the series titled "" was released in September 2017 for the PlayStation 4 and PC.