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Oct 26, 2017
9,932
has anybody got a link to that video made by the guy obsessed with Bubsy 3D? It's just him running around the first stage and he knows every bit like the back of his hand and points out every glitch.

It's been years so I'm probably misremembering it.
 

Phhhh

Member
Jul 6, 2018
39
That first game is so good. I feel like I played it every day for months on end until I finally beat it. I was so disappointed with 2 when it came out. Are the new new ones any good?
 

Noema

Member
Jan 17, 2018
4,904
Mexico CIty
As an old man, I can corroborate that the hype for Bubsy was real. Not only did it review well, there were pages long features plastered all over Gamepro and EGM (a lot of them sponsored). I distinctly remember a piece that showed a behind the scenes look at how the game was made, and how the sprites were drawn and animated and they boasted it had better animation than any other Platformer at the time. It actually made me want to play the game.
 
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andymcc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,274
Columbus, OH
As an old man, I can corroborate that the hype for Bubsy was real. Not only did it review well, there were pages long features plastered all over Gamepro and EGM (a lot of them sponsored). I distinctly remember a piece that showed a behind the scenes look at how the game was made, and how the sprites were drawn and animated. It actually made me want to play the game.

The first game in particular was advertised like Sonic.
 

low-G

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,144
Yeah I was aware of the Bubsy 1 SNES hype wave in the day. I kept pestering the rental places about the game (also recall doing that for Star Fox). I thought the game was good. I wanted to own it, but it wasn't as high priority as other games.

I really liked the visual theme for the first few levels.
 

PC98_Audi

Producer @ Limited Run Games
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
260
Raleigh
I'm glad this episode is out. We had so much fun making it. John is an absolute mad man and went to town on this production.
 

low-G

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,144
Sneaky stealth edit there. ;)

You're right, though, great track. I avoided using Bubsy music because, well, it's not that good.

I was wondering how many viewers would think that was a Bubsy song and say "hey this song is good!"

What's the JPOP MIDI song during Bubsy 2 GB?

Also I don't recognize the gothic sounding tune at BUbsy Jaguar
 

metsallica

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,696
My brothers and I were legit excited for Bubsy SNES and we certainly lied to ourselves that it was a good game! I do think the new Choice Provisions one has an actual shot at being fun but mostly because I love what those guys do.
 

SMD

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,341
Bubsy 3D and Earthworm Jim 3D nearly put me off gaming forever. Love the episode, won't ever go back to the games though!
 

Deleted member 48897

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 22, 2018
13,623
Check out the frame-rate on Awesome Possum.

https://youtu.be/I8dgHI3lP_g?t=53

It really is like that.

Considering how much of the game is ill-considered and kinda garbage (something something consumerist activism) it's shocking to me that the lip-syncing animations actually work half as well as they do. Like, it clearly must have been the only thing they actually put any attention to detail toward.
 

MrCunningham

Banned
Nov 15, 2017
1,372
Ulillillia better make an appearance in this episode....

Also, I had one of the unlicensed Bubsy Genesis carts back in the day. But I remember pawning it off. Bubsy actually was a hyped game back then. Many different gaming magazines were genuinely excited and it did review fairly well. Bubsy was never really a great game IMO. It has good elements in it and isn't one of the worst platformers from that era. The game fell short in it's final release. The sequel was terrible though.
 
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Lord Error

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,360
Awesome video - loved the Bubsy historian. Also, John, thank you for introducing me to Bubsy 3D: Bubsy Visits the James Turrell Retrospective. This is something I absolutely can't want to go home and play now.
 

Schlomo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,133
I remember the hype for this, mainly based on how attractive it looked for the time and the all-out marketing campaign. But then it only received a 70% rating in the biggest German video game mag at the time, so that hype was pretty much deflated. I actually rented it for a weekend and probably didn't see more than the first stage due to the difficulty.
 

Dark1x

Digital Foundry
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
3,530
I'm glad this episode is out. We had so much fun making it. John is an absolute mad man and went to town on this production.
There he is! The man, the myth, the legend. This was a great video to make together.

...just wait until next year. ;)
 

Skyebaron

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,416
This was fantastic. Who in their right mind would do this with Bubsy? An absolute madman. I salute you DF.
 

lunarworks

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,129
Toronto
As an old man, I can corroborate that the hype for Bubsy was real. Not only did it review well, there were pages long features plastered all over Gamepro and EGM (a lot of them sponsored). I distinctly remember a piece that showed a behind the scenes look at how the game was made, and how the sprites were drawn and animated and they boasted it had better animation than any other Platformer at the time. It actually made me want to play the game.
Yup. Accolade was so convinced they were going to have a mega-hit on their hands that they had a monthly special feature that followed the development of the game from start to finish. It hyped me up for the game, but also planted the seeds of cynicism deep in my head, because it showed me how manufactured the hype was and how full of boardroom decisions and market testing these games were.
 

Marmoka

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,017
We need Super Bubsy remastered to all current platforms!!

Come on Naughty Dog!! Forget about Last Of Us 2 and remaster Bubsy!!
 
Oct 25, 2017
255
Solid video, it's nice to see Bubsy get a fair appraisal; most people these days just bash everything Bubsy, this is better. Personally I never liked the first Bubsy much because it's way too hard -- I very much agree that the game badly needed something like Sonic's ring system -- but sure, if you can handle that there's probably a solid platformer there. I guess. I've never wanted to play it enough to get anywhere in the game though, it's too hard to be fun; you shouldn't make a platformer where you're that fast unless you can take a hit...

As for Bubsy II, that game is indeed pretty bad, I have it and quite dislike it.

Edit: and here we go, Bubsy 3D!
Edit: oh man, you just made me kind of care for the work that went into Bubsy 3D. Now that was unexpected, I thought you were just going to trash that game hard.
I'm glad he didn't, because ever since I first played the game eight or ten years ago, I've thought that Bubsy 3D is actually a good game which doesn't at all deserve its horrible reputation. The sharp visual look is great and really stands out for the usual warping problems Playstation games have; flat-shaded polygons were extremely unpopular in '96 but look good now. Additionally, I love that it's an actual platformer, focused on platforming. I mean, sure, adventure-style platformers like a Mario 64 or Banjo are better than this, but Bubsy 3D is a platforming-first game and that's somewhat refreshing compared to where a lot of the 3d platformer genre went afterwards. The controls are not very good and take a lot of getting used to, but I do think that there's a good game there beyond that. I got Bubsy 3-D kind of wanting to like it (because everyone hates it, which makes me want to see if the game in question is actually good because this kind of extreme dislike is often not entirely accurate, I think), but was expecting it to be awful. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the actual game. It's a fun and challenging game. Most people reviewing the game in recent years pile on to the "Bubsy 3-D is horrible" hate train though, so it's great to see that you didn't in this video, Dark1x.
 
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harz-marz

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,945
I loved this video thank you Dark1x! I'd love to see an episode on some more obscure platform games from back in the day. I've just got my Megadrive copy of Cosmic Spacehead can't wait to play on my Mega SG!
 

PC98_Audi

Producer @ Limited Run Games
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
260
Raleigh
I'm glad he didn't, because ever since I first played the game eight or ten years ago, I've thought that Bubsy 3D is actually a good game which doesn't at all deserve its horrible reputation. The sharp visual look is great and really stands out for the usual warping problems Playstation games have, the flat-shaded polygons were extremely unpopular in '96 but look good now, and I love that it's an actual platformer, focused on platforming. I mean, sure, adventure-style platformers like a Mario 64 or Banjo are a lot better than this, but Bubsy 3D is a platforming-first game and that's somewhat refreshing compared to where a lot of the 3d platformer genre went afterwards. The controls are not very good and take a lot of getting used to, but I do think that there's a good game there beyond that. I got Bubsy 3-D kind of wanting to like it (because everyone hates it), but was expecting it to be awful. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the actual game. It's a fun and challenging game. Most people reviewing the game in recent years pile on to the "Bubsy 3-D is horrible" hate train though, so it's great to see that you didn't in this video, Dark1x.

Yeah this is exactly why this video was made, cause Bubsy the design, the original game and even to some extent the sequels (which are marred with issues still) have something genuine in them. The modern day rep that it gets is fueled by memes and misinformation, while the games themselves showcase some fairly neat technical features and actually tries to do something new in Bubsy 3D's case. Bubsy 3D isn't good, but it is so far far far from being the worst, especially when taking into consideration where 3D gaming was at the time outside of FPS.

Even the official social media account generally does more harm than good by playing too much into the whole "hey I was in the worst game ever and I'm super annoying" thing. Go pick on Titus the Fox instead.
 

Deleted member 48897

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 22, 2018
13,623
I believe Dylan Cuthbert was saying something about showing off material that would eventually be Star Fox right around the same time that Mario World was finishing development. If that's the case, then one of the reasons Mario 64 works half as well as it does is that it had something like 5 years for the development team to clarify their concepts. Given that Accolade wasn't working on Nintendo time with their 3D development, I think there's something to admire about Bubsy's existence.

Just for the sake of historical documentation it's a shame that there's not much that's good in the way of Jaguar emulation, because I'm at least curious about Fractured Furry Tales.
 

Spartacris

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,065
Los Angeles
I was hyped for Bubsy on SNES.

My memory of it today is a love/hate thing, but it was a special game. The rest of the games are just a case study in franchise managment insanity though
 

low-G

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,144
I believe Dylan Cuthbert was saying something about showing off material that would eventually be Star Fox right around the same time that Mario World was finishing development. If that's the case, then one of the reasons Mario 64 works half as well as it does is that it had something like 5 years for the development team to clarify their concepts. Given that Accolade wasn't working on Nintendo time with their 3D development, I think there's something to admire about Bubsy's existence.

Just for the sake of historical documentation it's a shame that there's not much that's good in the way of Jaguar emulation, because I'm at least curious about Fractured Furry Tales.

I mean there were 3D PC & arcade games for years before Dylan Cuthbert met with Nintendo. Not really an excuse.

1988 game:

 

Deleted member 48897

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 22, 2018
13,623
Yeah but very few of them were platformers with any more depth than, say, Skyroads. That's a very different design from the more open-world style that Bubsy 3D was trying to achieve.
 

Sixfortyfive

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,615
Atlanta
I rented Bubsy a few times back in the day. I thought it was competent at the time.

I owned Awesome Possum at one point, so I'd like to think I have a decent scope of experience for '90s platformer trash.
 

FF Seraphim

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,704
Tokyo
God I remember playing this game when it first came out and have fond memories of it. The other games... not so much.

Also can anyone tell me the musical piece used starting at the 8min55sec mark?
Dark1x
 

low-G

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,144
Yeah but very few of them were platformers with any more depth than, say, Skyroads. That's a very different design from the more open-world style that Bubsy 3D was trying to achieve.

The work wasn't done for them, but I don't think they were at a disadvantage compared to Nintendo. Just Nintendo spent serious time working on the problem. I wouldn't expect every game to be a Mario64.

Still would like to know these two:
What's the JPOP-sounding MIDI-ish song during Bubsy 2 GB? (at 13:19). Sounds a bit Air Zonk and a bit Sonic

Also I don't recognize the gothic sounding tune at Bubsy Jaguar (at 14:37)
 

Menx64

Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,774
Awesome Job Dark1x !

While I didnt get to play those games back in the day, I appreciate DF retro for reviving gaming history.
 

Dezzy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,433
USA
Interesting stuff, and now I wanna give Bubsy a try again. I remember reading about Bubsy in Nintendo Power as a kid, and I actually was hyped about it because the character appealed to me, but I never got the game because as a kid, I had no money.

Most mind blowing to me is that the company that made the infamous Bubsy 3D went on to make Siphon Filter, and now Days Gone. I had no idea.
(makes me want a thread about game devs that started off poorly, but vastly improved.)
 

Ultimadrago

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,136
I will perhaps never call John on Switch port leniency again. Those are the kindest words I've ever heard about Bubsy 3D ever!
Maybe he sees some good in every game.
 

PC98_Audi

Producer @ Limited Run Games
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
260
Raleigh
I realized after we shot our footage that I was actually wearing the same tshirt as my avatar here on ResetEra, there's so many layers to this video. I think only Knurek will truly appreciate the shirt's meaning however.
 

sir_crocodile

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,486
Wow, I'd literally never heard of Super Bubsy. Have ordered it, looking forward to seeing how it sounds on a midi module. I guess a sc-55 or 88 would be of the time, will try it with those.