Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind, or simply Bubsy, is an incredibly charming (and incredibly wonky) platformer released by Accolade in 1993. It was first released for the SNES and SEGA Genesis but has since been re-released as emulations online and through Steam. The full title should already give you an idea of just how odd and derivative this game is; it’s meant to be a pun on Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a sci-fi movie from 1977. Maybe it’s harsh of me to call it derivative– there’s no such thing as original art, after all– but even for one of the first console games of its generation, it was entirely unoriginal. Yet many people still consider it a ‘niche favorite’, and it was received incredibly well. Why?
Bubsy’s gameplay consists of multiple levels, each containing unique obstacles, enemies, and collectible items. You run, jump, and try to avoid or land on various enemies until you reach the end of the level. Sounds familiar, right? It’s no secret that Bubsy is primarily based on two other popular platformer franchises of its time, Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. The developers stated as much in multiple interviews. There are only three real deviations from either of these games: the collectibles, the movement, and the main character, the titular Bubsy.
Throughout the levels of Bubsy, the player can choose to maneuver Bubsy in order to collect balls of yarn. Unlike in Mario or Sonic, where the player can pick up items that might provide some sort of “power-up”, protection, or reward, the balls of yarn in Bubsy are… completely meaningless. Beyond adding to a counter in the top left of the screen, the yarn you pick up does not affect the gameplay. Collecting 500 of them can grant you an extra life, similar to how collecting 100 of Sonic’s rings gives you an extra life, but given that Bubsy has nine lives to Sonic’s three, this isn’t all that impactful. These yarn balls are only included for their relation to the motivation of Bubsy the character.
The movement mechanics of Bubsy are really something special. They are based on Sonic’s sprinting, but the developers clearly tried to do their own thing. The only problem with that happens to be that their own thing is awful. It took me nearly 20 wasted lives to actually grasp how to manipulate Bubsy’s jumps, and even then, it was a very weak grasp. I definitely don’t consider myself ‘good’ at video games, but this was a lot of trial and error even for me. Bubsy picks up momentum as he moves, and he keeps going even (or especially) when you don’t want him to. Additionally, the game’s environment doesn’t scroll at the right speed to keep in time with Bubsy’s movement, making the timing of jumps difficult to judge. This was intentional on the behalf of the developers, and certainly makes the player pay more attention to the details of the game world around them, but it’s also very frustrating when you’re first trying to learn.
So far, I’ve covered two of the three biggest differences between Bubsy and its competitors. Both of these differences would almost universally be considered negatives. So what actually makes Bubsy special? Bubsy. Of course, in this case, I’m referring to the character. No matter how much frustration I experienced while playing Bubsy-the-game, Bubsy-the-character was a bright spot. Everything about him speaks to a completely a-typical video game hero. His design is a ridiculous midpoint between Sonic-esque anthropomorphization and Tom and Jerry-esque cartoon animal goodness, with the animation physics to match. Bubsy’s walk, run, fall, jump, attack, and death animations are just off-beat and goofy enough that they make you want to smile instead of sigh. His catchphrase at the beginning of each level and each subsequent restart is somewhat meta for a game of its time: “What could possibly go wrong?” Many things, clearly, but the constant sense of flippantness and humor that players get from Bubsy is both charming and memorable. Even the movement mechanics I complained about earlier feel more ‘right’ when we observe Bubsy doing them; he has a carefree mindset all his own. Finally, unlike most other platformer heroes, Bubsy is simply not a hero. He isn’t trying to save anyone, or rescue a princess, or fight off an evil robot army that wants to destroy his home. No, he’s only fighting aliens because–brace yourselves– these aliens have stolen the world’s supply of yarn balls, and Bubsy is the most impacted by this, since he has the world’s largest collection of yarn balls. His motivations are purely, beautifully selfish. There is no reward or glory offered to him as a result of his efforts, only the safety of his precious collection.
Bubsy is beloved not despite its oddball, “rip-off” nature, but purely because of it. It frankly feels like it should have been a blatant parody, and somehow was pursued so genuinely that it gained a will of its own. Bubsy will never be considered a classic like its predecessors, but it will always be remembered for its quirks.
