Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind

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Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind
In order to end the war between SEGA and Nintendo, we can just challenge them by making our own mascot! What could pawsibly go wrong? ...Maybe punishment for carelessly challenging fate?" - Accolade (probably)
Protagonist(s): Bubsy the Bobcat
Genre(s): Platform

Platforms= Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Sega Genesis
Microsoft Windows

Release Date: SNES
NA: May 1993
EU: October 28, 1993
AU: 1993
BR: December 1, 1993
JP: June 17, 1994
Sega Genesis
NA: July 1993
EU: August 1993
AU: 1993
Windows
NA: 1995
Developer(s): Accolade
Publisher(s): Accolade
Retroism (PC compilation re-release)
Pack-In-Video (SNES, Japan)
Nintendo (SNES, Europe)
Country: United States
Series: Bubsy
Successor: Bubsy 2

Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind (or simply called Bubsy) is the first Bubsy game released in 1993 for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis and ported to Microsoft Windows as Super Bubsy in 1995. It was created as part of the wave of "mascot platformer" games that came out after Sonic the Hedgehog. Later, on November 2015, both this game and Bubsy 2 were greenlit by Retroism for a PC compilation re-release on Steam titled Bubsy Two-Fur.

Plot

Aliens called Woolies plan to steal Earth's yarn and since Bubsy has the largest collection, he vows to stop them.

Bad Qualities

Overall

  1. Uninspired, the game is basically a rip-off of Sonic the Hedgehog. Bubsy runs too quickly for no good reason (like in the early Sonic games, he can end up travelling faster than the screen can scroll) and the levels and enemy placement aren't suitable for that speed, making it very easy to bump into hazards and enemies with little to no chance to avoid them.
  2. The camera is zoomed too close to Bubsy. Since the game scrolls extremely quickly, it's often impossible to see something in time to react to it.
  3. Poor level designs that don't work with the game's controls and physics.
    • There are lots of unfair traps in the design: enemies put off camera, segments with gimmicks like the covers of the first level that you think will lead you to hidden secrets, but end up being death traps that are impossible to deduce at first sight.
  4. One-hit deaths and no way to get extra hit points, which are made worse with the previously mentioned level design and Bubsy's excessive speed.
    • Extra lives along with continues are scarce in level design. There is a power up that gives you invincibility, but it's rare.
    • The theme of instant death in a platform game doesn't sound bad in theory, but for that kind of design to fit, it has to be balanced on the difficulty aspect of the level design, and the multiple attempts, which we do not see in this title.
  5. Constant dumb puns.
  6. Bubsy carries too much momentum when jumping. This was somewhat fixed in Bubsy 2, though.
  7. There are many, many stupid ways to get killed in the game.
    • Sometimes, you don't even have to touch an enemy to be killed by them.
      • In addition to this, there is a confusing animation when Bubsy gets stunned from hitting a wall hard, sometimes he doesn't die. Instead, you get to control him again after a few seconds. Other times he does die and you lose a life.
      • Bubsy can suddenly die while riding on a water slide.
  8. Except for the first 500 yarn balls, collecting a large number of them doesn't reward you with something like an extra life, making them kinda useless.
  9. The game was a 2D platformer that incorporated fall damage into its gameplay. There's a reason why good 2D games (especially ones that incorporate speed-based gameplay) don't have such a mechanic.
  10. Very lazy button inputs, as most of the buttons make Bubsy jump.
  11. Bubsy says annoying one-liners at the start of each level or whenever you restart from a checkpoint after dying. And considering it's so easy to die in the game, you'll be hearing them a lot.
  12. While the SNES and PC music sound good, the Genesis got the short end of the stick. However, this can be excused by the Genesis having an inferior sound chip.
  13. If you play the Genesis Version on real hardware, there's an unnecessary border. They could've expanded the view (although it took until The Woolies Strike Back for this to happen)

PC Version

  1. Significantly worse physics.
  2. Bubsy somehow looks a little uglier in the PC version.
  3. Bosses are a lot easier on this version.
  4. Uglier graphics, despite being pretty similar to the console versions
  5. Unnecessarily long loading screens

Good Qualities

  1. The game has decent and pleasant graphics for the time, being colorful and detailled.
  2. Nice music, at least on SNES and especially the PC version.
  3. Bubsy can die in a lot of funny cartoonish ways.
  4. The animation is well done.
  5. Some okay jokes from time to time.
  6. Great box art for all regions, especially in the Japanese version.
  7. Bubsy's voice in the Japanese version is less annoying than the English one.
  8. Bubsy is toleratable in this game if you subtract Bad Quality #11
  9. Okay Hit Detection.
  10. By turning sound effects off in the options menu, it will disable Bubsy’s voicelines. And the player will be able to hear the soundtrack better.
  11. The levels have a high amount of Checkpoints in them, making the game more forgiving.
  12. The game has a decent pass and play mode.
  13. Bubsy will not take fall damage if the player is gliding.

Reception

The game was initially met with Mixed to positive reviews when the game was released, but it got worse as the sequels get released, especially with Bubsy 3D.

Trivia

  • The "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?" has become an internet meme of sorts.

Videos

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