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Bubsy 4D was arguably one of the best and most surprising announcements to come out of Gamescom Opening Night Live, with what appeared to be a fun platformer for an IP that arguably deserved to stay dead and buried.
It surprised us, at least. And after the initial announcement, Destructoid spoke to Fabian Rasorfer—founder of Fabraz, the team working on Bubsy 4D—as well as Ben Miller, lead developer at Fabraz, to discuss what on Earth led them to work on a Bubsy game.
Ok, let's get the obvious one out of the way. Why the flying f*ck would you actively CHOOSE to make a new Bubsy game!?
Fabian Rastorfer: We like to joke that we got bullied into it! When Atari announced that they were actively looking for Bubsy pitches, we got INUNDATED with posts on socials telling us that "Fabraz should do it!" which is, of course, extremely flattering and heartwarming, but also insane. Shortly after we started conversations with Atari, and the rest is history!
Ben Miller: Besides an internet horde telling us to do so, the fact that Bubsy has stuck around like he has clearly speaks to some kind of staying power. There are things to like about the guy in spite of all of the memes, and giving the bobcat a second chance seemed like the decent thing to do.
Do you feel any pressure to make an actually good Bubsy game, or do previous poor releases make you feel like anything is better than what we had before?
Rastorfer: The first thing we did, before even beginning pre-production, was hosting a game night with the whole team, where we played all the previous games. And here’s the hard truth: Are most of the games flawed? Absolutely! But are they AS bad as they say? Nope! You can actually tell that there was a lot of love put into some of them. No one goes out planning to make a bad game, nor do we! So I wouldn’t say that I feel any particular pressure past the usual while working on any of our games!
Miller: I actually grew up playing the first two games and honestly had fond memories of them! I actually missed all the meme-ing on Bubsy 3D over the years. Of course, when revisiting them with fresh eyes, some parts haven't aged as well, but that's the norm for most games of that era!
You seem to be having a lot of fun with this title, and it shows. Can you tell me about how the team went about making a new Bubsy game and where they got their main inspiration from?
Rastorfer: We definitely are having a ton of fun with it! We approached it with a healthy mix of pulling out the good while also reinventing or removing the “bad.” Part of this came with a redesign on Bubsy himself, both visually and narratively. The change to a jacket with a tie (that still resembles his “!” shirt) was a conscious effort to play with the concept of aging him up. He’s a B-list star who’s past his prime but, at his core, is still ready for more adventures! This is also reflected in his humor, which is a little less juvenile and referential, and focuses more on him being an awkward uncle who tries hard to be cool without ever really pulling it off well. And that’s kind of endearing.
Miller: I think others in the cast would question the B-list self-assessment... In addition to the extensive thought into the visual and tonal shifts, we also wanted to build our mechanical choices off of the designs of the earlier games. When revisiting the older games, we definitely focused on what to pull out and bring forward mechanically. The glide is a classic and an obvious requirement. Another was the very momentum-driven movement of the first game, more akin to Sonic, which in part led to the hairball form and its physics-driven handling. And in general, the cartooniness of the character and cat nature drove a lot of the animation touches like heavy smears on certain actions, claws dragging down walls during a wall cling, etc.
No, but really, how much fun did you have making this game and making all those inside references to other games (a.k.a. Orange Blur)?
Rastorfer: The humor in general is definitely a blast to play around with. Not just in terms of referential jokes, but also leaning into the slapstick and absurdity of it all. I have to admit that I’m probably also having too much fun sneaking in jokes that skirt at the edge of the E12 age rating we’re aiming for. It just feels right for our new Bubster!
Miller: Seconded, it’s been so much fun to work with. Especially the orange blur part, us getting wacky with the hairball mode ended up being such a surprisingly fun mechanic to work on, either zooming through dedicated sections with halfpipes or weaving it in as a flourish in more standard sections.
Don't you think it's wild that Bubsy is getting a brand new game before other platform legends like Banjo, Spyro, etc?
Rastorfer: Yes and no! The expectations of a series like Bubsy are astronomically different to games like Spyro and Banjo. So it’s easier to find opportunities to reintroduce Bubsy. I am extremely grateful how much faith Atari is putting into our studio because they have given us almost no restrictions on how we’re allowed to reinvent and modernize the world of Bubsy. Thankfully, based on the reception of the announcement, everyone’s into what we’ve been cooking up!
Miller: Yup, totally second what Fabian said! That said I hope they get a chance to jump back into the action soon though.
Can we expect any Bubsy 3D callback levels to remind people of their cursed childhoods?
Rastorfer: I mean… We’ve added optional tank controls to the settings. Combine that with the Bubsy 3D model as an unlockable outfit, and you can definitely re-experience some of those pains! We don’t judge masochists, we welcome them.
Miller: Depending on graphics settings or GPU issues, you might also get it closer to the OG. I believe in the creativity of the modding scene.
For anyone on the fence about this game. What do you think they should look forward to most?
Rastorfer: I think if you’re a fan of our previous games (Slime-san, Demon Turf, Demon Tides demo) then you’ll likely have a great time with Bubsy 4D as well. It features some of our best takes on expressive platforming yet, is filled with a ton of things to do, including competitive leaderboard racing, and should hopefully make you exhale loudly at least once. Give this Bubsy a chance, you might just start liking him!
Miller: Fabian said it perfectly. In addition, it offers a nice contrast to the sheer breadth of options in Demon Tides. Bubsy pulls things back to a more focused and frenetic kind of movement that I think also feels great.
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The post Bubsy 4D devs joke they were ‘bullied into’ making the game—but had a blast creating it appeared first on Destructoid.
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