Bubsy: Paws on Fire

It's great that there is a modern Bubsy experience that is playable from smart to finish.

I played through the entire game with no crashes, bugs, or frame rate drops.

This is more of a neutral review but I will rate it more positively than negatively because the game isn't broken in any way and works fine as kind of a button timing platformer. The original SNES Bubsy games are actually pretty hard, but this game is for the most part easy. You pick from one of three characters and clear the stage, collecting yarn and three puzzle pieces that open up a bonus level on the way. There are 27 levels and 3 bosses. The bosses are the only tricky part of the game, but with some memorization they can be cleared easily.
Pros:
- Fits in the world of Bubsy pretty well. You get cat and yarn puns, the woolies (Alien critters) make a return, graphics are bright and colorful
- Each character plays totally differently, so it's like three little games in one
- A slight bit of nuance to the controls. For example, the alien in the saucer moves faster when she isn't shooting so learning this makes the game easier. Bubsy can dash in midair and float, and chaining these correctly while keeping in mind his current height gives it that seem feel of the early Bubsy games, that you are balancing multiple variables while you fly through the air
- It looks cool when you catch on fire
- It isn't Bubsy 3D
Cons:
- A lot of weird and offputting failed attempts at humor, but that kind of comes with Bubsy territory
- Game is just too simplistic in terms of the level design, needed warps or alternate paths to vary the play
- Collecting yarn and completing the bonus levels is totally pointless. It would've been better if collecting yarn let you buy upgrades to add a level of complexity and depth the game sorely needed
- Clearing every stage three times gets repetitive
Overall:
Not as good as the Busy SNES games, and weird that it's not harder since it was made by Accolade and the original game came out almost 30 years ago. You'd think that they'd want to appeal to veterans as much as new and younger gamers. With that said, this is a good beginner's platform game because it's easy and moves at a brisk pace, but those looking for depth or challenge probably won't find it here. If you enjoy cat puns it's probably the greatest game ever, though.

This takes the rhythm gameplay of Runner3, but puts it into 4 separate characters, tones down the rhythm element, and makes things far easier. What you get is not BAD, in fact the harder levels are great - but it can get pretty repetitive at points.

This is not a full review, but a rundown of the game along with suggestions that can help the developers for future Bubsy projects.
Review:
Bubsy Paws on Fire is an auto running game similar to Bit Trip Runner 3 where you jump, attack, and leap to victory. You play as one of four playable characters: Bubsy (of course), Virgile, Woolie, and Arnold. While most characters do the auto running levels ,in their own special ways of course , Arnold is the only one playing the tube running levels which can only be unlocked by collecting three Arnold pieces from each character of a running level.
Pros:
Most of the character's designs transitioned smoothly to 3D, The gameplay is simple enough where the character skills aren't overwhelming. The woolie was tough to control at first due to snappy movement, but I was able to slow it down by holding the fire button, making it easier to control. The melodies are
Cons:
While the game was overall, easy to play, there ares still some flaws that keeps is from an excellent experience. The most noticeable flaw is the lack of personality. There are only three worlds with ten levels each and it's not much to look at. This was the same issue for Bubsy The Woolies Strikes Back where there are only three worlds and the worlds are not as exciting. The levels are not as memorable because of how repetitive they are with no world gimmicks like Sonic or Rayman. It's not the end of the world, but the lack of level gimmicks is what constantly slows the experience as a whole.
Summary:
Overall, Bubsy Paws on Fire is not a bad game when compared to Bubsy 1, 2, and 3D, but it's clear that the devs are missing something that can make Bubsy a good game.
Tips
This is where I come in and give a few suggestions for the next bubsy game. First off, try making more worlds to explore. Bring the carnival, a train, a mountain, a castle, have 5 levels for each world for variety. Take parts of the first bubsy game and make it better. Take the sewer pipe hazard and turn it into a secret room for wool collectables, Turn the roller coaster into a Donkey Kong mine kart level, add seesaws in a tech world as a way for trying new things, maybe make Bubsy ramble about what hazards to expect in a level. It's not impossible and the bubsy team have the potential to make a good game, just add world gimmicks with little punishments so that players can have a good time with the game. I'm not a Bubsy fan, but I can see that Atari is not giving him up anytime soon; so, might as well try to learn from the mistakes and make something new or improved.
I do hope that Bubsy will become actually good.