Bubsy 4D launches on Xbox with 3D moves, leaderboards

Bubsy 4D arrived May 22 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Xbox Cloud as an Xbox Play Anywhere title. The game was developed by Fabraz, published by Atari and carries a $19.99 price.

The 3D platformer updates Bubsy’s movement. Players can double jump, glide, pounce and transform into a hairball to roll at high speed. Pouncing can trigger an animal run on some surfaces and pouncing into walls lets Bubsy clamber a short distance. Holding jump while in hairball form enables rapid wall-bouncing. Holding jump after a pounce converts the landing into an extra roll and jump.

Controls are highly customizable. Players can remap buttons, set hairball mode to hold or toggle and enable tank controls for a retro layout. Fabraz noted the options are meant to help new players learn the moves and let experienced players refine inputs for faster runs.

The game includes online leaderboards that accept uploaded level completion times so players can compare results. Fabraz said the movement design is intended to support both casual play and speedrunning techniques.

The story puts Bubsy against the Woolies, who stole Earth’s sheep. The captured animals become robotic BaaBots after absorbing Woolie technology and aim to seize Bubsy’s Golden Fleece. Bubsy travels across themed alien planets with a small crew, battles robotic enemies and collects yarn while attempting to recover the prize.

Fabian Rastorfer, founder of Fabraz, described bringing Bubsy back as ‘great’ and called the new move set ‘more expressive than ever.’