Honestly, nobody expected 2017 to be the year the bobcat came back. It had been twenty-one years. Two decades of silence after Bubsy 3D famously cratered on the PlayStation, leaving a legacy of jagged polygons and migraine-inducing camera angles. Yet, there he was. Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back arrived on the scene like a guest who shows up to a party two hours after the music stopped and the hosts went to bed.
It’s a strange artifact of modern gaming.
Developed by Black Forest Games—the same team that did a genuinely great job with the Giana Sisters reboot—this title wasn't a sprawling 3D adventure. It went back to the roots. 2.5D platforming. Side-scrolling. Yarn balls. It’s essentially a sequel to the 1993 original, ignoring the messy bits of the mid-nineties. But did anyone actually want it? That’s the question that still hangs over the game like a dark cloud.
The internet reacted with a mix of genuine irony and collective confusion. Bubsy had become a meme, a symbol of "mascot with attitude" desperation. Bringing him back was a gamble on nostalgia, but a very specific, almost masochistic kind of nostalgia.
What Actually Happens in Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back?
The plot is about as deep as a saucer of milk. The Woolies, those recurring alien antagonists who look like sentient thumb-puppets, have stolen Bubsy's Golden Fleece. Naturally, he has to glide and pounce his way through various stages to get it back.
You’re looking at about three worlds.
That’s it. Just three. You’ve got a forest, a desert, and then the alien homeworld. Each world has a handful of levels and a boss fight at the end. For a game that launched at thirty dollars (though you can find it for pennies now), the brevity was a massive sticking point for critics and players alike. You can breeze through the whole experience in about two hours if you aren’t stopping to hunt for every collectible yarn ball.
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The mechanics are functional, which is more than you could say for the 3D entry. Bubsy can jump, glide, and perform a pounce attack that doubles as a dash. The pounce is actually the most satisfying part of the kit. It’s got a bit of weight to it. If you time it right, you can chain jumps together, but the physics feel a bit "floaty." Not "Mario" floaty. More like "balloon filled with slightly too much helium" floaty. It lacks the surgical precision of Celeste or Shovel Knight.
The Accolade Connection and the Quest for IP Relevance
Why does this game even exist? It comes down to business. Tommo Inc. acquired the rights to the Accolade library back in 2013. They launched a label called Accolade Game Holdings. To keep a trademark active and valuable, you have to use it. You can't just sit on a bobcat forever.
Black Forest Games was handed the keys because they knew how to make a pretty platformer. The game looks decent. The colors are vibrant, the lighting is modern, and Bubsy himself is animated with a lot of expressiveness. He still talks. Oh boy, does he talk. The "quip" system was a major marketing point. There’s a slider in the options menu to turn down his voice frequency.
Most people set it to zero immediately.
There’s a weird tension in the design. It feels like a game made by people who are talented but weren't entirely sure if they should be making a "good" game or a "so-bad-it's-good" game. It plays it very safe. It’s a standard platformer that doesn't take many risks, which is ironic considering the original Bubsy games were known for being experimental—even if those experiments failed miserably.
Why the Critics Were So Harsh
If you look at Metacritic, the scores are grim. We’re talking 40s and 50s.
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The primary complaint wasn't that the game was "broken." It wasn't. It didn't crash, the frame rate was stable, and the hitboxes were mostly fair. The problem was the soul. It felt like a budget title wearing a premium price tag at launch.
- Level Design: The stages are long but repetitive. You’ll see the same rock formations and trees over and over.
- Enemy Variety: You’re mostly jumping on the same few Woolie variants for the entire duration.
- Difficulty Spikes: While the game is generally easy, it retains the "one-hit-kill" philosophy of the 90s (unless you have a t-shirt power-up), which can lead to some frustrating restarts.
A lot of the hate also stemmed from the "Why him?" factor. In a world where Rayman Legends exists and Sonic Mania had just released, a mediocre Bubsy game felt like a waste of resources to many. But here’s the thing: it found a small, dedicated audience of "mascot platformer" completionists. There is a specific kind of gamer who just wants to turn their brain off and collect 500 shiny objects in a forest. For that specific person, Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back is... fine.
It’s the definition of a 5/10 experience.
The Technical Reality of the PC and PS4 Versions
Running this on a modern PC is a breeze. The system requirements are laughably low.
You could probably run this on a toaster from 2015. On the PlayStation 4, it holds a steady 60 frames per second. The visual fidelity is clean, but the art direction is a bit generic. It lacks the "grit" or unique style that made 90s pixel art stand out. It looks like a high-quality mobile game upscaled for a big screen.
There are some boss fights that try to break up the monotony. They usually involve dodging projectiles and waiting for a "pounce" window. They aren't particularly difficult, but they require more patience than the standard levels. The final boss against the Woolie Queen is a multi-stage affair that actually requires some decent platforming skills, but it’s nothing an average gamer can't handle in a few tries.
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Actionable Insights for Players and Collectors
If you are actually going to play this, or if you’re looking to add it to a collection, there are a few things to keep in mind.
First, don't pay full price. It frequently goes on sale on Steam and the PlayStation Store for under five dollars. At that price point, it’s a fun afternoon distraction or a "history lesson" in how to revive a dead IP.
Second, if you're a trophy hunter or achievement seeker, this is a relatively easy Platinum. Most of the challenges involve collecting all the yarn in a level or completing levels without dying. Since the game is short, the grind isn't as soul-crushing as it is in larger titles.
Third, check out the "Digital Deluxe" version if you care about the soundtrack. Believe it or not, the music is actually pretty catchy. It captures that jaunty, 16-bit energy with modern instruments. It’s arguably the best part of the entire package.
Ultimately, The Woolies Strike Back didn't save the franchise, but it didn't kill it either. It was followed by Bubsy: Paws on Fire!, a runner-style game that was actually received a bit better. The bobcat is persistent. He’s like a cockroach in a neon shirt. You can't really get rid of him.
To get the most out of your time with the game:
- Go into the options and turn the "Voice Frequency" down to roughly 10%. You get the flavor of the character without the repetitive headache.
- Focus on the "glide" mechanic. Most of the secrets in the forest levels are hidden high up, and the glide has a much better horizontal reach than you’d expect.
- Don't rush. The game is short, so if you sprint through it, you'll feel cheated. Take the time to find the hidden shirts and the Golden Fleece pieces in each level.
If you're a fan of platforming history, it's worth a look just to see how a 2017 developer interprets 1993 design logic. It's a fascinating, albeit flawed, time capsule.