Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection Review (PS5)

Like a cockroach continuing to return from sales situations that have killed many better series, Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection packs all of the bobcat’s “classic” games into a bundle, including the various console versions for each release, and even a refurbished version for its worst game. Also included are the standard save states, rewind, borders, and CRT filters you would expect for games returning from the ‘90s. Super fans can also check out the museum for some art, interviews, and more.

The first Bubsy game is easily inspired by Sonic, with how easy it is to get Bubsy to pick up speed. However, there are numerous ways that you will die because everything in this first game is a one-hit kill. It is recommended that you put on the invincibility cheat or heavily use rewind.

The second game is a bit better, though still not great. Enemy and obstacle placement still feels quite random, with many speed traps that will kill you when you run too fast. The Game Boy version of the title is also in this collection, and even the game itself notes, “You should walk away from this one.”

For Fractured Furry Tales, you’ve got more of the same problems. Bad level design, Bubsy feels awkward to control, and the one-hit kills are back. Unfortunately, you don’t have the invincibility cheat here, only infinite lives, so get ready to use rewind a lot.

Then, the big one. Bubsy 3D has always been considered one of the worst video games ever made, and it is hard not to agree with that sentiment. The controls are awful, Bubsy’s voice is ear-grating, and the levels are empty and ugly. There are no redeeming qualities to this game. The refurbished edition changes the controls to be at least somewhat approachable, but the overall experience is still awful.

Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection is Atari and Limited Run bringing back some pretty bad games and bundling them together with features that make them minimally better, but not good. If you are a Bubsy mega fan who has played any of these games since the ’90s, you will likely enjoy this collection. For anyone else, the only real reason you’ll want to buy this collection is curiosity about how bad this series has been.