Bubsy: Purrfect Collection - no Jaguar Bubsy?

[GoldLeader]

On 8/4/2024 at 7:22 AM, doctorclu said:

 

I will simply state, as apparently Atari owns these forums and hopefully reads these threads, that a Bubsy: Purrfect Collection would be amiss not to have Bubsy: Fractured Furry Tales.  Been a fan of Bubsy since 1999 when I first got my Atari Jaguar.  While I'm a fan of the Bubsy franchise, that love started with the Bubsy game on the Atari Jaguar.  And from there created the Bubsy Bobcat Fan Blog way back in 2006 which has had 314,000 views and 290 articles.  I enjoy a lot of the Bubsy list of games, but had a focus on the Jaguar game and have enjoyed meeting the game's developers.

 

There seem to be those, mostly due to the cost of obtaining a Jaguar setup and also partly due to the fact that there were some aspects of the game that could have been better polished, that like to write off the Jaguar Bubsy game from the franchise.  Much like in Aesop's fables on the tree that was too high to reach and written off as "sour grapes". But there are also quite a few Bubsy players that want to experience Atari's unique addition to the Bubsy collection.  Many would like to be able to play Fractured Furry Tales on a Playstation 4 and 5, along with Steam, and the means of emulation exist for those platforms.

Atari developed the game and own the rights to Accolade and it's properties.   Hopefully Atari has not found any challenges to include their own game, or worse, for whatever reason would exclude this from the Bubsy library of games.

 

10 hours ago, Giles N said:

They need to understand that Bubsy isn’t a game/franchise that sells ridiculous amounts just because it contains ‘something intended to conceptually be akin to Sonic or Mario’. 
 

It’s not the 90ies anylonger, and if IP have collected dust on a shelf, don’t just dust it off and try to resell.

 
Please, give it a good polish - like with tarnished silver which have stood for years.

 

And if its more bronze or iron than silver; get a smith to rework some of dirty, stained parts, get someone to jerk free what’re rust-jammed…

 

Give them some heavy duty remastering, and let some DE hacker spin some new levels.

 

Let Nightdive handle Bubsy 3D (at their nigthshifts). 
 

Throw in original Jag-Bubsy as Atari 50th DLC in some future thingy.

 

Let both original Jag.-Bubs and ‘Jag-Bubsy: The Offical Fuzzy Remake’ be found on this upcoming Bubsy Fest.

 

Atari can will to impact with some focus and attention to what, lets say, - conceptually 75-90% of Atari- and general retro-game fans would love to buy, or already are seen buying in real life…

… or they could go for  just sort-of hangin’ in there, with mediocre new-games with little depth and fullness, just generic game-frames hidden behind some thin make-up visuals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To both of you:

 

Your ideas intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter!

[Jess Ragan]

I could have sworn I played Fractured Furry Tales on something, but I'll tell you straight up that I wasn't terribly impressed. It's got the traditional Bubsy issues along with a few new ones, including stage design that makes Gex look brilliant by comparison. Older Bubsy games tried to imitate Sonic with a sense of speed and emphasis on the topography of the land, but FFT seems to have gone in a Super Mario Bros. direction, with flat, grid-based levels. So you're not running, but rather tip-toeing your way through every stage, avoiding contact with unremarkable enemies and climbing up footholds to reach out of the way items.

 

Unfortunately, what works for Super Mario Bros. doesn't work for Fractured Furry Tales. Bubsy doesn't control with the precision that Mario does, and the levels feel more like a slog than an adventure. There was some audacity to the way the first two Bubsy games were designed, but FFT feels contrived and perfunctory. The designers weren't happy to make it, and you'll be even less happy to play it.

[doctorclu]

5 hours ago, Jess Ragan said:

There was some audacity to the way the first two Bubsy games were designed, but FFT feels contrived and perfunctory. The designers weren't happy to make it, and you'll be even less happy to play it.

 

I really enjoyed the review you gave and the perspective of how the levels were designed like Super Mario levels.  Bubsy has often been said to be faster than Sonic and a little more vulnerable than early Mario.  A glass cannonball essentially. 

 

While there was teasing in the dev group of people saying "what could possibly go wrong" as reported by Faran Thomason (game producer) as far as the designers not being happy to make it, I have the following thought:

 

They could have simply ported Bubsy: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind.  That was the original assignment.  They had the program ported in the early stages, simply worked it up a bit more, kapow!  Another port of the first Bubsy game for the Jaguar.   But they actually said "Hey, the first Bubsy game is already kinda old, let's make something new and different."   And we got new maps, enemies, music, etc.

 

So I don't think they disliked making Bubsy as they could have just ported the game and been one and done.  They were actually the only group in Atari to port or create a game all the way to market from the Accolade source codes they bought.  They wanted to make a unique Bubsy game before Christmas in less than six months and that is what they did.

 

 

Edited August 19 by doctorclu

[Giles N]

What retro-collections need, is to make sure the modern gamer can get past glitches and flaws and stupid deadline mistakes, by selecting them away.

Yes, a little work, but I think its justified.

Moreover: easter eggs (new ones), and game-modes (see SegaAges line-up on Switch for example).

Moreover, on high-budget retro-releases, alternative graphics/art.

Moreover: bypassing low framerates and slowdowns.

 

(I’ll probably think of more)

[roots.genoa]

13 hours ago, Giles N said:

Bubsy should’ve been able to collect cat-toy balls, up to 50, which gave him an extra hit as long as he managed to keep at least one

13 hours ago, Giles N said:

I think these are a very highly original and novel ideas

Not that original, this is Sonic's main mechanic. 😉

[Giles N]

2 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

15 hours ago, Giles N said:

I think these are a very highly original and novel ideas

Not that original, this is Sonic's main mechanic. 😉

I was ironic.

 

Like: so they pretty much copy-pasted every major game-mechanic from Sonic ‘n Mario… except the stuff that makes it bearable to go through it on tougher levels and the stuff about tightening up and polish everything …?

 

Well, with a retro-collection, time is here to throw in new ways of playing game, new elements to ‘cover’ the weaknesses and mistakes of the originals.

 

Perhaps Atari got Bubsy cheap, but at least it has a faint echo among retro-gamers.

Why not use it for more than its worth, so they can advance something contra just hanging around with what amount to digital re-issues for modern systems…?

[roots.genoa]

Oh, sorry... I should have known that someone talking Bubsy is necessarily ironic. 😅