What is Bubsy 4D and should you play it?
Bubsy 4D launched on May 22, 2026, marking the bobcat's first 3D outing since 1996. Developed by Fabraz (the studio behind Demon Turf and Demon Tides) and published by Atari, it lands on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and PC at $19.99 digitally. A physical Pawsome Edition exists exclusively for Nintendo platforms, priced at $39.99 for Switch and $49.99 for Switch 2, and includes a double-sided poster, a 24-page booklet, and a softcover artbook. The game sits at a 65 on OpenCritic, which tells you something: the mechanics are genuinely interesting, but the level design does not always give them room to breathe. If you love chasing goal times and squeezing speed out of a platformer's physics, there is real fun here. If you need a world that rewards exploration, temper your expectations.
Hairball form in action
What is the story in Bubsy 4D?
The setup is exactly as absurd as you'd expect. The Woolies, Bubsy's fleece-obsessed enemies, kidnap Earth's entire sheep population. Bubsy does not care. Then the sheep stage a revolt, absorb Woolie technology, and return as mechanical BaaBots with one goal: steal the Golden Fleece that Bubsy prizes above everything. That gets his attention. With help from returning characters including Terri, Terry, Virgil, and Oblivia, Bubsy travels across alien planets to reclaim it. Each world ends in a BaaBot boss battle. The story is self-aware to the point of exhaustion, but the setup gives the game its craft-themed alien environments and its parade of robotic sheep enemies.
The game runs around four to five hours on a standard playthrough, so do not expect a sprawling campaign. The bulk of the replayability comes from time trials and collectible hunting.
How does Bubsy's moveset work?
Fabraz built Bubsy 4D around what it calls expressive platforming mechanics, which means giving you a wide toolkit of movement verbs and letting you chain them together. After spending time testing every move across multiple levels, here is what each one actually does in practice.
Bubsy's base movement options
- Leap — standard jump, the foundation of everything
- Glide — extends airtime, pairs with pounces to cover large gaps
- Pounce — a mid-air dive with light targeting properties that transitions into a temporary wall climb
- Wall climb — triggered off the pounce, lets you scale certain surfaces briefly
- Spinning jump / Twirl Jump — slower than it looks but useful for skipping sections in time trials
- Crouch Jump — a Blueprint unlock; launches Bubsy much farther horizontally than a standard leap
- Zoomies — another Blueprint unlock; gets Bubsy into a sprinting stance quickly, cutting the acceleration time before top speed
Several of these moves draw from Super Mario 64's movement vocabulary, and the comparison is intentional. The difference is that Bubsy 4D's levels are built more for speed routing than for environmental interaction.
What is Hairball mode and why does it matter?
Hairball mode transforms Bubsy into a rolling ball with physics that behave like a cross between Super Monkey Ball and a Sonic the Hedgehog spin dash. On straight paths it is dramatically faster than running. Ramps amplify your momentum, and combining a Hairball launch off a ramp with a pounce and a glide can clear gaps that would otherwise require navigating several platforms.
Some level sections require Hairball mode outright, but the real value is optional. Treat it as your default state on any flat or downhill stretch. The mode has its own set of Blueprint upgrades that increase its mobility and function, making it significantly more capable once you have invested in those unlocks.
Blueprint upgrade selection screen
What are Blueprints and how do you find them?
Each level contains one hidden Blueprint alongside 150 yarn balls. Blueprints unlock new moves and upgrades for both Bubsy's base form and Hairball mode. Yarn balls function as currency for purchasing outfits and additional upgrades at the in-game store.
Blueprints are almost always located on the sole branching path in each level. If you are following the main route straight to the exit, you will walk past them. The branch is usually short, so backtracking is not punishing, but you do need to actively look for the fork.
Clear a level's collectibles completely before attempting a time trial. Yarn balls scattered across a level can distract you mid-run and ruin an otherwise clean attempt. Finishing the collectibles first also means you learn the level layout in detail, which directly improves your routing.
The Blueprints that matter most for speedrunning are the ones that expand Hairball mode's capabilities, the Crouch Jump, and Zoomies. You will want nearly all of them before seriously attempting goal times.
Where do you practice Bubsy's moves?
Talk to Virgil aboard the mothership to access the Sandbox, a dedicated practice area where you can chain moves freely without level pressure. The Sandbox updates after you complete each planet, adding obstacles pulled from the worlds you just finished. This makes it useful throughout the game, not just at the start. If a move is not clicking, the Sandbox is the place to drill it before taking it into a timed run.
Sandbox training area on mothership
How do time trials and online leaderboards work?
Every level has a time trial challenge with a specific goal time. Hitting that target earns an additional reward and, for players chasing 100 percent completion or trophies, these are mandatory. Completed runs can be uploaded to online leaderboards, and other players' ghost data can be downloaded and raced against directly.
The time goals are legitimately tight. Standard completion does not prepare you for them automatically. You need to actively route sections, skip large parts of levels using Hairball momentum combined with pounce-glide chains, and restart quickly when a run goes wrong.
Comparison: base run vs. optimized speedrun approach
How do you speedrun Bubsy 4D effectively?
Hotkey your level restart
Go into settings, navigate to input, and bind a quick restart to a spare button. On PlayStation, L3 works well since it has no default binding. R3 also works but removes camera recentering. A fast restart removes the mental cost of a bad run and keeps your attempts consistent.
Use invincibility for boss levels
Bubsy 4D includes an Invincibility toggle in settings. Turning it on does not affect your recorded clear time, so for players targeting trophy-linked goal times rather than leaderboard glory, it is a legitimate option. Boss battles are the most common speedrun killers because a single hit can break your momentum and force a restart. Invincibility removes that variable entirely.
Invincibility is a settings toggle, not a cheat code. If your goal is a clean leaderboard submission, skip it. If you just need the trophy, it is a fair tool.
Skip large sections with ramp launches
The single most time-saving technique is the ramp-into-pounce-glide skip. Build speed in Hairball mode, hit a ramp or elevated platform edge, launch into the air, immediately pounce forward, then extend with a glide. Done correctly this clears gaps that would otherwise require traversing multiple platforms. Experiment with ramp angles in each level because the geometry varies. Some skips save only a few seconds; others cut entire sections.
Glide skip over level section
Key facts at a glance
The Pawsome Edition physical release is Nintendo-exclusive. If you want the artbook and poster, Switch or Switch 2 is the only way to get them.
What should beginners focus on first?
Start by finishing each planet's normal path before touching time trials. Collect all 150 yarn balls and grab the Blueprint on the branching path. Then spend time in the Sandbox drilling the Hairball transitions and the Crouch Jump before returning for the time trial. The game's opening hours are forgiving enough that you can absorb the moveset naturally, but the jump to goal times is steep if you have not internalized how Hairball mode builds and releases momentum.
The soundtrack by Fat Bard, blending jazz, big band, and electro-swing, is one of the game's genuine strengths. It makes the repetition of retry loops more tolerable than it has any right to be.
For more on this game and the rest of Fabraz's work in the adventure games genre, the full Bubsy 4D guide collection covers Blueprints, boss strategies, and the secret gauntlet unlock in dedicated deep-dives.