Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection [Review]

What could possibly go wrong?

Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection brings together the original games (there have been A LOT, and none memorable) in a collection that hopes to capitalize on the need for game preservation and for bringing old characters back. And yet the thing I hate the most about this game collection is the actual games. None of them are good.

Even as a kid I hated Bubsy. The 16-bit games are bad. The momentum is terrible, they have fall damage in a platformer, the time limit to collect all of the yarn balls is unmanageable, and the collision boxes are egregious. Bubsy had fall damage in the early 90s. Who does that? Who puts that aspect into a 2D platforming video game? Accolade did, way back then, and that taint never really wore off.

Beyond the games there are some nice extras, like interviews, merchandise, manuals, box arts, comics. My favorite is the oldpress kits. The developers actually include those press kits, which are sort of like the guides that we get with review copies, where they sort of explain everything about the game, even sometimes spoiling key moments. It’s very fun to go through these and see them talk about Bubsy and explain Bubsy, because very rarely do they talk about Bubsy as a video game. Bubsy was never designed as a video game first. Everything they talk about is how it’s an interactive cartoon. He’s animated. He’s cute and clever, and to them, the games and the gameplay seemed secondary — and they were, because this thing also includes the pilot. You can watch the Bubsy cartoon which is absolutely terrible.

He repeats his ever-famous catchphrase, “What could possibly go wrong?” You hear that all the time in this. You boot the game up, and you hear him say, “What could possibly go wrong?”

I would never suggest anyone play a Bubsy game. The purpose of this collection is not to enjoy Bubsy games, it’s to have Bubsy games. So what could possibly go wrong? Well, playing them.

This review is based on a Steam code sent to SideQuesting by the publisher. This video originally appeared on The SideQuest for September 10, 2025.