Bubsy (GEN)

Well, I can't talk about Genesis platformers and 16-bit animal mascots without mentioning Bubsy. As much as I've heard about this game -- both good and bad -- I've never actually played it, so after suffering through Aero's horrendous circus music, I decided to give Bubsy the bobcat a shot. (The game has the charming subtitle of "The Claws Encounter of the Furred Kind.") After pressing start, Bubsy says "What could possibly go wrong?" I hope he's right.

After a few minutes of playing, it becomes apparent that you have to know what you're doing: one hit and you're gone. This makes the game a lot more difficult than you'd expect, and even though the levels aren't too hard at first, they get more involved as the game progresses, and that's not a great combination with Bubsy's huge weakness. Unlike Aero or Sonic, he doesn't have any kind of cool signature attack; instead, he's essentially a bobcat version of Mario. Again, the fact that he lacks another move does not help with his measly defenses.

In spite of that, though, the game is largely pretty fun to play. It tries a little too hard to be wacky sometimes (the first level, for example, is "Cheese Wheels of Doom"), but for the most part, the humor actually works. Bubsy has a bunch of silly dying animations, and the enemies -- "Woolies" who have stolen his yarn -- are really goofy. The graphics do a great job with establishing a cartoony atmosphere, and they give you the impression that you're playing through a Looney Tunes episode. The music is jazzy and catchy too, which was a relief to hear after Aero's grating circus soundtrack.

Even though Bubsy isn't a complete abomination, I can understand why it's become fairly obscure over the years (as well as heavily mocked). It is fun to play, but generally speaking, it's just not innovative enough to set itself apart from Mario and the other platformer mascots of the day. Somehow, though, it still spawned all kinds of sequels.

Nothing says 'tude like a shirt with an exclamation mark on it.
Gotta get that yarn.
I forgot to mention that water -- yes, water -- is an insta-kill. Thankfully that waterfall happens to be in the background.