For decades, Bubsy has occupied a strange place in platforming history: a mascot remembered as much for internet-era jokes and failed reinventions as for the original Genesis games that inspired a generation of fast-paced platformers. With Bubsy 4D (available now), the team behind the project is attempting something different, not simply parodying the franchise’s reputation, but rebuilding it with a more sincere creative direction.

Rather than leaning entirely into irony, the developers approached the project as both a continuation and reinterpretation of Bubsy’s past, blending momentum-driven movement, anime-inspired visuals, and modern 3D platformer sensibilities. Built in Unity using the studio’s internal framework originally developed for other platformers, the project was completed in just 15 months by a small core team.

In this brief interview, Fabraz founder Fabian Rastorfer and lead developer Ben Miller discuss how they approached Bubsy’s redesign, why physics and momentum became central pillars of gameplay, and how they balanced retro nostalgia with creating a new identity for the franchise.

Why is now the right time for Bubsy to return?

The funny thing is that, technically, this is already the third attempt at a comeback.

There were two previous attempts with varying degrees of success, but they never really took off. We think that’s because they leaned too hard into making fun of the franchise to the point where they didn’t have their own identity.

One of our main goals with Bubsy 4D was to create a world that is aware of its past and occasionally jokes about it, but otherwise feels sincere and wants to stand on its own.

The trailers are probably more self-aware than the game itself. In the actual game, we tried to recontextualize Bubsy through his redesign. We aged him up a little bit; you can see that with the jacket and tie, and the idea is that he’s still trying. His supporting cast might tease him occasionally, but we genuinely want him to succeed. That makes him feel more endearing.

Where does the title Bubsy 4D come from?

We like joking that maybe the fourth dimension is there and people just can’t perceive it.

But really, it’s meant to be a spiritual successor to Bubsy 3D, which is probably the most infamous entry in the franchise. It’s also Bubsy’s return to 3D platforming, since the previous comeback attempts weren’t actually 3D platformers.

What were some of the gameplay inspirations behind the project?

One of the things we identified with the original game is that it was very inspired by Sonic, with very momentum-driven, with multiple pathways and rolling mechanics. We wanted to bring that feeling back because it had kind of disappeared from later entries.

So in Bubsy 4D, we focused heavily on momentum and physics-driven gameplay. The weird ball mode you may have seen in the trailer is basically our version of a high-speed movement state.

The visual style feels very different from older Bubsy games. How did you land on this look?

We’re kind of weebs, honestly, so there’s definitely anime influence in the aesthetic.

A lot of the color palette and overall presentation come from that, but we were also heavily inspired by old-school cartoons, especially Saturday morning animation styles.

We even looked at the failed Bubsy animated pilot from the ’90s. Believe it or not, there actually was a pilot episode made for a Bubsy cartoon.

Some characters from that pilot never appeared in the games at all, so we ended up bringing some of them into Bubsy 4D. That was something we thought was really fun.

How do you balance appealing to longtime Bubsy fans while also reaching players who may only know the franchise through its reputation online?

We tried to seriously look back at the original games and understand what actually worked about them.

I had a similar experience myself growing up as a Genesis kid and playing a lot of Sonic, so we revisited those first two Bubsy games and tried to understand what made them tick mechanically and stylistically.

At the same time, we also reinvented a good chunk of the world and characters. We kept elements we liked while adding our own ideas and personality.

There’s also an introduction sequence that reintroduces the cast and explains the relationships between the characters, so even players with no previous experience can jump in and understand the world.

What technology stack are you using for development?

The game runs on Unity, but with a heavy layer of additional internal tech built on top of it.

We recently released another game called Demon Tides, and both games use the same framework that we’ve developed over the years for platformers.

That framework allowed us to skip a lot of early pre-production work and move directly into production because we already had a lot of core systems established.

How long was development, and how large was the team?

The game was developed in about 15 months, which is a pretty fast turnaround.

The core team was six people, although we also worked with external collaborators like composers and additional contributors.

Fabraz Founder Fabian Rastorfer and Lead Developer Ben Miller