Bubsy: Paws on Fire!

It took a little over 25 years, but Bubsy: Paws on Fire is the bobcat’s first truly great outing. With a fun, cheeky cast of characters and entertaining core gameplay, you won’t have to ask yourself, “What could possibly go wrong?”

58%Game Brain Score

gameplay, music

graphics, story

60% User Score Based on 86 reviews

Critic Score 55%Based on 11 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom $12.10

Buy NowGet on Steam$24.99

About

"Bubsy: Paws on Fire!" is a new bobcat-starring game featuring four playable characters and over 100 levels. Join Bubsy and his rivals, The Woolies, in their mission to stop Oinker P. Hamm from collecting animals for his zoo. Each character has unique mechanics, and the game includes three boss battles, a combo system, and a shop for costumes.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

60%

Audience ScoreBased on 97 reviews

gameplay6 positive mentions

optimization7 negative mentions

The game features a modern Bubsy experience that is playable from start to finish without crashes or bugs.
Each character has unique abilities, providing a slight variation in gameplay and keeping things fresh.
The colorful graphics and catchy music enhance the overall presentation, making it visually appealing.

The gameplay can become repetitive, as players are required to replay levels multiple times with different characters.
The level design lacks variety and excitement, with many stages feeling similar and uninspired.
The humor and character interactions often fall flat, lacking the cleverness and charm expected from a Bubsy game.

gameplay
39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
77%
8%
The gameplay is a simplified take on the rhythm mechanics of Runner3, featuring four distinct characters with unique abilities, but it lacks depth and challenge, making it feel repetitive. While the controls are generally good, some character mechanics can be confusing, and the overall experience is marred by bland levels and minimal engagement. Despite its fun presentation and humor, many players find the gameplay fails to justify its price, offering little more than a basic auto-runner experience.
- “Most of the character designs transitioned smoothly to 3D, and the gameplay is simple enough where the character skills aren't overwhelming.”
- “Bubsy can pounce/dash and glide, Virgil can double jump and slide, Woolie is a shmup (with a lot of emphasis on mainly dodging and gathering collectibles rather than shooting), and Arnold has 360 tube runner gameplay.”
- “With a fun, cheeky cast of characters and entertaining core gameplay, you won’t have to ask yourself, 'what could possibly go wrong?'.”
- “With the writing and the jokes put in the background of the auto-runner, the gameplay is supposed to be holding up the game by itself: and it doesn't do that well.”
- “Even the character differences don't do that much to feel like you're just hitting a jump button at the right time, and there's no thought needed in terms of the gameplay.”
- “Unfortunately, although Bubsy: Paws on Fire has the foundation of a decent runner and developer choice provisions knows what it’s doing in terms of creating levels with an engaging flow, less than stellar performance, bland and repetitive stages, superfluous gameplay additions and long loads combine to drag the experience down.”
music
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
50%
15%
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many players noting its catchiness and the unique tracks for each character, enhancing the overall experience. Some reviews highlight the integration of music with gameplay elements, such as the placement of TNT boxes to the beat, while others mention the sound design as solid. However, a few players found the music unremarkable or did not engage with it enough to form a strong opinion.
- “The music is very catchy, and a joy to listen to.”
- “Trip tune, the music in this game is still very well done (maybe Bubsy fans will be happy? I just really like the Bit.Trip music).”
- “His stages are really fun and I like that the TNT boxes are placed to the beat of the music, definitely a highlight of the game.”
- “The music is alright and each character has its own styled tracks.”
- “Solid basics and decent flow; the best we've seen from Bubsy in quite some time. The music isn't unlistenable.”
- “[b]music[/b] - rating : ???????”
graphics
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
67%
17%
The graphics of the game are characterized by bright and colorful visuals, with a charming art style reminiscent of previous titles like Runner3. However, many users report significant performance issues, including stuttering and lack of smoothness, which detracts from the overall experience. While some improvements in enemy animations and unique character designs are noted, the repetitive visuals and optimization problems remain a concern.
- “The graphics are bright and colorful, featuring cat and yarn puns, and the woolies (alien critters) make a return.”
- “Smoothly optimized, the graphics are appealing - 3D Bubsy hasn't looked this good, probably ever.”
- “The game's art style is definitely reminiscent of Runner3, especially in the enemies.”
- “The graphics are not smooth and have massive stuttering throughout the game (Runner 3 runs fantastically and I tried at least a dozen or so iterations of graphic levels and settings to fix it to no avail).”
- “Long loading times, lackluster shmup and bonus stages, disappointing performance, and repetitive visuals.”
- “Doesn't help that several of the enemies are functionally the same as others, but at least they had unique animations and graphics, another improvement over the last game.”
story
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
63%
19%
The story is perceived as rushed and lacking coherence, with a short and straightforward narrative that doesn't take itself seriously. While some appreciate the decent character one-liners and the absence of frustrating quest missions, the overall presentation suffers from missing series staples and ineffective storytelling elements. Ultimately, it serves as lighthearted entertainment rather than a compelling narrative experience.
- “The story is short and to the point, the character one-liners are pretty decent (and aren’t trying to be too annoying) and the stages aren’t too long.”
- “I imagine the devs had a B-team crew working on this while making Runner 3, but I think I actually prefer this game just because it has no dumb quest missions or extreme difficulty spikes.”
- “I have yet to see much of the story, but it's just for fun, not really serious, which is a nice laugh.”
- “The story feels like it was made in the last minute.”
- “The story doesn't make sense.”
- “It doesn't help that the series staples such as his wit and the unique death animations aren't here, and the Bit Trip Runner type effects can really not work well for the presentation of the story elements.”
optimization
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
25%
58%
The game's optimization is notably poor, with users reporting long load times, significant micro-stuttering, and frame-rate drops, particularly in cluttered stages. While the graphics are visually appealing, the overall performance issues detract from the gameplay experience, leading to frustration among players.
- “Smoothly optimized, the graphics are appealing - 3D Bubsy hasn't looked this good, probably ever.”
- “Unfortunately, although Bubsy: Paws on Fire has the foundation of a decent runner and developer choice provisions knows what it’s doing in terms of creating levels with an engaging flow, less than stellar performance, bland and repetitive stages, superfluous gameplay additions and long loads combine to drag the experience down.”
- “The graphics are not smooth and have massive stuttering throughout the game. I tried at least a dozen iterations of graphic levels and settings to fix it to no avail.”
- “My only technical issue is this game is plagued by micro stuttering.”
- “The game isn’t especially optimized; however, you may experience frame-rate drops on the more cluttered stages.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, featuring self-aware characters who acknowledge their place in the Bubsy series, which some players appreciate. However, many reviews point out that the humor often falls flat, with offputting attempts and reliance on gross-out jokes that don't resonate well. Overall, while some find the humor enjoyable, it remains divisive among players.
- “I love the humor in this game; the characters are self-aware and know they're in a game. Not only that, but they are also aware of the reputation the Bubsy series has.”
- “[slight spin on the runner formula, decent sense of humor, gameplay is actually good, the best Bubsy game, Stemage’s soundtrack is great (listen to Metroid Metal as well)]”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization in this game is viewed more favorably compared to "The Woolies Strike Back," with users noting it is not as aggressive or overtly exploitative.
- “Not as blatant a cash grab as The Woolies Strike Back, thankfully.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from frequent bugs, and currently, the leaderboards are not functioning properly, indicating significant stability issues.
- “The game is also buggy sometimes, and the leaderboards don't even work right now.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be frustrating due to the repetitive nature of replaying levels multiple times, even with different characters, which quickly leads to a sense of monotony.
- “The repetitiveness of 'Paws on Fire' forces you to replay levels several times, even though the characters are different, which ends up grinding your gears rather quickly.”
- “The grinding aspect of the game becomes tedious as you find yourself repeating the same levels over and over again.”
- “The constant need to grind for resources makes the gameplay feel more like a chore than an enjoyable experience.”