Ernestpmoore

Bubsy Two-Fur, as the name implies, includes two classic Bubsy games, Bubsy: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind, and Bubsy II. (I think both were ported from the SNES versions.) Bubsy: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind was the first game in the Bubsy series, and arguably the best in the series besides Paws on Fire. A lot of the biggest complaints about this game are really easy to overcome. My biggest complaint is enemy placement and the one-hit kill system. However, Bubsy Two-Fur builds in a Save State system, which makes this a lot easier to deal with, and as long as you aren't easily angered by dying a lot, it's worth giving a chance. Bubsy II fixes some of the issues with Bubsy: Claws Encounters, including adding a couple weapons and a 3 hit life system, and has all of the improvements Bubsy: Two-Fur's emulation system includes as well. However, the level design is a little funky and mazelike, and makes it (for me at least) less fun overall than Bubsy: Claws Encounters. For both games, if you try to play them like Sonic clones, you will die and you won't have fun. Speed is in some ways your enemy, and the enemy placement and falling damage make it where it's probably best to play more like a stealth precision platformer than a speedrun. The controls are a little odd, but fairly simple and fun when it comes to it if you play around with it for a while. The glide move is incredibly helpful. Mastering it is largely key to playing well, allowing you to fall slower and both avoid falling damage and safely avoid more obstacles and kill more enemies. There's also another higher jump that will be needed in some areas but leaves you more vulnerable. The music in Bubsy: Claws Encounters is pretty good, and in both games, there's a really cool cartoony aesthetic that contrasts the "cool" vibe of a lot of similar platformers. And if your fear is Bubsy will talk too much and annoy you, you'll be happy to know in both games that Bubsy only really talks at level title screens, with little quips that are just enough to make you chuckle and not so much to make you annoyed. Overall, for the price, I'd say it's definitely worth getting. Despite the memes and the flaws, Bubsy was probably one of the better, more unique Sonic-esque platformers of the 90s, and Bubsy Two-Fur really helps address issues like frequent deaths from bad enemy placement with the save state system, making it a fun, lighthearted experience. It's pretty cheap, and it's fun. Might as well get it! After all, what could possibly go wrong?

Spark the Electric Jester is perhaps the single most underrecognized indie game of the last 3 years. Made by a guy known originally for his stellar Sonic fan games, Spark takes the speed you'd want from a Sonic-like game, adds combat moves to freshen up the game instead of the classic "jump on the baddie", and has different Kirby-like abilities that have different moves that help in certain levels while also being fun to play around with, making the game very fun and replayable. There's also beautiful pixel art, worlds that feel alive and seem like they're telling a backstory just through little details in the graphics, and some remarkably good music. One thing that definitely allows Spark to stand out above similar games like Freedom Planet for me is the balance of difficulty, at least in Spark's story. The game is never super easy, and always feels challenging. But with things like on screen warnings about boss attacks and a lack of life system that allows for infinite retries, it's fun and encourages you to keep learning the patterns and keep trying, versus discouraging you and making you freak out about lives and continues. Spark is full of content, including several stories with slightly different playthroughs, making it very replayable and very much worth the price. I have only really gotten far in Spark's story, so I can't comment much on the others other than to say that Fark's gameplay is more difficult if you want more of a combat based challenge with slightly different gameplay and harder bosses. The only complaint I have, and this is somewhat nitpicky as someone who doesn't like mazelike levels, is that there are a couple select spots that are a bit difficult to figure out where you're supposed to go in certain zones. Even then though, this is a problem I've only experienced about 2 or 3 times in the entire game. The plot is also a tiny bit lackluster, but the gameplay more than makes up for this. I didn't expect to say it when I first bought the game, but Spark the Electric Jester quickly became one of my favorite games when I played it, and is an experience that rivals if not exceeds that of games like Sonic Mania and Freedom Planet. I definitely recommend this game. It's a lot of fun, has a lot of heart, smooth gameplay, great subtle world building, and very catchy music. Definitely worth the price.

Bubsy: Paws on Fire is a competent, well-made game that should sufficiently please both auto-runner fans and Bubsy fans. It should be clear by now that the game, like Choice Provision's other specialties, is an auto-runner style game, not a platformer, so it might not be everyone's cup of tea. But overall, it's pretty fun. It's a simple game, nothing revolutionary, but well done, polished, and pays a lot of attention to Bubsy's history as well. There's a sufficient amount of content for the price (though I personally might aim for a sale), the graphics are good, and it runs and plays smoothly, making this not only one of, if not the best Bubsy game ever, but a reasonably good game overall. If you liked any of the games in the Runner series, are looking for a fun replayable but simple romp, or if you like Bubsy and just want to support an underdog... well, undercat I guess, I'd definitely say it's worth a play.