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Bubsy will claw his way onto modern consoles next year

Bubsy, an orange cat, standing in a tuxedo like he's James Bond in GoldenEye 007 holding a remote control.
Limited Run Games
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This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

We got a lot of retro announcements during Thursday’s Limited Run Games showcase, and the last one is set to bring back a retro gaming icon in Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection.

In the short teaser for Limited Run Games’ “one more thing” announcement, we get a glimpse of James Bond in the GoldenEye 007 intro before the silhouette transforms into Bubsy. “Were you expecting someone else?” Then he messes with the volume and contrast controls on your CRT TV before hopping over to the title card.

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The digital and physical versions of Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection are expected out in 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC via Steam, and Nintendo Switch. You can watch the teaser trailer below.

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*sigh* Were you expecting someone else?

That's right, Bubsy is back in a Carbon Engine collection of classic capers! Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection releases digitally and physically in 2025. pic.twitter.com/mbD51pTkVG

— Limited Run Games (@LimitedRunGames) June 20, 2024

We also learned that the games in the collection are being rendered in the Carbon Engine, Limited Run’s tool that helps developers port retro games over to newer platforms using emulation. As Limited Run states, it’s a way to “create a more intuitive version” of a game without “compromising… their original vision.”

Atari is publishing the collection, and according to the Steam store page, it will include “artifacts and interviews” about the game’s bizarre history.

We didn’t get any other information about the launch, including the full list of games that will be playable. There are six games in the series, the first being Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind in 1993 for the SNES. The store page shows screenshots from that first Bubsy, along with Bubsy 2 and Bubsy 3D. Since the Carbon Engine supports consoles from the NES up to the PlayStation 1, we guess that the first four games in the series will be included in the collection.

There was an almost 20-year break in the Bubsy franchise between Bubsy 3D –– the first 3D game in the series — and the next one, Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back. The last game was Bubsy: Paws on Fire!, which was released in 2019. It’s unlikely these two games will makes their way to the collection since they were released for the PlayStation 4, but you never know.

The other big announcement during the showcase, which was one of many gaming presentations we’ve seen this summer, was the Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Editionwhich is set for release next week.

Carli Velocci
Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…
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