Several video game franchises have become Icons. For example in the 1980's The Mario and Mega Man Franchise took the gaming world by storm. Then in the 1990's Sonic and Kirby also became icons. Other franchises have become video game icons as well. These games are still made to this day and are some of the more popular video games out there. A lot of gamers get excited when a new game is coming out.

In the 1990's a new gaming character and franchise was introduced in the year 1993. The franchise and character is Bubsy Bobcat. Bubsy won a few awards for the next two games. Several people liked the new character and his games. On the other hand, a lot of people where turned off about the franchise. Still today Bubsy Bobcat is one of the most polarizing video game characters people like him or they do not.

I'm going to dive deeper into why and how Bubsy became so polarizing among the gaming industry. This is mainly my very own opinion.

Bubsy first and second game released for the SNES, and Sega actually did well in sells. In fact, they even won gaming awards. One of my cousin's had the first two games. I played them and actually liked the new video game. I could see why it won awards.

The character and video game was something new and different. It was nice being able to play a new game with a different and new character. Also the game had funny moments in it especially Bubsy's commentary. That seemed to be a lot of people's opinion of the new gaming franchise. Indeed, it seemed like Bubsy was on its way to becoming an icon. A third game was released for PC. To quote Bubsy what could go possibly wrong. Oh, but things where about to derail.

In 1997/1998 Bubsy 4 or Bubsy 3D as it is sometimes called was released for the newer Sony Play Station. My cousin got the game and I played it. The plot was good but that was about the only thing good about the game. The graphics where rubbish. Bubsy and the characters graphics where very fuzzy and the sound made you want to mute the game. There was several lags in the game as well. Not what you would expect from a play station game with the newest chips and graphics. This game did so bad it seemed to have killed the promising series.

However, 20 years later the Series got a reboot and in 2017 a new Bubsy game was released and did well. A few years later another Bubsy game was released and did well. I do not know if this is true or not. But a Wikipedia article stated that next summer the 7th game is going to be released and is in the works.

Why did Bubsy not become an Icon and why did people get turned off ?

I think the problem with Bubsy was the makers where trying to make him the next big thing. In fact, I can remember commercials around 1993 calling him the next big fan in gaming. They even game him a 1 season cartoon series. It is risky to make a video game character the next big thing. Mario, Mega Man, Sonic, and Kirby did not start out as the next big thing. The video games where so popular it happened on its own. Now, we consider these 4 and others gaming icons. Nintendo, Capcom, and Sega did not advertise their respective stars as the next big thing they let the market it do it for them. I think a lot of people get turned off by the makers shoving the character down people's throats.

Levi Buchanan of IGN brings up another good point "I think the reason Bubsy became despised by some gamers was the fact the game is based on Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. While the game is different it is obvious who the makers where trying to copy. Thus some people saw the new games as a rip of of Sonic. Then you had the disaster 4th game" (Bubsy IGN).

I like Bubsy but I do think Levi has some good points. When I first played the game I could tell Sonic served as the inspiration. In fact, the first world is almost identical to Sonic's green hill like zones. I could see why that would turn some people off from the game. Second, yes the 4th game really turned a lot of people off from the franchise. That is probably why it took 20 years for the makers to try make a new Bubsy game. Third, Yes Bubsy does play a lot like Mario he jumps on his enemies just like the Mario Brothers do, so that could have turned people of as well.

When a young gaming franchise or series makes a game its a huge gamble. The makers are counting on the new game to elevate the series. Sometimes a bad game can just kill a promising series like Bubsy 4 nearly killed the franchise. Iconic video game franchises like Mario, Mega Man, Sonic, and Kirby have had very bad games, but they were able to bounce back because they are established. Young game franchises do not have that luxury.

My opinion is this. Bubsy is a good video game franchise and I'm glad to see the makers are making new games for the character. I really liked the first two games. Like I stated Bubsy offers something different and something new. However, the makers should have never made Bubsy to be the next big thing in gaming. They should have just let the market make Bubsy an Icon. Advertising something as the next big thing is very risky.

In Buby's case the makers shoved the character down gamers throats which turned people off. As Levi pointed out it is obvious that in some of the games the first stage could be considered a rip off of the Sonic Green Hill Zones. That also turned gamers off.

In conclusion, Bubsy is a good video game franchise. People need to see that the games except for one are largely good. But Bubsy is not to be seen as a video game icon at least not yet. On the other hand, I can see why some gamers got turned off by the young franchise. Therefore, reasons I mentioned or pointed out is the reason this gaming character became a polarizing character People either like Bubsy or they do not.

A GameFAQ poster screen name The Real Duke took a survey about the character. That persons results showed 57% of gamers had a favorable view on the games, but 41% of gamers did not like Bubsy with another 2 percent indifferent. This goes along with the character being polarizing. I really hope as more people play the games they will see what the character is and get to know the games better. Instead of the failed advertising the next big thing.