This Bubsy sequel addresses a lot of complaints that people have with the first game. Instead of one hit deaths, Bubsy now has a hit bar face thing (It's not a bar, it's a picture of Bubsy's face whose expression changes to show you how much damaged he's taken), band-aids to regain hit points, and weapons! The weapons come in the form of a nerf gun and a smart bomb (which is a bomb with a graduation cap on it). It also has non-weapon items that can be of help if used correctly, including a black hole thing that takes you out of the level and back to the level select floor (which is only useful in the Timed mode - I'll get to that later) and a diving suit that takes you into a minigame when you fall into water (instead of instantly dying). To add a little variety, they also added airplane levels and sections of the outer space level where you can drive a spaceship.
Also included in this game are characters from the animated pilot that I assume no one saw until the advent of youtube. (When I saw the advertisement for the cartoon special inside the box of the first game back in 1993, I really wanted to see it, but I couldn't find it in the TV guide, so I missed it. :( I never quite forgave myself until I saw it on youtube two weeks ago. :) ) The characters from the animated pilot include Arnold the Armadillo, who is controlled in the truck minigame and Terry and Terri, who you can control in the new two player mode, which I never tried because I have no friends.
Instead of playing all of the levels in order, the game lets you pick any floor (two sets of three floors, the higher ones are more difficult) and any level within the floor. As a kid, I beat the first floor on the east side and was like "yay, I can beat Bubsy II," and every time that I played it thereafter, I played the levels I knew that I can beat so I can see the ending and feel good about myself. For a bigger challenge, you can select Grand Tour, which will require you to play all three floors of difficulty on either the East side or West side.
The levels can get annoying when you are trying to figure out where to go to find the exit. But once you figure out where to go, you can challenge yourself even further and play timed mode! If you select the Grand Tour on timed mode, the times in many of the levels are quite tight, which will force you to speed run each level. Doing this is where this game shines the most since it doesn't have the one hit deaths of the first game, which would be a nightmare. With three hit deaths, healing items, and the black hole thing that can take you out of a level if you realized that you are taking too long, it is actually quite fun and rewarding to finally beat that time by a second or two.
So, now that I built this game up so much, you might ask why I only gave it the same star rating as the first Bubsy game. Well, there are a few things that could have been done better. Figuring out where to go can often be frustrating. There is only one boss in the entire game and the ending is the same whether you beat the game on the easiest floor or Grand Tour mode. You would have thought they would have added something to reward you for beating the more difficult levels, but nope. The music is good and catchy, but it does a weird thing where it changes depending on what part of the level you are in. Sometimes it changes three times in quick succession, which just seems like bad programming.
Overall, this game is definitely worth a try, especially if you enjoyed the first game.
Also included in this game are characters from the animated pilot that I assume no one saw until the advent of youtube. (When I saw the advertisement for the cartoon special inside the box of the first game back in 1993, I really wanted to see it, but I couldn't find it in the TV guide, so I missed it. :( I never quite forgave myself until I saw it on youtube two weeks ago. :) ) The characters from the animated pilot include Arnold the Armadillo, who is controlled in the truck minigame and Terry and Terri, who you can control in the new two player mode, which I never tried because I have no friends.
Instead of playing all of the levels in order, the game lets you pick any floor (two sets of three floors, the higher ones are more difficult) and any level within the floor. As a kid, I beat the first floor on the east side and was like "yay, I can beat Bubsy II," and every time that I played it thereafter, I played the levels I knew that I can beat so I can see the ending and feel good about myself. For a bigger challenge, you can select Grand Tour, which will require you to play all three floors of difficulty on either the East side or West side.
The levels can get annoying when you are trying to figure out where to go to find the exit. But once you figure out where to go, you can challenge yourself even further and play timed mode! If you select the Grand Tour on timed mode, the times in many of the levels are quite tight, which will force you to speed run each level. Doing this is where this game shines the most since it doesn't have the one hit deaths of the first game, which would be a nightmare. With three hit deaths, healing items, and the black hole thing that can take you out of a level if you realized that you are taking too long, it is actually quite fun and rewarding to finally beat that time by a second or two.
So, now that I built this game up so much, you might ask why I only gave it the same star rating as the first Bubsy game. Well, there are a few things that could have been done better. Figuring out where to go can often be frustrating. There is only one boss in the entire game and the ending is the same whether you beat the game on the easiest floor or Grand Tour mode. You would have thought they would have added something to reward you for beating the more difficult levels, but nope. The music is good and catchy, but it does a weird thing where it changes depending on what part of the level you are in. Sometimes it changes three times in quick succession, which just seems like bad programming.
Overall, this game is definitely worth a try, especially if you enjoyed the first game.