Bubsy 2

Bubsy 2 arrived in 1994, when every publisher was hunting for a mascot platformer to stand against Sonic and Mario. Accolade's candidate was a wisecracking bobcat in a T-shirt, and the sequel expanded the formula in scope and variety: alongside the standard running and jumping it added bonus stages and several supplementary play modes.

The core movement stays close to the first game. Bubsy runs fast, slides down slopes, glides through the air and attacks by bouncing on enemies' heads. Levels are large, layered and built for exploration rather than a straight sprint to the right. That is also where the series' biggest weakness shows: the hero dies from a single hit. High speed, blind jumps and instant death combine into real frustration at a point when most platformers had already adopted health meters.

Presentation is textbook mid-nineties Super Nintendo — colourful cartoon environments, large animated sprites and music squeezed out of the console's sound chip. The character mugs at the camera and delivers one-liners, which at the time counted as a selling point.

The catalogue lists Tec Toy as publisher, the Brazilian company that distributed console titles in its own editions for the South American market, so this reached players well outside the usual North American and European channels. The record also notes multiplayer support. If you enjoy quick platformers with sprawling maps and can live with an unforgiving life system, there is a competent game here — though nostalgia for Bubsy mostly serves as a reminder of how crowded the mascot market had become.