Throughout the six game run of the Bubsy Bobcat franchise, Bubsy has increased in skill and ability. While Bubsy has even conquered death from falling, water continues to be lethal to Bubsy apparently on touch. However, despite Bubsy's natural cat aversion to water, Bubsy has found ways to adapt if the situation calls for it. The following is a brief history of Bubsy and his aquatic gear or lack thereof.
[Featured to the right, Bubsy's attempt at traversing water with a bicorne naval hat and flag as he would try in both Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind and Fractured Furry Tales. The experiment was unsuccessful.]
Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind[]
After trying on numerous occasions with the bicorne hat and flag with no success, Bubsy constructed a raft out of logs, which helped him through his first adventure.
Bubsy 2[]
In Bubsy's second adventure (and first against Oinker P Hamm) Bubsy would take his adventuring to new depths spending his hard earned cards to buy a lumbering diving suit. While the suit was not perfect, it did allow Bubsy the freedom to collect a few more treasures that were previously unavailable.
Fractured Furry Tales[]
In the land of fractured furry tales, Bubsy for the first three worlds attempts the bicorne hat and flag approach again with continued lack of success. In the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (the fourth world) Bubsy is seen with an air bubble around him, allowing Bubsy to move at unencumbered speed as he runs along the bottom of the ocean floor. One can only hypothesize that the land of fractured furry tales is magical in nature and so the bubble would be magical as well. The source of the magical bubble has one plausible source: Bubsy obtained the bubble from the Djinni he defeated in the third world of Ali Baba.
Bubsy 3D in Furbitten Planet[]
While on the planet Rayon it is there that Bubsy used scuba gear to attain rocket parts throughout one of Rayon's oceans. For this relatively relaxing foray through the alien life aquatic, Bubsy was less encumbered than the diving suit he had in Bubsy 2. It can be hypothesized that Bubsy attained the scuba gear from some of the aquatic Woolie guard and modified the gear to fit. The only limitation, as with scuba gear, is that the air supply was limited, leaving Bubsy to renew his oxygen with air tanks at Woolie Swimmer air stations.
Woolies Strike Back[]
The Woolies had stolen his yarn ball made from the golden fleece requiring Bubsy to be hot on the Woolies trail. As such, apparently there was no time to gather aquatic gear, and luckily, most of the larger bodies of water were near Bubsy's home town in the first segment of the game. Exposure to the golden energy of the fleece might have changed Bubsy from previous adventures. On the plus side, Bubsy no longer dies from falling. On the minus side Bubsy is seen to explode on contact with water in a golden explosion; a possible trade off of exposure to his prized golden fleece yarn ball.
Paws on Fire[]
In Bubsy's second adventure against Oinker P Ham, Bubsy was luckily once again in a situation where no extensive exposure to water was required. However, on those times that Bubsy needed to cross large bodies of water (or something similar), Bubsy would resort to "Air Bubsy" mode and jump from bubbles, balloons, or whatever happened to be in his path. This way of skipping, pouncing, and gliding proved to be a good impromptu method to fly over water.