Super Bear Adventure

At first glance, Super Bear Adventure looks like something you’d find buried in a browser game portal from 2007. Blocky textures, slapdash animations, a bear wearing a photorealistic JPEG of another bear as a mask. But under that kitschy surface is a surprisingly earnest and oddly addictive 3D platformer that understands the assignment, deliver a short, sweet, and satisfying slice of Banjo-Kazooie chaos… and then glue some mobile monetization to it with a glue stick made of regret.

You play as Baaren, a spunky little bear with a double jump, a ground pound, and an undying loyalty to his imprisoned bear brethren. The kingdom is under siege, not by a demon lord or a mustachioed turtle, but by purple honey. It’s turning the once-peaceful animal citizens into bite-sized menaces, and you’re the only one immune. Why? Bear magic. Don’t overthink it.

Exploring the game’s six distinct regions feels like a late-‘90s platformer got caught in a blender with a gacha machine. Each level is a sandbox filled with puzzles, secrets, speedrun shortcuts, and the occasional “what if Mario 64 was a theme park made of foam” energy. The movement is breezy and responsive, double jumps feel good, diving is snappy (until it isn’t), and the levels are built around platforming first, combat last. Which is great, because the combat? It’s bad. Like, “punching bees while standing completely still and waiting for them to politely walk into your fist” bad.

Still, when it’s just you, a wide-open level, and 150 shiny coins calling your name, Super Bear Adventure clicks. Finding the eight caged bears in each world becomes a treasure hunt, and optional time trials, known as Golden Bear challenges, are shockingly fun to chase. The game even encourages speedrun routes, making it feel more like a sandbox obstacle course than your typical collectathon.

But then come the cosmetics. Oh boy.

Even though you paid real money for this on Switch, Super Bear Adventure refuses to let go of its mobile roots. The store runs on coin farming, random loot boxes, and a prize wheel that costs 250 coins for the privilege of winning… nothing. Want that JPEG bear mask? Pray it shows up in the rotation. Or in a box. Or on the wheel. Or after grinding daily challenges for 30+ days straight. It’s a system that feels designed for bathroom gaming on a phone, not your TV. And when everything else feels so delightfully no-frills, this mobile residue stings.

Still, I found myself sticking around for more than just the honey-soaked chaos. The arcade minigames, the vehicle sections, the low-poly bear houses, it’s all lovingly dumb in a way that’s hard not to smile at. It’s janky. It’s charming. It’s one guy’s passion project that somehow punches above its weight in between all the purple goo and loot fatigue.

Super Bear Adventure is a surprise hit tucked into a very goofy bear suit. When it’s letting you bounce through blocky forests and speedrun toward golden bears, it’s genuinely great. When it’s making you spin a wheel for a hat, it’s borderline tragic. But if you grew up on N64-era platformers and can tolerate a little mobile baggage, this one’s worth a spin, prize or no prize.