Why Buck Bumble Died With The Nintendo 64

If you owned a Nintendo 64 back in the day, it's likely you were familiar with "Buck Bumble." Set in the dystopian near-future, players control the titular cyborg bee in "Buck Bumble," tasked with stopping an evil legion of bees that are attempting to invade his base. Though it wasn't revered too much at the time of its release (it was even criticized for having "foggy" graphics), the game eventually developed a cult following among many players. Unfortunately, the first title released back in 1998 is all they would get, meaning any chance of a series pretty much died once the Nintendo 64 was considered obsolete — much like other games such as "Glover."

Overall, many gamers seem to have fond memories of "Buck Bumble." Some even considered it to be ahead of its time in terms of technology and co-op mode. The game was also known for having an extremely catchy theme song that would greet players when they launched it, as well as an interesting gameplay loop that featured a bee wielding some impressive weaponry. However, despite seemingly having a lot going for it and being a solid foundation to build upon for future entries, another "Buck Bumble" game was never launched and the series quietly faded away from any kind of public discourse. But why is that?

Though it was published by Ubisoft — a company that is going strong to this day despite controversy — "Buck Bumble" was developed by Argonaut Games, a British developer known for being behind the first "Star Fox" game as well as the ill-fated "Alien Resurrection." Since the release of "Buck Bumble" in 1998, Argonaut Games no longer exists after it liquidated its assets in 2004 before ultimately going under completely in 2007. Eventually, many of the former employees at Argonaut went on to found Rocksteady Games, the studio behind the "Batman Arkham" titles, which have become massively successful.

While games switching developers isn't anything new to the game industry, it remains unknown whether or not Ubisoft is even interested in keeping the IP going in the future. Despite not being considered a bad game by any stretch, it's fair to say that "Buck Bumble" wasn't as popular as some of its contemporaries such as "Star Fox," "Super Mario," or "The Legend of Zelda." Therefore, it's likely that Ubisoft doesn't think that spending the money to revive a long-stagnant series is worth the trouble.

Due to Argonaut Games' collapse, "Buck Bumble" died along with the Nintendo 64. And it doesn't seem likely it will see a revival any time soon.