21 Best Games with Bears: Ultimate Guide

Who doesn’t LOVE a good bear game!

Ask someone to name a few bear games though and they may name Yogi, maybe Pooh bear, but would perhaps struggle after that.

In fact, there are more bear games than you probably think there are!

From Yogi Bear the Video Game on the Wii to Disney’s Brother Bear on the Gameboy Advance, from Kung Fu Panda on the PS4 to Super Bear Adventure on the Apple iPhone and Android, there are a whole range of bear games across some of the best loved platforms and consoles.

At a recent party a young niece asked to play some games that had bears in them. Scratching our heads, many gamers in the room thought for a while, and the meager list we came up with was not only shocking but also embarrassing.

We decided it was finally time to put together the ultimate list of video games with bears in them. 

These games are as recent as Android and PS4 and includes some retro gems as far back as the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64.

Some games have a bear as the main character or hero, and some have our furry friend making a cameo appearance from time to time.

Whether friend or foe, lots of screen time or very little, we wanted to showcase this much needed list together and present all the best bear games we not only found but also tried and tested to make sure they were worthy of making our list.

If you are a bear-a-holic you are absolutely in the right place as we run through the very best games with bears.

Kung Fu Panda on PS4

We’ll start with one of the more recent bear featured games, the ever lovable Kung Fu Panda!

For some unknown reason Kung Fu Panda was chosen to protect and watch over the Valley of Peace.

I mean, what could go wrong!

Kung Fu Panda on the PS4 is a fun filled action packed fighting game. Think Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat for younger kids. Lots of power ups, pazzazz and fiery collisions.

There are even 2 on 1 fights, with of course Kung Fu Panda being outnumbered every time. 

The controls are pretty straight forward, as it’s designed for kids, so randomly hitting most of the PS4 controller buttons will yield some kind of attack!

It’s a great game for ages almost all ages up to around 12, and of course the PS4 graphics are pretty amazing set within the stunning backdrop of various Asian locations.

It’s a great kids bear game to add to any collection!

Super Bear Adventure on Apple iOS and Android

With over 50 million downloads on Android alone, Super Bear Adventure is one of the most top downloaded childrens games.

It’s actually a take on the retro games of the 1990s. It’s a game that mimics the early versions of 3D immersive worlds we were mesmerized by back in the day.

Downloading this and giving it a go from the Android Play Store all that nostalgic yumminess of the 90s came pouring back.

The story unfolds explaining how the Bee Dynasty kept law, order and peace for centuries until the honey went sour and everyone turned on each other – nice.

The bears though were unaffected, but were captured by the bees to avoid a takeover. 

There was only one escapee named Baaren whose goal it is to save the day and the world!

The game plays excellently well and deserves its 50 million downloads.

The opening level is great two as it walks through the player exactly what buttons do what, and what combos to use to fight, jump, run and swim.  

Now of course there couldn’t possibly be a mobile game such as this without the dreaded ads and in-app purchases, so if you do decide to give your phone to your kids to play this, make sure in-app purchases are well protected to avoid any nasty surprise bills!

Adventures of Yogi Bear on SNES

The loveable rogue is back 

Who didn’t grow up loving Jellystone’s most famous resident, Yogi Bear!

Classic cartoons like Yogi seem to have tragically disappeared from our screens, but the childhood nostalgia lives on in games like Adventures of Yogi Bear on the SNES.

Adventures of Yogi Bear on the SNES looks and feels like a Disney adaptation, and you’d be forgiven for thinking Yogi Bear was part of the Disney collection but in fact Yogi Bear is part of the Hanna Barbera collection.

Still, I bet some of the Disney games out at the time must have been at least a framework for this title.

It’s a simple fun platformer that sees our hero Yogi hastily charging through Jellystone collecting time, jumping on picnic baskets (doesn’t sound like Yogi, he’s normally pinching them!) and avoiding the other forest folk scuttling around.

It actually plays really well and fast, and graphics are top notch. Kids up to around 12-13 will get enjoyment from this one.

Disney Brother Bear on Gameboy Advance

This Disney Interactive game by Vicarious Vision has a wonderful animated intro from the film, which is rather cute.

Even the beauty of the film’s location, Alaska, is depicted wonderfully well and looks incredibly enticing!

The first mission to find the three green totems to unlock the path is a little delight for kids, especially to those who have watched the Disney film.

It’s a real animated gem!

Finding the three totems is real easy, controls are simple and spot on and gameplay is fun. Simply follow the trail of the fruit, head into the trees when you need to and oh, avoid the wispy cloud – it’s a bunch of stingy bees!

Between each level there are cartoon scenes with text which will keep children entertained.

Brother Bear on the Gameboy Advance is great for any child up to the age of around 8 or 9, or those big kids ready to revisit nostalgia once again.

A fun little bear game.

Yogi Bear Great Balloon Blast on Gameboy Color

Our second Yogi title on our bear game list, this one released way back in 2000 for the Gameboy Color.

Yogi Bear Great Balloon Blast is a slightly different game to the usual platformers, and works rather well.

Start the game on the Gameboy Color, choose either Yogi Bear, Boo Boo or Cindy Bear as your player, and get playing.

Your character doesn’t really matter, as the gameplay is exactly the same – just the image of who your character is shows in the bottom right hand corner of the gameplay.

Match colored balloons to make all the balloons pop before the slowly lowering cloud gets to you.

It does need some imaginative gameplay at times.

Yogi Bear Great Balloon Blast is like a clash of Space Invaders meets Tetris, but for kids!

Banjo-Kazooie on Nintendo 64

The Nintendo 64 was one of the first great consoles to turn 2D games we knew and loved in the 70s, 80s into 3D immersive worlds in the late 90s.

Banjo-Kazooie is the loveable banjo playing bear that was responsible for the sale of many Nintendo 64 when it was released in 1998.

This may be one of the most fun bear games to play on this list!

I also love how, when choosing which one of the Banjo-Kazooie games to play, he’s sitting in a rocking chair beside a fire playing a Gameboy!

When the wicked witch finds out that her beauty doesn’t surprise that of Tooty (surprise surprise). The witch decides to take Tooty and it’s up to Banjo-Kazooie to go find her!

Kids today still love the animation and comedy Banjo-Kazooie dishes out. Despite being over 25 years old it still has a whole heap of charm.

Planet Zoo on Steam

Games allowing players to build a zoo are nothing new.

In fact the first was Zoo Tycoon on the PC way back in 2001, over 20 years ago now.

Times have changed, consoles have changed and graphics have changed, but the goal of the game is pretty much the same as it’s always been.

Grab some land, build a zoo, open it to the public, take care of the animals, add restaurants, kiosks and gift shops – and ultimately make a profit!

Planet Zoo on Steam though is an upgrade to VIP levels.

The depth, beauty and realism in this simulation game is nothing short of stop and stare mesmerization.

It’s like designing, building and then walking around your very own zoo!

Everything is so imaginative and in-depth. It’s beautiful but patience is required.

The most important, and best part of Planet Zoo is, you can include bears!

Bear Bovver on ZX Spectrum

We go right back to 1982 for this nostalgic bear game for the ZX Spectrum.

Perhaps Bear Bovver was one of the first bears to feature in a video game!?

After choosing between Baby Bear or Big Bear this single screen platformer sees our Bear Bovver pull up in a fancy car, straight to the foot of the ladder, and start climbing.

It’s like some kind of weird Chuckie Egg meets Pacman clone.

The goal is to send the batteries at the top of the screen tumbling down to the bottom, one platform at a time, and load them up onto your Bovver car.

Not only are there batteries and ladders to contend with but four adversary bears and some kind of green dragon thing who are doing their best to bring you down. One touch is all it takes to lose a life.

Lose all four lives and ‘You’ve Been Bovvered’ jumps out on screen. 

Game over.

It’s a tough game, and the bear enemies are relentless and pretty smart. No doubt some players may still throw their joysticks at the TV, just as we did back in the eighties.

Ahh memories!

Astro Bears on Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch has been out for a few years now but is still heavily played by millions today.

Astro Bears is a game that divides many.

Some love it and can’t put it down, whilst others look and wonder why it’s not given away for free.

The game isn’t a platformer or fighting game, it’s a novel simple approach of running around a sphere alongside your opponent. Behind you trails a ribbon. 

The goal is not to run back into your own ribbon, as it builds in length around the sphere, and not to bump into your opponent either.

That’s pretty much it.

Graphics are great, gameplay is fun but whether it has a limited appeal to you remains to be seen!

Charge of the Teddy Bear on ZX Spectrum

Now, Charge of the Teddy Bear was never going to win an award or be crowned as a classic game of yesteryear, but it does feature a bear!

Well the head of a bear to be precise.

Very early ZX Spectrum games were coded by small independent coders in their bedrooms or basements. I even coded games in Basic back in the day.

Considering the most watched YouTube video for Charge of the Teddy Bear has only been watched 34 times in 8 years, shows it wasn’t remembered very fondly either.

What players are missing though is Charge of the Teddy Bear is 90% luck and 10% skill.

This may not sound great but for those not very good at games it was an amazing way to be on the same level playing field as the top gamers of the day.

Take the head of the teddy bear up five levels and avoid the laser beams that on touch take a life.

No flashy opponents or gimmicks, it does what it says on the tin!

Go Bear Go! On ZX Spectrum

Go Bear Go on the ZX Spectrum is a real hidden gem of a game, and best of all the hero is a bear!

As soon as the bear with the japanese headband appears, you just know it’s going to be good!

It’s incredibly playable too.

I loaded up Go Bear Go! just to write this review, and ended up playing for an hour!

It’s part puzzle and part escape game. Bear has to destroy all the boxes whilst avoiding or splattering the four purple blobs by sliding boxes into them.

Boxes will smash if they are against a wall, against the special white boxes or against another box, but will slide to the nearest object if the player tries to smash a box by itself.

Go Bear Go! can be really frustrating when you’re charging over to smash the last box with just 00180 seconds remaining!

If you’re looking for a fun nostalgic bear game, please try this. 

You won’t be disappointed!

Teddy Together on Nintendo 3DS

Teddy Together on the Nintendo 3DS is one interestingly quirky game, if you can call it that.

It’s like a Tamagotchi but has come to life and now in 3D!

Many of you will never have heard of Teddy Together, and with good reason. 

It was never released in North America or Europe, only in Japan for the Asian market. Many though have sought after expensive copies online.

The great thing about the Nintendo 3DS is the split screen, which means you can interact with Teddy like playing games or even cooking whilst Teddy is on one screen and the task at hand is on another.

It adds a more realistic dynamic to the friendship the player is bound to build up with Teddy.

The game goes beyond the usual limitations of a pet simulator because Teddy comes to life so can go on adventures, travel and not be limited by ‘normal’ behavior. 

Well thought out, well delivered and a great idea.

Yogi Bear and Friends on ZX Spectrum

Back to the retro classics and this delightful Yogi Bear game for the ZX Spectrum is next on our list.

This title was created by Twilight for the Speccie in 1990, so one of the later games developed for this home computer.

The graphics for this ZX Spectrum game aren’t at all bad.

Yogi can easily be made out and his gray tones don’t clash with the background, the yellow for the floor, green for the shrubbery or blue for the water.

In traditional ZX gaming you need to navigate around the oddly shaped characters pacing up and down and guide Yogi on his quest.

Twilight did a really good job with this game.

If you’re looking for the ultimate in nostalgic bear games, Yogi Bear in Friends on ZX Spectrum is one to try!

Bear in the Big Blue House on PS1

If you have children between the ages of 1 and 25 you are almost certainly to have come across Bear in the Big Blue House.

Bear is a toddlers best friend.

He’s a huge but very gentle bear who lives in a blue house and is frequently visited by lots of friends, and also has nightly conversations with Luna the Moon about the lessons learned for the day.

There weren’t many Bear in the Big Blue House games launched, surprisingly, but one of the most popular that did is Bear in the Big Blue House on the PS1.

The graphics aren’t quite what you would expect from a PS1 game and I’m sure the developers could have done better, but kids didn’t mind.

They got to play games, have fun and learn from Bear.

Tread Bear on Commodore 64

It’s incredible the gameplay that developers managed to fit into this 64kb limit wonder machine.

By today’s standards 64kb would be around 10% to 20% of the memory of a standard website logo!

No wonder games took an age to load on the Commodore 64.

Tread Bear launched way back in 1985, almost 40 years ago now, which is crazy to think how long home computer gaming has been with us now.

It’s a frustratingly tricky bear indie game and follows Tread Bear strangely navigating a town filled with strange looking joystick foes, whilst driving in an erratic way across fields, yards and tarmac.

What’s not to love!

This is a great example of a very low budget, very retro bear game from the mid 1980s that’s worth booting up from a floppy disc just to see again.

Build a Bear Workshop on Nintendo DS

Whether you have children or not, everyone is almost certain to be familiar with Build-a-Bear workshops.

These are real store workshops mostly found in downtown areas, malls and shopping centers where cuddly bears can be created from scratch.

A body is picked out, as well as eyes, accessories, clothes etc… and as you walk around the store the bear gets created. From stuffing to buttons, even sounds, and so on.

It stands to reason someone would decide to release a game based on the Build-a-Bear experience and the Nintendo DS seems to be one of the best consoles to do it on based on its dual screen.

Bearemy is waiting to greet you and take you round the store to build your first teddy bear.

Once your bear has been born it’s time to choose a house for them (thank goodness we don’t have to do that in the real world!), and then cook, make friends and play.

It’s a great addition to any bear game collection for any fan of the store.

Pooh’s Party Game: In Search of the Treasure on PS1

I’m sorry but what kid doesn’t like Winnie the Pooh.

I mean, what’s not to like?

The cuddly honey bear in Hundred Acre Woods with his friends Eeyore, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Piglet, Tigger and of course Christopher Robin.

It may come as a bit of a shock, but there are only a handful of console games created around Winnie the Pooh and friends, despite Pooh being popular since his creation by AA Milne almost 100 years ago!

Pooh’s Party Game: In Search of the Treasure on PS1 follows the silly old bear in Hundred Acre Wood playing party games with all his chums.

The graphics are great and the cutscenes between 2D top down view games, and 3D games walking through the woods is quite delightful.

Any Pooh bear fan will love playing this over 20 year old classic!

Yogi Bear the Video Game on Nintendo Wii

What starts out as a nice fun animated Yogi Bear sequence with the Park Ranger and Boo Boo, turns into a side-scrolling platformer.

Yogi Bear is off through Jellystone on his mission (there are several throughout the game) finding food in the bushes, collecting pies and rather strangely belly flopping hedgehogs!

It’s a game designed for ages up to around 10, but it’s so fun and quirky, kids quickly took to it.

The scenery can become a little repetitive but it’s beautifully designed nonetheless.

It’s also quirky when Yogi finds a saucepan that he uses as a helmet for added protection against the hedgehogs!

Any game featuring Yogi sold into their hundreds of thousands, if not millions, back in the day.

Unfortunately amazing cartoon characters such as Yogi are dying out, but sit kids in front of Yogi today and they will enjoy his escapades as much as we did.

Disney’s The Jungle Book on Gameboy Advance

Although the main character in the Jungle Book is of course the man cub Mowgli, there is another larger than life loveable bear who goes by the name of Baloo.

Prickly pear anyone?

The intro and little video animation sequence is really well done for such a small console, which even shows a slightly pixel based Mowgli walking through the jungle as he does in the Disney cartoon film.

The game does lead us into a little bit of a cheeky false sense of security when the amazing opening graphics are changed to a top down jungle maze type of gameplay.

That said it’s fun, spritely and quite playable – plus it has great interactive educational games for kids along the way. Controls are easy too.

The Normal mode is easy enough but the Easy mode is great for little ones under the age of 5.

Watch out for various cameo appearances by Baloo the bear!

Open Season on Gameboy Advance

Open Season on the Gameboy Advance follows the story of Boog the bear meticulously to the animated film of the same name from 2003.

Poor Boog has a wonderful life but after a few escapes his ranger keeper decides it’s best for him to be released back to the wild – but 3 days before hunting season starts!

Great timing ranger!

Left alone in the wilderness Boog attempts to make it back to the life he had, whilst Shaw has his sights set on Boog as his new floor rug!

I much prefer when a game developer takes the time to craft a great game based on the film it represents rather than simply stick a look-a-like character on to a basic platformer and just look for a paycheck.

Fortunately Open Season on the Gameboy Advance is much more the former and much less the latter.

Controls are pretty basic but workable, and the graphics really do immerse you into the game even for a GBA!

The Koala Brothers Outback Adventures on Gameboy Advance

The Koala Brothers Outback Adventures on Gameboy Advance is a cute little game although sometimes it can be questioned as to who the game is targeted at.

Take for instance the first game choice, Air Mail.

The Koala Brothers take to the skies in a single propeller plane and try to intercept the lost mail floating across the Australian skies.

The first level is easy peasy.

The second level isn’t much trouble.

The third level is almost impossible, and I’m an adult!

The Helping Hand game isn’t too much better, even the first level is a challenge.

That said, if you want to keep kids entertained for half an hour, it’s actually a challengingly fun title with good graphics and good enough controls.

And of course with koala bear brothers at the helm, what could go wrong!