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Earthworm Jim
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| Developer(s) |
Shiny Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) |
NA Playmates Interactive Entertainment
EU Virgin Interactive |
| Designer(s) |
David Perry
Doug TenNapel |
| Composer(s) |
Tommy Tallarico |
| Platform(s) |
Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, SNES, Sega Mega-CD, Game Boy, Sega Game Gear, PC, Sega Master System, Game Boy Advance |
| Release date(s) |
Mega Drive/Genesis:
NA August 2, 1994
EU August 5, 1994
JP August 20, 1994
SNES:
NA October 1994
EU January 26, 1995
JPN June 23, 1995
Sega Mega-CD:
NA March 15, 1995
EU March 21, 1995
Nintendo Game Boy:
NA September 1995
EU 1995
Sega Game Gear:
NA 1995
EU December 14, 1995
Microsoft DOS (PC):
1995
Microsoft Windows 95 (PC) (also Windows 98 and Me compatible):
November 30, 1995
Sega Master System
BR 1996
Nintendo Game Boy Advance:
NA June 10, 2001
EU September 21, 2001
Virtual Console
EU October 3, 2008
NA TBA 2008[1] |
| Genre(s) |
Platform shooter |
| Mode(s) |
Single Player |
| Rating(s) |
ESRB: K-A
ESRB: E (Game Boy Advance)
RSAC: V1: Creatures killed
VRC: GA |
| Media |
24Mbit cartridge (Original Mega Drive/Genesis version) |
Earthworm Jim is a run and gun platform video game starring an earthworm named Jim in a robotic suit who battles evil. The game was developed by Shiny Entertainment, released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1994, and subsequently ported to the SNES, Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega Master System, and years later, the Game Boy Advance. Upon its release it was praised for its detailed animation, polished gameplay and wacky humor; it became the first game ever to receive a 100% review in GamesMaster magazine. A special edition of the game was released for the Sega Mega-CD which features a Red Book audio soundtrack, improved graphics and expanded levels [1], and an even further enhanced version with redrawn, 256 colour graphics and an Earthworm Jim desktop theme, as well as all the Mega-CD improvements, was released for Microsoft Windows 95. This game has been released on the Wii Virtual Console in Europe on October 3, 2008 with a release in North America scheduled for later this year.
Plot
The storyline involves many colorful characters. Jim himself (a character designed by Doug TenNapel) was at first an ordinary Earth earthworm who did very earthworm-like things such as flee from crows and eat dirt. One day, in the space above Earth, the evil Psy-Crow had cornered a rebel spaceship pilot who had stolen an "Ultra-high-tech-indestructible-super-space-cyber-suit" built by Professor Monkey-For-A-Head. The suit had been commissioned by the evil Queen Pulsating, Bloated, Festering, Sweaty, Pus-filled, Malformed, Slug-for-a-Butt so that she could further conquer the galaxy. In the ensuing space fight, the suit was dropped to Earth, and fell on Jim. By a stroke of luck, Jim managed to land within the collar of the suit, and it ended up mutating him into the large and intelligent (at least by earthworm standards) superhero he is today.
Jim overhears Psy-Crow talking to Queen Slug-for-a-Butt about the scorch marks left by the suit and her plans for her sister, Princess What's-Her-Name. Jim thus sets out to rescue the princess, fighting many enemies along the way, such as Major Mucus, Chuck and Fifi, Evil the Cat and Bob the Killer Goldfish.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Earthworm Jim is very strange, to say the least. Launching cows, swinging on hooks with your head, and other bizarre twists add to the insanity. You control Jim at all times of the game. In the level sections, you can run around, use your gun, swing on hooks, and get powerups for the blaster Jim starts with. The in-between levels, called Andy Asteroids, place Jim in a semi-3D race against the evil Psycrow. If Psycrow wins, Jim must fight him in one-on-one combat in order to progress to the next level. Throughout the game there were many added features, such as mini-bosses whose weaknesses you would need to find through trial and error. Crystal treadmills, underwater pod races, and more strange things also make an appearance.
Development
Shiny have also made references to Earthworm Jim in its later titles; their game Sacrifice features an earthworm-like god called James, and there were additional references in the game MDK. Over ten years after its original release, Earthworm Jim was the featured game in Nintendo Power's first ever edition of Playback. On the PC CD-ROM version of the game there is an Assets folder, containing a PC desktop theme and another folder named EWJ_DT00. This folder contains a picture of a boy wearing a white Snoopy shirt standing next to a screen, the words "Tin with 1,000,000 points in Activision's Laser Blast, from 1982." written in white at the top. The remaining file is a wave file 26 seconds long of someone cussing while playing Earthworm Jim, with increasing frustration due to repeatedly "getting hurt" on the game. The music for "What the Heck?" initially starts with the opening of the tone poem Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky, but then quickly cuts to elevator music. In 1999, Interplay had plans to make several of its games into movies, with Earthworm Jim being one of them. Since then, no movie was ever made. Earthworm Jim 3D paid tribute to the original Earthworm Jim, by having Jim initiate a "Fridge Launch" in the first level, similar to how a "Cow Launch" occurred in the first level of the original. Unlike Earthworm Jim, which had a single cow occasionally fly by in the level background, five fridges were launched (six in the PC version). In the PC version, the first fridge falls on Jim in the intro (In the Nintendo 64 version, this fridge was replaced by an N64 logo). The other four fridges landed on characters just as Jim helped them out, with one fridge in each brain. Seeing the fridge for Fear is entirely optional. Humorously, the fridge in Fantasy missed its target, but a safe containing a Golden Udder inexplicably falls instead. The joke climaxes by having the final fridge fall on top of Jim in the game's ending. The cow launch was also used in Crash Tag Team Racing where Crash Bandicoot triggers a cow loaded catapult just to have the cow help him obtain a power gem later in the level.
Reception
Earthworm Jim was rated the 114th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Powers Top 200 Games list.[2]
Sequels
Earthworm Jim on Super Nintendo
A sequel, Earthworm Jim 2, was released in 1995 for the Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, SNES and PC, and a port was later released for the Game Boy Advance. Although the first title retains the same platforming gameplay throughout most of the game, many of the stages in the sequel feature some bizarre twist or gimmick, requiring the player to adapt to a new control system. For example, one level requires Jim to burrow through dirt using his gun; another is presented as an isometric shoot 'em up; in another the character wears a salamander suit and must be guided through an intestine lined with villi.
Two further games, Earthworm Jim 3D (1999, PC, Nintendo 64) and Earthworm Jim: Menace 2 the Galaxy (1999, Game Boy Color), were produced without the involvement of Shiny and were met with mediocre to poor reviews. Earthworm Jim also starred as a fighter on Interplay's Nintendo 64 title, Clay Fighter 63 1/3 in 1997 and the Blockbuster rental, Clay Fighter 63 1/3: Sculptors Cut in 1998. In the original, Jim was a default character, however in the Sculptor's Cut, he was required to be unlocked. Also in the game, he and Boogerman hold a strong rivalry between one another.
An enhanced remake of the original Earthworm Jim (with a working title of "Earthworm Jim PSP") was planned for a 2007 release, but was ultimately cancelled.
Famous vocal actor Dan Castellaneta provided the voice for the title character of Earthworm Jim in the animated television series as well as Earthworm Jim 3D and ClayFighter 63 1/3. The creator of Earthworm Jim, Douglas TenNapel, was the original voice for Jim in both Earthworm Jim 1 and Earthworm Jim 2.
On April 22, 2008 Earthworm Jim 4 was announced, though details are scarce and no solid platform or release data have been revealed.[3] However, TenNapel has expressed a desire on his forums for the game to be launched solely on Microsoft's Xbox 360citation needed.
See also
References
External links
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