By Kurt Kalata

The Earthworm Jim project was nothing if ambitious. The idea was almost more similar to creating a cartoon than a video game, involving the creation of several different characters, both heroes and villains, along with the strange world they lived in. In many ways, the idea spawned off the great mascot craze of the early 90s, begun by the rampant success of Sonic the Hedgehog. But there was substantially more creativity behind Eartworm Jim when compared to its brethern, especially with its bizarre sense of humor. But most importantly, the developers realized that you needed a competant game behind all of those ideas, something which was apparently lost on the folks behind Bubsy the Bobcat. It was David Perry's work as a talented programmer that turned Earthworm Jim into an excellent game, but it was the artistic skills of Doug TenNapel that truly brought the world and characters to life.

Earthworm Jim (Windows 95) Earthworm Jim (Windows 95)

Earthworm Jim - Genesis / Super Nintendo / Sega CD / Windows 95 / PC DOS / Gameboy / Sega Master System / Gameboy Advance (1993?)

American Cover

Japanese Cover

Game Title

Earthworm Jim runs on the same engine as other David Perry games, like Global Gladiators, Cool Spot, and Aladdin. It's designed almost specifically for smoothly animated characters and greatly expansive levels, so Earthworm Jim feels like an expansion of those previous games. The backgrounds have a unique three dimensional look to them - there's almost no flat surfaces, but rather, the ground twists and winds and slopes in ways that are drastically different from the 2D platformer norm. However, despite its graphical prowess, the mechanics are far from perfect. Despite all of the work that went into creating a fully fleshed out main character, Jim's actions are almost too over animated. His whip attack, for example, is too slow to hit most enemies, who generally move around pretty quickly. Jim can also use his head whip to swing on certain hooks, but the timing of this also seems a bit unnatural. Most of the time, you have to resort on using your gun, but that too is a bit awkward to use. Other than the few enhancements, Jim's gun doesn't actually fire any visible projectiles, making it hard to see what you're actually trying to attack. And your field of fire is so limited that even the simplest of the enemies - like the crows in the first stage - can prove to be a hassle. While the controls aren't exactly perfect, Earthworm Jim excels because there's more than just running, jumping, and shooting. A good chunk of the states are fairly straightforward, but there's enough variety - the tube races, for example, or the level where you protect Peter Puppy - that makes it refreshing. It does tend to go overboard with the Andy Asteroids racing segments - there are half a dozen spread throughout the game, and they quickly grow tiresome. Earthworm Jim was initially released on the Genesis and Super Nintendo. The Super Nintendo version has better graphics, with more defined colors and lots of extra special effects, and nearly all of the stages have an extra level of background scrolling. The Genesis version isn't quite as nice, but it does look pretty excellent, plus it has one extra stage, Intestinal Distress. The explanation behind this was that the Genesis version was more easily compressed and had the room for the bonus level. Both versions also have different sound synth, and while the SNES version has better (and in some cases, different) digitized samples, the difference in the soundtrack is more a matter of taste. A Special Edition was also released for the Sega CD and Windows 95 platforms. This version includes some slightly expanded levels, including a section in New Junk City where Jim loses his suit, and an extra section in the Hell level. There's also a completely new stage, the "Big Bruty" level. There's a fun little pencil animation of Jim on the title screen, as well as a new level introduction that shows a small portrait of the boss. There's also a new homing rocket weapon, with ammo placed throughout all of the existing levels. The Sega CD version has a password system, while the Windows version 95 lets you skip around to different stages with a proper password. Both versions include some extra cheats, including the ability to equip Jim with an afro or a Groucho Marx mask, or turn him into a fat little stick figure. All of the music is redbook CD audio, all of which is fanastic. There are also a few goofy bonus tracks played at the ending - one, where you beat the game on the easy difficulty level and are treated to all sorts of made up facts regarding worms, and the other is a funny congratulatory message. The Windows 95 version has slightly better graphics, although since they're still based off the original Genesis version, it's not quite as good looking as the SNES rendition. Earthworm Jim also received another PC port, this time running in DOS, as part of the Whole Can o' Worms package. This version has slightly improved graphics over the Genesis version - it's roughly on par with the Windows 95 port - but it's missing all of the content from the Special Edition, as well as the Intestinal Distress level. It does, however, feature the same redbook audio soundtrack. If you put the CD in a CD player, you'll notice how the same song repeats several times in the same track. Older CD-ROMs had problems where the action would pause momentarily once a track looped, which would disrupt the action. By looping the music several times within a track, it reduces this drastically. Modern CD-ROMs and operating systems don't have problems with this though. REGULAR GAMEBOY PORT? By Eurocom Although it was only released in Brazil, Earthworm Jim was also ported to the Sega Master System, and was published by Tectoy. It's a complete mess of a port, though, with terrible graphics, awful control, and a shrunken playing field. Earthworm Jim was also ported to the Gameboy Advance around the time of its launch. The tiny screen does little favors given the expansive environments, the graphics look kinda bad, and the animation has taken a major hit. It's only barely playable, and should probably be avoided. MP3s

Earthworm Jim (Windows 95) Earthworm Jim (Windows 95) Earthworm Jim (Windows 95) Earthworm Jim (SNES) Earthworm Jim (SNES) Earthworm Jim (SNES)

Levels

Earthworm Jim (Windows 95)

New Junk City Earthworm Jim begins his adventure on a planet full of junk. After climbing over a rapid, frothing bulldog (the first of many), Jim is posed with a conundrum - there is a cow on the side of a seesaw, with a refridgerator hanging over it. Will Jim drop the fridge on the cow and send it hurtling into the stratosphere, or will spare the safety of the (frankly, rather paranoid-looking) bovine? Alas, it's one of those "Will you save the princess? No? But thou must!" sort of dilemmas, and you aren't allowed to continue until you do. The SNES version has a neat lens flare effect coming from the sun. The Special Editions include an expanded section near the end of the level where Jim has lost his suit, and needs to navigate a series of slides. There's also an additional hidden area near the beginning of the stage.

Comparison Screenshots - New Junk City

Genesis	Windows 95	SNES
PC DOS	Sega Master System	Gameboy
Gameboy Advance

Earthworm Jim (Windows 95)

Andy Asteroids A bonus stage of sorts, Jim whips out his Pocket Rocket and flies 3D style through a warp tunnel, collecting power orbs and dodging rocks. In the meantime, he's also caught in a race with his nemesis Psy Crow. If you beat him, you get to go to the next stage unharmed. If he wins, Jim begrudgingly engages in mano-a-mano combat. These are amusing at first, but there are several of these throughout the whole game, so they get old. Psy Crow also gets more difficult to beat as you progress, which is also annoying. The SNES version alternates the colors of this stage between blue and red, but all of the other versions are just blue. The level is named after Andy Aster, one of the programmers.

Earthworm Jim (Windows 95)

What the Heck? Earthworm Jim's version of Hell...err....Heck is not only a land of brimstone and flames, but elevator music and evil lawyers too. It's amusing the way the soundtrack is split between Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky, before the record skips and turns into numbing banality, peppered with agonizing screams. At the end, you need to face off against Evil the Cat by whipping him nine times, each time sending one of his nine lives off to heaven (his angels are even numbered.) The SNES version has a red hue applied to all of the sprites, as well as a visible background when fighting Evil the Cat. The Special Edition has an expanded area before you fight the demonic snowman miniboss.

Comparison Screenshots - What the Heck?

Windows 95	SNES

Earthworm Jim (Windows 95)	Big Bruty This level's big gimmick is the titular Big Bruty (named after one of the artists, Nick Bruty), a gigantic lizard that will instantly chomp, chew, and swallow Jim if he gets close, killing him instantly. Most of the level revolves around luring him away from his post or causing him to trigger different traps. It's actually a bit of a tedious level, especially considering how annoying it is to get Bruty to pick up your scent without getting munched. Also, the bugs in this level are pretty irritating, and the pea green background is a bit too reminiscent of New Junk City. This stage is only found in the Special Edition, but you're not missing much if you skip it.
Earthworm Jim (Windows 95)	Down the Tubes There are two segments in this stage. In the first, you run through tubes, and need to avoid the gigantic muscular cats that roam the hallways, who are invincibile and will pummel you if you get too close. There are also tiny little cats that pack a surprisingly wallop - to beat these, you need to locate the nearest gigantic hamster (??), free it from its cage, and use it to chomp through these miniature bullies. In the other segment, you climb into a bathosphere and need to navigate it through some narrow corridors. Not only are you running low on air, requiring that you position the globe at refill points, but if you hit too many walls, you'll crack the glass and die. These parts are infuriating. The SNES version has an extra background layer that shimmers slightly.
Earthworm Jim (Windows 95)	Snot a Problem In this level, you're caught in a bungie jumping battle against Major Mucus. In three rounds, you need to keep bashing him into the wall, while avoind both his attacks and the slime monster located at the bottom of the stage.
Earthworm Jim (Windows 95)	Level 5 In particularly Douglas Adams-esque twist, Level 5 is not actually the fifth level. It is, however, a gigantic lab run by the evil Professor-Monkey-for-a-Head. This stage includes a segment where Jim is seperated from his suit and needs to reclaim it, and another segment that takes place almost entirely in the dark.
Earthworm Jim (Windows 95)	For Pete's Sake!

Comparison Screenshots - For Pete's Sake!

Windows 95	SNES

Earthworm Jim (Windows 95)	Intestinal Distress
Earthworm Jim (Windows 95)	Buttville

Comparison Screenshots - Level Intro

SNES	PC DOS	Windows 95

Earthworm Jim 2 - Genesis / Super Nintendo / PC DOS / Playstation / Saturn / Gameboy Advance (1995?)

American Cover

Japanese Cover

Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES)

The second Earthworm Jim is much like the first, except with less of a focus on action and platforming, with an even greater variety of stages. In some ways, this actually works against the game, because some of the stages are actually pretty aggravating. The annoying Andy Asteroids stages have been replaced with a different stage, where you need to rescue Peter's young nephews from being tossed out of a building, but it's repeated multiple times through the game, and just isn't as much fun. The rest of the levels are still pretty humorous, but not quite up to par with the first game. This time, Jim is accompanied by his friend Snot, a booger who tags along on his backpack. By jumping and then pressing the jump button again, you'll use Snot like a whip, allowing you to grapple onto certain ceilings, designated with dripping green goo. It's a useless addition though, since Jim could already swing with his standard whip attack in the first game. Furthermore, pressing jump twice used to be the command to use Jim's helicopter whirl, which is now a different command, (GET THIS?) causing confusion to anyone who played the first game. There are several more guns to use in Earthworm Jim 2, including a new version of the homing rocket from the Special Edition, as well as a useless bubble gun, and a gigantic brick house gun that destroys everything on the screen and leaves Jim in a daze. Jim has some new animations - including a strange idle animation where he seems to jog in place, and his running animation has been changed from a cool, confident stride to weird little prance. Otherwise, the graphics and sound quality is pretty much on par with the original game. (DOES IT USE MORE ROM SPACE?) Like the previous title, Earthworm Jim 2 was released simultaneously for the Genesis and Super Nintendo. Other than the graphics and music, there's no real content difference between them, although the SNES version uses some different backgrounds. For example, in the first stage of the Genesis version, the sky is a bright orange, as if it takes place at sunset. In the SNES version, it takes place at night, and there's an animated waterfall in the background. A PC DOS version was included in the Whole Can o' Worms pack. It's based off the Genesis version, and while the graphics are slightly improved, it's hard to tell the difference. It's completely missing the Lorenzo's Soil stage - not a huge loss - but it does feature a redbook audio CD soundtrack, which, like its predecessor, is fantastic. Earthworm Jim 2 was also ported to the 32-bit platforms by GET NAME. The Saturn version was the only one to be released in both Europe and North American, while the Playstation version was only released in Europe due to Sony America's kibosh on 2D games. Unfortunately, it doesn't really take advantage of any of the advanced capabilities of either systems. The first stage once again has a different background, but it actually looks worse than the SNES version. The second stage now takes place in the dark, with a spotlight surrounding Jim. There's a new level intro screen featuring a CG rendered Earthworm Jim, which looks kinda bad, but other than the CD audio - the same as featured in the Whole Can O' Worms version - there's not much that really makes this better than the 32-bit versions. There was also a port to the Gameboy Advance. Somehow, it's even worse than the conversion of the first game - the graphics and animation are worse, and it's extraordinarily buggy. The backgrounds are based off the SNES version, but they're somehow made to look completely terrible, and the music is embarassing. It can potentially even give out buggy passwords, transporting Jim to non-existant levels where he falls into space, showing that this particular version was barely play tested. MP3s

Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES) Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES) Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES) Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES) Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES)

Levels

Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES)

Anything But Tangerines

Comparison Screenshots - Anything But Tangerines

Genesis	PC DOS	SNES
Playstation	Gameboy Advance

Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES)

Lorenzo's Soil

Comparison Screenshots - Lorenzo's Soil

Genesis	SNES	Saturn

Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES)

Puppy Love

Comparison Screenshots - Puppy Love

SNES	Saturn

Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES)

The Villi People / Jim's Now a Blind Cave Salamander!

Quiz Questions

Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES)

The Flyin King / Peter Pain

Comparison Screenshots - The Flyin King

Genesis	SNES	Saturn

Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES)	Udderly Abducted
Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES)	Inflated Head / Circus of the Scars
Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES)	ISO 9000

Comparison Screenshots - ISO 9000

Genesis	SNES	Saturn

Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES)	Level Ate
Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES)	See Jim Run, Run Jim Run!

Comparison Screenshots - Run Jim Run!

Genesis	SNES

Comparison Screenshots - End of Level Cows

SNES	PC DOS	Playstation