WELCO METOT HENEX TLEVEL - Earthworm Jim: Special Edition
Publisher: Interplay Developer: Shiny Release: 1995
And now we arrive at one of my all-time favourite games. Dave Perry made a name for himself during the 16-bit era mostly through licensed games – he had a hand in most of the great Disney games on the Genesis, the most memorable of which is probably Aladdin. Not to mention earlier classics like Global Gladiators and Cool Spot. These side-scrollers always featured fantastic animation, graphics, and control. In fact, the same basic engine would be used over and over again for subsequent Disney titles.
In order to fund the formation of his own company – Shiny Entertainment – Perry signed a three-game development deal with Playmates Interactive. Earthworm Jim was the first of those three games.
Earthworm Jim is the story of a regular earthworm just trying to live his life. One day, a super-powered space suit falls from the sky right onto Jim, mutating him into a sort of superhero. Turns out the suit had been stolen, and was being pursued by the evil Psy-Crow, in an attempt to return it to Queen Pulsating, Bloated, Festering, Sweaty, Pus-filled, Malformed, Slug-for-a-Butt. Jim overhears the two talking about the Queen's plans for her sister, Princess What's-Her-Name, and decides it's up to him to rescue her from her villainous sibling.
At its most basic level, Earthworm Jim looks and feels a lot like the games I mentioned earlier. But since Perry and crew were no longer shackled by licenses, the game also represents the greatness that can happen with what seems like total artistic freedom. You get great scenes like a level boss that's an evil fish in a bowl (just knock him over to win), or an escort mission that's actually fun, where Jim must guide his friend Peter the Puppy through a meteor shower – if Peter takes too much damage, he mutates into a very big, angry version of himself and attacks Jim. Plus there's the cow Jim launches in the very first level...
Earthworm Jim is also a great example of one man being the face of a game, and thus credited for the work of several other extremely talented individuals. This syndrome has gotten worse and worse in the gaming press in the ensuing years.
One man who tends to get forgotten when talking about Earthworm Jim is Doug TenNapel, who actually created the characters in the game, not to mention is the voice of Jim himself. Others on the team included Nick Bruty and Bob Stevenson, who went on to create Planet Moon Studios. All in all, just a really talented group of people.
It would be easy to label Earthworm Jim: Special Edition as another cartridge rehash for the Sega CD, but enough new content was added to the original game, in my opinion, to make it worth playing through again. Along with a new weapon and a completely new level (where an invincible creature called Big Bruty stalks Jim from the shadows), the levels included in the original cartridge have been updated with new enemies and whole new sections. Most of these involved controlling a “nude” Jim as he attempts to rejoin with his suit.
It also features one of my all-time favourite endings. Completing the game on the easy setting rewards you with a quite lengthy lesson on worms, which scrolls way too fast for the accompanying narrator to keep up, and so ends up being a series of improvised jokes instead. Good times.
Earhtworm Jim was a great game with a lot of imagination, varied game play, and a great sense of humour. Special Edition takes all that and just gives it a little extra “oomph,” making this one of the games that made owning a Sega CD worthwhile.