Earthworm Jim
Reviewed by Dyson Turner
Earthworm Jim was a truly great game, and one of the best on
Genesis the time it came out. Nothing out there really
compared to it at the time. It had it all graphics sound a
good story and best of all it was fun! Not too many games
could say all of that, this game spawned a sequel and a
cartoon show plus a toy line. The only thing missing was a
Earth Worm Jim side kick now that would have really made
this game truly great. Upon first inspection I didn't like
the premise but now I think its one of the best games and
ideas ever.
Story 10/10
What a great story this game had, it was also pretty
strange. An Earthworm named Jim was crawling along doing his
daily Earthworm routine. Mean while in outer space, a small
war was going on. The war was between Psycrow and a small
rebel ship. The small rebel ship has stolen the super suit
design by Professor Monkey for a Head; he made it so the
ugly queen could look like Princess What's Her Name. So when
Psycrow blew up the ship the super suit fell out, and landed
right on Jim. When the Super Suit came in contact with Jim
he started transforming, into the life-size worm we know
today. He over heard a conversation between Psycrow and a
guard to find the princess. He felt he should help the
princess and go along his merry way. The characters were
Jim- The wormy hero. He is now alive and able to talk, he is
pretty funny and he goes through a lot during the game.
Peter Puppy- You puppy side kick. He is mild mannered and
easy going. Don't get him mad he will turn into a ferocious
beast. He is only around for one stage though.
Princess What's Her Name- The feminine heroine of the game,
she needs rescuing from the evil Pyscrow.
Psycrow- One of the main villains a very annoying fellow who
you will see during the special stages. He is the queen's side kick.
Queen Festering Bloated Malformed etc- She has a very long
name, which is very hard to remember or spell. She is the
main villain and you must stop her evil scheme at all cost.
You also run into a multitude of bosses like Professor
Monkey for a Head, Bob, Sergeant Sludge and other wacky
bosses.
Graphics 9.5/10
The graphics here were the biggest draw of the game,
everything in this game was done to perfectly especially in
the graphical department. When this came out many considered
this next generation graphics and how things would look.
Maybe that was an over statement at the time but I have to
say this game did look pretty good. Especially the Jim
sprite he was well animated, and he looked great. I like the
way the bullets seemingly looked like they only went so far
but they actually could go to the edge of the screen. Shiny
sure pushed the Genesis to its limits in this one and the
graphics between this and EWJ2 aren't that different.
Sound 9.0/10
The music in this game was great as well. I particularly
like the opening theme, and how the guy said Earthworm Jim!!
Besides that the other game music was great like in What the
Heck? And Level 5, it sounded kind of futuristic and catchy.
The sound FX were great too, because it had Jim's voice,
which sounded pretty good. The gun shots sounded good too,
and some other goofy sound effects that played through out
the game, like Jim getting hit and he let out a little
scream. Some music though could have used a little work, and
some of it all though good was drowned out quite a bit by
the sounds.
Game Play 10/10
This game was for 1 player only. You were Jim and you had to
journey through 8 stages of craziness, and fun. You were
equipped with your head whip and trusty plasma blaster. You
also found one other weapon a mega plasma blaster that shot
a powerful shot that destroyed everything on the screen. You
also had moves that helped you get to places you needed to
go like head helicopter and the head whip to the hooks. You
had to fight bosses on each and every level unlike the
sequel where you only had a boss on two stages. You also
have a very fun side game that you can play. It is where you
ride your pocket rocket and try to beat Psycrow in a race
among the asteroid belt. If you lose however you and Psycrow
have a little scuffle on the nearest moon or planet. There
are some stages that are different than the others, and some
parts of the game where you control Jim without the suit.
The stage is where you have to fight Sergeant Sludge through
and there is a big mouth on the bottom of a snot pit ready
to eat you. You are budgie jumping from your head and so is
Sludge you have to keep shoulder ramming him. This stage
offers a lot of variety and it is also fun. The difficulty
through out the game is adjustable and their isn't save or
password feature. This game is pretty hard to beat in one
sit through their should have been one.
Overall 9.0/10
This is one of the few gems found on Genesis. Even though it
is for SNES as well, this one had an extra stage, which
maximized the fun and made the game a little harder to beat.
I have only one gripe there should have been some sort of
Jim sidekick this would have really made the game great,
even though it doesn't have this the game isn't all lost.
The replay value is high there are a few secrets in the game
and their worth finding like the hidden stage, which you
won't find on the first play through. This game has lasting
value as well you won't beat this in a weekend and its worth
the buy, because in my opinion this is one of the 16-bit
classics and it lives up to that right. If you seen the
cartoon bought the toys or had anything to do with this than
I highly suggest you buy the game that started it all.
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