It also didn’t help that games like Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie existed to compare Jim 3D to. Meanwhile, the Nintendo 64/PC exclusive Earthworm Jim 3D could be considered half-decent at best, but nowhere near the highs the series had become known for. It got mediocre reviews, and that was basically the end of that. There was this one guy who always wanted to sell people on the game, but few really bit. I remember the game had its fans, especially in the FuncoLand where I worked. Shiny shifted their focus to a game called Wild 9, which never really caught on the way Jim did. Shiny Entertainment, the company responsible for the first 2 Jim games, was sold to Interplay, and with that transition came some not so great decisions about the Earthworm Jim brand. Where Earthworm Jim was once lauded as the next immortal video game mascot character alongside Mario and Sonic, companies being sold and transitions to 3D put Jim in a very bad way. Though it arguably took its weirdness levels a step too far (The Villi People stage is just… weird…) it was a blast to play.Īnd then the dark ages began. Earthworm Jim 2 was a critical and commercial success, and deservedly so. These gripes weren’t enough to ruin the game, though. Jim once again rode his rocket that he conveniently keeps in his pocket, but this time it was in a strange ¾ perspective stage that played sort of like a less fun version of Zaxxon. The second level had you using your gun to dig tunnels in a sort of giant ant colony place, with some very strange dirt physics that never looked or worked quite as smoothly as you would want, but were also pretty ahead of their time. EWJ2 continued that trend, just to an arguably less successful extent. Then you’re piloting an extremely fragile submarine. Then you’re bungee jumping against Major Mucus. Then you’re racing against Ps圜row in space. In EWJ1, one stage is built around traditional run and gun platforming. It took a similar approach to level design as the first game, which is to say each stage almost plays out like its own sort of smaller game. Video game characters didn’t get a ton of merch like they do today, so getting to see Bob the Killer Goldfish and his giant cat dude in action figure form was quite a treat for video game nuts like me back in the 90s.īack to the games, Earthworm Jim 2 was an excellent follow-up to the original, albeit a little weird, and that’s saying something considering the franchise we’re talking about. (The Camden Aquarium really is a nice place.) There was also a line of action figures from Playmates, which were something of a rarity back in those days. As a New Jersey resident, the recurring joke about the really nice aquarium that was built in a not so nice town to boost tourism was always good for a chuckle. It even starred Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson as Earthworm Jim himself. There was a cartoon on Kids WB wherein the cast of characters from the game go on wacky adventures. It’s a classic 16-bit game that holds up mostly well today.īy the time Earthworm Jim 2 arrived on the scene, Jim had become a bit of a multimedia star. The game is littered with secret areas and hidden pathways, good-feeling controls, and the action is genuinely fun to play. But what really made it work was the fact that it didn’t just have great graphics and awesome music, it was pretty darn fun to play, too. It even included a game-long gag that started at the beginning of level 1 where you launch a cow into the air for seemingly no reason, only to have said cow land to hilarious effect in the game’s ending sequence. Level 2, called What the Heck, took place in “Heck” which is ruled by Evil the Cat (because cats are evil) and is filled with lawyers and elevator music. Humorous gimmicks aside, the game was legitimately funny. The game’s schtick was centered around that kind of irreverence which was especially popular at the time with cartoons like Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs. Sega Genesis and Super NES owners were introduced to the completely bananas world of Jim, a humble earthworm who had a super suit dropped on his head, which he then inhabited and became a sort of space faring superhero, out to rescue Princess What’s-her-name from the evil Queen Pulsating, Bloated, Festering, Sweaty, Pus-filled, Malformed Slug-For-A-Butt. When the first Earthworm Jim title hit in 1994, it blew up like crazy. The Intellivision Amico sure has been an interesting ride so far, hasn’t it? And now the plot further thickens with the announcement of its first exclusive game, a brand new installment in the Earthworm Jim franchise, from the original creators, no less! But is a new Earthworm Jim enough to put Amico on the map?
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