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Earthworm Jim Game Review

Earthworm Jim is a 1994 run and gun platform video game developed by Shiny Entertainment for Sega Genesis among other platforms. It’s an underrated gem that should be considered a classic.

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“Groovy!“

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This game was and still continues to be well received. It also got a couple of sequels and even a television show. With that being said, more praise should be directed toward this game for everything that it did right and for how damn creative it is. It should have gotten a bigger franchise and it should be regarded as one of the best Sega Genesis games.

Jim is a normal earthworm until a special “super suit” falls from the sky and allows him to operate much like a human, with his worm body acting as a head and the suit acting as a body. He has to rescue a princess and when he does at the end of the game, she is crushed by a cow in a gloriously dark and funny turn of events. And that is this game in a nutshell – edgy, bitingly witty and immensely unique. The plot is simple, but just the idea of this worm being anthropomorphized was delightfully cartoony and entertaining.

Speaking of cartoony, the game has a visual style that is very much reminiscent of animation. In fact, it’s one of the best animated games of all time as it looks bloody phenomenal. As a big fan of animation, I had a blast playing this game and observing every single detail on screen – the world building is so good, the attention to detail evidently high and the game is highly versatile in each level in terms of imagery. It has a colorful, bright aesthetic that is well contrasted with some darker imagery, violence and goofy slapstick humor.

A lot can be said about its brilliant soundtrack too. It’s very funky, strange and featuring a mix of rock and country tunes that made it very unique and different from other games from this period. The sound is fantastic and very memorable, especially the protagonist’s yelps. The level design is often immensely strong, though unforgiving too. I loved the voice acting and I wished to have heard more of it. The game has just the right length to it, it has no bugs to speak of and the versatility of its level design and scenery made it a treat to play throughout.

I would call Earthworm Jim a 2D side-scrolling platformer first and foremost. The run and gun elements are definitely included, but are not primary. He can use the gun and that is a much stronger weapon of choice, but the gun can also be depleted and if you do not get enough bullets, you need to uses the whip, which is way too clunky and weak as this weapon that looks cool, but should have been much better utilized overall. Using it as a grappling hook felt reminiscent of ‘Castlevania’ and this is where it was best utilized, but even there I found it difficult to use at times as the controls on this game are not of the most intuitive variety.

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So yes, the controls should have been better handled. The game is also immensely difficult, at times even unforgiving in enemy placement in particular. But as a hardcore platformer fan, I quickly got used to this difficulty, so I ended up beating the game successfully and enjoying it quite a bit in the process. The bosses have these hilariously silly names and they aren’t too hard, faring easier than the levels themselves. They’re fun for sure. There is also this unique racing level included after every of the game’s main levels – it functions as a shooter level with no shooting. If you beat your opponent, you progress to the next level. If you lose, you have to defeat him in a boss battle. It’s a solid addition to the game for sure.

Let’s talk about the levels. Earthworm Jim has seven levels in my count, but you can also count the asteroid levels and other smaller levels and bosses, so this number can be easily disputed. New Junk City is the beginning level and it’s one of the easiest ones. I still couldn’t beat it as a kid, but as an adult I finished it quite easily. It’s labyrinthine as most of these levels are as the game has you going back and forth, up and down all the time. It’s very well designed.

What the Heck? is a fire level that is similar to the first one, but much more demanding. It’s very well designed, but at times I couldn’t quite discern on which platforms I could or couldn’t jump. Down the Tubes is by far one of the game’s hardest levels. It includes riding mice, which was so much fun, going through these long tubes, which was cool, and operating this submarine, which wasn’t fun at all. Controlling it was very difficult and it’s that type of platforming level that is timed, so you have to carefully choose between being fast but risking to destroy your vehicle on the rocks or being slower but risking to not arrive on time. Needless to say, when I finally finished this section I felt relieved.

Snot a Problem is this huge boss level that functions as a bungee jumping activity where you also fight a boss while in the air. You have to avoid his attacks while having to crush him on the surrounding rocks. While this level was quite unique, I have to say that it was very hard for me to beat, being by far my biggest pain playing this game. Level 5 has a lot of shooting in it and it’s fun, but on the more forgettable side of things.

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For Pete’s Sake is easily my favorite level in the entire game. In it, you have to not only get from point A to point B in a rare linear lineout, but you also have to guide your minion, which is this small pink doglike alien. You hit him with your whip and he jumps from one platform to another. If you don’t do that, he becomes a monster and brings you back to an earlier point in the level. It’s the rare level that isn’t too difficult, but is just damn enjoyable in aesthetics and authentic gameplay mechanics. Buttville is the final level where you enter a butt for some reason. It is grotesque and silly in its visuals. It has its very demanding sections, but at least the final boss was surprisingly not all that difficult.