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This year marks the Earthworm Jim series' 20th Guh-roovy Anniversary

Tizoc

Member
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Earthworm_Jim_2_%28EUR%29.PNG

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Raise your hand if you ever managed to beat these games as a kid.

Originally relased on August 2nd on the Gensis, it is a run n' gun platformer series with some hard gameplay reminsint of the era. You play as an Earthworm that got into a powersuit and must fight off aliens and various assortments of surreal or hellish creatures to save Princess Whatshername.

I only played the games sparsly, but seeing as they're on Steam (and GOG) I'll try to pick them up come the next sale.
It also had a cartoon series which got collected into DVD some years ago (in Australia I think?)

Speaking of which, what's the best ver. of the games? Genesis/SNES/PC, etc?

SGDQ 2014 Earthworm Jim speedrun
Cartoon intro
Hardcore Gaming 101 entry on the series
 

krYlon

Member
I feel so old.

Beat the first game on Mega Drive as a kid. Ending is hilarious. One of my all-time favourite platformers.
 

@MUWANdo

Banned
Earthworm Jim ports/versions: Windows 95 CD > Sega CD > Megadrive > SNES >>>>>>>>>>>> GBA.

MD has an extra level over SNES, Mega CD has an extra level and some other perks over MD, Windows 95 CD version has more colours than Mega CD.

(I haven't played the HD or DSiWare versions, so I don't know how they compare.)
 
I had 1 on SNES on release.. never beat it, so hard. I had no idea that was supposed to be a bad port.. I always thought it looked and played pretty great.
 

ElTopo

Banned
Easily the best mascot-centered/new franchise/cash grab title. It was made to launch a new toyline, a cartoon, merchandise and all this other shit but unlike every other mascot-focused (I don't know how else to describe it) title it's a genuinely great game. Rocket Knight excluded.

I still play the 1st game every now and then and it manages to hold up. Great setpieces, perfect controls, great sense of humor, has that 90's "Extreme" attitude but it's still fun.

The 2nd game was pretty good but had just too many gimmick levels and the puppy bonus stage just dragged and stopped being fun after the first time you finish it.

The N64 title was pretty bad. Not the worst game ever but the terrible camera and meh execution -literally copying every other 3D platformer that was out at the time- killed the franchise.
 
Played 1 and 2 on a friends Snes... I was facsinated by the design and animation. So much so I started drawing characters from that game and got pretty good at it.

There was a level where they used the moonshine sonata as background music, always loved that.

Will replay the hd version on steam one day, when I'm willing to spare the time.
 

chronosic

Member
This is the first game I ever bought with my own money when I was 7. Such great memories playing it with my brothers.
 

krYlon

Member
I had no idea the game was supposed to be that hard, I found it easier than most games on the Mega Drive, including the Sonics. Maybe it's because I was so addicted to it. It's very short at least.

The cartoon was also brilliant by the way and well worth watching.
 

ElTopo

Banned
I will admit that that 2nd Water level is quite a bitch. Easily the hardest level in the original game and when I beat it after hours of trying I was so psyched. The rest of the game isn't nearly as hard. The last level does have a few cheap spots though.

I think the last level in the 2nd game is probably the hardest level in the entire game.
 

Poona

Member
Kinda regret getting the versions on Steam. They seem to be some kind of dos versions, instead of windows.
 

@MUWANdo

Banned
Easily the best mascot-centered/new franchise/cash grab title. It was made to launch a new toyline, a cartoon, merchandise and all this other shit but unlike every other mascot-focused (I don't know how else to describe it) title it's a genuinely great game. Rocket Knight excluded.

Battletoads, son!

I had 1 on SNES on release.. never beat it, so hard. I had no idea that was supposed to be a bad port.. I always thought it looked and played pretty great.

It's not a bad port by any means, it's just missing content from the other versions and suffers from the lower screen resolution. There are a lot of unique backgrounds and such that are unique to the SNES version, too, but they're not necessarily better or worse than the originals.

Just steer clear of the GBA version and you'll be fine.
 
Remember having a pretty hard time with that glass domed submersible level. (haha, BGBW)

Loved both the first game and its sequel (played the SNES versions). Great games, really liked the action as well.
 

ElTopo

Banned
Battletoads, son!

I find it overrated. First game had a lot of good ideas just not great execution as the controls in all of the Battletoads games feel loose. The Double Dragon crossover title was probably the best one.

there was also a guest appearance in the PC version of Battle Arena Toshinden

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WTF? And here I thought someone was going to post footage and/or talk about his appearance in Clayfighter 63 1/3rd.
 

I Wanna Be The Guy

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
I demand a new game to celebrate this. It's a travesty that we haven't had an EWJ game since that god awful N64 game. Who has the EWJ license? It's pretty mind boggling that there hasn't even been a new downloadable game. People would buy the crap out of a new game. Kickstart it if necessary.
 

ElTopo

Banned
I demand a new game to celebrate this. It's a travesty that we haven't had an EWJ game since that god awful N64 game. Who has the EWJ license? It's pretty mind boggling that there hasn't even been a new downloadable game. People would buy the crap out of a new game. Kickstart it if necessary.

There was an HD remake of the original game released for XBLA/PSN that had a co-op mode and had the levels from the Sega CD version.
 
Never really got the hype for this franchise, except for the excellent character designs, I always felt the gameplay and level design was nothing special.
 

gelf

Member
Never really got the hype for this franchise, except for the excellent character designs, I always felt the gameplay and level design was nothing special.
I liked it at the time but yeah I don't enjoy it anymore going back like I do with other platformers of the era.

I have more nostalgia for the cartoon series then anything else
 

baphomet

Member
Game wasn't as hard as people are saying it was. It was much easier than most other games at the time. I remember really looking forward to it and getting the first on launch day for the genesis. My mom thought he was hilarious and it was one of the few games she would watch and talk about.
 
Playing the first game on the Mega Drive back when it was released is one of my favorite gaming memories.
I couldn't believe how good the animation was.
 

ElTopo

Banned
Andy Asteroids?

Andy Asteroids was fun and it was really short compared to the bonus stage in the 2nd game. You could beat the Andy Astroids level in just over a minute. Whereas the Puppy Bounce levels drag for 5-10 minutes or more depending on how much you fuck up and they just stop being fun after a while.
 
Also Donkey Kong Country. And Sonic & Knuckles. 1994 was just the best year ever for video games. :)

I wish gaming could be that exciting again. I wish there was a Donkey Kong Country 4, and Earthworm Jim 3, and some sort of *good* Sonic game being released this year. Sigh.
 

Reknoc

Member
Loved this games as a kid, completed Earthworm Jim 2 so many times (a bit too gimmicky for its own good) but man fuck Earthworm Jim 1, that shit was impossible. Even if by some miracle I did pass down the tubes I'd still end up failing at buttsville.

Fantastic music in both games as well
Anything but Tangerines
Lorenzo's Soil

MANTA!
 

I Wanna Be The Guy

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Also Donkey Kong Country. And Sonic & Knuckles. 1994 was just the best year ever for video games. :)

I wish gaming could be that exciting again. I wish there was a Donkey Kong Country 4, and Earthworm Jim 3, and some sort of *good* Sonic game being released this year. Sigh.
The best DKC game ever already came out this year. Sonic Boom looks pretty good to me, although admittedly it doesn't look much like a Sonic game. All we're missing is EWJ.
 
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