Heh. You're right. I was too stoned to see that I could still eat their pieces while they were orange. It's when they fade to blue/go deeper down to avoid you that you can't touch them.
The game's a pretty smart design in psychological/visual understanding. I love all of the subtle cues for the player, such as the radar pings to let you know where you can ascend/descend are in relation to your current position. The way you attack enemies and the Serpentine-style segment growth and fill-in of the worms, both yours and theirs. The ability to see across levels is pretty cool, too....giving you an understanding of what to expect. And the music reminds me of Ecco on the Genny...soothing, whale song-sounding stuff. Good shit to play while stoned, I say.