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It’s also nice to see some effort being made in extending the experience from the original game. There are more ideas in one level of Jim than there are in most modern franchises, and all the zany ideas on display still go down well today. What’s even more impressive is the fact that the original was released so long ago. The level design and boss fights especially are quite varied as well, from a mission that involves defending an AI partner, (the infamous Peter Puppy for those in the know) to a boss fight that sees you beating a giant snot ball tied to a bungie jump chord. Any game that warns that the first boss will vomit fish at you if you anger him is a success in my book. If you’ve never had the pleasure of launching the cow, then stop reading and buy it now as you’re a deprived individual who must make up for lost time.īack in the days when anthropomorphic protagonists were inĮverything in this game defies, and makes fun of, platform conventions of the time, from the enemies and weapons, to the levels themselves.
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Instead Jim has always been renowned for its absurd and surreal sense of humour, that still holds up to this day. That’s really all you need to know as Earthworm Jim is not a game based on an intricate story and narrative. It could be more easily summarised as go to the right side of the screen. A loose plot follows with Jim trying to defeat the evil queen slug-for-a-butt in order to save the beautiful princess what’s her name. Our hero comes in the form of a regular earthworm (called Jim surprisingly) who finds himself endowed with super strength and a handy plasma blaster when an experimental super suit falls on top of him from outer space. This HD remake is the most recent release since then, but is a reboot enough to renew faith in the franchise? Then after a successful sequel that built on the existing formula, we were subjected to the uninspired mediocrity of Earthworm Jim 3D A game that seemed to just rip-off every other 3D platformer out there and fell flat because of it.
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That game was Earthworm Jim, a title that had its own distinct flavour and brand of humour that helped set it apart from the rest of the crowd. Back in the mid-90s a little known 2D platformer housed those searching for a little something outside the realms of Sonic and Mario.
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