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Earthworm Jim Review for Nintendo DSi

Earthworm Jim Review for Nintendo DSi

Same Old Can of Worms

Back in the 16-bit days, when 2D platformers were as abundant as first-person shooters are today, it could often be easy for a quality platformer to get lost in the shuffle with the rest of the generic side-scrolling contenders. Even so, it was at this time that Earthworm Jim crawled its way onto the Genesis and Super Nintendo, and with a combination of its impressive graphics and animation, varied and entertaining gameplay, and ridiculous characters and objectives it managed to garner the attention of critics and gamers alike.

Earthworm Jim screenshot

Unfortunately, while I was also a huge fan of Earthworm Jim when it came out, even my impossible to ignore nostalgic feelings for this title still aren’t enough to overshadow some of the issues in this DSiWare version that shows almost every bit of its nearly decade and a half age.

For anyone who has never come into contact with any of the Earthworm Jim titles, the original is a game that stars an ordinary earthworm who winds up controlling an advanced spacesuit after it drops on him from outer space. After losing the spacesuit, its owner, Queen Pulsating, Bloated, Festering, Sweaty, Pus-Filled, Malformed, Slug-for-a-Butt (seriously, this is the character’s actual name) and her crony Psy-Crow understandably attempt to retrieve their property. As Jim laid hidden within the suit’s neck hole while being mutated into his much larger and more intelligent form, he managed to overhear their conversation that involved an evil scheme to conquer the galaxy and plans for the Queen’s sister, Princess-What’s-Her Name. After fully mutating into a hero and with the use of his new suit and abilities, Jim becomes determined to take on the Queen and her lackeys in order to save the Princess and the galaxy as a whole.

With these types of ridiculous storyline and character names, one would rightfully assume that this game certainly isn’t trying to take itself seriously. In fact, what I find to be one of the funnier aspects of this title is that you’ll only learn of this storyline if you seek it out outside of the game. There is virtually no mention of Jim’s motivations or even his goal to be found throughout the adventure. This means that if you just decide to randomly pick up this title and give it a go, it’ll just feel like a cluster of disjointed and nonsensical levels being sometimes only very loosely strung together with a few recurring characters.

Earthworm Jim screenshot

Thankfully, much of the humor found within this classic title is still at least mildly amusing today. Everything from the cow launch that occurs early in your adventure to the dreaded boss fight with Bob the Killer Goldfish later on, which only requires you to make contact with his fishbowl in order to knock it from a stand and leave Bob flopping on the ground, still result in some genuine chuckles. Further lending to this game’s ability to tickle your funny bone are its decent, but not great, animation and its cartoony sound effects. Jim himself, as well as some of the more important characters in the game, all have at least a few comical animations. For instance, if you simply take your hands off of the D-pad and buttons Jim will flex, hit himself in the head while tossing his machine gun, jump rope using his worm body, and perform several other humorous idle animations as well.

While memory size was always a limiting factor when making 16-bit cartridge games, the sound in Earthworm Jim was impressive for its day. You certainly won’t find any orchestral scores or extensive voice work here, but what’s there is a perfect fit for this title. Everything from the shots fired from Jim’s trusty machine gun to the crack of his earthworm body being used as a whip sound just like you’d expect. Then there are the real audio gems such as the music in the “What the Heck?” level, the sound a garbage man makes when belching up dead fish, and the screech of Psy-Crow when he’s run into during races. Even with the game’s relatively small file size, you’ll even be treated to a few grainy bits of dialogue from Jim himself as he shouts things like “Plasma” when he grabs a weapon power-up and “Whoa Nelly” as he gets a burst of speed while piloting his rocket.

Earthworm Jim screenshot

Of course, these are the good things about this title that anyone who has played Earthworm Jim before would point to as the highlights of this classic title. However, there are some issues that keep this from being a completely delightful romp down memory lane. First off, this version of Earthworm Jim has been referred to as a remake of the 16-bit title, when in fact it is very close to being an exact port of the game. If you’ve played this title before, this will be nearly the exact same experience you’ve already likely had many times. The graphics, sound, levels, gameplay, etc. all seem to be directly ported from the original version of the game.

Sadly, the only new addition to this title is a face-off mini-game that has been shoehorned into all of the game’s on-foot levels. During each level you’ll come upon a comically oversized camera beside a picture of two cows with their heads cut out. Pressing the X button near these cameras will activate a mini-game where you’ll need to maneuver the DSi such that your face appears alongside Jim’s and fits well into a very small on-screen frame. Jim will then make a face, such as smiling or opening his mouth in astonishment, and then you’ll need to mimic it within a time limit.

Earthworm Jim screenshot

Sure, this can be mildly amusing the first, and perhaps second, time you do it but it quickly grows tiresome due to the lack of variety in faces (only saw three or four total), some issues with the facial recognition that will require you to retry several times before succeeding, and lack of incentive to participate. After successfully completing this mini-game, you’re only given a few extra plasma shots, which really aren’t very essential to making it through the game.

Speaking of lack of variety, while there are several off-the-wall things to do throughout the course of the game such as fighting a glob of mucus while bungee jumping and racing through space against Psy-Crow on the back of a giant rocket, they are often heavily reused. For instance, you’ll do battle with the mucus three times in a row and race Psy-Crow five to ten times throughout the course of the game. While this may have been understandable fifteen years ago due to limited cart sizes, why are we still being forced to do the same few things multiple times when something new and different could have been added to help tone down this repetition? The simple answer: this is actually just a port of the game and not a remake.

Again, being almost a direct port of the 16-bit original, Earthworm Jim on the DSi is also a great reminder of just how far game design has advanced since the “good old days.” Checkpoints are often few and far between, making getting through some of the game’s more difficult levels more of a test of your patience than your skill. A good example of this is the “For Pete’s Sake” level. Here you are tasked with following a puppy and using your machine gun to keep enemies away from him while also using your head whip to launch him over pits and obstacles. If he gets too injured or falls, he will become enraged, transform, and pull you kicking and screaming backwards through the level, forcing you to try the segment over again. Often this can mean backtracking through the same extremely long scenarios again and again just hoping to make it to the end so you won’t have to keep replaying the same failures until you run out of lives.

Besides the DSi screen being a little too small to give you a perfect view of your immediate surroundings at all times and the tacked on face-off mini-games, this is the same Earthworm Jim we’ve been playing on countless systems over the course of the last decade and a half. At five dollars this title isn’t a terrible proposition, as it is one of the best action platforming games of the 16-bit era. Of course, if you’re looking for something newer or more modern out of this release, you’ll surely be disappointed. But in the end, if you just want a portable version of Earthworm Jim, or are a complete newcomer to the series who doesn’t mind some older game design frustrations, this is definitely a faithful port at a decent price.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.5 Graphics
While the graphics are fairly dated, they do hold up surprisingly well. 3.6 Control
Besides some hit detection issues when using Jim’s body as a whip, everything else feels pretty solid. 3.4 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
This title sounds exactly like the fifteen year old original, which is good for purists but not necessarily for fans hoping for an update. 3.3

Play Value
If you’ve played Earthworm Jim before there’s really nothing new here besides a tacked-on and repetitive camera mini-game. Still, the action platforming core of the game is enjoyable while it lasts.

3.5 Overall Rating – Good
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Play as the grooviest earthworm in the galaxy.
  • Run, gun, swing from hooks with your head, launch cows, bungee jump, rocket through speed levels and more, in a dozen crazy universes that offer huge gameplay possibilities.
  • Earn bonuses with facial-expression-based challenges that track your face using the inner camera. Put on a smile, frown or make a variety of other faces to mimic Jim.

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