Replaying: Earthworm Jim

This is my copy of Earthworm Jim, one of my absolute favorite Sega games. I've been replaying it a little bit recently, and I wanted to talk about my nostalgia. Before that though, let us climb into the way back machine, and remember the 1994 release of Earthworm Jim.

This game was the shit. The mid 90's had a sub-genre of cartoon characters whose comedy was based on all things disgusting, such as Ren and Stimpy, and Beavis and Butthead. 16-bit video games followed suit with games like Toejam and Earl, Boogerman, and of course, Earthworm Jim. This game was gross for sure, but it also had a delightful random sort of humor, such as launching cows off of see-saws, using your head as a whip, and dogs attaching themselves to your ass.

The downside is that the game is really fucking hard. I beat it only once, and that was after hours and hours of single sitting repetition. Enemies don't recoil when you shoot or hit them, they just beeline towards you through your flurry of bullets. This makes for some very frustrating deaths, and some irritating enemy swarms.  There are also some jumps that require some serious precision, and missing them can drop you to the beginning of the level, or down to a pack of dogs that rip you apart. Also, the very first boss is easily the hardest in the entire game, which is a brilliant way to demoralize children.

Aside from the difficulty, Earthworm Jim is a top-notch adventure. Its hilarious and weird, with some levels that are incredibly unique. This game gives an experience that you won't find anywhere else. So, of course I ate it up, and the cartoon, and the toys, and the sequel, and the shitty N64 poop mess. I was a fanatic, incorporating Earthworm Jim into my already crowded Ninja Turtles/Power Rangers/Street Sharks/Zelda/ obsession.

The brand new Earthworm Jim HD!!! It's about fucking time

Replaying it now, it unfortunately suffers from the all too common old game curse. I don't have anywhere near the patience anymore that is required to make significant progress in the game, I couldn't even beat the first level until the 25th try. My skills aren't as sharp as they used to be, and I challenge anyone who hasn't played Sega in a while to jump back in and be able to diagonal shoot accurately. Maybe I don't miss the game itself so much, but the feeling I had playing it for the first time. Nostalgia is a bitch.