PixlBit

Searching for the galaxy's grooviest hero.

I don’t know about you all, but I’m not sure I’ve ever been so glad that it’s Friday.  It’s been a long week, I must admit, but now that we’re at the end of it I get to spend some time writing my favorite bi-weekly column.  That’s right kiddies; it’s time for another exciting installment of Missing in Action!

For those of you unfamiliar with my weekly staple, let me give you the rundown on how MIA works.  MIA is a weekly column where I pick out a game or franchise of old, dust it off and present it for a possible current generation entry.

To qualify for the MIA treatment the game or franchise cannot have appeared on any of the current generation consoles, nor can a new title be currently in development, though unconfirmed rumors and speculation are certainly alright.  The title or franchise must also be well served by a current generation entry.  There’s a reason you won’t see Voodoo Vince here anytime soon.

This week I present for your consideration, Earthworm Jim!

Before I start, let me head off any arguments that this game shouldn’t be featured because a 4th title is in development.  That particular title was only rumored and plans of development were cancelled earlier this year.  The same goes for the doomed PSP title that was supposed to come out in 2006.

Now on to the show!

Earthworm Jim made his initial splash in 1994 on the Sega Genesis during the golden era of platformers (it was later ported to the SNES, Game Boy, Master System and even the Game Boy Advance).  The story follows an ordinary earthworm named Jim, who happened to have the luck of an “Ultra-high-tech-indestructible-super-space-cyber-suit” fall on his head while he was evading a particularly pervasive crow.  The suit happened to fall from the sky when Psy-Crow was engaged in a space battle with an unknown character who had presumably stolen it.

Somehow Jim is able to don the suit, which gives him the powers to become the earthworm superhero we know today.  Then the game starts.

There is a lot more to the story, but hardly any of it is actually purveyed through the game itself.  This is one of those games that if you didn’t read the manual, you would have no idea why Jim is doing what he’s doing.  To keep it short, he’s trying to save Princes What’s-Her-Name from her evil sister Queen Slug-for-a-Butt.

Let’s be honest, we didn’t love Earthworm Jim because of the story.  We loved it for its wacky sense of humor, colorful cast of characters, solid game mechanics (for the time) and insane level of difficulty.  To elaborate on that last part, when Earthworm Jim HD was released on the PSN and XBLA it came with four difficulty settings: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Original.  That’s right; Earthworm Jim was certainly not for the faint of heart.  I myself have tossed more than my fair share of controllers down in frustration due to this game.

Earthworm Jim was quite well received, winning Best Genesis Game of 1994 by Electronic Gaming Monthly among other accolades and solid sales.  This, of course, lead to the inevitable sequel, Earthworm Jim 2 that was released a year later on the Genesis, Sega Saturn, Playstation, SNES, and even the PC.

While the first game is fantastic in its own right, the sequel is often seen as the best in the series.  Retaining the same core mechanics and trademark humor of the original, the sequel added odd twists to levels that forced the player to adapt to unique gameplay mechanics on each stage –- such as a level when Jim is forced to wear a salamander suit to get through someone’s intestinal track.

Again, the title was successful and another sequel was planned.  Unfortunately, this is where the franchise lost its way.  Released in 1999, the third entry in the series fell victim to the trends of the time and was made in ‘glorious’ 3D.  Some of you may not remember this, but the late 90s were filled with ugly, generic 3D platformers and Earthworm Jim 3D on the Nintendo 64 was one of the worst amongst the group.

Due to the limitations of the technology, Earthworm Jim’s unique aesthetic and humor were lost in the bland polygons and crappy controls.  This was a game that was never meant for the 3D world, yet was forced there by studio demands that wanted to keep up with current trends.  Earthworm Jim 3D was a flop on all counts and aside from a Game Boy Color game that came out the same year (Earthworm Jim: Menace 2 the Galaxy) we haven’t seen a new title since.

Bringing Earthworm Jim to the new generation would be very simple, and in a way he already has.  As I mentioned earlier, last year an HD version of the original game was released on the PSN and XBLA.  It’s amazing how well the game holds up today and the oddball sense of humor still makes me laugh.  Really, what this franchise needs is a return to these 2D roots and some polish in the same fashion that Rayman Origins is getting.

One of the best things to be shown off at E3 this year was Rayman’s newest title which sports some of the most gorgeous visuals I have ever seen in a video game.  The mechanics are simple but solid, and it supports co-op.  Really, Earthworm Jim needs to be given the same treatment.  I’m not going to pontificate on extra features the game needs, because the foundation is already there.  What the series needs is a return to form.  Now that the industry has realized that not all games need to work in a 3D space, we can perfect the 2D side scrolling goodness that Earthworm Jim gave us all those years ago.

If Earthworm Jim 4 ever resumes development, I hope that the folks at Shiny take into consideration what made the games so great in the first place.  The pieces are all there, they just need to be put into place.