Having enjoyed the first two games and the cartoon as a kid, I excitedly rented this from Blockbuster, expecting another fun, wacky game. Instead, I was introduced to a disappointing and unsuccessful attempt for Earthworm Jim to shift from 2D to 3D. And if it weren't for a delayed production and the game being designed by VIS Interactive instead of Shiny Entertainment, this game could have been much better.
Jim is crushed by a falling cow and rendered comatose at a hospital. His brain then releases his super-ego, which enters depths of his brain to save himself from falling into total madness. The game takes place entirely inside Jim's mind, which is divided into four different sections: memories, happiness, fear, and fantasy. Jim's main objective is to gather golden udders and green marbles to restore his sanity. Any gamer who grew up in the 90's can see the games formula is similar to collecting coins and power stars in Super Mario 64 and Jiggys and notes in Banjo Kazooie.
Earthworm Jim 1 and 2 on the Sega Genesis were remarkable for their bizarre and surreal imagery and humor. But here, the weirdness is toned down and felt lukewarm and unimpressive compared to the previous games. Making matters worse, there was a large amount of content planned for the game that was cut from the final product that could have improved it, like operating vehicles.
The gameplay was a mix of third person shooting and a collectathon, which wouldn't be bad if not for one major flaw that I'll get to. You control Jim across 15 levels, running, jumping, hovering, and fighting enemies with an arsenal of wacky weapons like Jim's standard blaster, a meat cleaver launcher, laser gun, and an old-fashioned six-shooter.
Being strongly based off of the animated series, the sound effects were endearingly goofy and cartoonish. Plus, the voice acting from legendary voice actors, Jim Castellaneta, Charlie Adler, and Jim Cummings reprising their roles from the cartoon was a nice touch. Hearing Jim deliver quips and one-liners were definitely worth a chuckle. The music was just as wacky, like Coop D'etats acoustic guitar strums and the accordion voices in Are you Hungry Tonite?
The graphics and animation were passable. The framerate was jerky, and the character models looked rough and unpolished. You can barely make out Jim's mouth. Most of the level designs were poorly textured and had few details.
The controls for Jim were okay, but I CAN'T say the same about the horrible camera, which ruined the game for plenty of players. The camera is total pain as you have to constantly turn it to see where you're going. You can't even move it up and down. It was even worse in the PC version.
But the worst part of all are the boss battles. Instead of conventional platformer fights, Jim uses a pig as a surfboard to engage his enemies in a marble collecting match. Whose idea was that? The pig handles like a car with four flat tires and the already flawed camera make these boss battles teeth-grindingly hard. For me, this was the final straw, and I quit playing.
Even hardcore Earthworm Jim fans found this difficult to enjoy, and consequently the franchise remains all but dead to this day.
