Earthworm Jim begins long crawl back to relevance
by Justin McElroy 
{ Apr 23rd 2008 at 8:30AM }
So far, plans reportedly include "an animated series and feature film to expand the well known brand" and, most importantly, Earthworm Jim 4 for unspecified consoles (which we sort of knew about already). As much as we'd like to be excited, after being strung along on Jim's hook for more than a decade, "cautiously optimistic" is the best we can muster.
[Via X3F]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
JAmerican @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:40AM
Wow Rockstar made the N64 Earthworm Jim game. LOL
(Click on the N64 Earthworm Jim 3D intro video)
da governator @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:40AM
I'm still waiting for Commander Keen and Jazz Jackrabbit to have new games.
Logic Bus @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:43AM
Interplay still exists?
Batzarro(A.K.A Rap-Rock Cameo) @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:46AM
Please be good...
TheFreak @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:47AM
He -is- the Pit of the annelid world, because Kid Icarus -IS- a good game! Fie on the nay-sayers!
Zoot Suit Jedi @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:09AM
Here, here. I what world is Kid Icarus not a good game?
arrrgh @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:25AM
SERIOUSLY
What the FUCK. Kid Icarus is an incredible game. -1 for Joystiq's shitstar taste
Justin McElroy @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:43AM
You guys know that I love you all like the children I hope to never have. But seriously, go back and play that jam fresh. Just try to play it.
It's mind numbing and zero fun. I promise. Hold on, I'm going to try to play it again right now.
Nope, it still blows.
samfish @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:51AM
Ooooh, oh oh! *I* see the problem. You can't read!
Yeah, you're playing XEXYZ, you silly goose! XEXYZ isn't Kid Icarus!
deaftly @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:56AM
Im with Justin, Kid Icarus sucking fucks.
Yourself @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:22AM
Kid Icarus makes you work your ass off for upgrades then laughs in your face by not activating them until the next world. And then those stupid goblin things steal them each time they hit you. And then Eggplant Wizards.
People always credit NES games as some of the most difficult, citing Mega Man and Ninja Gaiden. Those games were fun because they made you develop skill and get better so that winning was satisfying. Kid Icarus is an excellent example of an NES game that is hard in all the wrong ways. You play levels over and over again, just praying not to slip up at those one or two "YOU SUCK" moments.
samfish @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:28AM
"Ninja Gaiden"
Ninja Gaiden is the perfect example of a game that's cheap and hard in all the wrong ways. It has crappy level design and cheap, cheap enemy placement.
How many times in that game do you try to jump on a ledge only to have an enemy jump out at you at the last second and when you retreat, they go back off-screen so you can't hit them? THAT is the definition of cheap.
Kid Icarus is hard in the sense that Ikaruga is hard. You pretty much just have to memorize the levels and know when to shoot.
Yourself @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:13PM
The way to play Ninja Gaiden is not to stop. The same way you play Mario. If you wait before every jump and look, stuff is going to screw you. It's NOT like Ikaruga, it's like shooters that are actually good. You need twitch skill.
Sounds really arrogant and self-congratulatory, but whatever. I hate memorization games.
TheFreak @ Apr 23rd 2008 3:26PM
And to answer MceElroy's comment, I played Kid Icarus as recently as last week and had no trouble beating it.
How is it that people can have an opinion about this game and not say squat about the original Legend Of Zelda? You try going into THAT game without a strategy guide or manual and you'll be LOST! LOOOOST!
Not that I'm saying Zelda's a bad game, either. But you can't complain about the challenge of one game without complaining about about the challenge of the other. LOOOOOOOST!
SinHarvest @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:54AM
Earth Worm Jim the latest character in the new Super Smash Brothers 4.
Or so i dream sometimes.
Batzarro(A.K.A Rap-Rock Cameo) @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:01AM
Jim's already been in a better fighting game...
Zertoss @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:26AM
I wouldn't call Clayfighter 63 1/3 better than Smash Bros.
DemonGSides @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:40AM
I would, and so would most others, since its an actual fighting game. SSBetc are more or less fighting based party games.
They are awesome, yes, but I don't consider them 'fighting games' in the same genre.
Plus, Clayfighter? Pure fucking awesome.
Fatass of Kickassness @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:46AM
Better fighting game? Yeah, sure, I can agree with that, since SSB isn't really a fighter as much as a beat 'em up.
Better game period? Hells naw
Zertoss @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:47AM
You do bring up a good point about them not really being the same genre.
PojoMofo @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:57AM
Clayfighter was pretty cool back in the day, better than KI, and certainly better than Primal Fear.
Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:00AM
Anyone hyping Clayfighters needs to go back and play it. It had the art gimmick and, well, that was it. Because the hit detection was shit, combo system was ass, and it played just like every other "me too" fighting game from back then.
Now if we were talking about Weaponlord....
arrrgh @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:27AM
to all the kids who are fondly remembering clayfighter. please go back and play it. that game sucked ass. that is all
PojoMofo @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:37AM
I will admit, it has been a LOOOONG time since I played clayfighter, so the nostalgia is a big part of it.
DemonGSides @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:40AM
busting out instant kill combo's wasn't fun? Bullshit.
samfish @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:53AM
samfish agrees that Clayfighter does indeed suck.
Rise Of The Robots, however...
Nigeria - MK: 0430-8491-9123 @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:11AM
But aren't you-all basing your arguments on the idea that the 64 had any worthwhile fighters?
There were no good fighting games on the 64.
DangerMouse @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:24AM
CLayfighter wasn't really better than anything...except maybe Rise of the Robots.
A Pissed-off English Gamer @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:39AM
SSB isn't a traditional fighter, but it's still a fighter. You pick a character and you fight, how much more do you want to go into detail into what actually constitutes a fighting game?
Poisoned Al @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:54AM
The EWJ cartoon was possibly the only Saturday morning video game tie-in that was any good, and I contribute that to he set of characters the game had (I mean it's hard to go wrong with "Professor monkey-for-a-head")and anyone who remembers the first games still pine for them for the same reasons.
Zertoss @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:00AM
New animated series - DO WANT
Feature file - DO WANT
Earthworm Jim 4 - DO WANT
They sure know how to make a Jim fan happy.
Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:01AM
God I loved that game when I was a teen lad. It was actually what started me on the path to computer art. I still have a few sketchbooks filled with nothing but Jim expressions...
Zertoss @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:43AM
Hey, I've got notebooks from junior high full of Jim expressions. I've doodled his face during just about every class I've ever taken since he was created. I've never been good at drawing his suit though.
I've never been inspired to go any farther than just doodling though.
Sir Fidlious Wong (Zeon Defense Force) @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:54AM
I have that issue as well. Getting the dramatic upper body with the barely existant lower body was a bitch. All the other characters, including the Queen, was much easier to do than Jim's odd, odd, odd body. I got better though, eventually.
FOXHOUND @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:01AM
I actually wouldn't mind a 2D 3D-ish background(similar to recent KOF games or STRIDER2)style EWJ adventure game at all... especially since EWJ's attempt at going 3D was the same, if not worse, than SONIC.
John @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:23AM
I liked kid icarus, but I nevr play it on the VC. I think people have such a high opinion of it because it was so FUCKING hard that beating it was almost a real sense of accomplishment.
I know you people will return with "it wasn't that hard, you just suck", but that fucker was hard. Stupid pattern flying shit and a password save system.
KeenCommander @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:25AM
Let the poor man, err...worm, die in peace for goodness sake. At least they're not making a sequel for WiiWare.
Fatass of Kickassness @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:23AM
Why not? WiiWare's been looking pretty nice as of late, especially since Gyrostarr's been announced.
el serpiente @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:11AM
I'm pumped for Major League Eating.
Fatass of Kickassness @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:50PM
You're lucky I'm against the List Wars.
Yourself @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:40AM
Nice call on Kid Icarus, I hate it when people act like that game is God just because they haven't played it in 20 years. Though it's hard to say whether I'd prefer a sequel to that or Earthworm Jim, because would either have anything gameplay-wise in common with the original?
Lonecow @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:23AM
Actually I never played Kid Icarus as a... kid and all the people recently wanting a new version upset me too, but I actually played it and it is a good game, despite its faults. Moving upward in a level instead of left and right was really unique and you still don't see that game play today. Plus if you upgrade your character you are a badass by the end of the game. Kind of like the new Ninja Gaiden.
I suggest you go back and play it with a Retro mindset. I know you hate Nintendo fanboys, but give it a try before you become a hater.
Yourself @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:18AM
You seem to have strangely misjudged me. I neither hate Nintendo fanboys nor deny that I am one. I own a Wii, I own Kid Icarus as one of my over 30 VC games, because I play games almost exclusively with a "Retro mindset". The game is boring, unnecessarily difficult in all the wrong ways (uh, Eggplant Wizards? Enemies that steal your items?), and its only real redeeming quality is upgrades, which are almost nullified in coolness by the how long they take to activate.
It's funny that you mention Ninja Gaiden, because that is an amazing NES game with just as much upward scrolling as Kid Icarus (or at least NG3 has upward scrolling), but also manages to be fun.
Michael K. @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:57AM
oh man, that brings back memory's of my childhood, I loved earthworm jim
PojoMofo @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:59AM
Maybe it was my age, but I remember EWJ being a freaking hard game. I hope it stays to its platform roots. I am also holding out hope for a guest apperance by Boogerman
skullivan @ Apr 26th 2008 1:51AM
Kid Icarus was a good game, I just don't think it was unique enough to continue as a franchise. Pit was never as cool a character as Link, Samus, or Mario,
I loved the original game (and the GB sequel) but I don't understand people who want Nintendo to bring it back as a 3D game. If they were going to revive it at all I'd much rather see it get a 2D WiiWare version that would essentially be the SNES version we never got.
Schweppes7T4 @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:18AM
this is freaking crazy... i was just thinking about how there needs to be a new earthworm jim game. talking to a friend about really hard oldschool games and remembering that damn submarine level in the first one.
samfish @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:48AM
I'm sorry, did you just shit on Kid Icarus? You have terrible, terrible taste, McElroy. That's one of the few NES games that still holds up today. It's probably just too hard for your vagina ass!
Anyway, a certain Joystiq writers lack of good taste aside, YAY! This is potentially the best news we'll hear all week!
Bluebreaker @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:01AM
Kid Icarus, I played it then, played it now. Still good. Like all games the only opinion that really matters is the one playing it. :)
Mr.ESC @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:22AM
I really really want that PSP port of the original in 2D.5