New Earthworm Jim less new than expected: it's a remake

by JC Fletcher on Aug 19th 2009 10:00AM

Sega recently announced that due to a licensing issue with Interplay (a result of the newly announced Gameloft/Interplay Earthworm Jim game), Earthworm Jim would no longer be an option for a new Genesis XBLA game. The company then removed what was at that point the clear winner from its XBLA poll.

Why would a new Earthworm Jim prevent the release of an old one? Because the new one, G4TV's The Feed reports, is a remake and not an original game. That means it isn't the Earthworm Jim 4 announced last year, and that the same game will be available on both Virtual Console (the Genesis version was released on VC in October) and WiiWare.

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Tags: earthworm-jim, gameloft, interplay, Microsoft, Nintendo, psn, remake, Wii, wiiware, xbla, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (50)

Not as epic, but I'll take what I can get.

It's cool. Nothing wrong with the old Earthworm Jim. So long as they don't completely screw it up.

It does suck that the new remake impedes the release of the old originals though.

Psst.

Gameloft and Sega aren't the same company. If Gameloft owns the rights to Earthworm Jim, Sega doesn't, and the game should never have been on the poll in the first place.

I was kind of hoping for a new one, but really I'd rather have this AND a new one anyways.
I forgot how much fun Earthworm Jim was.... the amount of hours I played that on my SNES were insane.

I'd rather have a sequel but I'll keep an eye on this remake. If it adds enough new content I'll probably get it.

This, of course, means that Toejam and Earl is coming to XBLA.

This wins on many many levels.

Toejam and Earl sucks.

Clearly Girio, you suck!

Do, do, do, do-do-do-dooo

This is EXACTLY how I read it. TJ & E on XBLA, assuming it will have a way to save this time, is fantastic news. One of the few reasons I was sad that I had SNES instead of Genesis (the other real reason was General Choas, that game kicked 100 asses)

I'll take a remake of Earthworm Jim, it's a great game!

God I loved the days of 2D side scroller release after 2D side scroller release...

Harken to the days of youth!

are you kidding me? this is brililiant! And HD version of the old ones would be glorious! I would like a new one but only if the original guys were making it. This is defintely great news! best news all week I would say...and that's saying something!

Im kinda happy we have a chance to get Toejam and Earl now. I played the shit out of that game when it came out. Online co-op TJ&E>>>>>>>>>Earthworm Jim.

Agreed. Plus, the remake that's eventually coming will probably have hand-drawn visuals! And that's just groovy!

Daaaaaaaaammmmmmnnnnnn!

I wonder if with all of these remakes they'll ever remake out of this world...

I hope you don't mean the tv show with the alien daughter living amongst us while she talks to her father through a weird floating crystal...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_World_%28video_game%29

***sighh***

it was a joke. I've played the game many times.

Remake Earthworm Jim > No Earthworm Jim

That's fine. Any Earthworm Jim is a good Earthworm Jim.

This is what I expected, they announced the PSP remake a while back and I assumed they just decided to bring it to more platforms.

G-g-groo--g-gr-grooooooovy.

I voted for Streets of Rage anyway.

I wish they would remake that...

It's not Sega making Earthworm Jim though, they have nothing to do with it. Chances are, they took it off the poll because of this. Hopefully it includes the original version anyway..

Slightly disappointing to hear, but still great. I'd rather they remake Earthworm Jim 2 if anything.

Hopefully Earthworm Jim 4 IS still coming and this isn't what they were talking about way back when they announced that new EWJ games were being made.

remakes of both would be good. hopefully if Earthworm JIm 4 comes out it's animated and not some garbage 2.5D or 3D game.

I don't see the games being animated, for the same reason the new Monkey Island games aren't.. It's just too expensive and time consuming. All this nostalgia stuff may be selling really well, but it's only ever going to sell so much.

Can pretty much guarantee this remake will be 2.5D, and not some fully HD remake like Street Fighter. But again, hopefully they include the original version as well, unlike Turtles in Time.

I'm happy to get more Earthworm Jim either way, especially if it eventually leads to a proper sequel.

yeah it's a shame, but I would argue that it would only be a proper sequel if it was animated.

"It's just too expensive and time consuming."

Yeah but it looks about a thousand times better. I'd say it's worth it. I would've gone for the new monkey island games day one of they were hand drawn. Instead they have that flat, bland, fake, stiff, dead 3D look that almost all 3D games have (compared to games such as Monkey Island 3 anyway). Now I'll wait till it drops in price.

All this story means is that not nearly enough people were voting for TJ&E.

Not nearly.

Toe Jam & Earl is a victim of childhood nostalgia.

It's not as fun as you'd remember it as :P

Someone's lost their inner child. Either that or you have no friends.

I played TJ&E a few weeks ago with a friend and we still had a blast.

but they are getting it... I would assume the remake is just an updated version of the one they were going to release on XBLA

Really quick question: Is he a groovy guy?

More checkpoints on water level kthx.

(I sucked at it when I was young, never got past it)

You're probably worse at it now. For some reason those games seemed so easy when I was a kid, now they're tough as nails to get thru!

Yesss perfect!

Now we get Earthworm Jim AND Toejam & Earl.
Ahh I'm flushed with memories of loving my childhood spent mostly indoors. =)

I'M FUCKING CONFUSED

I think this is coming to the iPhone and, boy, will it be a bitch to play.

Shining Force FTW. Sega will end up releasing all of those games. Toejam and Earl is a stupid game. Shining Force>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Toejam everyday of the week.

So we get an updated, possibly HD EWJ, and Sega/Backbone can instead give us Toejam & Earl with online co-op. I know Backbone's netcode is notorious for being shit, but I had no problem with it when playing Gunstar Heroes with my brother who lives in the next state over, so...

If it's not an option for a Genesis XBLA game, then why not use the enhanced Sega CD version?

I hope they don't "Re-arm" it if anybody knows what I mean.

Hopefully the controls are better for the remake... or maybe that was just the PC version.

I don't think Earthworm Jim still has the fanfare that would make it successful as an arcade title.

I guess the name would boost sales some though, so I won't complain

dont think they are that creative to make a new one

I'll probably get lynched for saying this but... I have never, ever in my life played an Earthworm Jim game. In any way. Probably because the series wasn't well known here in this part of Mexico I live in, despite being so close to the American border. I could download an emulator and play it, but I prefer to wait 'til I get the original SNES/Genesis cartridge.

Though I'm glad to see that it's being remade. It's better than nothing I guess. If I never find the original game, I might download this one when it comes out. . .

The ill-fated Earthworm Jim remake for PSP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VsSBEXTinM

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