syntheticgerbil

Earthworm Jim Ear Split

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http://www.slidetoplay.com/story/earthworm-jim-hands-on-and-video

So Earthworm Jim is getting an HD facelift and word is it will include all the extra levels from previous versions.

The video featured in the link sounds awful though. There's all this noise happening all at once with that dreadful music. They also took the time to rerecord Doug TenNapel doing Jim without Doug TenNapel. Now it just sounds like some bro hanging out during Miller Time. And those screams are just a distorted mess! Why would they do that if it seems they rerecorded the voices because of audio clarity?!

I'm hoping at least maybe the console versions of this remake will have the CD music from the Sega CD and PC releases. Besides the awful new sound effects, I guess I'm feeling negative towards this remake just because Gameloft is behind it. I get the feeling they'll find some way to fuck it up but I can't be sure.

That said, I'm tremendously glad it's not suffering from a "reimagining" the way Secret of Monkey Island was. That would be a crime.

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Why do I remember the Hell music being somewhat more dramatic and hell-ish, and not elevator-music-y at all like in the video?

Other than that, I remember the sound effects as always being sort of trashy, noisy and all on top of eachother.

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Why do I remember the Hell music being somewhat more dramatic and hell-ish, and not elevator-music-y at all like in the video?

Sometimes there's elevator music and screams in the background and sometimes it's Night on Bald Mountain.

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I had a hard enough time playing this on the MegaDrive, I doubt my iPhone would survive the inevitable throwing-across-the-room if I tried it there.

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I always had a problem on the console versions just because it lacked save functionality, but both the Windows 95 and DOS ports added that in there.

The hardest part about finishing Earthworm Jim in one set of lives and continues for me was always getting past the underwater pod driving part. They made that way too hard.

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I should probably play this, Especially seeing as I never got past level 2 on the SNES (they're the same game right).

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I should probably play this, Especially seeing as I never got past level 2 on the SNES (they're the same game right).

For the most part, they were all the same, with minor graphical changes, or added animation, cleaned up graphics, and CD audio music in the later versions.

I think the SNES version was missing the Intestinal Distress level, but that comes much later than the second level, heh.

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Guess I beat Earthworm Jim HD (for the most part). I was coming in with misgivings since there were already two cases of plagiarized artwork and just bad Korean/Chinese outsourced art from Gameloft, but it's Gameloft, so what do you expect?

My theory is Ubisoft named the "worse games" division Gameloft so that they could keep putting out cheap shit and not have to take any guff for it.

Besides that the Windows 95 version is still the best you're going to get, there's a lot to like in the HD version here. A lot of the animation ranges from spot on to just piss poor from animators not knowing what they are doing or how to even draw these characters.

This is kind of inexcusable, because what should have happened is the team should have been supplied with this awesome SEGA book in the 90s that extensively covers Earthworm Jim animations frame by frame, concept art, character drawing tips, and general animation tips.

In fact it was even scanned and put up earlier this year:

http://slappypictures.blogspot.com/2010/03/making-of-earthworm-jim.html

This stuff is amazing for me to see as an animator. Very helpful tips in here that can be applied to any character.

But anyway, the complete game is intact in HD except for the secret level and the Special Edition exclusive which is a shame. The biggest problem is while the audio I was complaining about earlier seems to have been rerecorded to match the original game now, it's still missing sounds and the music is just absolutely terrible. It sounds like rerecorded MIDI sequences of the Genesis version. Did this team even know CD Audio exists for every level in two previous versions? That was the best audio, I don't know why it wasn't used. It would have saved whoever's time to make crappy renditions of the old songs with computer farts. To be fair some of the new "reimagined songs" don't sound that bad, but it's in half and half territory.

I think the HD game handles like a charm though. They even ironed out the problems with the Tube Race level. I've heard people complain in other places about how bad this game handles, but I had no problems with it. Maybe this is because for a few years when I was really young I was beating Earthworm Jim ten times a year out of boredom, but I was not frustrated one bit. Almost all secrets and tips for certain bosses and levels are there as well.

The reason I haven't really finished this is there are three kind of uninspired levels added that are kind of like New Junk City mixed with the ISO 9000 level of EWJ2. There's also really stupid bosses on each level. They are separate but I can't seem to beat Keyboard Cat (Really, it's in there. Erghhh. TenNapel seemed to be disappointed with this most in the remake besides not being asked to help, the plagiarism, and it being outsourced to China).

What makes the game worth the ten bucks I think is just the multiplayer truly. There's fifteen added levels that I was having a blast playing with people online. This all kind of put a smile on my face. It kind of works like four swords where you have to balance greed with cooperation. I really couldn't believe the amount of levels given to this.

The part that really made me most angry was a trophy that required you to beat the game on "original" mode (normal mode in the original game, but actually easier than that) without losing a life. It's not like I was ever able to do this before. There's this one idiotic part where you battle the chicken and almost always have to lose a life somewhere right after that that trips me up.

Finally I was able to get this trophy, but I don't think I've ever encountered one this impossible so far (Only have 10 PS3 games though). Companies that put in trophies/achievements like this are really mean spirited. Sure it doesn't bother most people, but it's super stressful for people like me that feel obligated to 100% all crap or they will feel this nagging inside their heads. Luckily a few games lately seem to be giving me 100% achievements for just beating the game like I normally would if I were actually playing the game well. Isn't that achievement enough? Those are the best.

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Cool link, gerbil.

From the demo I was pretty disappointed with the game overall, I don't think the controls and humor really hold up for me now. It sounded awful and did look like cheap art.

It really needed a Bionic Commando quality redux I think to iron out some of the really dumb stuff, have solid art, and slicker controls for me to purchase it.

Seemed like a quick cash in.

(also, yes, gameloft is Ubisofts shitty game division, but it's in a seperate building. Earlier in the year there was a proclamation in Montreal that they would only handle the larger games and eventually all the little titles will be going to gameloft)

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I kinda liked the extra levels in the XBLA version... in one you fight Keyboard Cat! :yep:

I think that's the wrong reaction, it should be more like

They are separate but I can't seem to beat Keyboard Cat (Really, it's in there. Erghhh.

That sounds more reasonable.

I remember EWJ having a creative mix of mundane and outrageous things that made the game seem really weird. I guess having a meme in there isn't entirely unlike their previous stuff (lawyers in heck was another cliché), but I think the original guys would have just made a new thing out of whole cloth instead.

All this is just making me want to buy the pack on steam. I never played EWJ3d because I was without N64, and I really like Jim. I'm willing to deal with the fact that game might suck.

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All this is just making me want to buy the pack on steam. I never played EWJ3d because I was without N64, and I really like Jim. I'm willing to deal with the fact that game might suck.

I'd stay away from EJ3D and I think I have the highest tolerance for bad games around here... Not to mention it's "broken" bad, the boss battle are the most annoying things ever that make the game terrible, it's not that they are hard, they are stupid and broken... it's basically bumper cars! :hah:

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Haha, long ago, I e-mailed Doug TenNapel looking for tips on finishing Earthworm Jim 3D and his reply was instructions on throwing the game in the trash.

It is pretty bad. I never did beat it. I also didn't realize until after e-mailed Doug TenNapel that the original team is only responsible for 1 and 2.

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