When you think about what makes an action-platformer great, what comes to mind? Is it the characters? Maybe it’s the ability to perform a lot of moves? Of course level design is important, right? Another aspect that makes games in this genre "great" is having different play mechanics to break up the monotony.
Sure pretty 16-bit graphics and catchy tunes are nice, but they do not necessarily translate into a classic gaming experience. Why am I mentioning all this? I think you know why. Earthworm Jim 2 possesses all of these traits, making it one of the funniest, most diverse games you'll play on the Virtual Console. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to remember a more amusing game since, well, the original!
Shiny Entertainment must've had a lot of twisted ideas that didn't make it into the first game. You may have thought you'd seen it all when a worm rode a hamster or launched a cow high into the sky. But surprisingly you haven't. The levels in this game are truly bizarre.
You'll hop on a motorized chair moving up a staircase while dodging crabby old ladies in "Anything but Tangerines,"; "Lorenzen's Soil" places you on the floor of a huge pile of dirt, blasting a path toward the surface in order to confront a giant slug riding a unicycle; "Puppy Love" 1, 2 and 3 will have Jim running around with a giant marshmallow while trying to bounce falling puppies over to Peter Puppy (like Kaboom, but with yelping cries and horrific splats when you miss). Any if you can believe it, there’s even wilder stuff.
"The Flyin' King" has Jim riding a rocket over a beautiful sea trying to steer a giant balloon carrying a bomb; "The Villi People" turns our favorite worm into a cave salamander floating around in a giant intestinal pinball game; "ISO 9000" sports amazing 3D backgrounds as you hurdle over tax forms and paper stacks (watch out for those filing cabinets); "Level Ate" has you dodging huge forks and salt shakers while leaping across a giant grill; "Inflated Head" swells Jim's head to a giant bubble, forcing you to steer him away from enormous light bulbs; and the final confrontation with Psy-Crow in "See Jim Run; Run Jim, Run" takes you on a fast-paced gauntlet through a trap-filled space station.
The amazing thing is that what I described above is only a small part of the action you'll encounter in each stage. Each level has a ton of activities and obstacles that’ll keep you whipping, running, shooting, jumping, swinging, flying and above all, laughing until it's over. The audio is great for the era and translates perfectly, with famous classical scores combined with theme music appropriate to each stage.
The visuals are near perfect, with zany 3D backgrounds, great color palette and animation that’s befitting of a cartoon. If you love humorous games, classic platforming, or just enjoy 16-bit classics, you should kick down the 800 Wii points.
Graphics | Audio | Gameplay | Replay | Genre | Final |
*Scores are based on 16-bit technology and Virtual Console*
