Earthworm Jim HD (XBLA) – Review – Xbox 360

By Corey Wallace (Writer - Co-Founder) on 14 June 2010 in Reviews, Xbox 360 with 1,427 Comments

Mario, Donkey Kong, Samus Aran, Yoshi, Duke Nukem, Pac-man, Sonic the Hedgehog, James Bond; they are all remembered as names that changed the face of gaming forever. Another one of those games that I have asked people if they remembered it, but they said they didn’t was Earthworm Jim. It came out for the Sega and has spanned a few different consoles, most recently the XBLA, PSN, and Wii Virtual Console.

Story: You play of course as Earthworm Jim. An earthworm that uses the powers at his disposal, his head as a whip and a blaster. At the beginning of the game you are told of how Jim gets the suit and meet your nemesis “Psy-crow” who talks to the queen and her evil plans for her sister/daughter. Jim overhears that and goes to save her. (this is all really assumed as the storyboard was in comic format and combined with a wikipedia entry).

Gameplay: The game is a side-scrolling platformer/Shmup. Controls are pretty basic. A (X) to Jump, B (O) to whip, X (square) to shoot on the xbox (ps3). You can use the D-Pad to move yourself or the Joystick. The whip also serves as a helicopter type move if you hold the button in after jumping. The objective for each level is to use the tools you have to defeat enough enemies to get through the level. You will come to alot of checkpoints on the easier difficulties (there are 4 diff’s) On easy, you will also get hints on how to beat each boss usually there are 1 or 2 per level. The game also has races in between levels. You are against Psy-crow and if you lose, you have to defeat him before moving to the next level. Some levels aren’t that difficult to figure out, others seem impossible, though if you play it enough times you will get the hang of each of them in no time. You have 3 lives to finish the game, though you can pick up more in the levels. You also have 1 continue at your disposal. In each level, you can pick up blue orbs that will allow you to regain health, gun ammo, and gun upgrades. If you stop firing for a little bit your ammo will replenish slowly. There are gauges that show your current health and ammo, along with any upgrades you had picked up.

Graphics/Sounds: The game looks exactly like the original version, I have not really seen anything upgraded. I think they might have added a little color to it but that might be it. The sound seems about the same as well.

Multiplayer: I have not played the multiplayer, but when I tried to go into a match, it did say that there were no matches available. Though you can play locally also

Overall: if you were a fan of the game back when it was a popular game I would recommend this game. It brings back good memories and where else can you launch cows? Some of the stuff that you have to do to get through a level makes you laugh.

Pros: