Earthworm Jim remake first details and screen

[granville]

A couple of months ago, Gameloft announced that the original Earthworm Jim would be remade on current gen consoles via download services. Playstation Network, WiiWare, and Xbox Live Arcade to be exact. There is also an iPhone version apparently. Now the first few details and a comparison screen (of the iPhone version) are released. Have a look-

Genesis version on left, iPhone version on the right:

Remake details for all versions-

- based on the Genesis version
- reworked completely from scratch without the original code
- smoother graphics and animation
- various difficulty levels
- 'Big Bruty' leve included (from the special edition released on Sega CD and PC)
- leaderboards that track enemies killed, total time, and more
- more surprises to come at a later date
- Tommy Tallarico musical score retained
- consistency between versions is important to Gameloft, with WiiWare version only differing in resolution
- still coming out this year, with one-month exclusivity to XBLA

http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=98636
http://www.gamerbytes.com/2009/09/earthwor...reated_from.php

 

[Social0]

i want my pixels!

 

[DrCaptainHarlock]

Wow, that looks pretty nice.

 

[Sir-Fritz]

One month exclusivity to xbla? When will microsofts tyranny end.

 

[dinofan01]

When will microsofts tyranny end.

when they run out of money.

 

[Ace Gunman]

Very cool. Though I am curious as to why they're basing it on the Genesis version yet including SegaCD features. Why not cut out the middle man and completely build it around the superior SegaCD version?

 

[Banger]

When will microsofts tyranny end.

when they run out of money.

Never, good to know.

 

[benjaminlibl]

I loved the Earthworm Jim cartoons. Too bad it's not on DS..

 

[raulpica]

YEAH!
High Resolution 2D, just like I wanted!

This is gonna be awesome

 

[shakirmoledina]

i wonder if we can actually see this on the ds... psp would just explode the older title to the public cuz it was a great game just wasnt as publicized as the other ones (mainly played the snes ones)

Quote - Every breath you take is a step towards death.

 

[Hadrian]

I already have this game on the Sega CD so come back to me when there is a proper 2D sequel by a developer who can do games that are better than mobile quality.

 

[Hop2089]

Perfectly remastered with all the extras, this does the game some great justice.

 

[Ultratech87]

Ooo...very nice! It's been years since I've played EJ. Hopefully, the entire game will look as nice as that pic. May have to pick this up.

 

[granville]

Very cool. Though I am curious as to why they're basing it on the Genesis version yet including SegaCD features. Why not cut out the middle man and completely build it around the superior SegaCD version?

Well one of the articles just say they are using an entirely new engine built from the ground up. As for the Sega CD, all I can remember that was enhanced in that version included-

- better music and sound effects
- drawings of Jim being animated at the Sega logo
- Big Bruty level (and some added areas in some places like New Junk City where Jim comes out of his suit)

Besides that, the graphics were actually identical as was the gameplay. The SNES version ironically had smoother pixel art and some added visual effects (parallax scrolling in New Junk City and some nice lens flairs). The Genesis version though, had slightly better animation in the sprites. I'm not sure how to describe it, and you can only see it if you look very very close, but it's there. The biggest difference between the SNES and Genesis version was actually that they cut out a level in the SNES game called Intestinal Distress. You can imagine what that was about, and I guess Nintendo thought it would be too gross for their little kid audiences. Oh how far we have come! Just play Mario & Luigi 3 lol!

So yeah, version-wise, the ranking went like this-
Sega CD = PC > Genesis > SNES > Gamegear/Master System > Gameboy > GBA (ouch, very ouch, big fuckup of a port. Only positive thing to say about the GBA version is that it was still better than the GBA EWJ2)

 

[Ace Gunman]

Interesting, granville. So there was only ever one additional level? I had thought there were more. I think I must have confused the longer levels (extended by the out of suit sequences) for said content. Well, regardless, hopefully they're in there too. Judging from that lone screenshot it seems we may be getting the SNES version's extra visual effects as well.

Going off on a bit of a tangent, what was it that made the GBA port so terrible?

 

[DJPlace]

wow this was one of my faviorte games for snes/sega now it's going be remaked for the wii i was hopeing not to have the big brutley level that level was just hard...

 

[granville]

Yeah, basically the Genesis version had one more level than the SNES. I can only assume they cut it because of Nintendo's censorship of the time (or maybe something else, I dunno). The Sega CD version's most notable thing was the addition of the Big Bruty level, not in any other prior version. It did expand already existing levels like I said though. For instance, the New Junk City level had an added area where you hop around as Jim without his suit. I forget the other levels, but I imagine they had more additions as well.

The GBA version was just terrible. I could go on for pages about all they did to mess it up. It's one of the worst ports ever. It stands along Pitfall Mayan Adventure, EWJ2, and Sonic Genesis as some of the worst porting jobs on the GBA. Here are just a few of the broad categories of cuts they made-

- cut animations, for one of the best animated games of its time, they cut at least 4/5 of the frames of animation for every sprite. Saying that only 1/5 of the animation were preserved is pushing it too.
- horrid sound effects (Jim's gun sounds like a rusty old can opener for one example)
- jerky animation as well as all the animation they cut (screen can't even shift smoothly)
- horribly butchered physics engine, up there with the mess ups of Sonic Genesis (they didn't even try to port the game, the just slapped a new engine together in like 10 minutes I bet)
- so many missing effects, it's not even worth saying. The fog in What the Heck is gone for instance, and Buttville's lightning effects look horrendous.
- thanks to the horrid physics, a load of glitches like falling through floors and walls

So yeah, It's horrible. I was actually going to buy it before I sold my GBA and went into piracy. I'm glad I didn't. I played it later and found how terrible it was. EWJ1 GBA stands as the best of the 4 worst ports on GBA, along with Pitfall, EWJ2, and Sonic Genesis. If you've played any of those games, you know how bad they are, and you have my condolences. If not, don't. Do not get curious, they'll make you want to rip your brain out and throw it at the people responsible.

Ironically, the one thing interesting about the GBA version is that it included the Intestinal Distress level, which was absent in the SNES version. Doesn't matter when the game is so horrid though. Anyways, I'm getting offtopic, but there you go.

 

[War]

Instant buy for me. I thought they were making a brand new game though? As in new levels and such.

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

Earthworm Jim
QUOTEWiiWare

I'm looking forward to this!

But I have to say I prefer the old pixelated version...