Earthworm Jim Special Edition

by Interplay, Shiny Entertainment

Product Features

• All of the songs are remixed in CD audio
• New and remixed levels
• More enemies
• More weapons
• More Earthworm Jim!

Product Details

• ASIN: B0010KHG4C
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,727 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Earthworm Jim makes his biggest leap from the confines of a cartridge to the shiny side of a CD in this Sega CD exclusive upgrade to his first adventure. New features include a new CD Audio soundtrack, bigger levels, more secrets, more weapons, more animation, more enemies and more wackiness ... more hamsters, of course!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome! best version of a great game!, December 13, 2011

By 

B. E Jackson (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Earthworm Jim Special Edition (Video Game)

I grew up with the Super NES version of Earthworm Jim so I missed out on two levels- Big Bruty being one, and the more popular Intestinal Distress stage. Those who had the Genesis copy only missed out on Big Bruty, so it would seem that *both* Super NES and Genesis owners missed out on a complete version.

Only Earthworm Jim Special Edition for the Sega CD supplies video gamers with the ultimate platform experience for our heroic, adventurous worm.

Even though this is the best version of the game because it includes all the levels, it's not perfect. The Super NES has some features that this edition does not. I personally think the graphics and animations are superior in the Super NES edition over ALL versions. I mentioned this before, but I absolutely LOVE in New Junk City how the sunlight in the background is shining bright until you tuck Earthworm Jim behind the mountains, and then the scenery changes darker almost like a solar eclipse. It's a subtle touch of realism that's quite impressive for its age. This is a thing of beauty! This Sega CD version -along with the Genesis version- doesn't have this feature. Instead the sunlight just stays in one place while Earthworm Jim is progressing forward. The Down the Tubes levels are especially creepy in the Super NES version as a result of superior graphics and ambience.

The music is really good on the Super NES version as well, and actually has the *best* soundtrack of all the versions of Earthworm Jim available. This is especially evident in the "What the Heck?" stage where the orchestral sounds are phenomenal and you feel like you've been transported to some classical performance theater!

However, the Sega CD edition has all the levels, as I mention above, so this is *definitely* enough to declare THIS the ultimate version of Earthworm Jim.

Truth be told, I don't think very highly of Big Bruty. This stage is overlong, repetitive, and fairly tedious because of the mosquitos- yes they are seriously creepy looking, but there's WAY too many of them throughout the entire stage. It wouldn't have hurt to cut down on the length of this level by 50% since shooting mosquitos, climbing over ledges and avoiding Big Bruty is basically the only thing you're doing the whole time (besides collecting power-ups of course!).

Now Big Bruty is quite the intimidating monster! He's a half-dinosaur, half-hippo creature that makes a VERY creepy sound the moment he spots you. Soon after spotting Earthworm Jim, he rolls and flips in Earthworm Jim's direction while making a really bizarre and unforgettable sound. It scares me quite a bit. If you stand too close for too long, guess what? He swallows you whole and that's it, folks! You're a goner! So you have to alert him of your presence, make absolute sure he spots you, and then turn around and find a clear spot for him to take off somewhere off-screen, thus allowing you to safely walk forward. It's not THAT hard, but it's actually a little tricky sometimes (thanks to the way the platforms were designed). The music in this stage is an awesome example of ambience, too.

Now Intestinal Distress is a major improvement as far as having FUN is concerned. While the stage is short and the enemies are boring, the ominous Pink Floyd-like ambience is simply *incredible*. It sounds so good in fact, that I wouldn't think it's video game music if I'd heard it in some other setting.

The enemies consist of blue fish that hang in the air, pink alien balls (whatever they are, haha) and rolling boulders. The boulders are probably the biggest threat since they tend to roll suddenly out of nowhere, and usually they're hidden so you're likely to walk up to them too close by mistake and take damage. So basically Earthworm Jim climbs up this maze-like intestinal structure and eventually faces a fairly difficult (and jumpy!) boss. Good level.

Some other minor problems are the Andy Asteroid levels. In the Super NES version, each one had different colored rings as you ride through them, but if I remember, the Andy Asteroid stages all basically share the same appearance in this Sega CD version. Don't get me wrong, the actual stage isn't the same every time you're forced to complete it- I'm only referring to the rings that change colors with each Andy Asteroids level you advance to.

Overall, THIS my friends, is the version of Earthworm Jim you need in order to claim you have the total package. I never felt it was right that Earthworm Jim got lost and forgotten over time. The game is WAY too much fun, well-animated and terrific from a gameplay point of view (and hilarious without getting annoying too!) and deserves a better fate. Pick it up!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jim's short lived prime, March 9, 2010

By 

Son of Tiamat - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Earthworm Jim Special Edition (Video Game)

I've been a fan of Earthworm Jim for years now. Through out my child-hood this game dogged me to my frustration; anybody whose played knows this is a difficult game even set on easy. But, at age nineteen I bought and played again and again until I was able to beat it, having finally mastered the nasty Tube Race level. I played it so much I eventually got good enough to beat it on hard and die only twice.

Now, being able to play Earthworm Jim in it's entirty I can say this Sega CD classic just plain rocks!
Just about everything that was great about the SNES version has been made better. The levels are longer, there are two bonus levels, one exclusively on the genesis and another one exclusive to the CD and the music has also been re-tooled to sound better. Jim even has a new weapon, a homing rocket, that is a blast to use! Jim's voice even sounds white-trashier, with on an occasional butt-hole suffer kind of accent.

There are, however, a couple of things lacking about the Sega CD version. Sometimes certain sounds or sound effects actually sound worse on this version than they did on the SNES version, and some funny sound effects are also lacking. Professor Monkey-for-a-Head seems to be missing his zany laugh whenever you shoot him, and Peter Puppy's adorable puppy squeal when you whip him is also absent. They did, however put in a slurping sound for when Evil The Cat cleans himself (go figure). The worst of all is the final fight with Queen Slug-for-a-butt. Her screams sound like a rooster being tortured and after a while it gets quite annoying as you just want her to die and shut up.

The music in What the Heck? and Andy Asteroids sounds much improved but sometimes I preferred the SNES music to the Sega CD in some levels, such as Level 5 and Snot a Problem.
The bonus levels, Big Bruty and Intesinal Distress are quite apart from the other levels in being funny and are more creepy than anything.

New Junk City: The improved music is pretty groovy! but the additional section were Jim must brave the dump suitless as a mere worm might give you some trouble.

Andy Asteroids: Much improved banjo-get-away music! There seem to be asteroids and they can be quite difficult to dodge. Prepare to lose to the pot-bellied Psy-Crow more often.

What the Heck?: Best improvment on the music! The level lay out is slightly different and you get your taste of plenty of useful homming missles!

Big Bruty: Very creepy level. Creepy music that sounds more like ambience for a horror movie, giant mosquitos and, of coure, big bruty, a dumb dinosaur that trys to swallow you. Big Bruty sounds like a demented Hyena when he charges you.

Down the Tubes/Tube Race: Not much different here accept for a wavy water effect throughout the level and the music has been changed from the New Junk City theme to the Level 5 theme. Navigating in the submarine feels a little more difficult...

Snot a Problem: Pretty much the same only the music doesn't sound as good as it did on the SNES version.

Level 5: This level is harder than before and features less techno-y sounding music.

For Pete's Sake!: Meteor showers! There's severl more now than just the one! This can be quite difficult.

Intesintal Distress: Very creepy. Like something from a Nine Inch Nails music video.

ButtVille: The last and hardest level of the game. If you beat it on only easy mode you don't get to see the ending. Instead you get a long, butt funny, excuse me, but funny speach about earthworms.

Overall the Sega CD version is a little harder so it's the perfect challenge for Earthworm Jim fans. People who suck at games beware, this is not for you(especially the crybabies who said earthworm jim was too hard!)