Earthworm Jim is humorous, thats one thing that can be said about it, but its still the same old sidescrolling game that so many other games are without much to seperate it from the herd.
BASIC IMPRESSIONS
It starts out with Jim launching a cow into orbit, and you see that cow fly through the background throughout the whole game, this game is filled with that kind of silly humor. You get two weapons, the gun and the whip, which is very cool, its like Contra/Castlevania only with an earthworm in a spacesuit. The mini-game in between levels is a nice touch, and I also like the bungee jumping level as well. It definately has its own unique flavor.
GRAPHICS
The graphics are pretty standard for the SNES, but are pretty colorful, and gives you the feeling you are in a comic book almost. Jims animations flow well, as do the enemies, it looks kind of querky, but in a good way. Good lighting effects for a SNES game. Nothing that really catches my eye, but still has some good graphics.
Graphics rating: 79
STORYLINE
Basic storyline, Jim was about to kiss his girlfriend, a bee princess, when the evil queen slug for butts henchmen came by and whisked her away. Jim jumps on his rocket speeder and takes off, on a quest to rescue his girlfriend. Same old storyline, yet wierd, considering it involves insects.
Storyline rating: 55
GAMEPLAY
Earthworm Jim has a ton of variety, its not all made up of standard sidescroller levels. You get to bungee fight Major Mucus (My favorite part), go underwater with a limited air supply, in a small submarine (The hardest part) and between every level, race Slug For Butts evil henchman on your rocket speeder (Also very fun). The sidescrolling parts have nice playability also, I like the idea of having a whip and a gun. Enemies are nicely varied, and attack with a variety of moves. All of the bosses are done quite nicely, they aren't too hard, nor too easy. You'll have fun playing Earthworm Jim.
Gameplay rating: 91
SOUND
The music was pretty standard fare. Nicely done though. I cant really remember how any of the tunes went in that game, a sign that it has so-so music. The sound effects were done very good, in level 2, you can hear the screams of people very clearly, and its not the same sound over and over and over... You can also hear male and female screams, very detailed. The cracking of your whip gives a nice sound, as does firing your gun. Enemies make a variety of grunts and moans. Still, with so-so music, the sound is nothing more than standard.
Sound rating: 70
REPLAY VALUE
I found myself going back to play Earthworm Jim a lot after I beat it, it has great gameplay and the cool bungee and rocket levels are addicting. It has no extra endings, as far as I know, or super secret levels or anything like that, so its not that great on replay value, the only reason to replay it is because its a fun game, but any game can get boring after a while.
Replay value: 80
OVERALL: 73
Earthworm Jim is a fun game and I would play it if I were you, but its not very memorable and not a favorite of mine. Its just a standard game, with lots of silly humor and fun bonus levels.