Earthworm Jim 3D

"This game, to put it plainly, sucks."

Okay, I know that Earthworm Jim 1 & 2 were awesome, so you’re expecting the 64 game to be even better, right? Well, you expected wrong my friend. This game, to put it plainly, sucks, and is better used as a colorful paperweight than a video game.

Graphics: 6/10
The graphics are standard. They could’ve been better. Jim’s body is really “clunky” and his gun looks like it’s shooting out dried strands of spaghetti. The walls are horribly detailed. They look like my 3-year-old nephew went into there and colored all over them with his crayons.

Gameplay: 2/10
Poor is the exact word to use when describing its gameplay. The levels in this game are so huge.. that you’ll get lost if you try to do some exploring. You have no idea how hard the levels and bosses in this game are, it’s like trying to thread a needle, it’s so frustrating you’ll want to tear your hair out. The Pork-Board is so hard to control, it literally messed up my joystick, and now I have a bunch of white chalky junk in there. This game should’ve taken some characters from the SNES games, and put them into here instead of creating a bunch. Elvis is in this game. I know they’re trying to be goofy but… I’m sure a worm would be best friends with the king of rock and roll.

Challenge: 9.8/10
If you’re in for a BIG challenge, buy this game, learning the controls is the first real tough challenge this game presents.

Controls: 2/10
Ok, the gameplay sucks.. but frustrating controls put the icing on the cake. The controls in this game are far to hard to learn, and will have you throwing the game across the room. It took me about an hour to completely grasp the regular controls, and I’m not even going to start on the Pork-Board.

Music/Sound: 5/10
I guess the music and sound are alright. Not exactly what you’d expect from the N64, but more like a PlayStation, or Sega Saturn. The helicopter head sounds like a wet monkey sneezing, and his one-liners get annoying after you’ve heard them a million times. Every time I collect a health boost he says, “Gaaaroovy!” it can get extremely annoying. The sound of Jim's gun sounds much better in the SNES games.

Replay Value: 1/10
Who would want to play this game more than 1 time?

Overall: 3/10
Renting Earthworm Jim 3D: $4.00
Buying Earthworm Jim 3D: $39.95
Doing neither, and saving yourself money and grief: Priceless

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 11/05/01, Updated 11/05/01