Earthworm Jim

"Welcome but Disappointing Port"

Opening Remarks: Earthworm Jim is one of my favorite platformers. It's really only outdone by its sequel. Despite having already been ported to the original GameBoy, a GBA version seemed perfect. But as with most ports by third-party developers, I'm sad to say EWJ isn't all it could have been.

Gameplay: All the gameplay of the original is here. I'm not going to waste to muuch time describing it. If you're reading this review, you're familiar with Earthworm Jim. The biggest fault with the game is the complete lack of a save feature. Was there any reason not to add a password feature to this game? If you want to beat EWJ, you have to do it in one sitting. How lame is that?

Pros: Classic gameplay is intact.
Cons: No password save.

Graphics: Seeing as the GBA is, hardware-wise, a step above the Super NES, you'd think the GBA version of this game would come out looking as good, if not better. Wrong. Thanks to a shoddy port job, this incarnation of Earthworm Jim looks less impressive than either the SNES or Genesis versions. Sad.

Pros: Looks worse than the 16-bit versions.
Cons: Still looks nice.

Sound/Music: As with the graphics, things here are a step below the 16-bit versions, which there's no excuse for. It still sounds good, but there's no reason this aspect should be less impressive than the sound in a version of a game that's on a system of inferior hardware.

Pros: Less impressive than 16-bit versions.
Cons: Still sounds decent.

Play Control/Game Design: The control is smooth for the most part, but having to hit a shoulder button to perform the whip move is awkward. It's better than the GameBoy version, which assigned both Weapon Fire and Whip to the same button, but it's still odd.

Pros: Smooth control.
Cons: Whipping is slightly awkward.

Improve: Graphics, sound, and most of all, add a password feature.

Recommended if you like: Earthworm Jim 2.

Final Words: Here we have a case of wasted opportunity. A GBA port of an SNES game should look, sound, and play at the very least the same, if not better. It's still a good game, but if you're an Earthworm Jim fan wanting a little GBA action, you should skip this and head straight for Earthworm Jim 2, which is just as disappointing a port of this game, but still superior in gameplay.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/18/04