Company: Majesco

size: 64 MB

NP's Now PLaying review: vol. 145, page 118 (3/5)

When I saw that Earthworm Jim had been remade for GBA, I thought "Hmm. I remember that, kind of mediocre." Of course, the last time I played the game was on the SNES 15 years ago or so. Playing the GBA version reminded me why I got rid of it.

The game is insanely difficult, partly because the play control sucks and the controls themselves are weird. You jump with the B button and shoot with the A. And it's difficult to kill the enemies, too. In level 1, the level design makes it difficult to shoot the rabid dogs and crows coming at you. And the bosses are even tougher. I know what they're trying to do with the guy that barfs up frogs when you hit his butt with a box, and I do like the humor involved, but the insane difficulty level makes it very hard to appreciate.

Cows...in...space! Launch the bovine, Jim.

Also, the non-linear platforming levels makes it very difficult to try and figure out where to go. I got stuck on level 2 (called "What the Heck?!") twice because i couldn't figure out where to go because it seemed like it was a dead-end. So we've got crappy play control, crappy controls, crappy level design, crappy enemies. What does that make this game?

Wrong. More like "sucky." rating: 3.5/10