How the game "Worm Jim" was created: 11 interesting facts about the game that many do not know (9 photos)

It was so much fun to play as a worm in a spacesuit who not only wielded his blaster, but could also use himself as a whip or a device for clinging to hooks and other shiny objects.





1. It all started with the Playmates studio, which once became famous for releasing toys based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series. The company decided that they needed a new product, namely a game, based on which they could make a new series of toys.

Playmates contacted game designer Dave Perry and offered him the chance to be responsible for game development. But Dave Perry refused. However, he borrowed money from the company for his studio Shiny Entertainment.



2. Dave Perry had a studio and money to create a game, but no ideas for a new game. He racked his brains for a long time, but still came up with nothing.

Then he was offered to take Douglas Ten-Napel as an animator, who was involved in the creation of such games as Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy's Invention and The Jungle Book. Perry agreed and invited Ten-Napel to an interview.

During the interview, Dave Perry asked Douglas Ten-Napel to draw a character out of the blue. Douglas, without thinking twice, began to draw something on a piece of paper and gave Dave a strange worm in a spacesuit. When Dave saw the worm, he found it funny and very interesting, so he hired Douglas and assigned him to create the main character for the future game.





And the most interesting thing is that the invented characters did not fit the role of the main character. Then Dave decided to take as the main character that very worm in a spacesuit, which Douglas randomly drew at the interview.

3. The character was ready, but he did not have a name yet. In the end, Dave suggested calling the worm Lance in honor of Lancelot, since he believed that the main character should have a majestic name.

But Douglas did not like this idea. He stood up to Lance and said that he should come up with a name for his character. In the end, he decided to name his worm Jim.



4. As for the game engine, Dave Perry decided to develop the game on the same engine as the game "Disney's Aladdin", which he worked on when he was still working at Virgin.

5. Douglas TenNapel tried to put his heart into the game. He came up with new characters almost all the time. Even during lunch, he would draw new versions of characters on napkins, and some of them later made it into the game.



6. Initially, the characters for the game were drawn on paper, then scanned, transferred to a computer and colored. Then the image went through a compression procedure, which Douglas really didn't like, because due to the limited capabilities of the console, it was impossible to fit all the animation that was conceived for the characters in the game.

7. Some levels were named after the creators of the game. For example, the level "Andy Asteroids" was named after programmer Andy Astor, and the level Big Brutty (which was included only in the extended version of the game) was named after art director Nick Brutty.

Even the name of the main antagonist Psy-Crow is a reference to the artist Steve Crow.

8. Based on the game "Earthworm Jim" a cartoon series of the same name was created. As a child, many were fans of it, but not me. As much as I loved the game, the series seemed absolutely uninteresting to me. As a result, the series barely lasted 2 seasons, after which it was closed.



But despite the fact that the series was not very popular with viewers, everyone was wildly delighted with the comics that one of the divisions of the Marvel company (Marvel Absurd) released.



9. Over time, the game "Earthworm Jim" was ported to the "Sega CD" platform, thanks to which it was possible to expand it. For example, a couple of additional levels appeared, including the "Big Brutty" level, where we had to run away from a blind dinosaur. But if he catches us, he will simply swallow us, taking away our whole life at once.



Also, the game has various skins, one of which is the head of Donkey Kong with an arrow in it.

10. After the game was released, it was ported to other well-known platforms, in particular to PC (Windows 95) and SNES. Moreover, the SNES version was slightly different in appearance from the original Sega version.



Version for SEGA and SNES

No, the gameplay itself has not changed. The changes mainly concern the background images on the levels. But it is also worth noting that the "Intestinal distress" level was cut from the SNES version. In general, this is not surprising, because Nintendo often removed blood from games. I think they also decided to cut the level with the intestinal disorder, so as not to traumatize someone's psyche.

11. At one time, the creators of the game "Boogerman" wanted to make a sequel with the ability to play together. The second hero of the game, according to their plan, was supposed to be the worm Jim. But in the end, the project was never put into motion.