Hi, I'm Palipilino!
Sega Genesis
10/20/2025
Earthworm Jim is one of those games that really wears its heart—or its aortic arches, if you prefer—on its sleeve. You basically know what to expect going in; its impressive animation, its difficult and unpredictable gameplay, and its fondness for popular-at-the-time-but-thankfully-not-anymore gross-out and random humor all make themselves very clear to the player within moments of booting it up. That is, assuming you hadn't heard as much about it already.
Though it was released on both the Genesis and Super Nintendo, it's definitely considered by many to be primarily a Genesis game, and it fits right at home in regard to Sega's marketing towards a more, uhh..."mature" audience. And likewise, it makes no effort to dilute its personality during gameplay; it is immediately apparent what type of game Earthworm Jim is. A commendable attribute, for sure, to be true to oneself. Well, it would be if the game was any good.
To be fair, the absolute first thing you will be certain to notice during a playthrough of Earthworm Jim is what can only be described as some seriously impressive animation and sprite-work for a game of its time. Its developer's founder had extensive work developing games for 4th generation systems in the past, and it was demonstrated here to great effect; character movement is exceptionally fluid and detailed, backgrounds are technically impressive and well rendered, and the game was one of the first times that players could claim it felt like they were playing a proper cartoon. Everything about its visuals and presentation is extremely well polished, and it surely attracted plenty of interest for that alone.
| Played For | 3h 58m |
|---|---|
| Completion Type | Normal Difficulty |
| Favorite Level | Down The Pipes |
| Fun Fact | Trans rights are human rights! Kill your local transphobe today! |
The only problem is that while Earthworm Jim is technically impressive and well animated, what you're actually looking at is usually something that at best is off-putting and at worst is flat-out disgusting. The mid-90s were probably the height of the gross-out humor trend, which appealed to preteens and teenagers by attempting to make them feel more mature. The irony, of course, is that this type of humor is distinctly immature, and boy oh boy is Earthworm Jim, quite literally, dripping in it.
Practically every level will have you interacting with some kind of unnecessary bodily function or fluid or...well, you get the idea. It's just so utterly juvenile—for Pete's sake, the final level is literally called Buttville. It's the kind of game you'd probably be embarrassed to be seen playing. The portions of the game not actively trying to make you feel disgusting are usually just going for the old over-the-top random and zany trope, which takes a lot of nuance to be done right. You'll be unsurprised to find out that "Earthworm Jim" and "nuance" don't have a lot in common.
Okay, but how's the actual game? It actually opens on a relatively high note; its first 2 or 3 levels are the best you can expect from Earthworm Jim. There are even some interesting level ideas here that actually help to differentiate it from many of its 2D platformer contemporaries.
But the 2nd half of the game is a litany of pain points and frustration; individual-level gimmicks are, save for the submarine in Down The Pipes, usually a chore to interact with, especially when the game requires consistent and frequent use of your whip attack, whose hitbox is truly a mystery. It pretty quickly goes from an okay game that you play for the impressive animation to a debilitating slog as you try to make use of the increasingly inconsistent controls and deal with its deliberately unfair level design. By the time you reach the end, its quality as an enjoyable game drops off a cliff and leaves a 40-foot crater in the earth.
Many people will, understandably, criticize this title as a product of the character's creator, notorious transphobe and all-around horrible person Doug TenNapel. Is it surprising that a game as overtly immature, unfunny, and gross as Earthworm Jim is the product of such a person? No, not particularly; it seems to be a fair representation of his mental capacity. But sometimes the game will sort of get off easy as a result.
"I hate it because of the person who made it" might be your opinion, but have you considered hating it because it's just not a good game? It doesn't need any help to be the subject of criticism. Its designer could have been Jesus Christ himself, and it would still be a slog. Don't be confused; feel free to take all the shots you can at a horrible, hateful little man whose time of relevance is long gone. Just, you know, save some ammo for Earthworm Jim, too.