Earthworm Jim had a short lived game series originally by Shiny Entertainment. The first two games got enough popularity to have it's own cartoon show. Most gaming mascots didn't even get that. This franchise has some truly bizarre sense of humor. Yes it's a worm that's somehow using a suit. This guy has some serious weapons.
More recently, there's a new Earthworm Jim game coming exclusively to a console not a lot of people would own. Not the strangest move by far, no that would be Earthworm Jim 3D. Yeah, this character was given an amazingly horrible 3D experience that actually killed his franchise. It doesn't help that game was a shameless rip off of Banjo-Kazooie games on N64.
Interplay bought Shiny Entertainment then forced the team to work on another game that ended up being MDK. A different team that clearly didn't know Earthworm Jim created a disaster. He was a guest hidden character in two versions of ClayFighter 63 1/3 game. Which also had Boogerman whose from the same company as Earthworm Jim.
Earthworm Jim was a truly out there concept that surprisingly worked. The first two games are amazing platformers that still held up incredibly well. Personally, Earthworm Jim 2 is my favorite. This guy is one of the strangest gaming mascots there ever was. At the same time, he's a mixture of awesomeness with humor kinda like Ash Williams from Evil Dead series.
Hard to believe Dan Castellaneta who voiced many cartoon characters including Homer Simpson. He has voiced Earthworm Jim in the cartoon. Sadly, he also voiced him in Earthworm Jim 3D. This guy voiced so many Simpsons characters, it could take hours to fully breaking them all down. Earthworm Jim is usually a platformer that has run & gun element.
It's a similar type of game to Vectorman series without transformations. The bonus levels are easy to understand but sometimes frustrating to stay on top of. Earthworm Jim has some variety in his games. Let's be honest, the first two games has some weird boss fights. The simple fact he had a few games as well as a cartoon show is already more than most gaming mascots.
Indirectly his guest appearances in ClayFighter series could've also played a part in his long absence. It's difficult to accurately describe the actual humor this franchise has. They took an earth worm that easily could've blown right in their faces. Instead, it became one of the most awesome things in all of gaming.
There isn't a lot of games similar to the first two Earthworm Jim games. Honestly, it's a challenge to find something that could fill that bill. Which makes Earthworm Jim himself something truly unique. Something you can not recreate no matter how hard you try. I knew since last month I was going to do Earthworm Jim for this entry.
This guy was popular enough to make a notable dent in the mascot wars. I don't think he burnt out & died like most of them did. Interplay clearly wanted to stop that franchise however they could. Maybe that's how I personally felt about this. Earthworm Jim does have voice overs that also wasn't common among gaming mascots of his era.
In a weird way trying to describe this is like doing the same for Comix Zone. Despite the fact it's a short beat em that takes place inside a comic book. This is more of slap stick comedy that isn't afraid to try weird jokes. Seriously, a princess actually named Princess What's-Her-Name lol. We even get giant hamsters in a level.
I went a long time not seeing them in video games until Serious Sam Double D XXL I'm not kidding. Earthworm Jim always done weird stuff involving cows. Yeah, Shiny Entertainment sure loved cows moo lol. Honestly, this series was amazing up to when it all fell apart. The actual character is still interesting as well as being amazingly bizarre.
Sadly, he isn't a mascot character anymore. Which is more of a common faith than you would expect. The simple fact is he was the reason Shiny got bought by a company like Interplay in the first place. It's a real shame they screwed them over. I also liked some weird with the actual earth worm he does in these games.
Earthworm Jim is vastly different from most gaming mascots. A huge number of them were choosing some obvious animals while others took a page from Sonic to doing animals people didn't know. The same strategy Crash Bandicoot ended using. No body was even expecting an insect would make this level of impact within the gaming community.
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