There’s also a port of Earthworm Jim for the Nintendo DSi. It had some DSi exclusive mini games and features that used the camera and was generally a really, really good port.
Unfortunately, HD remake was removed worldwide at February 2018 :( Luckly, there are still other, less legal ways, to play it. I pray digital distribution will never fully replace discs/carts, or at least have option to downlaoad it and make your own copy, like from GOG. Only played SNES version like 20 years ago on SNES emulator, but i plan to try Mega CD version one day :) It really is sad for developer, when pirated hack is better than official release on GBA, that screen crunch, plague of so many ports...
metalcoola Yes, digital only is indeed a highly problematic distribution method, primarily because of the changed business model (you no longer permanently own what you bought (the data carrier) anymore, but only acquire a temporary usage license, which can in principle be revoked any minute due to "relevant cause" (depending on the specific license agreement)) E.g. Microsoft just shut down all of their shop servers a few weeks ago, rendering all books bought from their store unusable due to the DRM used. I just don't understand why people seem to accept things like this this without any hesitation and keep buying. They can't be that stupid, can they ?
I don't get you people. If you buy the game, you open it and can redownload it still. If you didn't buy the game in the years it was up for purchase that's your own damn fault. You act like they went to your house and deleted the game off your hard drive or disabled it remotely or that you can't redownload it when it gets delisted. None of these are true. If a game gets delisted it's because they no longer have the license to redistribute it. If that happens to any game they also stop making physical copies. I've gotten so many digital games for so cheap and never had any of them become no longer playable. It's an imagined hypothetical fear with little basis.
This is one of my favorite series from the 90's. I watched the cartoon and had some of the figures. The sequel is even better imo and I particularly love the Saturn version.
Top notch entertainment by Dave Perry here, though I want to confess the part I liked and played the most was Earthworm Jim 2. The first here, I rented it twice or thrice for the Mega Drive. It has to be said that the What the Heck level had some of the most beautiful music (Tommy Tallarico at his best) and graphic effects I'd seen on a Mega Drive back at the time.
It's always interesting when you see different teams tackle a game, some make a brilliant game and squeeze a lot out of limited hardware, yet others make a real hash of it even on more powerful systems. We're all only human I guess lol.
so sad but then again, porting this to Amiga wouldn't have been hard especially considering that there are both a Master System and a Genesis version out there.
@Benjamin Owuye Jagun I can't find a single thing in this game that would have had to be cut down due to limitations of the Amiga hardware. Easy fit for CD32 and would put the "ERR" sound from the MD to shame for sure ;)
@@RetroCore I think that Earthworm Jim 3D could have been a good game if Interplay hadn't given the job to VIS Entertainment. Most of that company's games are really mediocre.
In Chattanooga, TN, USA, July of 2013, I met Tommy Tallarico at the Memorial Auditorium for the first and only time his Video Games Live concert was held there. Lauren Alaina and I went to the same high school, but at different years, but we met each other, while she met Tommy Tallarico's cousin Steven Tyler during Season 10 of American Idol. As for Earthworm Jim, I used to have the SFC/SNES version. Some music files tag Mark Miller as the composer, which I know him for doing Virtual Pinball on MD/GEN. There is a DS version of Earthworm Jim, while the Windows '95 version can be run on a Virtual PC program.
So glad I've found your channel! Greetings from Bolton, UK. You have great content, very well presented and you have a lovely relaxing voice. You seem like a lovely guy. I hope your channel grows and grows. Now, please review the RG300!!
I loved this game on the Genesis/Mega Drive. Really pushed the envelope on what the system could do. Back in 1994, it was one of the titles that held me over while waiting for the Saturn release. Unless you were a gamer back then, you have no idea what a technical masterpiece this was at the time. It was almost as if my old Genesis had a hardware upgrade; these guys were able to squeeze every ounce of power from the hardware.
Not even close. Technically, this game doesn't push the hardware. It just contains alot of carefully drawn pixel art. Which does equate to 'good graphics' but in truth, game developers on the Mega Drive were extremely lazy up until this point in terms of graphics. It's just a matter of what the competition are doing which tends to push for fancier visuals. and at this point 32bit machines were showing off games like Rayman on PS1. So this game is designed to compete with those games.
@@iwanttocomplain Rayman came out in 95 and Earthworm Jim came out in 94. If anything Earthworm Jim's engine was a successor to that used in games like Aladdin. Funny thing is Rayman was supposed to be on the SNES before it got moved to the Jaguar.
@@NotaPizzaGRL I saw a clip of the SNES version. I think it was moved fairly early onto the Jaguar. Rayman was the next year wasn't it... Perhaps this game was a trailblazer. But the real hook was it actually being funny. That was mind blowing as no game have been genuinely funny since the Speccy days. The gameplay is kind of meh though and it's toooo long and difficult in the end.
The Windows 95 release is actually how I got into the game back when we had out old PC, it was too old for us to play it until a little later on when we upgraded! So the redbook audio for me is the only way to hear the music- it's such a shame they never included that with along with the missing extra levels back into the HD remake or it would have been perfect!
I've only ever bought digital that which is too expensive to get physically (Super Fantasy Zone on the Wii, the MD game), Monster World IV on PS3 (because it's expensive as hell to get the MD cart, and this is translated), and River City Ransom NES, because the cost of that is extravagant too, when it used to sell locally for around $15. However, I go physical when I can, but then again, all I buy is old games these days anyway. So this way, as long as the games don't die due to age, I'll always have physical copies I OWN, and not a license bought from a game developer who is too greedy for their own good.
Dave Perry actually once planned a port of 1 and 2 to the Jaguar but failed due to the lack of sales. Plus in the Mega C-D version they use the Super Nintendo firing sprite
What's funny about the Jag is that the best looking game on it, Rayman was a launch title and a cancelled SNES game. The poor Jag just didn't have the talent making games for it.
3:50 The SNES version cropped a significant amount of width out of the game, giving you much less time to react to things coming from off screen. That may be the reason it was tougher and why you felt the reaction time was slower. (Perhaps the actual reaction time is slower also, though I have no idea.)
Probably someone has already mentioned this, but the SNES/SFC version is also cropped and stretched since it runs at 256x224 vs the original Megadrive version that runs at 304x224. Almost always a problem with multiplatform games back then. The water level on SNES is also missing the warping/waving effect.
@@iwanttocomplain Yeah, you're right. I don't know why I was thinking about overscan when typing that but that mode was never used on Megadrive, was mainly used on Neo-Geo.
Marc Carran What are you talking about? ALL SNES games (aside from one game, RPM Racing) were stuck on the 256x224 (8:7) resolution that the console was limited to. Yeah yeah yeah, hi-res mode exists (which is what the aforementioned game RPM Racing used), but you were only able to display like what? 20-ish colors at once? (Along with massive CPU limitations) There's reasons why hi-res mode was never used on the SNES, so yes, it IS a multiplatform issue.
@@solarflare9078 colors isn't the problem in high resolution modes. It's a 4bpp layer that uses colors from palettes just as normal. The real problem is space in VRAM (and the cartdrige ROM), because the doubled resolution needs doubled sized graphics.
I have to say that I've managed to run the Windows 95 demo under Steam Proton for Linux ( i.imgur.com/mI1pEpZ.png ). Unfortunately for some reason the sound options were all grayed out and the game didn't have sound or music. The shareware demo can be found here archive.org/details/AdventureGames1 Of course I think you don't have enough free time to free up space to install a secondary OS and play with Windows compatibility tools such as Steam Proton and Wine. EDIT: here's another demo, same thing (no sound) but at least isn't a full demo cd with other shareware games: archive.org/details/EWJ95 One tip about DSi games: if you have a 3DS capture card, it can be used to capture DSi games. And there's tons of DSiware dumps converted to the 3DS format (CIA), so it shouldn't be hard to capture DSi footage from a 3DS. Though, the legality of getting the dumps is another matter.
Okay, more research: here talks about a patch that may fix the crashing on modern versions of Windows (I haven't tested it yet as I don't use Windows frequently): www.play-old-pc-games.com/2014/09/07/earthworm-special-edition/
Mega Drive is the easy win here. Even the normal MD version has more frames of animation and it even looks like it has higher res than the SNES. At least when looking at the backgrounds. Great game. And nice vid
As the quality gap between them are less important than with many of the multiplatformes games we have seen since the Playstation/Saturn generation, any of the MD/MCD or SNES version was a good choice. But if there is only one to pick, I choose MCD...the only version I dit not play (finished both MD and SNES when the game was released).
EWJ graphics are drawn for 320x224 (Mega Drive) which means near square pixels on a 4:3 TV. Porting to SNES with its 256x224 resolution and wider pixels in 4:3 the result is a cropped and stretched image.
Another reason the Snes version is harder than the Megadrive version is it is running in lower resolution which loses it some horizontal screen space so everything on screen is stretched horizontally making it harder to see what is coming due to lack of screen space. This plagued lots of multi platform games on Snes like The Lion King, Mickey Mania, Cool Spot, Booger Man, The Mortal Kombat series and many others which all ran in the lower Snes resolution compared to the higher Megadrive one.
@@RetroCore because back then people weren't experienced enough (although I personally DID already notice at the time that SNES games had a "fatty look" due to the system resolution being 8:7 shaped and thus leading to stretched visuals with wrong aspect ratio once in 4:3) but as time passes, people's perception increases and the mega drive higher AND better shaped resolution than SNES (320x224 pixels versus 256x224) stands out much more and turns out to be one of sega's console most important technical advantages
The game was delisted from various shops last year. While im newer really liked this game my self, im do really like the effort the company did behind the game with nice variared throught with nice graphics and sound. So nothing wrong about it. Anyway here is some cool paino versions of two of the songs from this game: ua-cam.com/video/eIYYO9x51eQ/v-deo.html and ua-cam.com/video/xshVLWtf6vg/v-deo.html. Cool versions.
You will be here a long time if you want to point out all Marks typo's. No disrespect Mark, this is a quality channel but I'm guessing your work in not as a translator.
The Win95 Special Edition has 256 color backgrounds that the Sega CD version does not have but if is missing some special effects that just wouldn't look right without composite dither blending... like the transparent mist in the foreground of the "What the Heck?!" stage. It would just look like vertical stripes, so they got rid of it. Also, the iOS version hasn't worked since around 2011. Just makes horrible noises and crashes last I checked. Game Loft also screwed up little details all over. For example, Peter Puppy's ears and spots are transparent instead of black, which they didn't seem to notice just because the background is mostly black but it become glaringly obvious when he is being carried or flung in front of the planet in the background. Everyone really likes the Genesis version but I really like the lens flare effect in the first level of the SNES version and the HDMA-effect ripples in the background of underwater stages are pretty cool too. Doesn't need all the composite dither blending Genesis needed to get the colors right. Really wish the SNES version had more love.
The SNES version didn't have the underwater ripples/distortion though. The Genesis version did. Besides, the Genesis version gets more love because it has more animation, the resolution is bigger, and it has a stage the SNES version doesn't (among other reasons).
@@solarflare9078 You are talking about how the level itself ripples in thick, broken, columns. I'm talking about a more subtle per-line HDMA effect exclusive to the SNES version which is visible in the background. The extra resolution is wasted in the overscan area of CRTs from the era and everyone is aware of the missing level, which seems to have been a deliberate choice by the developers preferring higher color assets (more BPP for uncompressed sprites means more storage required). That's also likely why they cut the extra sound effects. Also, Genesis was the lead port so there was probably a bit of laziness involved on the B-team's part.
This a a famous example of a port to SNES from Genesis/Megadrive that felt rushed or slapped together. It still generally plays fine, but it is obvious, especially side-by-side that the lower resolution causes a screen crunch problem on the SNES that the developers did not account for.
Like always, Mark find "problems" in the SNES version and the Mega Drive is the "perfect" version, every Battle of the Ports is this way. 🤭 But I like his videos 😆
Raoni Mark said nothing negative of the SNES version except for it missing stuff and being more difficult than it needs to be (which is actually because of the SNES's cropped resolution). If he was really bringing down the SNES version, he would also mention the lack of animation, stretched graphics, muffled music, etc.
Love the digital quality audio on the optical drive hardware, the Genesis version is great but SNES isn't all too hot and it's similar to the handhelds.
SNES uses 4-bit compressed ADPCM samples, expanded to 15-bit resolution, processed with an additional 4-point Gaussian sound interpolation. Then there is a low pass filter and often reverb added to try to add more depth. So it is a unique sound. Also only 64Kb sound memory limits samples to low bit rate, bit depth and frequency.
There's also the wonderful and fully re-drawn Earthworm Jim HD for PS4 if that's still available, glad I bought mine when it came out Also the difference between SNES and MD is pretty big when it comes to animation quality, the mega drive versions have vastly superior animations where as due to memory limitations or some such I'm not a tech person, many frames had to be removed from the animations on the SNES.
That's the PS3 version. It just happens to run on PS4 too like the 360 version runs on Xbox One. Saslyh both of those versions are delisted so it's impossible to download them now.
@@RetroCore I said PS4 by mistake :) I have it on PS3, didn't even know it was available on the PS4, now I'm curious, I haven't seen it for sale for PS4 or in my downloads list
(small disclaimer to disclaimer (weird :P) about digital distribution - it's good that we've got DRM-free games on such services like GOG - after buying game you just need to download once what's necessary (not counting patches etc) and save it in safe place - and zero stress about delisting/removing game etc - hey, you can even pay a bit to adequate company to make for you CD and box with adequate print and record installer on the DVD/CD - and you've got physical copy!). Getting back to Earthworm Jim - I'm a bit surprised, because I personally didn't experienced some of the issues of DOS version you've mentioned (I was playing in GOG version of the game). I had also completely fluent gameplay (in opposity to "choppy one" in the review). Anyway, DOS version (due to poor accessibility of Special Edition for Windows) is IMO the way to go, nice soundtrack, vibrant colors... Plus I personally prefer to play 2D platform games on keyboard. I can play on joypad, but... I'm too attached to keyboard. Fine review, as always :) BTW - did you consider to try something very unusual, like some game well known from PC version and "odd" ports, like Warcraft 2 (which had those odd, exotic Saturn/PS1 ports) or Starcraft (with bizzare N64 port).
GOG is a nice service but it's only a tinny spec with a tinny library compared to the rest. I'm sure 99.9% of PC gamers would say Steam was the best thing to ever happen to gaming but I disagree. If there was no Steam there would be no console digital only releases. I could have a physical copy of NieR Automata on my Xbox One X. The best version of the game available and it's digital ONLY!! That's really sucks because once that goes we're left with the inferior PS4 version which was given a physical release.
I have the first three Earth Worm Jim games for PC through Steam i believe they are MS Dos versions. Have Genesis version of Earth Worm Jim, Sega Saturn ver. and SNES Earth Worm Jim 2. Love every port i own. I believe PAL regions got Earth Worm Jim for Play Station. Would be cool to see someone make an arcade cab of Earth Worm Jim 1&2.
If it weren't for the level layouts, which I generally hate because of how randomly laid out and obtuse they are at times, I'd actually love the Earthworm Jim games.
I went back and played 2 and was kinda disappointed. I remember loving this game, but I think it was more the characters, far jokes and the general silliness. Like, in EWJ 2 you have to bounce puppies around after every other stage and it's a crap mini game that really feels like filler
@@MrBillgonzo Yeah, everything about the actual presentation is stellar and really appealing imo. I just don't like those level designs and would prefer stuff a bit more linear and designed to look like actual plausible places rather than often just random chunks of geometry kind floating about and going in all directions. Level layouts more like Contra III or something like that--mostly clearly left to right but with a little variety and verticality and different heights and stuff now and then--would have made this game shine as far as I'm concerned.
I actually managed to get the Windows 95 version running on my Windows 10 laptop. The only problem is, while it plays the SFX, I can't get the music to play. btw, I still question why both Steam and GOG chose the DOS version over the much superior Win95 Special Edition version. Was it because it came with the DOS port of the 2nd game? Gimme a break. Also, yeah, the mobile phone version by Gameloft served as the basis for the HD port on PS3 and 360. That is correct. The same mobile version was also on the Nintendo DSiware. One more interesting thing to note is that the original game was at one point supposed to come out on the Atari Jaguar, but that port was cancelled.
Download a new version of wail32.dll, copy the contents of the CD to your harddrive, and replace wail32.dll in the assets folder. Game will work fully with sound. Same trick works for pitfall the Mayan adventure windows 95
Yakumo-san, trying to install W95/W98 software on modern OS (possibly even on a 64-Bit system) is indeed absolutely futile. The best (and by far easiest) way is to install a Hypervisor like the free VMWare Workstation and install W95/W98 as Guest OS into it. This always works and has the benefit that you don't mess up your system. As W95 is in principle still DOS with just a fancy GUI, this also means, that you also don't have to mess with DOSbox anymore, but can use the DOS versions directly within the same VM.
don't think you could've shown off the DSi version anyways; tried emulating it a couple of days ago and I couldn't get it to work I wonder how that version plays?
I think I have to donate for you one of my old PCs where you can play the Win95 ports no problem ! It was a fun game of its times. Another SMS exclusive in Brazil ? Well this calls for the game hunt when visiting this country !
@@rafaellima83 woo, thats a lot ! But Im sure Id get other games anyway. Here where I live Family Computer has won the battle over SMS which is a shame, because you cant really buy many games for the system
@@KISSbestfan The Master System popularity here wasn't common anywhere else in the world. Sega was (still is!) represented by a company who made a *real* good job selling their stuff around. The system was still popular but there were no more new games released for it, so tthey begun porting Game Gear games for the SMS. They also developed a few games for it, but they sucked badly ;D
"It must be noted that the Windows 95 version is missing from this video. This game just doesn't run in a modern PC, crashing at Title Screen every time." Check out this link to solve your problem : pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Earthworm_Jim:_Special_Edition#No_Sound_Effects_Play.2FGame_Crashes_at_the_Title_Screen In fact, check out PCGamingWiki each time a Dos/Windows game doesn't work properly.
There was also an iOS port of the game by Gameloft, but it disappeared years ago. Included all of the original's level except "Who turned off the lights". I played the shit out of it on my first iPod touch. Currently looking for the Genesis version.
0:16 Try running Win 95 in DOSBOX, or via some sort of VM. It might work better that way. 0:38 The intro belch is so cheezy, lolz 14:32 Unnn...Probably NEVER. I've only played the Genesis and SNES versions and had no clue there were so many ports...lolz Fun Fact: What the Heck? was originally called Hellscape. Yeah, the ESRB was not going to have that and still have a rating of E10 slapped on the game (or K-A as it was back then). #ESRBCanSitAndSpin
Actually there are many famicom pirated versions, one from Hummer, one from Super Game, and one from Shin-Shin\Kaiser. The Super Game version has a Konami Sound engine, it sounds nice actually.
I love Earthworm Jim, and I play the genesis release pretty often. However, as much as I enjoyed the first game, I never really liked Earthworm Jim 2, though maybe that's from getting the DOS version of the second game and playing with Gravis gamepad. I really should give one of the EJ2 console releases a chance at some point...
I don't play handheld games at all. I just can't get in to playing on a small screen. The only time I play handheld games is when reviewing the games for these videos.
Haha! Yes! Finally Earthworm Jim is made! The Mega Drive original is a really fun game and it features one of the best uses of that horrible GEMS driver on the console. In fact, it's so good, I prefer its music over the overly muffled SNES version. Speaking of the SNES version, I think the reason it may be harder is because of the SNES's worse resolution of 256x224, which most SNES ports suffer from. The Mega CD version is AWESOME. Easily the best version hands down. The scaled down 8-bit ports are nice for what they are as well. DOS version is a nice port as well, if not a little sluggish. As with the GBA port, I absolutely hate it. It sucks like most ports on that handheld. In fact, Earthworm Jim 1 and ESPECIALLY 2 were the key games (there was also way more than those games) that left a sour taste of GBA ports to me, which still hasn't gone away to this day. (Much like Pit Fighter and western arcade games to you) That last rant of yours about digital only is one I can definitely agree with too. Fuck digital only future. Physical all the way. Y'know, come to think about it, it's funny how you went to do Earthworm Jim after Jim Power. Is this national Jim month for BotP? Are you going to do EWJ2 next?
The Earthworm Jim collection is available on steam. You'll get Earthworm Jim 1 + 2 + 3D. I've been watching the older episodes, but there are a lot missing in the list. Did you to remove them for copyright reasons or for a different reason?
Nope, I haven't removed any shows. It's possible UA-cam has messed up the play lists. Can you tell me which show numbers are missing then I can double check the play lists.
@@RetroCore Okay. Episodes missing in the playlist: 14, 22, 28, 39, 43, 53, 56, 57, 66, 68, 72, 78, 87, 94, 99, 100, 101, 134, 135, 137, 138, 139, 141, 142, 154, 159, 161, 162, 164, 168, 173, 182, 183, 195. The list stops at 231. It seems like there can only be 200 videos in a playlist.
I'm familiar with Earthworm Jim back in the 90's. I heard the Super Nintendo Version had compressed sound quality, but what do think about it?... And the HD Remake.
snes version may not be as good as the genesis version, but during fight of bad kitty in the snes version, it's much easier to see bad kitty while he's in the shadow's because the background isn't fully black like the genesis version which made the game harder.
Sega cd and Saturn are my fav versions. I can't wait until the sequel to earthworm jim 2 that's being made by the original team fir the intellivision amico
Regarding the GBA port being what it is, according to said version's lead programmer it was a case of them not being given much time (it was developed in just three months) and not a lot of budget, since Majesco wanted something for the GBA's launch quickly and cheaply no matter how. He and the rest of Game Titan were later offered the chance to do the EWJ2 port but they rejected. All of this was mentioned by him on the comments of one UA-cam upload of a longplay of this port, specifically this: ua-cam.com/video/RWRB6L3-2Iw/v-deo.html&lc=UgjsWwHEgFRo3XgCoAEC ---- there's some interesting anecdotes.
Too bad about the Windows 95 version not working in your setup. But that's strange, because I can get that one working. Maybe you could have get it working too using a virtual machine. Nevertheless, it's more or less a carbon copy of the Mega CD version, I'm not sure if the color count was improved from the Mega CD, but I believe it wasn't.
Love this game on the Genesis (MD) and Sega CD (MD-CD). I have the Good Old Games version, which is the Windows 95 version but that doesn't support modern controllers. I also have the Xbox 360 version which I enjoy as well. But I remember back in the early 2000s when I bought my nephews EWJ. I remembered that they kinda liked EWJ 3 for the N64, and wanted to buy them one I thought better represented the original games I liked. Unfortunately, I never saw reviews for the GBA version, so I got them that. BIG MISTAKE! This video reminded me as to why it was a big mistake. Sorry boys...your uncle screwed up!
Edit: I had to prove it, so I made a video about it!: ua-cam.com/video/FhHkMOrityg/v-deo.html You can get the Windows 95 version to work in Windows 10 by copying the contents of the disc to your harddrive, downloading a new version of wail32.dll, and replacing it in the assets folder. You can't make it fullscreen, but you can resize the window to be nearly fullscreen. Im sure you could use some software to make it go borderless windowed. I own the disc from back in the day, and i can confirm this works.
SNES , that one was the one to play back in the day . Stereo sound , one system , no need for Sega CD . But you get what you get for what platform you had at that time .
@@gametourny4ever627 yeah you're right, forgot about those! I'm gonna add Wily Beamish vs the DOS version, cuz I havent tried it on MS 95 if it exists.
Yes, you cover one of the greatest game ever! The HD remake was good....but not perfect. They reverse engineer the genesis one and add in an exclusive level but they made a mistake in doing that. The Shiny people was willing to give the source code to Gameloft but they didn't want it for whatever reason. Thus the animation is not as fluid as the original and it's too easy. If Gameloft would have based it on the Sega CD version & made it harder that game would be excellent. It like the same situation with Ubisoft's TMNT Reshelled.........
ua-cam.com/video/784MUbDoLjQ/v-deo.html think got the job done for that game and is a hell a game to do. They also recently analysed the recently ports as well.
@@WeskerSega thank you. I looked it up afterwards. I don't know why, but I was certain that the first game had come out on the ps1 and the Saturn. So strange how memories work.
I remember seeing a DSi Ware version of this game in a magazine, i would like to check that version out, but sadly i don't have a DSi, and DSi emulation is still not quite there.
This game is brutal, but enjoyable. Just as long as you play on Genesis or Sega CD. I kind of wish it got a second remake, but handled better this time, and with a physical release. Though considering the first one was done by Gameloft, it could've easily ended up so much worse. The only thing I'd keep from that one is the boss themes, and maybe a reimagining of the bonus levels to be more in line with the series absurdity. Despite all that, it still sucks you can't buy it anymore and have to resort to emulation. And people who already bought it may end up losing it some day, given the current state of Sony and Microsoft and the situation regarding their 7th gen hardware.
Goddamn that GBA port's screen estate... And I thought "Tube Race" was hell on the SNES port due to the reduced viewing area! Or did they make adjustments to make it even somewhat bearable on the GBA?
There’s also a port of Earthworm Jim for the Nintendo DSi. It had some DSi exclusive mini games and features that used the camera and was generally a really, really good port.
I was just about to comment that! That was a damn fine port of Earthworm Jim, probably the best handheld port out there.
Oh, that's right. I had forgotten about that one.
I never even heard of this port, good stuff there.
I know that but for some reason game runs a little fast
@@RetroCore well if you will make remaster you should include dsi port
Unfortunately, HD remake was removed worldwide at February 2018 :( Luckly, there are still other, less legal ways, to play it. I pray digital distribution will never fully replace discs/carts, or at least have option to downlaoad it and make your own copy, like from GOG.
Only played SNES version like 20 years ago on SNES emulator, but i plan to try Mega CD version one day :) It really is sad for developer, when pirated hack is better than official release on GBA, that screen crunch, plague of so many ports...
They should've used the Game Gear assets for the GBA version.
Then again, it had stolen fan art for the life meter and used Finding Nemo art in the water stage
metalcoola
Yes, digital only is indeed a highly problematic distribution method, primarily because of the changed business model (you no longer permanently own what you bought (the data carrier) anymore, but only acquire a temporary usage license, which can in principle be revoked any minute due to "relevant cause" (depending on the specific license agreement))
E.g. Microsoft just shut down all of their shop servers a few weeks ago, rendering all books bought from their store unusable due to the DRM used.
I just don't understand why people seem to accept things like this this without any hesitation and keep buying. They can't be that stupid, can they ?
@@frankschneider6156 They are stupid, this is why digital distribution is laughable to me.
I don't get you people. If you buy the game, you open it and can redownload it still. If you didn't buy the game in the years it was up for purchase that's your own damn fault. You act like they went to your house and deleted the game off your hard drive or disabled it remotely or that you can't redownload it when it gets delisted. None of these are true. If a game gets delisted it's because they no longer have the license to redistribute it. If that happens to any game they also stop making physical copies. I've gotten so many digital games for so cheap and never had any of them become no longer playable. It's an imagined hypothetical fear with little basis.
This is one of my favorite series from the 90's. I watched the cartoon and had some of the figures. The sequel is even better imo and I particularly love the Saturn version.
That gba asteroids level is hilarious. Coming down the screen instead of through the pipe.
After remembering that this year marks the 25th Anniversary of Earthworm Jim, the timing couldn't be even more impeccable. :D
That's a coincidence. I had no idea.
Well done comparison, entertainingly presented. Thank you once again!
What a lovely game this was. So much character and personality infused into every art asset.
Top notch entertainment by Dave Perry here, though I want to confess the part I liked and played the most was Earthworm Jim 2. The first here, I rented it twice or thrice for the Mega Drive. It has to be said that the What the Heck level had some of the most beautiful music (Tommy Tallarico at his best) and graphic effects I'd seen on a Mega Drive back at the time.
It's always interesting when you see different teams tackle a game, some make a brilliant game and squeeze a lot out of limited hardware, yet others make a real hash of it even on more powerful systems. We're all only human I guess lol.
Very interesting to see all the different versions.
This was a major game that informed Amiga owners about their system being obsolete
so sad but then again, porting this to Amiga wouldn't have been hard especially considering that there are both a Master System and a Genesis version out there.
@@TheAmigaGuru of course. especially for a1200. the company was already bankrupt though
The developer said in an interview that they would have liked an amiga version but it just didnt come up at the time so it kinda just didnt happen.
@Benjamin Owuye Jagun I can't find a single thing in this game that would have had to be cut down due to limitations of the Amiga hardware. Easy fit for CD32 and would put the "ERR" sound from the MD to shame for sure ;)
GROOVY !! It's a sadness that Earthworm Jim's popularity was short.
That's what happens when you let crappy developers handle your IP. After earthworm Jim 2 it just went downhill.
@@RetroCore I think that Earthworm Jim 3D could have been a good game if Interplay hadn't given the job to VIS Entertainment. Most of that company's games are really mediocre.
In Chattanooga, TN, USA, July of 2013, I met Tommy Tallarico at the Memorial Auditorium for the first and only time his Video Games Live concert was held there. Lauren Alaina and I went to the same high school, but at different years, but we met each other, while she met Tommy Tallarico's cousin Steven Tyler during Season 10 of American Idol.
As for Earthworm Jim, I used to have the SFC/SNES version. Some music files tag Mark Miller as the composer, which I know him for doing Virtual Pinball on MD/GEN. There is a DS version of Earthworm Jim, while the Windows '95 version can be run on a Virtual PC program.
So glad I've found your channel! Greetings from Bolton, UK. You have great content, very well presented and you have a lovely relaxing voice. You seem like a lovely guy. I hope your channel grows and grows. Now, please review the RG300!!
Hehe, thanks fir the nice comments. I'll see if I can get the RG-300 fir you. May take a few weeks though.
Bolton, up north too👍. Nice.
I loved this game on the Genesis/Mega Drive. Really pushed the envelope on what the system could do. Back in 1994, it was one of the titles that held me over while waiting for the Saturn release. Unless you were a gamer back then, you have no idea what a technical masterpiece this was at the time. It was almost as if my old Genesis had a hardware upgrade; these guys were able to squeeze every ounce of power from the hardware.
Not even close. Technically, this game doesn't push the hardware. It just contains alot of carefully drawn pixel art. Which does equate to 'good graphics' but in truth, game developers on the Mega Drive were extremely lazy up until this point in terms of graphics. It's just a matter of what the competition are doing which tends to push for fancier visuals. and at this point 32bit machines were showing off games like Rayman on PS1. So this game is designed to compete with those games.
@@iwanttocomplain Rayman came out in 95 and Earthworm Jim came out in 94. If anything Earthworm Jim's engine was a successor to that used in games like Aladdin. Funny thing is Rayman was supposed to be on the SNES before it got moved to the Jaguar.
@@NotaPizzaGRL I saw a clip of the SNES version. I think it was moved fairly early onto the Jaguar. Rayman was the next year wasn't it... Perhaps this game was a trailblazer. But the real hook was it actually being funny. That was mind blowing as no game have been genuinely funny since the Speccy days. The gameplay is kind of meh though and it's toooo long and difficult in the end.
Jack Wareham - Regardless of how it was achieved, it’s one of the best looking and best sounding games on the Genesis.
@@socalboogie1099 For sure. But the Mega Drive never saw it's potential realised.
The Windows 95 release is actually how I got into the game back when we had out old PC, it was too old for us to play it until a little later on when we upgraded! So the redbook audio for me is the only way to hear the music- it's such a shame they never included that with along with the missing extra levels back into the HD remake or it would have been perfect!
I've only ever bought digital that which is too expensive to get physically (Super Fantasy Zone on the Wii, the MD game), Monster World IV on PS3 (because it's expensive as hell to get the MD cart, and this is translated), and River City Ransom NES, because the cost of that is extravagant too, when it used to sell locally for around $15.
However, I go physical when I can, but then again, all I buy is old games these days anyway. So this way, as long as the games don't die due to age, I'll always have physical copies I OWN, and not a license bought from a game developer who is too greedy for their own good.
I prefer the Sega version's music, but the SNES with that first level music with those voices, it's a whole different can of earworms!
Sterling job! Loved this game and you gave it justice! :D
PSA: The creator of Earthworm Jim, Doug TenNapel, has a record breaking crowdfund for his new EWJ origin comic live on Indiegogo right now!
Damn I missed out, I hope those books got to public retailers.
@@Clay3613 The store is still open on Indiegogo. I dont think these will be in bookstores.
A OG Masterpiece!
Mega CD @ its best!
It would be cool when you can do a pers. conclusion at the end.
Good Old Jim
Makes sense that the MD/CD versions are best since it was designed for the hardware.
Dave Perry actually once planned a port of 1 and 2 to the Jaguar but failed due to the lack of sales. Plus in the Mega C-D version they use the Super Nintendo firing sprite
What's funny about the Jag is that the best looking game on it, Rayman was a launch title and a cancelled SNES game. The poor Jag just didn't have the talent making games for it.
Mainly because the lack of 3rd Parties and crappy developer tools that usually Atari gave them.
They should have used the Genesis firing sprite on Mega CD.
@@alelauguz They didn't, if anything they added 1 more sprite so the firing muzzle matches the Super Nintendo port when Jim is falling in Level 5
I'm really impressed with the master system version, looks really sharp and a good proportion.
I just wish it filled more of the screen. It's practically in 16:9 ratio.
3:50 The SNES version cropped a significant amount of width out of the game, giving you much less time to react to things coming from off screen. That may be the reason it was tougher and why you felt the reaction time was slower. (Perhaps the actual reaction time is slower also, though I have no idea.)
Very good point.
Probably someone has already mentioned this, but the SNES/SFC version is also cropped and stretched since it runs at 256x224 vs the original Megadrive version that runs at 304x224. Almost always a problem with multiplatform games back then.
The water level on SNES is also missing the warping/waving effect.
*320x224
yep, that was mentioned. Perfectly valid point.
@@iwanttocomplain Yeah, you're right. I don't know why I was thinking about overscan when typing that but that mode was never used on Megadrive, was mainly used on Neo-Geo.
Marc Carran What are you talking about? ALL SNES games (aside from one game, RPM Racing) were stuck on the 256x224 (8:7) resolution that the console was limited to. Yeah yeah yeah, hi-res mode exists (which is what the aforementioned game RPM Racing used), but you were only able to display like what? 20-ish colors at once? (Along with massive CPU limitations) There's reasons why hi-res mode was never used on the SNES, so yes, it IS a multiplatform issue.
@@solarflare9078 colors isn't the problem in high resolution modes. It's a 4bpp layer that uses colors from palettes just as normal.
The real problem is space in VRAM (and the cartdrige ROM), because the doubled resolution needs doubled sized graphics.
I have to say that I've managed to run the Windows 95 demo under Steam Proton for Linux ( i.imgur.com/mI1pEpZ.png ). Unfortunately for some reason the sound options were all grayed out and the game didn't have sound or music. The shareware demo can be found here archive.org/details/AdventureGames1
Of course I think you don't have enough free time to free up space to install a secondary OS and play with Windows compatibility tools such as Steam Proton and Wine.
EDIT: here's another demo, same thing (no sound) but at least isn't a full demo cd with other shareware games: archive.org/details/EWJ95
One tip about DSi games: if you have a 3DS capture card, it can be used to capture DSi games. And there's tons of DSiware dumps converted to the 3DS format (CIA), so it shouldn't be hard to capture DSi footage from a 3DS. Though, the legality of getting the dumps is another matter.
Okay, more research: here talks about a patch that may fix the crashing on modern versions of Windows (I haven't tested it yet as I don't use Windows frequently):
www.play-old-pc-games.com/2014/09/07/earthworm-special-edition/
nice link. I'll book mark that one. It could help with future shows.
Mega Drive is the easy win here. Even the normal MD version has more frames of animation and it even looks like it has higher res than the SNES. At least when looking at the backgrounds. Great game. And nice vid
Mega CD for sure butt he base Mega Drive version is still great. Better than the SNES as you said.
I can see the Genesis versions are superior but which is best? Genesis or Saga CD version? He did say the Sega CD version had more content and music.
Mega Drive version definitely has higher resolution, in fact, most snes games were lower resolution than Mega Drive/Genesis games.
As the quality gap between them are less important than with many of the multiplatformes games we have seen since the Playstation/Saturn generation, any of the MD/MCD or SNES version was a good choice. But if there is only one to pick, I choose MCD...the only version I dit not play (finished both MD and SNES when the game was released).
EWJ graphics are drawn for 320x224 (Mega Drive) which means near square pixels on a 4:3 TV. Porting to SNES with its 256x224 resolution and wider pixels in 4:3 the result is a cropped and stretched image.
Earthworm Jim one of my favourite Sega mega drive game 👍🕹
Another reason the Snes version is harder than the Megadrive version is it is running in lower resolution which loses it some horizontal screen space so everything on screen is stretched horizontally making it harder to see what is coming due to lack of screen space. This plagued lots of multi platform games on Snes like The Lion King, Mickey Mania, Cool Spot, Booger Man, The Mortal Kombat series and many others which all ran in the lower Snes resolution compared to the higher Megadrive one.
What's sad is this issue was never mentioned back in the day.
@@RetroCore because back then people weren't experienced enough (although I personally DID already notice at the time that SNES games had a "fatty look" due to the system resolution being 8:7 shaped and thus leading to stretched visuals with wrong aspect ratio once in 4:3) but as time passes, people's perception increases and the mega drive higher AND better shaped resolution than SNES (320x224 pixels versus 256x224) stands out much more and turns out to be one of sega's console most important technical advantages
The game was delisted from various shops last year. While im newer really liked this game my self, im do really like the effort the company did behind the game with nice variared throught with nice graphics and sound. So nothing wrong about it. Anyway here is some cool paino versions of two of the songs from this game: ua-cam.com/video/eIYYO9x51eQ/v-deo.html and ua-cam.com/video/xshVLWtf6vg/v-deo.html. Cool versions.
My Childhood right there. Can't wait for the episode on KOF 99 & Garou mark of the wolves. I'm sure the latter game had a few ports.
Two I believe
Hang on 260 😂 😂 I think the typo is wrong is 360 not 260
Oops, I didn't notice that.
You will be here a long time if you want to point out all Marks typo's. No disrespect Mark, this is a quality channel but I'm guessing your work in not as a translator.
@Rudy actually he’s from Liverpool. But he’s lived in Japan for ages.
@Rudy Liverpool, yes.
The Win95 Special Edition has 256 color backgrounds that the Sega CD version does not have but if is missing some special effects that just wouldn't look right without composite dither blending... like the transparent mist in the foreground of the "What the Heck?!" stage. It would just look like vertical stripes, so they got rid of it. Also, the iOS version hasn't worked since around 2011. Just makes horrible noises and crashes last I checked. Game Loft also screwed up little details all over. For example, Peter Puppy's ears and spots are transparent instead of black, which they didn't seem to notice just because the background is mostly black but it become glaringly obvious when he is being carried or flung in front of the planet in the background.
Everyone really likes the Genesis version but I really like the lens flare effect in the first level of the SNES version and the HDMA-effect ripples in the background of underwater stages are pretty cool too. Doesn't need all the composite dither blending Genesis needed to get the colors right. Really wish the SNES version had more love.
The SNES version didn't have the underwater ripples/distortion though. The Genesis version did. Besides, the Genesis version gets more love because it has more animation, the resolution is bigger, and it has a stage the SNES version doesn't (among other reasons).
@@solarflare9078 You are talking about how the level itself ripples in thick, broken, columns. I'm talking about a more subtle per-line HDMA effect exclusive to the SNES version which is visible in the background.
The extra resolution is wasted in the overscan area of CRTs from the era and everyone is aware of the missing level, which seems to have been a deliberate choice by the developers preferring higher color assets (more BPP for uncompressed sprites means more storage required). That's also likely why they cut the extra sound effects. Also, Genesis was the lead port so there was probably a bit of laziness involved on the B-team's part.
Great review of a cool game.
This a a famous example of a port to SNES from Genesis/Megadrive that felt rushed or slapped together. It still generally plays fine, but it is obvious, especially side-by-side that the lower resolution causes a screen crunch problem on the SNES that the developers did not account for.
Snes looks good. Nice graphics and soundtrack.
Like always, Mark find "problems" in the SNES version and the Mega Drive is the "perfect" version, every Battle of the Ports is this way. 🤭
But I like his videos 😆
Raoni Mark said nothing negative of the SNES version except for it missing stuff and being more difficult than it needs to be (which is actually because of the SNES's cropped resolution). If he was really bringing down the SNES version, he would also mention the lack of animation, stretched graphics, muffled music, etc.
Love the digital quality audio on the optical drive hardware, the Genesis version is great but SNES isn't all too hot and it's similar to the handhelds.
The audio on the SNES sounds very muffled. I never noticed it back in the day but now I do.
SNES uses 4-bit compressed ADPCM samples, expanded to 15-bit resolution, processed with an additional 4-point Gaussian sound interpolation. Then there is a low pass filter and often reverb added to try to add more depth. So it is a unique sound. Also only 64Kb sound memory limits samples to low bit rate, bit depth and frequency.
There's also the wonderful and fully re-drawn Earthworm Jim HD for PS4 if that's still available, glad I bought mine when it came out
Also the difference between SNES and MD is pretty big when it comes to animation quality, the mega drive versions have vastly superior animations where as due to memory limitations or some such I'm not a tech person, many frames had to be removed from the animations on the SNES.
That's the PS3 version. It just happens to run on PS4 too like the 360 version runs on Xbox One. Saslyh both of those versions are delisted so it's impossible to download them now.
@@RetroCore I said PS4 by mistake :)
I have it on PS3, didn't even know it was available on the PS4, now I'm curious, I haven't seen it for sale for PS4 or in my downloads list
respect to master system
(small disclaimer to disclaimer (weird :P) about digital distribution - it's good that we've got DRM-free games on such services like GOG - after buying game you just need to download once what's necessary (not counting patches etc) and save it in safe place - and zero stress about delisting/removing game etc - hey, you can even pay a bit to adequate company to make for you CD and box with adequate print and record installer on the DVD/CD - and you've got physical copy!).
Getting back to Earthworm Jim - I'm a bit surprised, because I personally didn't experienced some of the issues of DOS version you've mentioned (I was playing in GOG version of the game). I had also completely fluent gameplay (in opposity to "choppy one" in the review). Anyway, DOS version (due to poor accessibility of Special Edition for Windows) is IMO the way to go, nice soundtrack, vibrant colors... Plus I personally prefer to play 2D platform games on keyboard. I can play on joypad, but... I'm too attached to keyboard.
Fine review, as always :) BTW - did you consider to try something very unusual, like some game well known from PC version and "odd" ports, like Warcraft 2 (which had those odd, exotic Saturn/PS1 ports) or Starcraft (with bizzare N64 port).
GOG is a nice service but it's only a tinny spec with a tinny library compared to the rest. I'm sure 99.9% of PC gamers would say Steam was the best thing to ever happen to gaming but I disagree. If there was no Steam there would be no console digital only releases. I could have a physical copy of NieR Automata on my Xbox One X. The best version of the game available and it's digital ONLY!! That's really sucks because once that goes we're left with the inferior PS4 version which was given a physical release.
I have the first three Earth Worm Jim games for PC through Steam i believe they are MS Dos versions. Have Genesis version of Earth Worm Jim, Sega Saturn ver. and SNES Earth Worm Jim 2. Love every port i own. I believe PAL regions got Earth Worm Jim for Play Station. Would be cool to see someone make an arcade cab of Earth Worm Jim 1&2.
Flashy new transitions, I like them!
hehe, yep, they were a homage to the SNES lens flair effect.
The Sega music is by far superior
you cant play this game without getting the music stuck in your head.
My favorite is Sega CD version.
TLDR: Mega CD or Win 95 for EWJ1.
Saturn or PSX for EWJ2.
Saturn of Earthworm Jim 2 for sure.
If it weren't for the level layouts, which I generally hate because of how randomly laid out and obtuse they are at times, I'd actually love the Earthworm Jim games.
It's sure one of those games you either love or hate.
I went back and played 2 and was kinda disappointed. I remember loving this game, but I think it was more the characters, far jokes and the general silliness. Like, in EWJ 2 you have to bounce puppies around after every other stage and it's a crap mini game that really feels like filler
@@MrBillgonzo Yeah, everything about the actual presentation is stellar and really appealing imo. I just don't like those level designs and would prefer stuff a bit more linear and designed to look like actual plausible places rather than often just random chunks of geometry kind floating about and going in all directions. Level layouts more like Contra III or something like that--mostly clearly left to right but with a little variety and verticality and different heights and stuff now and then--would have made this game shine as far as I'm concerned.
Respect to the Game Gear.
I actually managed to get the Windows 95 version running on my Windows 10 laptop. The only problem is, while it plays the SFX, I can't get the music to play.
btw, I still question why both Steam and GOG chose the DOS version over the much superior Win95 Special Edition version. Was it because it came with the DOS port of the 2nd game? Gimme a break.
Also, yeah, the mobile phone version by Gameloft served as the basis for the HD port on PS3 and 360. That is correct. The same mobile version was also on the Nintendo DSiware.
One more interesting thing to note is that the original game was at one point supposed to come out on the Atari Jaguar, but that port was cancelled.
Download a new version of wail32.dll, copy the contents of the CD to your harddrive, and replace wail32.dll in the assets folder. Game will work fully with sound. Same trick works for pitfall the Mayan adventure windows 95
Yakumo-san,
trying to install W95/W98 software on modern OS (possibly even on a 64-Bit system) is indeed absolutely futile.
The best (and by far easiest) way is to install a Hypervisor like the free VMWare Workstation and install W95/W98 as Guest OS into it. This always works and has the benefit that you don't mess up your system. As W95 is in principle still DOS with just a fancy GUI, this also means, that you also don't have to mess with DOSbox anymore, but can use the DOS versions directly within the same VM.
Hypervisor you say? I've not heard of that. Something that I need to look in to. Thanks for the info.
don't think you could've shown off the DSi version anyways; tried emulating it a couple of days ago and I couldn't get it to work
I wonder how that version plays?
I wonder. I've never actually seen it but I can imagine it's quite the same as the snes version.
4:00 resolution is a bit lower so you get less time to react.
I think I have to donate for you one of my old PCs where you can play the Win95 ports no problem !
It was a fun game of its times. Another SMS exclusive in Brazil ? Well this calls for the game hunt when visiting this country !
Good luck. At least since dolar price raised against our money, you may get it for under 100 dollars, but it's a very expensive cart around here :D
@@rafaellima83 woo, thats a lot ! But Im sure Id get other games anyway. Here where I live Family Computer has won the battle over SMS which is a shame, because you cant really buy many games for the system
@@KISSbestfan The Master System popularity here wasn't common anywhere else in the world. Sega was (still is!) represented by a company who made a *real* good job selling their stuff around. The system was still popular but there were no more new games released for it, so tthey begun porting Game Gear games for the SMS. They also developed a few games for it, but they sucked badly ;D
@@rafaellima83 I get it. Still cool to have one of the best 8 bit systems developed there. Cheers !
"It must be noted that the Windows 95 version is missing from this video. This game just doesn't run in a modern PC, crashing at Title Screen every time."
Check out this link to solve your problem : pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Earthworm_Jim:_Special_Edition#No_Sound_Effects_Play.2FGame_Crashes_at_the_Title_Screen
In fact, check out PCGamingWiki each time a Dos/Windows game doesn't work properly.
There was also an iOS port of the game by Gameloft, but it disappeared years ago. Included all of the original's level except "Who turned off the lights". I played the shit out of it on my first iPod touch. Currently looking for the Genesis version.
Dave Perry was from newtownabbey northern Ireland. My dad used to sign him on at the dhss
The same Dave Perry?
@@RetroCore yeah
0:16 Try running Win 95 in DOSBOX, or via some sort of VM. It might work better that way.
0:38 The intro belch is so cheezy, lolz
14:32 Unnn...Probably NEVER.
I've only played the Genesis and SNES versions and had no clue there were so many ports...lolz
Fun Fact: What the Heck? was originally called Hellscape. Yeah, the ESRB was not going to have that and still have a rating of E10 slapped on the game (or K-A as it was back then). #ESRBCanSitAndSpin
You made me think this was footage of the new Jim game...darn you!
Sorry. I doubt that will be good.
Actually there are many famicom pirated versions, one from Hummer, one from Super Game, and one from Shin-Shin\Kaiser. The Super Game version has a Konami Sound engine, it sounds nice actually.
Superb game back in the day 🖒💥
I love Earthworm Jim, and I play the genesis release pretty often. However, as much as I enjoyed the first game, I never really liked Earthworm Jim 2, though maybe that's from getting the DOS version of the second game and playing with Gravis gamepad. I really should give one of the EJ2 console releases a chance at some point...
Yep, the gravis game pad was okay but not really suited to a game like Earthworm Jim.
Yeah it's a decent game on consoles, but still not as good as the first.
25 anniversary of this game. Included in Mega Drive mini, sort of. Amazing BotP, didn't know that Game Boy Advance version was too lame.
I don't play handheld games at all. I just can't get in to playing on a small screen. The only time I play handheld games is when reviewing the games for these videos.
Haha! Yes! Finally Earthworm Jim is made! The Mega Drive original is a really fun game and it features one of the best uses of that horrible GEMS driver on the console. In fact, it's so good, I prefer its music over the overly muffled SNES version. Speaking of the SNES version, I think the reason it may be harder is because of the SNES's worse resolution of 256x224, which most SNES ports suffer from.
The Mega CD version is AWESOME. Easily the best version hands down. The scaled down 8-bit ports are nice for what they are as well. DOS version is a nice port as well, if not a little sluggish.
As with the GBA port, I absolutely hate it. It sucks like most ports on that handheld. In fact, Earthworm Jim 1 and ESPECIALLY 2 were the key games (there was also way more than those games) that left a sour taste of GBA ports to me, which still hasn't gone away to this day. (Much like Pit Fighter and western arcade games to you)
That last rant of yours about digital only is one I can definitely agree with too. Fuck digital only future. Physical all the way.
Y'know, come to think about it, it's funny how you went to do Earthworm Jim after Jim Power. Is this national Jim month for BotP? Are you going to do EWJ2 next?
Yeah, I had the digital future. Buying as much physical media as possible!
the ds version was pretty good, but the lower screen was mostly just a level progress bar
I forgot all about the DS version.
Retro Core Is it still available legally on 3DS btw?
It’s not that good but I’d say it’s decent.
The Earthworm Jim collection is available on steam. You'll get Earthworm Jim 1 + 2 + 3D.
I've been watching the older episodes, but there are a lot missing in the list. Did you to remove them for copyright reasons or for a different reason?
Nope, I haven't removed any shows. It's possible UA-cam has messed up the play lists. Can you tell me which show numbers are missing then I can double check the play lists.
@@RetroCore Okay. Episodes missing in the playlist: 14, 22, 28, 39, 43, 53, 56, 57, 66, 68, 72, 78, 87, 94, 99, 100, 101, 134, 135, 137, 138, 139, 141, 142, 154, 159, 161, 162, 164, 168, 173, 182, 183, 195. The list stops at 231. It seems like there can only be 200 videos in a playlist.
I'm familiar with Earthworm Jim back in the 90's.
I heard the Super Nintendo Version had compressed sound quality, but what do think about it?... And the HD Remake.
The SNES sound is very muffled. It's sound quite poor these days.
snes version may not be as good as the genesis version, but during fight of bad kitty in the snes version, it's much easier to see bad kitty while he's in the shadow's because the background isn't fully black like the genesis version which made the game harder.
Sega cd and Saturn are my fav versions. I can't wait until the sequel to earthworm jim 2 that's being made by the original team fir the intellivision amico
Earthworm Jim isn't on the Saturn. The second game is though.
Regarding the GBA port being what it is, according to said version's lead programmer it was a case of them not being given much time (it was developed in just three months) and not a lot of budget, since Majesco wanted something for the GBA's launch quickly and cheaply no matter how. He and the rest of Game Titan were later offered the chance to do the EWJ2 port but they rejected.
All of this was mentioned by him on the comments of one UA-cam upload of a longplay of this port, specifically this: ua-cam.com/video/RWRB6L3-2Iw/v-deo.html&lc=UgjsWwHEgFRo3XgCoAEC ---- there's some interesting anecdotes.
Too bad about the Windows 95 version not working in your setup. But that's strange, because I can get that one working. Maybe you could have get it working too using a virtual machine. Nevertheless, it's more or less a carbon copy of the Mega CD version, I'm not sure if the color count was improved from the Mega CD, but I believe it wasn't.
Earthworm Jim, one of the games I ever played on DOS & emulators. One word I could describe, difficult. I ragequit this game halfway 😭.
It is a tough game. No denying that.
Love this game on the Genesis (MD) and Sega CD (MD-CD). I have the Good Old Games version, which is the Windows 95 version but that doesn't support modern controllers. I also have the Xbox 360 version which I enjoy as well. But I remember back in the early 2000s when I bought my nephews EWJ. I remembered that they kinda liked EWJ 3 for the N64, and wanted to buy them one I thought better represented the original games I liked.
Unfortunately, I never saw reviews for the GBA version, so I got them that. BIG MISTAKE! This video reminded me as to why it was a big mistake. Sorry boys...your uncle screwed up!
Never mind, we all make mistakes when buying games.
My picks for best would be MEGA/SEGACD and Windows 95 (not shown)
I really enjoyed the Gameboy Advance version.
Edit: I had to prove it, so I made a video about it!: ua-cam.com/video/FhHkMOrityg/v-deo.html
You can get the Windows 95 version to work in Windows 10 by copying the contents of the disc to your harddrive, downloading a new version of wail32.dll, and replacing it in the assets folder. You can't make it fullscreen, but you can resize the window to be nearly fullscreen. Im sure you could use some software to make it go borderless windowed. I own the disc from back in the day, and i can confirm this works.
Same trick works for Pitfall the Mayan adventure on windows 95
SNES , that one was the one to play back in the day . Stereo sound , one system , no need for Sega CD . But you get what you get for what platform you had at that time .
Indeed.
Whatever version of Earthworm Jim I installed on my win10 computer doesn't play the sound effects
Possible a sound card issue.
on what version is the Steam ver. based on?
Windows port by activision is missing from your video
Sega cd for the win. Don’t get to say that very often.
Yeah, only twice. This and Eternal Champions.
I actually prefer the Mortal Kombat 1 port on Sega Cd over the others and Pitfall on the Sega Cd over the others as well.
Oh, also the port of Final Fight
@@gametourny4ever627 yeah you're right, forgot about those! I'm gonna add Wily Beamish vs the DOS version, cuz I havent tried it on MS 95 if it exists.
There's also were a bootleg NES/Dendy ports called "Earthworm Jim" and "Earthworm Jim 3"
ну так он же рассказал про Earthworm Jim 3. а Dendy больше Famicom, чем NES.
Dendy was a Russian NES clone, right ?
@@frankschneider6156 one of
For me the ultimate version is the mega CD
Yes, you cover one of the greatest game ever! The HD remake was good....but not perfect. They reverse engineer the genesis one and add in an exclusive level but they made a mistake in doing that. The Shiny people was willing to give the source code to Gameloft but they didn't want it for whatever reason. Thus the animation is not as fluid as the original and it's too easy. If Gameloft would have based it on the Sega CD version & made it harder that game would be excellent.
It like the same situation with Ubisoft's TMNT Reshelled.........
Oh man, Ubisoft's TMNT in Time re-release had awful music. When I played that on the 360 I'd use the SFC soundtrack over the original.
My suggestion for the next 'Battle of the Ports'... DOOM.
ua-cam.com/video/784MUbDoLjQ/v-deo.html think got the job done for that game and is a hell a game to do. They also recently analysed the recently ports as well.
Sometime in the future but not any time soon.
You should watch DF Retro's excellent Doom episode, they cover all the official ports with great detail.
Wasn't there a Sega Saturn and Playstation release of Earthworm Jim, or was it just Earthworm Jim 2 that made it to those platforms?
Only Earthworm Jim 2.
@@WeskerSega thank you. I looked it up afterwards. I don't know why, but I was certain that the first game had come out on the ps1 and the Saturn. So strange how memories work.
I remember seeing a DSi Ware version of this game in a magazine, i would like to check that version out, but sadly i don't have a DSi, and DSi emulation is still not quite there.
That's right. I had forgotten about that version.
This game is brutal, but enjoyable. Just as long as you play on Genesis or Sega CD. I kind of wish it got a second remake, but handled better this time, and with a physical release. Though considering the first one was done by Gameloft, it could've easily ended up so much worse. The only thing I'd keep from that one is the boss themes, and maybe a reimagining of the bonus levels to be more in line with the series absurdity. Despite all that, it still sucks you can't buy it anymore and have to resort to emulation. And people who already bought it may end up losing it some day, given the current state of Sony and Microsoft and the situation regarding their 7th gen hardware.
I remember playin this on my💙sega genesis, coool review on this one RetroCore👍
Dave perry's Magnum opus
Goddamn that GBA port's screen estate... And I thought "Tube Race" was hell on the SNES port due to the reduced viewing area! Or did they make adjustments to make it even somewhat bearable on the GBA?
Nope. It's pretty awful.
it's ok i got the ms dos dosbox version instead.
Thank you for that last statement, digital only and digital download sucks shit. I agree completely, beyond glad you called it.
Best sega cd version
cool channel dude.
Thanks, porsu pollo.
Flashback next ?
Nope, sadly not. That will probably be covered in October.
@@RetroCore october ?
Yes. There are many videos that are listed before flashback. Sorry.
There's also a DSiware port by Gameloft
That's right, I had forgotten about that version.
Woah Nelly!
Retro Core! What's going on the GBA version?! They should use the Game Boy assets!
love your videos, greetings from southamerica
Thanks, Vladimir Castellanos.