1994 was a bad year. Fred West’s house was excavated, Kurt Cobain killed himself and Ayrton Senna was killed during an accident at the San Marino Grand Prix. In fact if you look at all of that year you will see that there was probably little to celebrate. Saying that, one thing that was definitely worth celebrating about was the release of Shiny Entertainment’s Earthworm Jim. This side-scrolling platform game had everything; class, charm and style and was well received around the world.
Some of you reading this will probably think I have gone mad, and want to know what’s so interesting about an earthworm. Well the simple answer is this, Earthworm Jim raised the bar in games. It was praised heavily upon release, with Gamesmaster magazine gave it a whopping score of 100% (it was the first time they had awarded a game 100%) and one of the few classics that has been remade several times over the years. Speaking of remakes, the latest incarnation has been brought forward to XBLA and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. After all, what could be better than playing a classic in HD.
Through The Mind of Simon Weatherall 