History VideoGame / EarthwormJim

However in 2010 a remake of the original game, ''[[UpdatedRerelease Earthworm Jim HD]]'', finally made its way to the UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork and Xbox Live with enhanced graphics, sound, 4 player co-op, new levels and the option of the original NintendoHard difficulty for the purists. But oddly missing the secret "Who Turned Out The Lights?" level. Sadly, this version was delisted from all services in February 2018.

* WidgetSeries: And how. Whether it's launching a cow into the air, saving falling puppies using a giant marshmallow, fighting against snowmen and lawyers in hell, protecting cows from getting abducted by [=UFOs=] (some of which can self-destruct), or racing against Psycrow in an obstacle course while the Third Movement of [[Music/LudwigVanBeethoven Beethoven]]'s ''Moonlight Sonata'' plays, it definitely stood out as one of the zaniest series of the mid-90s.

** In the trailer for the HD remake, one of the new levels it shows features a CoolShades-wearing MusicalAssassin cat playing a keyboard. This is a reference to the [[WebOriginal/LOLCats Keyboard Cat]].

** Thanks to the differences between the sound chips, the SNES version invokes this if you're more familiar with the Genesis version, and vice versa. For example, on the Genesis, New Junk City has a very dirty, gritty feel, while on the SNES it's more mysterious-sounding.

* WombLevel: "Intestinal Distress" in the first game, and "The Villi People" in the second, are both themed as voyages through the internal organs/digestive tract of some impossibly massive organism. For added connection, lore in the second game's manual states that the level "The Villi People" is actually take place in the summer home of Doc Duodenum, the AnimateBodyParts boss of "Intestinal Distress" from the first game. Ironically, the Nintendo versions of the games cut "Intestinal Distress", but not "The Villi People".

[[caption-width-right:350:"Eat Dirt!"]]

** The "cow launch" gag at the start of the first game is nicked straight from ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', which also features a cow being launched into the air.

* AnvilOnHead: In the second game, Jim throws an anvil onto a rudimentary plank-on-stone seesaw to vault himself onto the next level. [[EpicFail Sometimes, his aim is a little off and the anvil lands back on him]] and sometimes it just breaks the plank without moving him an inch, at which point he chooses to hail a passing taxi instead.

** The levels "New Junk City" and "Lorenzen's Soil" from the first and second game are named after two films, ''New Jack City'' and ''Lorenzo's Oil''.[[note]]Lorenzen's Soil is also a reference to Mark Lorenzen, who worked with Doug TenNapel on Earthworm Jim 2.[[/note]]

** The levels "New Junk City" and "Lorenzen's Soil" from the first and second game are named after two films, ''New Jack City'' and ''Lorenzo's Oil''.

A much-loved 2D platformer from Creator/ShinyEntertainment, formed when Creator/PlaymatesToys approached Virgin Software alumnus Dave Perry (who had developed ''VideoGame/CoolSpot'' and ''VideoGame/{{Aladdin|VirginGames}}'' for Virgin) to create a marketable videogame franchise to build a new multimedia sensation upon, in the spirit of their previous success, the ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' franchise. The title character (created by cartoonist Creator/DougTenNapel) is an earthworm mutated by [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum a mechanical super-suit from space]] into a somewhat awkward super-hero, who takes it upon himself to stop the machinations of the [[OverlyLongName Evil Queen Pulsating, Bloated, Festering, Sweaty, Pus-Filled, Malformed Slug-For-A-Butt]] and rescue the beautiful Princess What's-Her-Name. His adventure takes him from the scrap heaps of New Junk City to the sweltering fire-pits of Planet Heck (home of the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aptly-named]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Evil]] [[CatsAreMean the Cat]]) to Level 5, the lair of the evil MadScientist who invented Jim's super-suit, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Professor Monkey-for-a-Head]]. All the while, Jim is pursued by Psy-Crow, Queen Slug-for-a-Butt's [[TheDragon right-hand man]] who is intent on getting the suit back.

A much-loved platformer from Creator/ShinyEntertainment, formed when Creator/PlaymatesToys approached Virgin Software alumnus Dave Perry (who had developed ''VideoGame/CoolSpot'' and ''VideoGame/{{Aladdin|VirginGames}}'' for Virgin) to create a marketable videogame franchise to build a new multimedia sensation upon, in the spirit of their previous success, the ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' franchise. The title character (created by cartoonist Creator/DougTenNapel) is an earthworm mutated by [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum a mechanical super-suit from space]] into a somewhat awkward super-hero, who takes it upon himself to stop the machinations of the [[OverlyLongName Evil Queen Pulsating, Bloated, Festering, Sweaty, Pus-Filled, Malformed Slug-For-A-Butt]] and rescue the beautiful Princess What's-Her-Name. His adventure takes him from the scrap heaps of New Junk City to the sweltering fire-pits of Planet Heck (home of the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aptly-named]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Evil]] [[CatsAreMean the Cat]]) to Level 5, the lair of the evil MadScientist who invented Jim's super-suit, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Professor Monkey-for-a-Head]]. All the while, Jim is pursued by Psy-Crow, Queen Slug-for-a-Butt's [[TheDragon right-hand man]] who is intent on getting the suit back.

A much-loved platform game from Creator/ShinyEntertainment, formed when Creator/PlaymatesToys approached Virgin Software alumnus Dave Perry (who had developed ''VideoGame/CoolSpot'' and ''VideoGame/{{Aladdin|VirginGames}}'' for Virgin) to create a marketable videogame franchise to build a new multimedia sensation upon, in the spirit of their previous success, the ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' franchise. The title character (created by cartoonist Creator/DougTenNapel) is an earthworm mutated by [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum a mechanical super-suit from space]] into a somewhat awkward super-hero, who takes it upon himself to stop the machinations of the [[OverlyLongName Evil Queen Pulsating, Bloated, Festering, Sweaty, Pus-Filled, Malformed Slug-For-A-Butt]] and rescue the beautiful Princess What's-Her-Name. His adventure takes him from the scrap heaps of New Junk City to the sweltering fire-pits of Planet Heck (home of the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aptly-named]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Evil]] [[CatsAreMean the Cat]]) to Level 5, the lair of the evil MadScientist who invented Jim's super-suit, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Professor Monkey-for-a-Head]]. All the while, Jim is pursued by Psy-Crow, Queen Slug-for-a-Butt's [[TheDragon right-hand man]] who is intent on getting the suit back.

* WritingAroundTrademarks: The "Puppy Love" levels in ''2'' are a carbon copy of the UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch game ''Fire''.

* DeaderThanDisco: [[invoked]] Lampshaded in "Death a Worm" from ''3D'', a graveyard stage where the skeleton of a former disco star lays.

* TheKlutz: Earthworm Jim ''is'' this in his {{IdleAnimation}}s when he is standing still.

** Number 4, Bob's invincible (unless you have a mega shot) and very mean hench-cat.

* DropTheCow: Random outbursts of sillyness are a distinct characteristic of the series. A ''literal'' example comes at the end of the first game, when the cow you launched off of a seesaw way back in the first level comes randomly crashing down on top of [[spoiler:Princess Whats-Her-Name]].

* IdleAnimation: The first two games are standout examples of this trope, but in terms of quantity as well as quality. In the first game alone, Jim will do things like jump rope with his head, flex his muscles, or [[JugglingLoadedGuns fail to practice trigger discipline.]]

* ScreenCrunch: The GBA port suffers from the same "sprites are too large" issue as ''Sonic Genesis'' and ''[[VideoGame/Rayman1 Rayman]]''[='=]s port, which resulted in several unintended traps when trying to jump over pits. The sequel's port was no better.

* ScreenCrunch: The GBA port suffers from the same "sprites are too large" issue as ''Sonic Genesis'' and ''[[VideoGame/Rayman1995 Rayman]]''[='=]s port, which resulted in several unintended traps when trying to jump over pits. The sequel's port was no better.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Queen Slug-For-A-Butt is not the hardest FinalBoss there is, but she can still be a threat by attacking you with her [[MagicWand mystical scepter]] [[AssKicksYou or her, well, slug-for-a-butt]].

* HitboxDissonance: Throughout many levels, many walls and ledges... aren't. Leading sometimes to some frustratingly cheap deaths, but also used to hide secret paths. Especially obvious in the final level.

* VisualPun: The homing missiles in the second game are shaped like houses.

** In one of the more bizarre choices, the "Fear" world in ''3D'', mostly themed like a war zone, makes use of ''heavy rock and roll.'' This one can't even be justified by RuleOfFunny because it doesn't have much comedic justification to be there.

* LevelAte: From ''Earthworm Jim 2''. It's made of burgers, bacon, cheese, fried eggs, and other delightfully fatty foods. Also, it's the [[StealthPun 8th level]].

* DownTheDrain: The level "Down the Tubes" is set in the subaquatic base of Bob the Killer Goldfish, and consists of Jim wandering through caves connected by large transparent glass tubing. In fact, there are actually several distinct bases, forcing Jim to use a slow, clumsy