Earthworm Jim
Gameloft revealed their plans to bring EarthWorm Jim back to the digital distribution services last month. To know more about the remake of EarthWorm Jim we contacted and spoke to a Gameloft representative and asked them a couple of questions.
We can reveal that EarthWorm Jim will be based on the Sega Genesis version of the game, but is being reworked completely from scratch without the original game’s code. The game will be enhanced from the original game, featuring better graphics, smoother animations and will feature several difficulty levels – something not in the original.
While there are no screenshots of the console version of the game, there are a few iPhone screenshots floating around. The above image showcases the difference between the original and the iPhone remake, so we can hopefully expect that much care and dedication to the original game to flow through the rest of the remake.
Gameloft are also aware of the chronology of Earthworm Jim. The Special Edition, released on the Sega CD and PC, had an additional level called “Big Bruty”. We can now confirm that the game will include this level.
The game will use leaderboards to track killed enemies, total time, and several other statistics. They also stated there will be “some surprises, which will be revealed later”.
When asked whether the original team, such as Dave Perry nor Doug Nepal, are involved in the project, Gameloft responded with a no – however the game will contain the original music created by Tommy Tallarico.
As for the Wii version, the game is being developed by one of Gameloft’s many development studios, and have several production teams working to maintain consistency between the platforms. The graphics are “optimized for each platform”, so WiiWare fans won’t be losing anything but a bit of resolution.
Finally, we asked whether there was a chance of Earthworm Jim coming to the PSP, as the game was announced a few days before PSP minis were revealed. Gameloft are “considering” bringing Earthwom Jim to the PSP at a later date, but are currently working on numerous other PSP minis titles.
Earthworm Jim will be released later this year, with a one-month exclusivity period for the Xbox Live Arcade version.
