A perfect conversion - but is it still a perfect game?
Reality just can't match the wackiness of cartoons, which is pretty much why they still exist. The incredible horsepower of modern consoles has been good to us, but while modern remakes of Mega Man X and Castlevania have stayed true to their source, it's a rare LittleBigGame that captures the soul of pastel-bright animation with polygons.
After years of 2D remakes in 3D clothing, it's refreshing to play a retro classic so obviously in love with its roots. For better or worse, Earthworm Jim HD is as beautiful, manic and frankly insane as the day it was made; the original captured Saturday morning cartoon visuals perfectly, and they are all the better for being in HD. Jim's animations are easily the match of contemporaries like BlazBlue, and the high fidelity polish has been applied to visuals and sound alike.
Jim has aged well, then. But if we're being brutally honest, his first outing wasn't without its problems, and while they haven't really gotten worse with time, they're just as annoying as you remember them. A useful edge-grab that hoists you back on to platforms is all that stands between you and a controller-damaged flatscreen, as you struggle constantly with collision detection apparently designed to mock everything that decades of gaming have taught you. There's little to the controls beyond jumping, swinging and shooting, yet hitting enemies is a pain, targeting swing points is finicky and you always seem to fall off platforms with one step left. A pixel-perfect update is no bad thing, except when a touch more pixel-perfection would have improved things by a small but significant margin.
The best example is For Pete's Sake, where you aim to protect Peter Puppy as he skips obliviously through meteor showers, pitfalls and killer plants. The meteors will break your thumb, as you have to cycle through at least three directions of fire with the d-pad, fast enough to create a barrier against the relentless hail of rocks, while the precision needed to keep Peter Puppy on solid ground verges on the ridiculous. Combine this with a badly overused chase level, occasionally aggrevating bosses and some truly obnoxious enemy placement, and you'll begin to appreciate why no-one feels nostalgia for the patience needed of the mid-'90s gamer.
Which isn't to say that Jim HD is a bad game, merely one that approaches its conversion a little too perfectly. Bungie-battling over a monster infested lake and riding a bloodthirsty hamster are as fun today as they were yesterday, and as with all games of its kind, practise eases the pain. A brand new multiplayer mode and three exclusive bonus levels show that the series is still capable of its own creative flair; an ill-judged Keyboard Cat parody comes across as a little sterile, especially compared with the game's own Evil the Cat, but head-whipping a demonic granny into fumbling for her glasses is classic Jim all over. It bodes especially well for an updated sequel, which was a distinctly tighter package all round, and a brand new instalment hasn't been ruled out. Jim HD is by no means a perfect game, but as a timely reminder of the joyous insanity that gaming used to revel in, it's the perfect nostaliga piece.
Verdict
Too stubborn to make the improvements it needs, Earthworm Jim HD manages to hold up well nonetheless. The low price point should make it an obvious purchase for fans, and a consideration for others.
Reality just can't match the wackiness of cartoons, which is pretty much why they still exist. The incredible horsepower of modern consoles has been good to us, but while modern remakes of Mega Man X and Castlevania have stayed true to their source, it's a rare LittleBigGame that captures the soul of pastel-bright animation with polygons.
After years of 2D remakes in 3D clothing, it's refreshing to play a retro classic so obviously in love with its roots. For better or worse, Earthworm Jim HD is as beautiful, manic and frankly insane as the day it was made; the original captured Saturday morning cartoon visuals perfectly, and they are all the better for being in HD. Jim's animations are easily the match of contemporaries like BlazBlue, and the high fidelity polish has been applied to visuals and sound alike.Jim has aged well, then. But if we're being brutally honest, his first outing wasn't without its problems, and while they haven't really gotten worse with time, they're just as annoying as you remember them. A useful edge-grab that hoists you back on to platforms is all that stands between you and a controller-damaged flatscreen, as you struggle constantly with collision detection apparently designed to mock everything that decades of gaming have taught you. There's little to the controls beyond jumping, swinging and shooting, yet hitting enemies is a pain, targeting swing points is finicky and you always seem to fall off platforms with one step left. A pixel-perfect update is no bad thing, except when a touch more pixel-perfection would have improved things by a small but significant margin.
The best example is For Pete's Sake, where you aim to protect Peter Puppy as he skips obliviously through meteor showers, pitfalls and killer plants. The meteors will break your thumb, as you have to cycle through at least three directions of fire with the d-pad, fast enough to create a barrier against the relentless hail of rocks, while the precision needed to keep Peter Puppy on solid ground verges on the ridiculous. Combine this with a badly overused chase level, occasionally aggrevating bosses and some truly obnoxious enemy placement, and you'll begin to appreciate why no-one feels nostalgia for the patience needed of the mid-'90s gamer.
Which isn't to say that Jim HD is a bad game, merely one that approaches its conversion a little too perfectly. Bungie-battling over a monster infested lake and riding a bloodthirsty hamster are as fun today as they were yesterday, and as with all games of its kind, practise eases the pain. A brand new multiplayer mode and three exclusive bonus levels show that the series is still capable of its own creative flair; an ill-judged Keyboard Cat parody comes across as a little sterile, especially compared with the game's own Evil the Cat, but head-whipping a demonic granny into fumbling for her glasses is classic Jim all over. It bodes especially well for an updated sequel, which was a distinctly tighter package all round, and a brand new instalment hasn't been ruled out. Jim HD is by no means a perfect game, but as a timely reminder of the joyous insanity that gaming used to revel in, it's the perfect nostaliga piece.
Verdict
Too stubborn to make the improvements it needs, Earthworm Jim HD manages to hold up well nonetheless. The low price point should make it an obvious purchase for fans, and a consideration for others.
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