Explains the Bizaar History of Godzilla

If you played video games in the 90s, you probably know that this face belongs to the gun-toting

super suit-wearing, limbless invertebrate known as Earthworm Jim. And you probably also know that for a great character with a ton of early success

you sure haven't seen a lot of Little Jimmy in the modern era of video games. So why is that

Today, we're going to figure out what the hell happened to Earthworm Jim

in 1993 david perry founded shiny entertainment perry had been making video games since he was

15 years old and worked on titles like the terminator and disney's aladdin but he was

ready to move on to his own projects fun fact according to david perry the name shiny

entertainment attracted the wrong sort of attention and people would often ask if his

company produced adult films. Maybe that's why Hong Kongese company, Playmates Interactive

reached out to the newly formed studio to make them a game, since their name definitely makes

them sound like they produce adult films. Earthworm Jim came to life in the era of 90s

video game mascotization. That is, the time when everyone everywhere was trying to capture the

success of characters like Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. Playmates Interactive was no different

They wanted the next larger-than-life character they could sell merch for. Normally, these mascots were some kind of animal that could be made to look cute or cool

like a fox or a group of mutated turtles. But animator Doug Tenable had been given the assignment

At the time, Tenable was known for his work on the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes TV show

and the Run Instant B video game for Sega Genesis. More recently, Tenable was known for his controversial Twitter opinions

Yikes. But back in the 90s, he showed up with the strangest idea for a mascot you could possibly think of

A worm. The choice was as brilliant as it was baffling, and the team made it very clear that they were making fun of the Busbees and Awesome Possums of the world

I'm awesome. I mean, the princess was literally named Princess What's-Her-Name in order to poke fun at the damsel in distress trope

Plus, levels like Down the Tubes are directly inspired by bad game design from other titles

How much more on the nose can you get with your satire Unsurprisingly since people in the 90s loved ironic fandom as much as we do today Earthworm Jimbo turned out to be a success

But let's be honest here, it wasn't all irony holding Earthworm Jim up to cult-like classic status

SHINee Entertainment went above and beyond for their take on the mascot-centered side-scrolling platformer in 1994

Seriously, they did not have to go as hard as they did. Especially for their first attempt at a video game as a brand new studio

The original game released on the Sega Genesis was full of memorable levels, genuinely funny moments

and of course, some of the strangest animation and character design in the industry at the time

Just look at this madness. Helicopter head? Using your body as a whip

And let's not forget our friend, Peter Puppy. The fact that this even exists is a testament to how weird the 90s were

but it says even more that people loved it. It did so well, in fact, that our beloved Ear Hair Jamethan skips a very 90s tradition of immediately following up with a second video game

and jumped right to producing an animated television show in 1995, with Warner Bros. footing the bill and Dan Castellaneda of Homer Simpson fame hoisting the titular character, no less

Groovy! The TV series followed our wormy protagonist, Peter Puppy, and Princess What's-Her-Name thwarting villains that should be familiar to game players

It wasn't anything special as far as story goes. What really made the series stand out was the instantly iconic character design

Oh, but then Shiny Entertainment did actually do the 90s thing and follow up with Earthworm Jim 2

just two months after the TV show premiered. So yeah, guess they couldn't quite shake the tradition

Earthworm Jim 2 was a good, if not predictable, successor to the first game. Players could expect more of the same platforming action, but now with more guns

a friendly companion in the name of snot, and a handful of gimmick levels that had you participating in game shows

or suddenly switching to playing an isometric shooter. It was received well by critics and fans alike, actually rating higher than the original in some publications at the time

Because of the success of those first two games and the TV show, a whole generation of kids were familiar with a mean little earthworm and his sidekicks

Playmates Interactive got their wish and capitalized off the brand further with comics and toys

So at the franchise peak you had two great video games a solid animated TV show a comic book series and a ton of great toys to play with If you were a game kid in the 90s chances are you had at least something Earthworm Jim related in your house The character had cemented itself as one of the greats

as far as 90s video game mascots are concerned. It really seemed like good old londricus Territress James was here to stay

But then, tragedy struck. And tragedy's name is Earthworm Jim 3D. The year is 1999

Classic titles like Banjo-Kazooie, Super Mario 64, and Rayman 2 have already been released or are just about to be. It's time for Earthworm Jim to jump into 3D

space. This is a big move that even the likes of gaming giant Mortal Kombat had trouble perfecting

And sadly, Wiggly Jimily could not rise to the occasion. Maybe it was the fact that Shiny

Entertainment didn't work on it. They had recently implemented a no sequels policy to try and

distance themselves from being known as the Earthworm Jim company forever. Or that the game

itself was clunky, boring, and uninspired. Or maybe audiences had just moved on from the series as a

whole. Whatever the reason, Earthworm Jim 3D received mixed reviews and was dubbed a financial

failure. The series followed up only a month later with an absolutely abysmal Game Boy Color game

called Earthworm Jim Menace to the Galaxy. It switched up the fun level-swapping gimmick of

the first two titles with a boring collect-a-thon style instead. And that same year, the TV series

ended its run. Likely due to the franchise's dwindling popularity, the show had been given a

less than ideal time slot on Kids WB and was quietly cancelled after two seasons. It was pretty

safe to say the Earthworm Jim franchise was dead. Stuck on a fishing hook, dried up on the sidewalk

and eaten by that one gross kid in the playground, dead. There were talks of another game coming to

the PSP back in 2006, this time with Atari and Interplay heading the project. There were even

some hands-on demos at E3 that year. It was supposed to take another shot at 3D graphics

but this time it would have stuck to the 2D platform style of the originals. This gave some

floor noodle Jeff fans, some hope, but the project was killed just as unceremoniously as it was

announced, given that there were some financial difficulties at the time for both the developers

and the publishers. Again, just two years later, in 2008, there were whispers of an elusive Earthworm

Jim 4, but the details were sparse and any interest it garnered soaked back into the earth

like it was never there in the first place For a while the Earthworm Jim franchise was just a passing memory but this is a video game No video game can ever stay dead So of course in 2009 another company was given a shot at reviving the franchise

Gameloft released an HD remake of the first game that included a brand new four-player co-op mode

Up until that point Gameloft was mostly known for ripping off successful mobile games so the

remake initially only launched on mobile but was released on consoles soon after. Most people seem

to like the multiplayer edition, but critics pan the actual remake part of the remake

so that can't be a good sign. A lot of the blame seems to have been put on the fact that Gameloft did very little

to update the controls for modern audiences, with the likes of IGN saying

While this is technically a solid remake, the design choices of the original Earthworm

Gym continue to hurt the experience, especially for gamers accustomed to the conveniences

of modern platformers. Then in 2018, Gameloft lost the licensing for the Earthworm Jim property, so the HD

remake completely disappeared off of digital stores. Poor little Jimothy couldn't catch a break

But hey, what's this? Earthworm Jim 4? Back from the death of 2008

He's back, folks! Wow, fourth installment in the series. Realized in full HD, 60 FPS, with striking visuals coming exclusively to the Intellivision Amico. What

even is that? Well, according to Intellivision's website, it's a video game console. A video game

console that was originally announced in 2018 with a release date of 2020 and has since been pushed to

April 2021. Oh, and the controller looks like an iPod Nano. In case you didn't know, Intellivision

is most well known for creating this big hunk of plastic in 1979. How and why our boy Earthbender

Jimin wound up tied to that sinking ship is unclear, but it may have to do with the fact that

the property has been passed around from company to company for years now

I think it's safe to say that we're not getting another good Earthworm Jim game anytime soon

Honestly, it kind of sucks. While to Naples politics definitely complicate the issue

for some fans, the fact remains that Earthworm Jim is a unique and beloved character

In the right hands, our slithery hero could do great things in this modern era of gaming

Still, there's always a chance. One day we may be able to say that Earwax Jam

made a real comeback, even if it's several decades after the series' original success