Earthworm Jim HD

There was always something rather jerky about Earthworm Jim.

Fellow platform stars of the day – like Sonic The Hedgehog and Mario – came with a certain sheen, acting as child-friendly mascots for their particular platforms or publishers.

Earthworm Jim, in stark contrast, played the role of the anti-hero, bringing slapstick and cartoon style sense of depravity to consoles in a way that would have made the bigwigs at Sega or Nintendo cringe.

Worm with a turn

Such a refreshing approach, however, meant Earthworm Jim endured. While some of his flashy rivals have since showed their age, Earthworm Jim – coming here with a big, 'HD' billing - feels as relevant now as it ever did.

Its appearance on Windows Phone 7 - following on from Jim's successful iPhone debut almost a year ago to the day - should be something of a breeze. As Pocket Gamer attested back then, the variety of on-screen controls offered aren't perfect, but they do the job, making a successful follow-up port here a done deal.

Or so you might think. Much like its star, Windows Phone 7's Earthworm Jim HD is a little ragged, a little rough around the edges. But that doesn't necessarily mean playing it is in any way a bad experience.

The one notable difference here when compared to the iPhone release is that everything runs a little slower.

Hectic history

Jim himself operates in exactly the same way, with the default setup of a virtual D-pad combined with buttons on the right of the screen enabling him to jump, whip, and shoot his enemies.

Earthworm Jim never really conformed to set platforming rules. Back in the day, every Sonic fan on earth could have sketched out their ideal Green Hill Zone, but Shiny's stages had an all the more organic feel, making them feel like they hadn't been designed at all – they simply existed.

In truth, what actually lay behind Earthworm Jim – and what shines out of play more than 16 years later – is a touch of genius.

There's simply very little time to stop and think here: one moment you'll be fighting off ghouls attacking you from the skies, the next you'll be piecing together how to scale the heights of s stage to pick up the relative trinkets and treats on offer in hard to reach areas.

It's shooting meets strategy, pumped up play meets prudence, platforming meets puzzler. It's every idea any developer has ever had about a platform game tossed into a pot and mixed up for good measure.

A question of pace

Because play remains so hectic, however, some might appreciate the somewhat slower take Earthworm Jim HD on Windows Phone 7 seems to represent.

It's not a question of actual slowdown – there's certainly no delay between your input and the action on screen.

Rather, everything just runs at a more pedestrian pace – animations and so forth not quite as slick as the iPhone version, with Jim himself looking less crisp and, as a bizarre consequence, actually looking more at one with the backdrops he traverses.

It's not anything you're likely to notice unless you put both versions side by side, and as a fan of Earthworm Jim's original Mega Drive debut this is actually how I remember the gameplay.

Nonetheless, as an advert for Windows Phone 7, Earthworm Jim HD lags behind its iPhone cousin a touch.

The addition of Xbox Gamerpoints – as, indeed, in other releases – is to be welcomed, but Jim's jagged edges - whether the result of a design choice, or a side effect of coding difficulties – might leave some feeling a little short changed.

Earthworm Jim HD

Slightly slower than the iPhone release, Earthworm Jim HD is nonetheless a nice addition to Windows Phone 7, providing the kind of gloriously haphazard platforming act so rarely seen on modern mobiles.
Score
Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font. He's also Pocket Gamer's resident football gaming expert and, thanks to his work on PG.biz, monitors the market share of all mobile OSes on a daily basis.