Blasphemy on the Go
No, i’m not speaking of Devil Worshiping DS(which isn’t a real game; don’t bother Googling it). I think i’m a reasonable enough guy, but I saw something today which I simply can’t understand. Whilst perusing IGN, as I am occasionally apt to do, I happened to meander over to the PSP section, a rarity for me as I don’t own a PSP. I saw a familiar looking character in one of the link boxes, one that caught my eye. The worm in the power suit. Jim. Earthworm Jim. I was like, “Oh?”
Silly me. I should have merely assumed it was some compilation edition or something. But my curiosity was piqued. I followed the link(found here: http://media.psp.ign.com/media/792/792881/vids_1.html), and navigated to the direct feed video. After a few minutes, due to my slow connection, the video was fully buffered. I was ready to see how Jim was going to return. My heart began to race as I pondered the idea of an Earthworm Jim return. I clicked play in a fever of excitement. The video played. I watched attentively.
I was utterly destroyed by what I saw.
To save you the bother of watching the video yourselves, I will give you a brief summary of the situation at hand. Yes, Earthworm Jim is back. No, it’s not a miracle. It’s blasphemy(hence the title of this post, obviously).
This ‘version’ of the Earthworm Jim franchise seems fairly straightforward. The developers seem to have seen the disaster that was Earthworm Jim 64(read: 3d gameplay), and so they wisely chose to return the hero to his roots(no pun intended, being that Jim is a worm). Well, wisely is a bit strong. The graphics consist of fully 3d rendered levels, and Jim is 3-dimensional as well. Think Super Smash Bros. or Pandemonium and you get the gist. Whereas those games were spectacular fun or graphically pioneering, in that order, this edition of the Earthworm Jim franchise looks neither fun nor graphically pioneering. It looks downright awful.
Perhaps the developer was aiming for “nostalgia, but with updated graphics”. Certainly, the level in the video is quite remeniscent of the junkyard level in the first Earthworm Jim game. Maybe they saw Nintendo’s success with revamping the graphics while keeping similar gameplay intact in New Super Mario Bros. for the DS(I personally dislike the graphical changes, but that’s another article for another day). Whatever it was that they were thinking, the execution seems to lack the polish of NSMB. At the very least, the graphics are horrid, even for a portable title. Even for a console game 10 years ago.
The graphics are simply inexcusable for a PSP title. Even if the 3d was limited by the underclocking of the processor, there is no reason why the series couldn’t, dare I say shouldn’t, remain true to it’s graphical roots and remain 2d. It’s enough to make me salivate thinking about a brand new, old school 2d Earthworm Jim game, especially on the PSP. That screen would be absolutely perfect for the game. It almost seems that, unless it’s listed as a retro pack, Sony mandates that developers push for high-polygon 3d on every game released for the PSP. Is it really so hard to believe that people are willing to purchase a graphically impressive 2d game these days?
For the record, i’m talking about pure 2d, none of this hybrid 3d in 2d crap(if it’s used well, as in Smash Bros, then I have no problems with it). Sprite-based graphics. Just think for one second about a 2d Jim game on the PSP’s admittedly great screen, with animated movie-quality sprite animation for each character. Just seems like a blown opportunity to me.
I haven’t actually played the game, but it looks awkward as hell. If the gameplay ends up being the redeeming factor, I will bite my tounge and simply nod. If not, thanks for fucking up a once great franchise.
- Ricky Coulter, utterly pissed.
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digg it: http://digg.com/gaming_news/Blasphemy_on_the_Go
You’re right. It looks like crap and should have been 2D like the originals.
I think it looks like fun, New spins on old properties is good. If they didn’t, people would just complain that they did not update the series.
I don’t have anything against updates or new takes on the series. That i’m perfectly happy with, and in fact desire. But having enjoyed the hell out of the original Earthworm Jim, this just looks tragic to me. As I said, it doesn’t even look very fun, and playability is the most important aspect. However, this is just my impression from watching the video. I’m perfectly willing to take back some of my scathing comments if it turns out to be a really fun, really cool looking game. It just doesn’t right now.
you should email someone at the company and see if you can get your hands on a review copy.
That would be pretty cool, as we’ve reviewed a couple of products before on the podcast, but I don’t have a PSP to test it on, so that won’t work. Not yet, anyway. Who knows if i’ll get one down the line.