What it was
Jim is still chasing Princess What's-Her-Name, and Psy-Crow is still in the way. The first game was a run-and-gun platformer with the odd weird level. The sequel makes the weird levels the point.
The opening level, Anything but Tangerines, and the eighth, Level Ate, play like the first game with more moves: there are new guns, including an auto-aiming one and the Barn Blaster, which takes out every enemy on the screen. Jim's friend Snott can stick to slimy green surfaces for swinging, or open as a parachute when Jim jumps.
Then it goes sideways. In Villi People, Jim is a blind cave salamander in a set of intestines dodging exploding sheep, and the level ends in a game show where the multiple choice questions often have no sensible answer. In Inflated Head, Jim floats up like a balloon and falls back to the start if he touches anything sharp. In The Flyin' King, an isometric shooter, you steer a bomb on a balloon to the end. The last level is a race against Psy-Crow, and all three characters turn out to be cows in disguise.
Where it sits in history
Shiny Entertainment made it and Playmates Interactive Entertainment published it, in late 1995 and early 1996, depending on region and console. Like the first game it was built for the Genesis and then ported to the Super NES, and the two came out virtually simultaneously. The Super NES version has alternate background art and the ability to switch weapons. In Japan the Genesis version was only available through the Sega Channel service.
It was a hit with critics. IGN and GameZone called it better than the original, and a Next Generation reviewer said the inventive levels were enough to make it feel fresh even with the same gameplay. It was nominated for the Video Software Dealers Association's Video Game of the Year in 1995 and lost to Donkey Kong Country 2. IGN later ranked it 40th on its Top 100 SNES Games of All Time. The Super NES version came to the Nintendo Classics service in March 2022.
How it plays today
The pleasure is the variety. Almost every level has a different idea, and if one is annoying, the next isn't far off. It also looks gorgeous, with smoother animation for Jim than the first game.
It won't suit anyone who wants one thing done well for ten hours. But as a pile of strange, funny ideas it holds up, and Snott is a brilliant addition: a tool that makes you look at the level differently every time you swing.
Compared with
- Earthworm Jim: The first game, a run-and-gun with a few strange levels instead of mostly strange ones.
- Cool Spot: Shiny's earlier SNES platformer, a licensed job that Jim was partly a reaction to.
- Axelay: Another SNES shooter that keeps changing shape from stage to stage.
Why it matters
A sequel has a hard job: it has to be more of the same and also a surprise. Earthworm Jim 2 solved it by turning the surprise into the format. When you can't guess what the next level is, you stay awake.
Berridge and Robinson argued that dopamine is more about wanting than liking, the pull of wanting more rather than the pleasure itself. A game where you can't guess the next level feeds that wanting: you keep going to see what's next, even when the last one was a trivia show with no right answers.
Read: Wanting, not liking: what dopamine really does when you play →
- Berridge, K. C., & Robinson, T. E. (1998). What is the role of dopamine in reward: hedonic impact, reward learning, or incentive salience? Brain Research Reviews, 28(3), 309-369. doi:10.1016/S0165-0173(98)00019-8
What you're levelling up
You have been training these without noticing. Here is how to do it on purpose, and where it pays off away from the couch. All the skills games teach →
Problem solving
In the game. Snott can stick to green slime to swing from it, or act as a parachute when Jim jumps. Work out which one the level wants.
Do it on purpose. Replay a level and try to get through using Snott as much as you can. Find the route you missed.
Off the couch. The dripping tap on a Sunday with the shops shut. The person who looks at a butter knife and sees a screwdriver gets it fixed; everyone else waits till Monday.
Keeping your cool
In the game. In Inflated Head, one sharp object sends Jim back to the start while Evil the Cat attacks. Panic and you lose the climb.
Do it on purpose. Do the climb with slow, small moves. If you feel rushed, stop and breathe before the next one.
Off the couch. A job interview, a hard phone call, reverse parking with your date watching. Small, slow moves, and nobody remembers you were nervous.
Curiosity
In the game. Nearly every level is a different idea: an intestine maze, a game show, an isometric bomb run. You find out what the rules are by trying them.
Do it on purpose. On each new level, spend the first minute poking at it before you try to win.
Off the couch. Order the dish you can't pronounce, try the odd class, ask someone about the thing they love. A minute of poking around is how good nights out start.
Verdict · 9/10
The weirder, funnier, wilder sequel, and for many people the better game. Pick it up for the game show alone.
