Old school gamers will instantly recognize the name Earthworm Jim whether they’ve physically played the game or not. Debuting on the Sega Genesis in 1994, and subsequently ported to a variety of consoles and handheld systems, the side-scrolling platformer was a difficult, yet enjoyable romp that managed to spawn two sequels: Earthworm Jim 2 and Earthworm Jim 3D. The current generation of gamers will likely recognize the series by the most recent Earthworm Jim HD Remake. The point of all this being; Jim’s been around a long time, but it seems like an eternity since a worthwhile adventure with his name attached was released. (Both Earthworm Jim 3D and the HD remake were poorly received.) If the most recent post by the game’s creator on the official Facebook page is anything to go by, however, that may soon change.
“Everyone loves Earthworm Jim 1 and 2, and I don’t generally acknowledge EWJ 3 as a real part of the Jim universe,” The post begins. Posing a question to fans concerning the future of the series, Doug TenNapel asked, “so if I was making another Jim game, would it be too confusing to call it Jim 3? Or would it have to be Jim 4? How about ‘Earthworm Jim 4 the Fans‘?” An interesting proposition, one in which the general consensus has agreed the game should be referred to as the third entry in the franchise.
The real question is how TenNapel would go about developing the game. He, along with the rest of the folks over at Pencil Test Studios, are currently in the process of developing the Kickstarter funded spiritual successor to Neverhood titled Armikrog. While that’s going to keep them busy for awhile, it’s a reasonable assumption to guess they’d return to Kickstarter to seek fan funding for the next Earthworm Jim project as well. Time will tell if there are enough loyal Jim fans to bring the series back to life.
Would you folks like to see a brand new Earthworm Jim game? What was your experience with the original games? Is the project something you’d consider backing? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to like IGXPro on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or give us the ‘ol +1 on Google+. If you can’t get enough of my shenanigans, (who could blame you?) you can check me out @GamingsNirvana, or add +VinnyParisi to your circles.
