Earthworm Jim
1994 · Platform · Genesis
Overview
Earthworm Jim was a platform game designed around a superhero earthworm in a powerful suit, with irreverent humour, detailed animation, and varied level design — including a cow-launching segment and a level set inside a giant hamster. Doug TenNapel's character designs and the team's animation background produced a game that moved differently from any contemporary platform game.
Deep Dive
Earthworm Jim was designed by Dave Perry and Doug TenNapel at Shiny Entertainment, a studio Perry founded after leaving Virgin Games. TenNapel's background in character design and the team's experience with animation-heavy games produced character animations with significantly more frames than the Genesis norm. The game's level variety — a conventional platform stage followed by a rocket sled sequence, then a bungee descent — kept each world distinct.
Developer Story
Earthworm Jim was developed by Shiny Entertainment, a studio founded by Dave Perry after he left Aislands Games. Doug TenNapel contributed character design and the game's distinctive visual identity. The game launched in August 1994 on Genesis, with a SNES version following shortly after.
Did You Know?
- Earthworm Jim was Doug TenNapel's creation — he designed the character on a napkin and brought the design to Dave Perry, who built the game around it.
- The game's 'For Pete's Sake' level — in which the player escorts an incompetent puppy through obstacles — was considered by the development team to be the game's most difficult design problem.
- Earthworm Jim spawned an animated television series that aired in 1995, using the game's irreverent humour as a basis for absurdist cartoon comedy.
- The game's animation was produced using a system where each animation frame was drawn separately and digitised — a process that took significantly longer than standard sprite creation but produced more fluid results.
