Earthworm Jim 2
Graphics-9 Sound-8 Control-7.5 Challenge-7
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7
+ Innovative and varied gameplay, humorous (absurd, non-sequitur, slap stick), difficulty options, the blob mascot (parachute, swing mechanic), great animation and use of color, fun weapons, plenty of hidden items, new weapons and power ups
+/- Odd level skip system (need to collect four icons in a level to be able to skip it after game over or resetting the game), heavy use of dithering (an attempt to simulate more shades of colour)
- Some tedious levels (airplane level, last part of the cow abduction level), the puppy love mini-game gets repetitive, no weapon selection on the fly (SNES version has it, could've been done on a six button controller or in the pause menu), slow knockback, somewhat sloppy hit detection, somewhat loose scrolling, trial & error (final stage, swing through walls, quiz show mini-game, shots from off screen, etc), relatively few levels let you use your full weapon arsenal, can’t shoot while moving or in mid-air (activates the parachute - could've had a unique button on six button controllers, you can whip in mid-air though), can't cancel the 'climb ledge' move and it has a tendency to activate when you least want it to, ISO 9000 boss is very easy (the door), some annoying sfx
Notes:
A hack adds weapon selection on the fly (jump button+down) as well as easy access to a cheat/debug menu (pause, then press C nine times): http://elektropage.ru/publ/khaki/smd/earthworm_jim_2_weapon_select_mod/29-1-0-110
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7
+ Innovative and varied gameplay, humorous (absurd, non-sequitur, slap stick), difficulty options, the blob mascot (parachute, swing mechanic), great animation and use of color, fun weapons, plenty of hidden items, new weapons and power ups
+/- Odd level skip system (need to collect four icons in a level to be able to skip it after game over or resetting the game), heavy use of dithering (an attempt to simulate more shades of colour)
- Some tedious levels (airplane level, last part of the cow abduction level), the puppy love mini-game gets repetitive, no weapon selection on the fly (SNES version has it, could've been done on a six button controller or in the pause menu), slow knockback, somewhat sloppy hit detection, somewhat loose scrolling, trial & error (final stage, swing through walls, quiz show mini-game, shots from off screen, etc), relatively few levels let you use your full weapon arsenal, can’t shoot while moving or in mid-air (activates the parachute - could've had a unique button on six button controllers, you can whip in mid-air though), can't cancel the 'climb ledge' move and it has a tendency to activate when you least want it to, ISO 9000 boss is very easy (the door), some annoying sfx
Notes:
A hack adds weapon selection on the fly (jump button+down) as well as easy access to a cheat/debug menu (pause, then press C nine times): http://elektropage.ru/publ/khaki/smd/earthworm_jim_2_weapon_select_mod/29-1-0-110
