Earthworm Jim 2

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Earthworm Jim 2
Developer(s) Shiny Entertainment
Screaming Pink (Sega Saturn)
Publisher(s) Virgin Interactive
Playmates Interactive Entertainment (US SNES port)
Designer(s) David Perry, Doug TenNapel
Release date(s) Sega Mega Drive/Genesis:
EU December 22, 1995
NA 1996
SNES:
NA 1995
EU January 25, 1996
MS-DOS (PC):
April 30, 1996
Sega Saturn:
NA 1996
JPN November 11, 1996
Sony PlayStation:
EU November 1996
Nintendo Game Boy Advance:
NA May 31, 2002
EU November 29, 2002
Genre(s) Platform
Mode(s) Single Player
Rating(s) ESRB: Everyone
ELSPA: 3+
Platform(s) Sega Mega Drive, Super NES, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Windows, Game Boy Advance

Earthworm Jim 2 is a platform video game released in 1995. It is a sequel to the original Earthworm Jim.

Earthworm Jim 2 follows the exploits of annelid superhero Jim and his new sidekick Snott as they try to rescue Jim's beloved Princess What's-Her-Name from a forced marriage to the nefarious Psy-Crow. While chasing them across the universe, Jim comes across the summer homes of a number of villains from the first game, including Evil the Cat and Bob the Killer Goldfish.

The game originally appeared on the Mega Drive/Genesis, Super NES and PC, with enhanced versions later released on the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. It was also ported to the Game Boy Advance.

Like the original game, Earthworm Jim 2 contains a lot of irreverent, random humor. It also features more diverse gameplay than the original, with each stage having a different style and mission, as well as various new weapons.

[edit] Stages

  • Anything but Tangerines - Jim begins his quest here. He must deal with flying octopodes, dodge falling grannies and carry heavy pigs before facing Bob the Killer Goldfish for the second time.
    • Granny Chair - A bonus area that centres on avoiding falling grannies as Jim rides upwards on a stair lift.
  • Lorenzo's Soil - Jim has to dig his way through an excavation site to meet Pedro Pupa, who is searching for the lost temple of "The Psy-Crow". The stage name is a pun on Lorenzo's oil. The MS-DOS version in the Whole Can 'O Worms set is missing this stage.
  • Puppy Love - Psy-Crow takes Peter Puppy's 600 puppies hostage and, after being cornered in an abandoned spaceport tower, tosses them out the window. Jim must save the puppies by bouncing them back to Peter using the "giant marshmallow o' love". This stage is divided into 3 to 5 rounds depending on what difficulty setting you are playing the game and comes afet every 2 stages, with the exception of Part 3, which comes after ISO 9000. The instruction manuals tag the end of the stage name with the sentence "(with music by Peter's Pound and Mary)", a pun on Peter, Paul and Mary.
  • The Villi People - Jim has to navigate through a maze of villi disguised as Sally, the blind cave salamander, while avoiding the exploding sheep. Near the end of the stage, Jim must participate in a game show and plays a short memory game involving pinball bumpers. The Mega Drive/Genesis versions refer to this stage as both "Jim's now a Blind Cave Salamander!" and "Villi People" in-game, while the instruction manuals give the alternate name "Blind Sally". This stage name is a pun on The Village People.
  • The Flyin' King - Jim, on his trusty rocket pack, must take a balloon carrying explosives to the end of the stage, where Major Mucus lies waiting, while avoiding hazards such as catapulted pigs and Roman Centurions. The instruction manual refers to this stage as "The Flyin' King & Peter Pain." The stage names are puns on The Lion King and Peter Pan.
  • Udderly Abducted - Here, Jim must avoid mutant superpowered penguins as he carries cows back to their barns in order to save them from being abducted by alien "udder ships".
  • Inflated Head - Jim inhales helium and floats to the top of the stage, trying to avoid the pea-shooting cat carnies and Evil the Cat's attempts to make him fall. The instruction manuals refer to this stage as "Circus of the Scars", a play on the television show named Circus of the Stars.
    • Hammer Head - In this short area, Jim can win prizes through a test of strength before heading to the next stage.
  • ISO 9000 - Jim winds up on a world of paperwork and must contend with its many dangers. The stage and its name are puns of the time-consuming paperwork that must be filled out when complying with quality standards set by procedures such as ISO 9000.
    • Door Chase - Jim must avoid a large jumping filing cabinet and escape the paperwork world by pursuing the exit door which has legs and runs away from him.
  • Section Ate - On a world of food, Jim must run away from a giant salt shaker while dodging straws and cutlery. As this is the eighth stage, not counting the Puppy Love segments, it was named Section Ate.
    • Totally Forked - A secret area found somewhere in this food section stage. As the name implies, Jim will has to avoid moving forks. This stage is referred to in-game as "Secret Room #39" and "Forked".
    • Flamin' Yawn - At the end of "Section Ate", Jim faces off with a fire-breathing steak named Flamin' Yawn (a pun on "fillet mignon").
  • See Jim Run, Run Jim Run - In this final racing stage, Jim races against Psy-Crow through the largest quickie 24-hour church and deli in the Lost Vegas system in order to rescue Princess What's-Her-Name just in time before Psy-Crow does and prevent their unlawful wedding.
Jim firing his gun in the SNES version of Earthworm Jim 2
Enlarge
Jim firing his gun in the SNES version of Earthworm Jim 2

[edit] Soundtrack

(Note: The order of the tracks is based on the Sega Saturn version; the names in parentheses are the names of the stages they play in)

  • 01 - Tangerine (Anything but Tangerines)
  • 02 - Granny Bag (Granny Chair)
  • 03 - Italian Medley (Puppy Love Parts 1 through 3/Puppy Love (with music by Peter's Pound and Mary)), a medley with the themes from Funiculì Funiculà and Tarantella Napoletana
  • 04 - Dad's Tune (Totally Forked/Secret Room #39)
  • 05 - "Moonlight Sonata" 1st movement (The Villi People/Jim's now a Blind Cave Salamander!/Blind Sally)
  • 06 - "Moonlight Sonata" 3rd movement (See Jim Run, Run Jim Run)
  • 07 - The Moo Tango (Udderly Abducted)- In fact, it´s a very famous tango called El Choclo
  • 08 - The Big Top Polka (Inflated Head/Circus of the Scars), a medley including the Lichtensteiner Polka, the Clarinet Polka and possibly a third
  • 09 - Tropical Paradise (The Flyin' King/The Flyin' King & Peter Pain, Section Ate)
  • 10 - Subterranean (Lorenzo's Soil)
  • 11 - Dixieland Finale (game ending)
  • 12 - Continue to Rock (continue screen)
  • 13 - Doobeedowapbop (title screen)

Unlike the first game's soundtrack, which was credited to Mark Miller for legal reasons, Earthworm Jim 2's was credited to Tommy Tallarico, except for the track Dad's Tune, which was composed by his father.

[edit] External links

Earthworm Jim
Games: Earthworm Jim | Earthworm Jim 2 | Earthworm Jim 3D | Earthworm Jim: Menace 2 the Galaxy | ClayFighter 63 1/3 | Earthworm Jim PSP
TV series: Earthworm Jim (TV series)
Heroes: Earthworm Jim | Snott | Peter Puppy | Princess What's-Her-Name
Villains: Psy-Crow | Queen Slug-for-a-Butt | Evil the Cat | Professor Monkey-For-A-Head | Bob the Killer Goldfish | Evil Jim
Other topics: List of Earthworm Jim characters | List of Earthworm Jim locations | List of Earthworm Jim items