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Though the real anniversary is a few months away (August 4th), I figured I better make a piece for it before I forget to.

You see as a little child I found out what video games were when my dad brought home a present in 1993. The Sega Genesis (Model 2). I couldn't believe it. It was...incredible. It was nothing like the systems today where you have an oversaturated market of embarrassingly serious space marines and murky colors and crap like that. No, back then it was a blue hedgehog racing across a bright vibrant world to stop a scientist from taking over the planet. Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I am so thankful that and the slew of other games we played on the Genesis were my first exposure to gaming. It's what I consider possibly the best era of gaming. The 16-bit era. Games hadn't become SO popular that the market dampened down the experience by mass producing the same thing over and over. Experimentation was still allowed in the games and the games were actually looking visually appealing.

But one title that stood out amongst the rest to me was Shiny's first real solo game. Earthworm Jim. It was...insane. As a child I had no idea what really was going on, but I didn't really try to figure it out. It was just fun to play. Whether you were bouncing through New Junk City or duking it out against lawyers in hell it was just a blast to play. Granted there was no way in hell I ever made it to the end back then. Oh no. The Pod Race, Snott a Problem, For Pete's Sake. With all that crap in the way I got my ass handed to me pretty much every time. Even dad, the man who could beat Vectorman multiple times, never saw Buttville.

Years and years later however, while in High School, I dug up the Sega again and started playing the old games. I finally beat Sonic 2, Vectorman without cheating, and (somehow) Phantom 2040. When I started playing Earthworm Jim again though I realized something. Something that set it apart from the others. It was alive. The game actually felt lively. Now Sonic had some of this in the backgrounds of his levels, but the actual character was nothing compared to Jim. Jim breathed. He bounced up and down. Sang and shot himself in the face when you left him alone. He was alive. He was animated. THAT is what set it apart from the other games. The game was something of a work of art in its own warped way. That's why I consider it one of the greatest games ever created (if not THE greatest in my eyes).

Because of Earthworm Jim I've gone on to try making animations of my own. Focusing more on how my cartoons work in still pictures as well as in motion. But whether or not my stuff ever amounts to anything is beside the point. What I'm trying to say is the game was an inspiration to me and...I guess kinda affected my life in a way. It's certainly a game I recommend for anyone who hasn't played it. It's something ya gotta do before ya die, even if ya end up hating it.

...unless your option is the HD version. **** that ****. Go for (the impossible to get) Special Edition.

Here's a little sample of the game for anyone that hasn't seen it yet: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNUMO_…

And if you, for some reason, wanna hear more of my Jim rambling, here's a link to a little article I made up about him: edward18517.blogspot.com/2013/…

Description
Though the real anniversary is a few months away (August 4th), I figured I better make a piece for it before I forget to.

You see as a little child I found out what video games were when my dad brought home a present in 1993. The Sega Genesis (Model 2). I couldn't believe it. It was...incredible. It was nothing like the systems today where you have an oversaturated market of embarrassingly serious space marines and murky colors and crap like that. No, back then it was a blue hedgehog racing across a bright vibrant world to stop a scientist from taking over the planet. Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I am so thankful that and the slew of other games we played on the Genesis were my first exposure to gaming. It's what I consider possibly the best era of gaming. The 16-bit era. Games hadn't become SO popular that the market dampened down the experience by mass producing the same thing over and over. Experimentation was still allowed in the games and the games were actually looking visually appealing.

But one title that stood out amongst the rest to me was Shiny's first real solo game. Earthworm Jim. It was...insane. As a child I had no idea what really was going on, but I didn't really try to figure it out. It was just fun to play. Whether you were bouncing through New Junk City or duking it out against lawyers in hell it was just a blast to play. Granted there was no way in hell I ever made it to the end back then. Oh no. The Pod Race, Snott a Problem, For Pete's Sake. With all that crap in the way I got my ass handed to me pretty much every time. Even dad, the man who could beat Vectorman multiple times, never saw Buttville.

Years and years later however, while in High School, I dug up the Sega again and started playing the old games. I finally beat Sonic 2, Vectorman without cheating, and (somehow) Phantom 2040. When I started playing Earthworm Jim again though I realized something. Something that set it apart from the others. It was alive. The game actually felt lively. Now Sonic had some of this in the backgrounds of his levels, but the actual character was nothing compared to Jim. Jim breathed. He bounced up and down. Sang and shot himself in the face when you left him alone. He was alive. He was animated. THAT is what set it apart from the other games. The game was something of a work of art in its own warped way. That's why I consider it one of the greatest games ever created (if not THE greatest in my eyes).

Because of Earthworm Jim I've gone on to try making animations of my own. Focusing more on how my cartoons work in still pictures as well as in motion. But whether or not my stuff ever amounts to anything is beside the point. What I'm trying to say is the game was an inspiration to me and...I guess kinda affected my life in a way. It's certainly a game I recommend for anyone who hasn't played it. It's something ya gotta do before ya die, even if ya end up hating it.

...unless your option is the HD version. **** that ****. Go for (the impossible to get) Special Edition.

Here's a little sample of the game for anyone that hasn't seen it yet: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNUMO_…

And if you, for some reason, wanna hear more of my Jim rambling, here's a link to a little article I made up about him: edward18517.blogspot.com/2013/…