Final Thoughts

[Pix]

#9974

I was expecting this to take weeks to complete from what I’d heard about it’s difficulty but it turned out to be a lot shorter than I expected. I don’t think some of the other releases included a password system which would have made this a real slog to learn every level inside out.

Really enjoyed it anyway. It’s so smooth and well animated and has to be up there with the best DOS platformers for that alone. The worlds are extremely random. There’s no plot here, it seems more like the designers just threw whatever they thought would be fun into each level. The difficulty was quite well judged on the whole, not easy but doable with practice. Just a really polished and well put together game. There is a little style over substance possibly and I can’t say it plays as well as the Mario games that were around back then but the competition was a lot less stiff for DOS. Looking forward to the sequel.

[dr_st]

#9975

That was quick, wow. I’ve only replayed about 1/3 of the first game.

Well, you have a whole month – are you going to try EWJ2? The level skip system there is slightly more tricky.

[Coops]

#9980

You’re doing better than me. I’ve spent about an hour with the game so far and I can’t pass the first level. I keep dying on the pig boss who spews fish. Maybe I’ve lost my touch (I played a lot of these kinds of games as a kid) but I’m finding EWJ to be pretty challenging. I’ll keep at it.

I played a little EWJ2 and found that pretty hard too. I’m stuck at the part of the stairs elevator.

[dr_st]

#9981

>> I’m stuck at the part of the stairs elevator.

Fresh!

[Coops]

#9983

I’m now up to “What The Heck” (the second platforming stage). There’s a section I can’t get past where you’ve got to hook your head around a gold hook, jump, then do it again in succession. Talk about tedious and frustrating. I think that’s enough Earthworm Jim for today.

[dr_st]

#9985

I just finished Pod Race today, and either I got worse, or the timer runs faster on ‘Medium’ versus ‘Easy’, but I found it surprisingly difficult to complete, usually dying before reaching the secret pump. Maybe I should not have tried collecting that hidden extra life. Of course once you get to the secret pump, completing the rest of the course is straightforward.

[TigerQuoll]

#9986

EWJ very much feels like a console game, and I think that took me off guard. I was expecting a more PC-like experience, with the ability to save at any point for example.

I generally like this particular formula – unfair difficulty that expects you to memorise the levels – but when you’re expecting something else it’s just frustrating.
I also rage quit at the fish belcher bit on my first play.

I’m going to have to give it another shot, but imagine myself playing on a SNES!

[Pix]

#9990

Pod Race was the hardest part of the first game I thought. I didn’t go for the extra life and only just made it.

Just finished the second game. Again, it felt really short although the last level is kind of evil which added some longevity. I like the new password system collecting the flags to be able to skip levels. It’s a nice incentive to explore. I didn’t get all the flags on every level but each of those puppy love levels was really easy to get them all which was all I really needed for the most part. There was a bit more variety in the sequel but it’s all very random once again. I wasn’t expecting a Zaxxon-like level for sure, or 3 levels worth of bouncing babies. I essentially beat it in a morning but given that you got the two games in one box, it’s not so bad in terms of value for money.

I’ve enjoyed going back to these but there was much less to them than I was expecting. Can’t say they aren’t fun while they last. I’ll leave DOS behind and try Earthworm Jim 3D next – don’t think I’ve even seen what that looks like before, never mind playing it.

[dr_st]

#9992

>> I generally like this particular formula – unfair difficulty that expects you to memorise the levels – but when you’re expecting something else it’s just frustrating.

I only really felt this in those metal cage sections of Level 5, where you have crap coming at you from random directions and you have to shoot at it before it hits you. On Medium difficulty, it’s 10% off each time you get hit, so you don’t get too many chances. And there aren’t any extra lives in the vicinity!

>> Just finished the second game. Again, it felt really short although the last level is kind of evil which added some longevity.

Really? I found Buttville (last level of EWJ1) much harder than that of EWJ2 (See Jim Run, Run Jim Run). For sure, the latter is shorter.

[Pix]

#9994

Buttville was a bit tricky but was fairly easy to get through once I’d learned the ropes. The hardest part was figuring out the trick to kill that last “boss” which without giving it away was a bit cheap.

The race in EWJ2 was seriously tight for me on the other hand, barely room for any error at all and I needed some luck with the bouncing balls at the end. I wouldn’t say either went overboard for a last level, wouldn’t want it too easy.

[dr_st]

#9998

Just finished EWJ1, on Normal difficulty. I must have been quite rusty, because the platforming (which is not very good to begin with) was particularly difficult at times. Starting some levels from passwords, had to use continues more than once.

In Buttville specifically, I missed platforms in the last part of the level repeatedly. 🤦‍♂️ Good thing I discovered this trick during the descent segment to start the main part with 8 lives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhRLT2f8C5M

[Coops]

#10008

Does anyone know how you speed up in Andy Asteroids? I don’t doubt I’ve missed something obvious.

[dr_st]

#10009

I believe you hold down the jump button.

[Katsumoto]

#10011

I am just terrible at this (and was as a youth as well), but I am persevering for now. Managed to get to boss of What the Heck? once but promptly died. It might be easier to use a gamepad but I haven’t ever really fiddled with getting them to work with Dosbox before. May be worth a try for this!

[dr_st]

#10012

>> It might be easier to use a gamepad
Not really. Especially with the clumsy controls of the DOS version, it will probably be worse.

[Katsumoto]

#10014

Can confirm! Can’t manage to do the helicopter jump consistently which is needed to beat the What the Heck? boss. I have admitted defeat and used a passcode to move on ;-).