Once upon a time on an ordinary day in an ordinary meadow, an ordinary crow was chasing an ordinary worm named Jim. The worm escaped into the ground, leaving the crow hungry and frustrated. As the worm slowly crawled back to the surface, he experienced a decidedly unordinary thing. A space suit fell from the sky and landed right on top of him. The ultra high tech space particles of the suit melded with Jim's soft wormy flesh, creating a new, super powerful hero: Earthworm Jim.

Earthworm Jim soon discovers that an intergalactic bounty hunter by the name of Psy-Crow is looking for the space suit. Psy-Crow is trying to retrieve the suit for Queen Pulsating, Bloated, Festering, Sweaty, Pus-filled, Malformed, Slug for a Butt, who wants to wear the suit so she will be even more beautiful than her imprisoned twin sister, Princess-What's-Her-Name. Emboldened by an inner sense of wormy goodness and an innate hatred of crows, Jim takes off to rescue this princess before Psy-Crow can find him and the suit.

Jim is about average for an earthworm of his age. Basically, he's slimy, weak and disgusting. However, while donning the space suit, he could be an active member of the Justice League. The suit is equipped with a Plasma Blaster, which is a hair trigger, rapid-fire weapon that can turn crows and other enemies to dust. Also, the suit makes Jim strong and agile (he can run, jump and climb like no other worm possibly could) and enables him to use his body as a whip, a bungee cord and a helicopter blade.

You control Earthworm Jim as he battles his way through nine levels of dangers and obstacles and outrageous nuttiness. You'll bounce on tires, slide across zip lines, shoot menacing crows and hamsters, brave the fiery pits of hell, climb steep cliffs, avoid a pool of snot, dodge flying saucers and much more. There are numerous strange and unusual enemies, including Major Mucus, Peter Puppy, Professor Monkey for a Head and Evil the Cat.

Level five, which is called Andy Asteroids, puts you on a wild ride through space (from a first-person perspective), dodging asteroids and grabbing Atomic Accelerators while trying to knock Psy-Crow off his rocket backpack. The other levels, which are platform shooters, include New Junk City, What the Heck? Down the Tubes, Snot a Problem, Level 5, For Pete's Sake, Intestinal Distress and Buttville, which is home and hearth to the wicked queen and her insect minions.

Earthworm Jim features three difficulty levels: Practice, Normal and Difficult. Regardless of which level you play, you must frequently pick up plasma power and suit power to keep your gun charged and your suit functioning. Extra lives are hidden throughout the game.

Earthworm Jim (Sega Genesis, 1994)