Earthworm Jim/Bugs

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Mega Drive version

Sound driver hardware issues

The GEMS sound driver used by Earthworm Jim functions improperly on Mega Drive hardware that has a discrete YM2612, most notably on Model 1 units. On these systems, the music and sound effects have noticeable stutter. This bug doesn't occur when played on newer revisions of the hardware.

Not fixed in any version.

Floating after death in Buttville

EarthwormJim MD Bug FloatinginButtville.png

In Buttville, reach Queen Slug-for-a-Butt and bring Jim's health down to a low-enough percentage (at least 40% on the Normal difficulty), have Jim lose all his remaining health by touching the spikes surrounding the Queen, then kill her by whipping her before Jim's health drops to 0% so that Jim dies during the Queen's death cutscene. When the level restarts, Jim will be in an odd state where he'll move through the floor and be unable to fall downwards, though he can still interact with platforms.

If the last checkpoint reached was the one after the Queen's tail, it is still possible for the player to reach the Queen and kill her to finish the game while in the glitched state. Jim can be moved to the left, while carefully using the Snot platforms to put him in a position where he is able to whip the Queen.

Not fixed in any version.

Master System version

Sprite zooming hardware issues

The Master System version of Earthworm Jim was programmed with the revised Master System II in mind; in particular, the game utilizes the revision's sprite zooming functionality (doubling the pixel size of artwork) to display its HUD.[1]

Earlier revisions of the Master System support a bugged implementation of sprite zooming, resulting in only the first four (out of eight) sprites on a given scanline being zoomed properly. The remaining four will be zoomed horizontally, but not vertically. The Mega Drive's backwards compatibility mode (when played through the Power Base Converter) lacks sprite zooming altogether, and only displays portions of the HUD at half the intended size.[1]

Not fixed in any version.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 https://nicole.express/2021/i-am-the-mark-iii.html (Wayback Machine: 2023-09-03 09:00)


Earthworm Jim

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Sega Mega Drive
Prototypes: 1994-07-28