The Earthwork Jim series seems to be having a resurgence as of late. Hot on the heels of the news that the coveted Earthworm Jim 3 is finally being developed by the original gang – although to be exclusive on the upcoming Intellivision Amico console – a collectable SNES cartridge with the original two games will soon be available for pre-order.
Coming about as a collaboration between iam8bit and Interplay (whom I didn’t realise were still around – good on them) to celebrate 25-years of Earthworm Jim, the two games will be bundled on the same SNES cartridge – although the manufacturing will be limited to 2000 units only. These cartridges will be coloured “udder pink” for the most part (their words, not mine) but 1 in 20 cartridges will randomly be shipped in cow print making them all the more collectable – if you’re into that sort of thing, of course.
The packaging is also custom designed, featuring a “specialty fold-out foil box with gloss and embellishments”. There will also be a few “retro pack-in surprises” – which judging by the promotional images, at least includes a poster.
This is the fourth instalment of iam8bit’s “Legacy Cartridge Collection” that previously included Street Fighter 2, Mega Man X and Mega Man 2 (all of which were released to celebrate the games respective 30th birthdays).
While this is a cool piece of any diehard Earthworm Jim enthusiast (I guess there must be at least a predicted 2000 of them) there are a few caveats. For one, it cost $135, which will likely price-out any casual players of the game. Secondly, this appears to be NTSC only. It doesn’t specifically say so, but you can tell as much by the design of the cartridge. Many will argue that the Genesis/Mega Drive version is superior too, but let’s not get into that now.
If you’re the target market, pre-orders go live on iam8bit’s website on the 21st of May, 10AM PST. Shipping is expected in November.
