How one game in a series renowned for its memorability fell into obscurity.
Rarely has any video game franchise been as emblematic of a decade's humor and style as Earthworm Jim was for the 1990s. Interplay's signature platforming series starring the titular sci-fi gun-wielding earthworm in his robotic suit managed to captivate audiences with its surreal humor in Earthworm Jim (1994) and Earthworm Jim 2 (1995), before falling out of favor with Earthworm Jim 3D (1999).
Contrary to popular belief, however, 3D wasn't the final entry in the series. In fact, the Game Boy version of the first Earthworm Jim, released in 1995, would get its own sequel in 1999, which has seldom been mentioned by fans and never acknowledged by publishers.
Wacky Beginnings
Since its very inception, the Earthworm Jim franchise relished in its creativity. With the developers at Shiny Entertainment – bought by Interplay in 1995 – exclusively having produced licensed games before their breakthrough title, they now wanted to use the opportunity of not being restricted by any rightsholder's stylistic guidelines.
And you can really tell. The first Earthworm Jim, with its cow-catapulting premise, colorful cast of villains and unconvential protagonist became an instant success, with the game being ported to multiple platforms (including the Game Boy) and even receiving its own TV show. Its direct sequel Earthworm Jim 2 elaborated on the franchise's absurdity with even more out-of-the-box level concepts.
But when the original developers instated a strict "no sequels" policy for creative reasons, Interplay had to task less experienced teams with supporting the series in the future. The results: In 1999, VIS Interactive's Earthworm Jim 3D became a laughing stock for its technical shortcomings and lack of creativity, while David A. Palmer Productions' Earthworm Jim: Menace 2 the Galaxy fell into complete obscurity.
Groovy Ideas
Touted as the "the second Game Boy Color adventure for everyone's favorite worm-turned-superhero" in the official press kit (despite both Earthworm Jim and Earthworm Jim: Menace 2 the Galaxy being playable on just the original Game Boy as well), the title aims to merge the sidescrolling gameplay of its predecessor with the gameplay loop of 3D and the characters from the TV show.
In practice, this means that players, equipped with blasters and a small rideable rocket, have to stop "Evil Jim" from rampaging through the galaxy by exploring nine 2D platforming levels and collecting a certain amount of power cells in each to access the next one, with a mini game in Jim's City needing to be completed beforehand.
This interesting combination of all "eras" of the franchise is discernible from the presentation as well, with the game's characters designs being taken from the TV show and their animations replicating those of its Game Boy successor. The soundtrack by Mark Cooksey is quite different in style to all other games in the series.
Bogey Release
Disappointingly, like in Earthworm Jim 3D, the object-collecting premise of each level can be quite tedious, with the large levels containing hundreds of nuts that must be found to progress, all of which are lost when dying even once. The game received fairly mixed reviews, with both critics and fans already having been soured by the release of Earthworm Jim 3D less than a month prior.
While the game seemingly set out to celebrate the entirety of the Earthworm Jim franchise, it just failed to capture the creativity of previous titles. For example, while Menace 2 the Galaxy has a Subway level that would feel fairly unique compared to other platformers with its combination of trains, public bathrooms, and waiting areas as platforming elements, it just doesn't reach the same highs as the level from 2 where you play as a blind cave salamander avoiding exploding sheep while floating through an intestinal track to reach a quiz show at the end.
A potential official re-release for this game has never occurred so far, with it becoming neglected & forgotten both due to its subpar reception and lack of involvement of the original developer (making this case comparable to that of Zelda's Adventure), with Interplay having licensed the franchise rights out to developer David A. Palmer Productions and publisher Crave Entertainment.
Thorny Future
While Earthworm Jim, Earthworm Jim 2 and Earthworm Jim 3D have been re-released numerous times and have been available as remasters, in classic games services or as part of the Earthworm Jim Collection on Steam and Gog.com, Menace 2 the Galaxy has not been seen since its original Game Boy release in 1999.
Even fans of the series almost never reference the game, with there being no publicly known mods or fan games to speak of.
As for the Earthworm Jim franchise as a whole, aside from the occasional re-release of one of the first three titles, it's gone fairly quiet. Plans for an Earthworm Jim 4 have repeatedly been put on hold since 2008. Things are not looking good for our favorite armed invertebrate.