Comparisons that I've seen made between the SNES and Genesis versions seem to match them up more or less fairly evenly. SNES has better graphics in some levels (like the first level with the sun). Some levels just seem to look different rather than better like the Peter Puppy level which has different color schemes between versions, making comparisons of …
Comparisons that I've seen made between the SNES and Genesis versions seem to match them up more or less fairly evenly. SNES has better graphics in some levels (like the first level with the sun). Some levels just seem to look different rather than better like the Peter Puppy level which has different color schemes between versions, making comparisons of graphics or styles a bit more subjective. The Genesis has an extra level but I honestly find it to be the weakest level in the entire game so SNES people weren't missing anything in my opinion.
But as someone who played the Genesis version and enjoyed it immensely, when I eventually tried to play the SNES version it immediately felt off and more difficult. It didn't take me long to realize that the SNES has a smaller screen resolution than the Genesis. Thus the field of view is smaller on the SNES and you see less of the level when compared to the Genesis version. For example you have less time to react when trying to jump over the trash can subboss in the first level. I'm amazed that the comparisons I've read have never mentioned this difference because I can barely tolerate playing the SNES version after having played the Genesis version multiple times. I guess if you played the SNES version first then this isn't really an issue.
As for the game itself, I've seen some reviews harshly criticize its levels and controls. Indeed there are flaws but nothing that you can't get used to after a bit of playing. For me the most annoying thing was the A button being used for both the helicopter head and shooting so sometimes I would land while in helicopter head mode and then start wasting some precious ammo. This is something that was fixed in the sequel when they changed up the controls and added snot to levels. I think the challenge is mostly fair and not outrageous. I've read that some people find it hard to tell which ledge you can stand or grab onto but I don't remember ever having this problem. For the most part I never found that the background graphics really obscured any things that affected gameplay much. Earthworm Jim even today still has some of the most creative level designs and hilarious details. It's a funny parody but also has its own unique flair.
I will grant that those submarine navigation sequences are annoying but with a bit of practice they are actually not that hard to pass through. What I find more annoying is the one too many repetitions of Andy's Asteroids. The racing is fun the first few times but after that it gets totally repetitive and tedious. I also find the final boss fight to be too simple and reliant on you having enough ammo to just continuously shoot the queen, quite disappointing in comparison to the other creative boss encounters.
Earthworm Jim, the special edition Sega CD version and its sequel have always been some of my favorite 2D platformers and it saddens me that is has fallen into obscurity.
