Earthworm Jim 3D

Earthworm Jim 3D borrows much of its gameplay from other platformers of the era, competing with Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64. New locations in Jim's brain are opened up by collecting Golden Udders, and new levels in each location are opened by collecting Jim's marbles. Like previous Earthworm Jim games, Jim's primary method of combat comes from shooting his blaster. ==Plot==

Earthworm Jim is hit by a flying cow that sends him into a coma. Jim awakens within his own subconscious and discovers he has gone insane. His past villains have entered his subconscious and if something doesn't happen soon, Jim will become stuck in the coma forever. His super ego has been unleashed within his subconscious to stop the madness. To restore his sanity he must find the Golden Udders of Lucidity. When Jim enters his subconscious, he finds out that his four mind chambers have been taken over by his worst fears. He must collect Golden Udders to unlock the other three chambers and Green Marbles to unlock the levels within the chamber. Jim defeats four villains who took over his mind chambers, and finally faces the personification of his trauma: Earthworm Kim. ==Development==

Shortly after the release of Earthworm Jim 2, its original developer, Shiny Entertainment was bought by Interplay Entertainment, and then put onto other projects. It was decided that, much like many platform game series at the time, such as Super Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog, that gameplay would transition from 2D to 3D. The game was initially being developed for the PlayStation, but this version was scrapped early in 1997 in favor of the Nintendo 64 platform. Problems arose from the extended development cycle. Much of the content shown in previews and promotional material was nowhere to be seen in the final game: most notably, the game's final packaging showed Evil the Cat as the boss of the "Fear" level, whereas Professor Monkey-for-a-Head was actually the boss. TenNapel said he felt the series was "ruined" by the game. Problems with the frame rate and animation were still arising in the game as development was over 70% complete. ==Reception==

Earthworm Jim 3D received mixed reviews on both platforms according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. Many reviews called the game uninspired, mediocre, and unable to compete with many other similar, higher reviewed platform games at the time, such as Super Mario 64, Rayman 2, or Banjo-Kazooie. A major complaint was the game's camera, with GameSpots Nintendo 64 version review stating that they felt the camera was on a "kamikaze mission to destroy the game". GameSpots review of the Windows version was even more negative, concluding with "Earthworm Jim 3D has something to discourage all types of people from playing it. Fans of the series will be disappointed by the lackluster translation of the characters into three dimensions. Everyone else will be frustrated by the horrible camera." In another review, iBot said, "Earthworm Jims crazy antics have made it to N64, but it appears that the system wasn't ready for him. As 3D platformers go, Earthworm Jim 3D is middle of the road, which is frustrating because he's a character that's a lot of fun." The PC version was nominated for the "Worst Game of the Year" award at GameSpots Best and Worst of 2000 Awards, which went to Blaze and Blade: Eternal Quest. ==Notes==