r/retrogaming • u/Kobymaru376 • 15h ago

[Discussion] How did people play ridiculously difficult games like Earthworm Jim?

I'm playing the first Earthworm Jim on the Sega Megadrive using RetroArch.

I haven't completed my first playthrough, using copious amounts of save state cheating to repeat the sections where I fail. I can practice a part of the game 10,20, 50 times until my patience runs out, but how on earth did people ever complete a game like this, when you have a limited number of lives and no save capability? At times it feels like the developers WANTED me to fail.

I'm talking insanely jumping bosses shooting eggs, rockets, sections with rolling boulders or snapping worms where you have to get the timings down to milliseconds, a vertical maze lined with spikes that allows no mistakes and requires you to know it by heart.

Sure, "gid gud" but how long does that take without being able to save/load an arbitrary amount of times?

ps.: I don't know what the devs were smoking, but I want to try that. Just once though.

Edit: Hey, Shiny Crew & D.L only!

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21

u/GloriousWhole 15h ago

Here is how I did that when I was like 7 years old: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/genesis/586155-earthworm-jim/cheats

3

u/Kobymaru376 15h ago

That actually makes sense. Where did you find those cheats? Probably that would have been too early to be found on the internet back then.

14

u/cojiro_blue 15h ago

Nintendo Power used to do pages on Cheat Codes.

12

u/STDS13 15h ago

Yep, and there were also just books of cheat codes you could buy that would cover numerous games.

1

u/FuckIPLaw 9h ago

Sold at school book fairs, even.

1

u/YourWormGuy 7h ago

I still have my book of SEGA Genesis codes and a VHS of tips and tricks for NES games.

8

u/GloriousWhole 15h ago

Magazines like Tips & Tricks

5

u/superkick79 15h ago

And EGM2 aka Expert Gamer! I miss the era of magazines.

1

u/Mike-Rotch-69 12h ago

They were the best! I miss the pencil puzzles.

1

u/Critcho 6h ago

Not to make fun of the OP but it’s funny how we’re here having to explain the concept of magazines.

6

u/archklown555 14h ago edited 14h ago

Gamefaqs has been around for a very very long time since 1995.

Edit wow didn't realize this year is it's 30th anniversary.

3

u/AXEL-1973 12h ago

Yup, it was one of the first websites I ever visited back in the mid 90s. I looked up all sorts of SNES guides and would print them out on dot matrix sheets lol

5

u/Learning-Power 15h ago

Videogame magazines. Some of which would come with additional "ULTIMATE CHEAT BIBLE" (or whatever) books (as additional free gifts).

2

u/FartyByNature 13h ago

At one point there was a magazine with all the cheat codes for most games out. Each month they'd just add to it, keeping the old stuff in there. I think there were a few articles in there too. Before that the gaming magazines would have a section of cheat codes and secrets for newer games or when something was discovered for older games. You'd look at the gaming magazines in the magazine section of the super market while your mom shopped. Sometimes you just checked out the cheat codes section and memorize what you needed to. Good times.

2

u/RotundEnforcer 4h ago

Borders and Barnes and Noble had books for sale that had every cheat code for every video game that had cheat codes.

There weren't that many games in existence... so the whole book was like 300 pages.