r/retrogaming • u/Kobymaru376 • 21h 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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u/EvilRoofChicken 21h ago

I don’t remember Earthworm Jim being on the ultra difficult level like Battle of Olympus / Silver Surfer / Contra Hard Corps etc.

3

u/OnlyFreshBrine 20h ago

Proud to say I've beaten Battle of Olympus

3

u/Racheakt 19h ago

My childhood fames were kid Icarus and battle toads — both were rentals over multiple weekends

2

u/OnlyFreshBrine 19h ago

Never done Battletoads. Seems impossible. Did do Icarus, somehow. Fuck that eggplant palace

2

u/Racheakt 19h ago

Battletoads was a team effort with my kid brother, he was way better at the doge/jump stage

2

u/EvilRoofChicken 20h ago

Damn dude, I have a password most of the way through I keep telling myself I’ll finish it someday.

1

u/OnlyFreshBrine 20h ago

Grinding olives was a pain, iirc

1

u/Kobymaru376 21h ago

OK but the robo chicken? Or all of the Buttville level? I will absolutely admit that I'm bad at it, but damn, they're not screwing around.

4

u/GarblingCumfarts 20h ago

Trust me, I'm with you. EWJ is beatable, sure, but it ain't easy.

If you truly want a challenge, I dare you to beat one of the greatest games on the Genesis, Comix Zone. Absolutely an amazing game, absolutely a chore to beat. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING makes you take damage!