Everyone’s favorite worm in a super suit is coming back in downloadable form to every service imaginable: Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, WiiWare and mobile devices.
Sometimes wishes come true without you even trying. Last I checked, Earthworm Jim has been leading the votes for Sega’s poll for which Genesis game to release on XBLA next, but apparently that’s not even going to matter, because downloadable games pusher Gameloft has just announced that it will be developing and releasing Earthworm Jim in partnership with Interplay.
Due for release in the final quarter of this year, Earthworm Jim will hit just about every downloadable games service imaginable: Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, WiiWare and mobiles. That probably means there’s an iPhone version, knowing Gameloft, which would be neat.
“Earthworm Jim resonates with millions of people worldwide and we are excited to have one of the best developers in the industry create this game for a new audience,” Herve Caen of Interplay said. “Gameloft’s creativity coupled with its innate knack for innovative games, makes us 100% confident that the result will be nothing short of stellar.”
Of course this begs the question of what will become of Sega’s plans for an Earthworm Jim release on XBLA. The odd thing is that if you go the Genesis poll from last week now, the site returns an error. Could Sega have just had its thunder stolen? Maybe they need to do the entire poll over, which, of course, means a second shot for the game that deserves an XBLA release more than Earthworm Jim, Toejam & Earl.
Or, is this a brand new Jim altogether? I’ve dropped a line with Gameloft, so I’ll let you know.
UPDATE: Got the official word from Gameloft. This is a remake:
“Earthworm Jim will be a remake of the Sega Genesis/Super Nintendo Classic from 1994.”
[Via Team Xbox]
