Worm

I got worms!

Every so often, I come upon something so ridiculous it's weirdly enjoyable. Well, I've found an absurd kids' game called Worm. Oddly enough, the big kid within me still found it very amusing. Worm was developed by Craig Graham of Data Uncertain Software and is a public domain release. The title screen says it was released in 1991, but the game files are time-stamped 1989 on my floppy disk, so who knows. Maybe a default?

The story is that we're a worm called Ooey Gooey, who is on a mission to save the world from an unnatural disaster. Yep, we have been invaded once again by monsters that threaten our existence. These creatures have taken the worms' eggs, so it's our job to rescue them (hey, do worms actually lay eggs?).

I've just googled it, and worms do indeed lay eggs!! On that note, we need to see some screenshots...

The title screen oozes a professional presentation easily on par with the Bitmaps ;)

There is a designer to create your own levels. Look what I've started making. Hmm..!

Let's play

There are 25 wacky levels, and using the joystick, Ooey can crawl along the ground, ledges, and other objects looking for eggs. This isn't exactly mind-blowing, is it? There are some located in high areas, and worms cannot fly, so how can we grab 'em? Well, it's a good job Ooey has a hidden gadget - a helicopter pack! This is actually pretty cool, and he uses it to reach the dizzy heights no worm was ever designed to see.

Don't be too quick to rush off and collect the eggs because there are other items for points and helicopter fuel. Also, there are power-ups like extra lives, invulnerability, and ice, which can freeze enemies. Once all the eggs are collected, we are whisked into the next room to repeat the task on a tougher level.

Interestingly, the main menu has a scroller but it's incredibly lame!! However, it does mention about a possible cheat code "Craig Loves Andrea". Perhaps it's for the high score table or maybe a key combo? I didn't have any luck but YMMV. Let me know in the comments.

And that's about all there is to this bizarre game. It's dead simple and enjoyable in a terrible way...

Leave the title screen alone, and you get to view the instructions.

The evil eyeball looks drunk!

The CryptO'pinion?

To be honest, there's not a whole lot to this game, and its design feels very amateur with crude aesthetics. I admire what Craig tried to achieve, but the sprites are too big, and there is a bunch of truly dreadful collision detection. Sadly, this spoiled what might have been silly and childish, but fun.

Regardless of my whining, it's still enjoyable and worth downloading, especially if you have kids, who you want to punish for spending all your money and ruining your life. Whaaaaaaat did you just say?!! Weirdly, I actually found the concept humorous and enough to warrant writing about it. You should play this game.

You can find Worm over at Exxos' excellent Floppyshop archive (GAM-3341)