Earthworm Jim (Genesis)

Earthworm Jim
Developer: Shiny Entertainment Publishers: Playmates Interactive Entertainment (US), Virgin Interactive Entertainment (EU) Platform: Genesis Released in US: August 2, 1994 Released in EU: August 5, 1994 This game has a hidden developer message. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden level select. This game has regional differences.

A Lumbricus terrestris in a robotic suit faces off against the likes of a mad scientist with a simian fused into his crown, an alien made of snot and a hideous queen with a gigantic gastropod mollusc for buttocks.

It could only be Earthworm Jim, or perhaps one of its sequels...

Cheats

Function 0x24b88e compares joypad input against a table of cheat codes at offset 0xc372. Each table entry consists of an 1-byte id followed by 8-bytes, where each byte maps to a button combination.

David Perry's Private Cheat Mode

A debug mode still exists in Earthworm Jim. It displays information about how much memory is used by the game, as well as its build date. During game play, pause the game and enter the following code: Left + A, B, B, A, Right + A, B, B, A.

A screen showing the Shiny Entertainment staff will appear as Jim called the player "Cheater!", followed by the debug menu.

Menu item	Operation
CHEAT MODE	Enables invincibility.
START ON LEVEL	Use A and B to select a level, then press Start to begin.
FREEZEABILITY	Prevents the game from dimming the screen when paused.
MAP VIEW MODE	Use the control pad to move the camera around the level; press A to move Jim to the current location.

North America	Europe

The European version of the game was built three days after its North American counterpart.

Fake Cheat

Exclusive to the PAL version is a screen that mocks the player and then resets the game. During game play, pause the game and enter the following code: A, C, A, A, C, C, A, B.

(Source: Original TCRF research)