Proto:Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES)/Apr 24, 1995 Prototype

This is a sub-page of Proto:Earthworm Jim 2 (SNES).

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This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

An early prototype of Earthworm Jim 2 for the SNES. The majority of the content in this prototype is unfinished, and most of the levels can't be completed aside from one or two exceptions. While most of the content in this build was completely dropped from the game, some of the content uses familiar aspects of the final but takes them in a different direction in comparison to what would eventually be done for the released game.

To do:

Check for unused data in the ROM (like graphics for Level Ate/"Meat Level" and Lorenzen's Soil/"Dirt").
Check for missing songs (e.g. Udderly Abducted and Lorenzen's Soil).
Rip pencil-test sprites (most of them are not colored and are indistinguishable in the tile viewer).
The "Anything But Tangerines?" song has less refined instruments compared to the Final version (more noticeably after 28 seconds of the start of the song). Document it, and check if other songs have minor differences as well ("Puppy Love" seems to be slightly different).

General Differences

To do:

Check if the title not showing up on the level card is a bug or not.
Any more unused leftovers from the first game?

Proto	Final

The title screen is very different: it lacks the final's options and if Start isn't pressed, cycles through different artwork.
This prototype is extremely similar to one of the prototypes that can be seen in known preview footage.
Only 60% of the ROM is actually used, according to the BizHawk Code Data Logger.
At 0xc2, the following string not seen in the final game is present:

Program by Nicholas Jones Program Director of Shiny Entertainment. All enquiries:- 1088 North Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. CA 92651-1338 U.S.A Tel No. (714) 494 0772 Fax No. (714) 494 7673

The game's header is still using the one from the first game.
The staff credits from the first game are present at 0x237F0 in the ROM.
The game automatically boots into the Super Cheat Menu, with no title screen or copyright notice.
Before a level's title card loads, the game cycles through different game artwork. It is unknown where this would be used in the final game, if it was even intended to be in the final game.

Proto	Final

The level title card is different. Rather than Jim holding a literal card with the level title, it's an updated version of the title card from Earthworm Jim: Special Edition. Also, the name of the level is not present, and when completing a level (in the few levels that can be actually completed), the game skips the level card, advancing to the next level straight away, meaning the card will only show up when selecting a level from the debug menu.
All of Jim's sprites are from the first game, excluding the standing animation and a few others.
Snott has not been implemented yet, although sprites of him exist in the ROM.
The Manta Shield hasn't been implemented yet.
Jim cannot parachute with Snott, but he can use his body as a helicopter just like in the first game.
Jim is able to aim and shoot in mid-air but cannot move around when he's shooting.
The CONTINUE marker is from the first game.
The game lacks any sound effects aside from the three sound effects used in the Puppy Love/"Bounce the Pup" levels.
No level complete screen is implemented - the "Groovy" screen from the first game has been removed, and the "Well Done" screen has not been implemented yet.
The Game Over screen is based on the first game, although the game normally crashes when losing all lives. If the player manages to see the Game Over screen, it'll show glitched graphics based on the level the player died on.
No new power-ups have been added apart from a few exceptions.
Enemies and bosses not visible in the prototype exist within the ROM as test animation frames.
The game uses prerendered graphics in a lot of areas. The final game consists almost entirely of hand-drawn sprites instead.

Super Cheat Menu

The cheat menu is exactly the same as the one from Earthworm Jim (even keeping the 1994 copyright date), apart from the game's title which is now, you guessed it, Earthworm Jim 2.

Looking through the level select, you can see that the level list is different:

Apr 24, 1995 prototype	Aug 31, 1995 final build
1 -TANGERINES	1 -TANGERINES
2A-BOUNCING PUPS	1B-GRANNY CHAIR
2B-BOUNCING PUPS	2A-PUPPY LOVE 1
2C-BOUNCING PUPS	2B-PUPPY LOVE 2
3 -PETER PAN	2C-PUPPY LOVE 3
4 -ALIEN ABDUCT	3 -THE FLYIN KING
5 -CARNIVAL RIDE	4 -UDDERLY ABDUCT
5A-INFLATED HEAD	5A-INFLATED HEAD
5B-HAMMER	5C-HAMMER HEAD
5C-CHICKEN HEAD	6 -VILLI PEOPLE
5F-BREAKOUT	7 -LORENZENS SOIL
6 -BLIND SALLY	8 -LEVEL ATE
6A-SALLY BONUS A	8A-FLAMIN' YAWN
6B-SALLY BONUS B	8B-FORKED
7 -DIRT	9 -ISO-9000
8 -MEAT LEVEL	9B-DOOR CHASE
9-LAWYERS RETURN	10-CATHEDRAL
9B-MORE LAWYERS
9C-MORE LAWYERS
9D-LAWYERS TEST
10-PLATFORM 4

Note the much longer list of levels, meaning the game may have been planned to be bigger at one point. "Dirt" (Lorenzen's Soil) and "Meat Level" (Level Ate) do not load normally, however by simply changing a byte in the ROM you can get them to load. This was most likely a programming error.