David Perry eats humble pie

[zmeston]

From an interview in the latest issue of OPM:

"After 21 years of doing this, I'm amazed that a game like this [Enter the Matrix] can really rattle our cages. It's very inspiring to realize there is still so much more out there to be accomplished and learned."

"[Earthworm] Jim had funny moments. That's what made it appealing. It's quite amazing how few funny games there are."

"I would have killed Wild 9 and I would remake R/C Stunt Copter exactly the way we originally planned it before a temporary publisher (who will remain nameless) started designing it for us."

All is forgiven, David... if you follow through on that long-rumored reunion with Doug TenNapel and Tommy Tallarico.

-- Z.

[Kid Ice]

When are the magazines going to stop interviewing this clown? Has he ever delivered a good game besides Earthworm Jim? If Enter the Matrix is a little bit better than worthless, I'll be shocked. The preview looks like absolute crap; it looks the demo mode of Virtua Fighter 3tb.

the kid

[BenT]

I disagree with the common view that Earthworm Jim was good. :) Not horrible, no, but also not very worthwhile compared to the Japanese platformers of the time.

So, good Shiny games? MDK wasn't bad when it came out, just a little under-realized. R/C Stunt Copter is mildly worth checking out as well.

[Lifebringeroftorv]

I thought stunt copter was boring and hard to control. good thing i got it for 4.99 at blockbuster used rack.

[BenT]

Being hard to control is kind of the whole idea. ;)

Not the best game ever, but an enjoyable change of pace IMO.

[Kid Fenris]

I remember seeing conceptual art for Wild 9 back in 1996, when the game still seemed like it could be the next Earthworm Jim. The characters were an amusing bunch, and the gameplay sounded sort of like Bionic Commando. I was looking forward to it, for a time.

And then the delays began, Perry revealed the game's sadistic bent, and the final product didn't turn up until 1998, making little use of its original style and cast. I'd like to imagine that in some alternate dimension, Wild 9 turned out as it should have, but in this universe, it's easy to see why Perry would want to retroactive shelve it.

[Cafeman]

Disagree if you want, but Earthworm Jim is one of the most entertaining, fun, and funny platformers I have ever played. It was looney, fresh, unique, even challenging. It ranks up there with Mario, Sonic, and Rocket Knight Adventures.

Concerning Perry, his company majorly pissed me off when they scrapped the Wild 9's Saturn version. I took that personally, after all his hype that they were going to impress everyone with their Saturn work. Wild 9's eventually came out on PSX, I rented it for a few days and that was that. His later stuff like Messiah and Sacrifice just didn't appeal to me at all.

Matrix will probably sell very well, but it's a shame that it isn't cutting edge like the film is.

[WiseSalesman]

I thought Sacrifice was pretty decent. Like BenT, however, I don't get the hype over Earthworm Jim. I consider it a mediocre, although fun, platformer. The sense of humor in the game didn't really appeal to me, and I can think of much, much better platformers.

[Sniderman]

Hmmm... I'm surprised by the comments here. I love EWJ and consider it one of the best platformers designed in the states. And Wild 9 was a fun summer's worth of sadistic platforming fun with cool locales, nifty characters, and interesting gameplay. I'm not here to sing Shiny's praises, but I have also yet to be disappointed with anything they released. (Though EWJ2 was an obvious quickly-released sequel for the sole purpose of making a buck. Fun, but pretty shallow...)