WURM: Journey to the Center of the Earth -NES- 7.5

December 5, 2022

I just heard about this game recently, and thought it looked cool. I could not find it on emulation, so I got this cib for a good deal. Anyway, I just beat “Wurm” for Nes right now. I liked it, but it’s not perfect. The gameplay is a mix of genres (shmup, metroidvania, and fps), with anime cutscenes. Sounds incredible, and the game gets big points for originality and ambition. Each segment of the gameplay isn’t as nearly as good as the best you’ve seen in the individual genres, but still competent and equaling more than the sum of its parts. The music is good, too. Not the best I’ve heard on nes, but still good. And I was intrigued by story of your crew traveling beneath the earth to find your old crew members, while discovering a war between different races. I just wish it was further developed. The main characters’ relationships, villains’ backgrounds, and the story’s lore felt a bit undercooked for a game as ambitious as this. The cutscenes are used repeatedly, but it’s still damn impressive that they look almost like a Sega CD game…on the Nes. Spoiler warning… One scene that really stood out is when you find your friend Ziggy and discover his brain was used to create the robot you just killed in a previous fight. That was a cool twist, and the developers used a fresh anime cutscene for that part. That was the game’s best moment for me, and I wish the rest of the game was on that level. …*end spoiler*. Anyway, I think to be fair and strict, I’m giving “Wurm: Journey to the Center of the Earth” a 7.5 out of ten. I think with more powerful hardware and further development of the plot and lore, this could have been something truly great. Still a good little hidden gem, though.