Earthworm Jim (SNES)

Earthworm Jim
Developer: Shiny Entertainment Publishers: Playmates Interactive Entertainment (US), Virgin Interactive Entertainment (EU), Takara (JP) Platform: SNES Released in JP: June 23, 1995 Released in US: October 1994 Released in EU: January 26, 1995 This game has unused graphics. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden level select. This game has a prototype article

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...

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Prototype Info

Unused Graphics

Graphics, a tilemap, and palette exist in the ROM for a "Licensed by Nintendo" screen. Since the graphics are the first thing loaded in VRAM during several of the opening screens, and the Genesis version has a similar SEGA logo screen, this was likely intended to be the first thing shown upon startup.

There is also enough black space below the logo for the animation of Jim flexing. The animation was moved to the copyright disclaimer, which is actually the first screen to appear in the final version.

A similar screen would later appear in the SNES version of the sequel.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Cheat Mode

During gameplay, pause and press Left + A, B, X, A, A, B, X, A, Start. A screen showing the Shiny Entertainment staff will appear, 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 D-Pad to move the camera around the level; press A to move Jim to the current location.

Old Cheat Code

Pausing and entering Y, A, B, B, A, Y, A, B triggers a weird sequence in which a message for Nick Jones, one of the game's programmers, is displayed, informing "him" that this is the "old cheat code". The five goofy faces displayed in the background are presumably Nick himself. The text is as follows:

AH! NICK JONES!
MAN OF MANY FACES 
CAPTAIN OF CODING
HAVE YOU ALREADY FORGOTTEN
THIS IS THE OLD CHEAT CODE
WHY NOT TRY AGAIN!