Earthworm Jim (USA, Europe)

Earthworm Jim is a side-scrolling platformer that first appeared on home consoles in the mid-1990s before making the jump to Sega's Game Gear handheld. It was cooked up by the twisted minds at Shiny Entertainment, led by Dave Perry and Doug TenNapel, who brought their signature brand of offbeat humor and surreal art to the genre. The Game Gear version, released in both the USA and Europe, packed a lot of that quirky personality into a smaller screen, making it a notable title for the system.

You take control of an earthworm who ends up trapped inside a futuristic space-suit, and your goal is to blast and jump your way through the galaxy to rescue a princess whose name nobody really remembers. The gameplay is classic side-scrolling action: you run, jump, and attack enemies using whatever weird abilities your suit gives you, all while navigating levels filled with oddball traps and creatures. It's a straightforward platformer at heart, but the bizarre presentation and creative level design keep things interesting.

For a Game Gear title, Earthworm Jim holds up as a solid example of the genre on the platform. Its wild visual style and sense of humor were rare in handheld games of the era, and the port manages to capture the spirit of the original without feeling overly compromised. If you're a fan of oddball platformers from the 90s or just curious how this iconic character played on a tiny screen, it's worth a few minutes of your time.