Developer: Cyclone System Publisher: Asmik Released: November 1991 Genre: Action
Wurm: Journey to the Center of the Earth is quite possibly one of the strangest titles in the NES library. It is hard to even describe it. The game spans so many different genres that you cannot pin it down so easily. There have been many multi-genre mashups before, usually sports games. But most of them fail spectacularly due to a lack of focus. Wurm almost suffers the same fate but somehow manages to be greater than the sum of its parts to be a hidden gem on the system.
In the year 1999 Earth is being ravaged by Earthquakes. The government assembles teams of explorers in Vazorudas (VZRs) to find the cause of the disturbance. Moby and her crew soon discover that two subterranean races are at war with humanity caught in the middle. And now the crew of the VZR5 are as well. The story is a little more involved than you would expect although the NES limited memory means a lot of it implied.
Oddly enough, and I realize this is not the most flattering comparison, Wurm reminds me of Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode. The game is divided into five chapters with each spanning multiple genres. The one aspect most who have even heard of the game are familiar with is its horizontal shooting sequences. Here you pilot the VZR and use its drill to break through walls and fly through the planet’s crust. The VZR has a few different modes you earn as you progress and can be switched on the fly. These forms offer new weapons such as a spread gun and bombs. There are a few vertically scrolling sections as well which make Wurm resemble Life Force. While these modes are the most frequent they are short in practice and basic. They mainly serve to get you from point A to B. Shooter fans should view these as appetizers.
Occasionally Moby will leave the ship to explore on foot. These side scrolling platforming segments are the weakest part of the game. It all comes down to the way they are designed. Moby has a gun with limited weapon energy and can haphazardly kick enemies. Each level is a maze with no map that often tasks you with finding key NPCs or items before the exit or boss are available. Enemies respawn and trying to run will cause them to speed up to catch up. Both the platforming and combat are adequate at best. The framework is there for this to have possibly been the best part of the game. But there is a decided lack of polish that makes them tolerable rather than fun.
Most chapters usually end in a first person boss battle that is pretty cool once you get the hang of it. Here take turns conversing with your team members, selecting weapons, and attacking the boss. The key is to talk to each member in a set order or only certain ones to either raise your health or boost your probability of success to 100%. They provide vague hints as to what your next action should be but that is about it. Attacking the boss is tricky as they have a single weak point that requires pinpoint precision to hit. Until your probability hits 100 the battle will cycle between conversation and the attack phase. It is definitely messy in its execution but I had a lot of fun figuring out the nuance of each fight. I can also acknowledge that it might turn many away due to its obtuse mechanics.
The one common theme in aspect of the game is a lack of polish. Wurm is certainly ambitious and in many of the cases before it that ambition has been the game’s downfall. However I feel Wurm manages to avoid many of those same pitfalls. Each phase of the game is just good enough for you to tolerate its flaws to see what is coming next. You could make the argument that had they paired back some of its elements it could have turned out better. But each piece contributes to the whole. While I made the comparison to Golgo 13 earlier I can at least say Wurm its fundamentals better and is less frustrating as a result. It is certainly one of the most unique titles for the system.
In Closing
Technically Wurm should not work. Yet all of its disparate parts come together to make something truly unique. I like it but and recommend it for those looking for something different. But at the same time can understand why some will read this review and decide it is too strange to take a chance on.
