Thanks to the magic of DOSBox, Earthworm Jim 1 & 2 are now available for Linux direct from game store GOG. They come as part of a bundle "Earthworm Jim 1+2: The Whole Can 'O Worms".
As usual, our friendly GOG contacts sent over a copy for me to test out. They come as seperate downloads, but each has the GOG installer powered by MojoSetup. Naturally, they come with DOSBox pre-configured so playing these classics is easy on Linux.
I actually played the original on the Sega Megadrive at a friends house when I was younger, I remember being mesmerised by it at the time. This sure brought back some memories! For those that never played it, it's a run and gun action platformer that was originally released in 1994, with the sequel releasing in 1995.
After testing both, I couldn't find any issues. They worked perfectly, super smooth as expected from a classic title.
I still love the fact that GOG keep classic games alive like this, it's vitally important we don't lose access to some true classics.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
All posts need to follow our rules. For users logged in: please hit the Report Flag icon on any post that breaks the rules or contains illegal / harmful content. Guest readers can email us for any issues.
How did it feel to play them? I found most games you remember from youth are better kept in shining memories than actually replayed...
2 Likes, Who?
There are *SO* many games there that I wish they´d do the same for, if even for no other reason than improving the statistics of available "linux-titles".
I was just considering buying the "Wing Commander-bundle" (WC 1-5, WC: Privateer, WC: Armada) yesterday, a bunch of games that I know for the most part works great with dosbox but the fact that it was only flagged as windows games, irked me so much that I abstained.
I mean tecnically they are *NOT* windows games anymore, I doubt you could get most of them to function well under win 7,8 or 10 these days. Today they are dosbox games plain and simple, availble for whatever systems that can use the program.
Last edited by Feist on 23 November 2017 at 11:13 am UTC
I was just considering buying the "Wing Commander-bundle" (WC 1-5, WC: Privateer, WC: Armada) yesterday, a bunch of games that I know for the most part works great with dosbox but the fact that it was only flagged as windows games, irked me so much that I abstained.
I mean tecnically they are *NOT* windows games anymore, I doubt you could get most of them to function well under win 7,8 or 10 these days. Today they are dosbox games plain and simple, availble for whatever systems that can use the program.
Last edited by Feist on 23 November 2017 at 11:13 am UTC
3 Likes, Who?
Perkeleen_Vittupää Nov 23, 2017
How did it feel to play them? I found most games you remember from youth are better kept in shining memories than actually replayed...
Most games i've played in my youth hold up better than most AAA that come out nowadays. So much so that i still play them to this day.
Tie Fighter (1995) is an awesome flight sim, and so far no recent flight sim can compete with this one.
Very true! I remember it took 2 Gravis joysticks when i was playing X-Wing through.. A very hard game but did it. Don't know if the bestest of Tie Fighter versions is available for Linux, still.
0 Likes
Earthworm Jim 1&2 are one of my best memories of game of Sega Genesis / Megadrive, along with Lost Vikings. I never found any game close to Lost Vikings gameplay until today, by the way.
That's so... something... Shame ? Frustration ? Sadness ? Despair ?
That's so... something... Shame ? Frustration ? Sadness ? Despair ?
0 Likes
Just now they've added the Linux build for The Signal From Tolva
1 Likes, Who?
Linux and Mac versions on GOG and Windows only on Steam? That's very unusual.
Aren't DOS versions of EWJ 1-2 inferior to SMD/SNES?
Aren't DOS versions of EWJ 1-2 inferior to SMD/SNES?
I never found any game close to Lost Vikings gameplay until today, by the way.I heard The Cave is similar to this. Trine may remind The Lost Vikings too.
0 Likes
I heard The Cave is similar to this. Trine may remind The Lost Vikings too.
The Cave yes actually, it's the closest i know about, but still taste something else.
Trine, nah, not even close.
0 Likes
Could your friendly GOG contacts tell us when they plan to release Galaxy client for Linux? I have hundreds of games on GOG (Earthworm Jims included) and it's a real hassle to manage them, and that's ignoring all the extra content that comes with them (soundtracks, manuals, codewheels etc.).
Last edited by pb on 23 November 2017 at 5:08 pm UTC
Last edited by pb on 23 November 2017 at 5:08 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
ElectricPrism Nov 23, 2017
Yes Ill buy it. Especially if it goes to steam.
All it has to do is work well and be easy to install and play.
There are many old titles I would buy dosbox or winewraps of. But the rule of thumb is that if its post 2008 I will only buy native because wine wraps of this category are too unstable -- native or nothing.
I was looking at the atari collection on linux on fanatical yesterdy, theres so many retro collections to buy. I love it.
All it has to do is work well and be easy to install and play.
There are many old titles I would buy dosbox or winewraps of. But the rule of thumb is that if its post 2008 I will only buy native because wine wraps of this category are too unstable -- native or nothing.
I was looking at the atari collection on linux on fanatical yesterdy, theres so many retro collections to buy. I love it.
0 Likes
Linux and Mac versions on GOG and Windows only on Steam? That's very unusual.
Not really. It's a common case for DOSbox games that GOG package for Linux. Steam mostly don't bother to do it.
Last edited by Shmerl on 23 November 2017 at 7:15 pm UTC
0 Likes
cRaZy-bisCuiT Nov 24, 2017
I'd buy them if GOG wouldn't charge 10 €. WTF is wrong with them? Packing old DOS games in a Dosbox requires not too much skill. Why would you buy it for a price like this? :'(
Last edited by cRaZy-bisCuiT on 24 November 2017 at 2:32 am UTC
Last edited by cRaZy-bisCuiT on 24 November 2017 at 2:32 am UTC
0 Likes
I'd buy them if GOG wouldn't charge 10 €. WTF is wrong with them? Packing old DOS games in a Dosbox requires not too much skill. Why would you buy it for a price like this? :'(
I don't think it is GOG.com so much in this case but Interplay themselves insisting on that price. You look at other games in their library and they are charging the same.
1 Likes, Who?
I'd buy them if GOG wouldn't charge 10 €. WTF is wrong with them? Packing old DOS games in a Dosbox requires not too much skill. Why would you buy it for a price like this? :'(
Well, if it holds true that it's still unrivaled...
1 Likes, Who?
Could your friendly GOG contacts tell us when they plan to release Galaxy client for Linux? I have hundreds of games on GOG (Earthworm Jims included) and it's a real hassle to manage them, and that's ignoring all the extra content that comes with them (soundtracks, manuals, codewheels etc.).Hello pb, linuxvangog from GOG here.
We are not actively working on the Linux version of the Galaxy client as it is currently not our foremost priority and we have to put our limited resources to other upcoming features.
We know that this issue is very important for Linux part of GOG community. We will let you know if something changes.
2 Likes, Who?
Hello pb, linuxvangog from GOG here.
We are not actively working on the Linux version of the Galaxy client as it is currently not our foremost priority and we have to put our limited resources to other upcoming features.
We know that this issue is very important for Linux part of GOG community. We will let you know if something changes.
I appreciate you're communicating it openly.
My feeling is we cannot expect full support for everything as we are a small group.
Other user's feeling will vary, though. :)
1 Likes, Who?
I'd buy them if GOG wouldn't charge 10 €. WTF is wrong with them? Packing old DOS games in a Dosbox requires not too much skill. Why would you buy it for a price like this? :'(
I don't think it is GOG.com so much in this case but Interplay themselves insisting on that price. You look at other games in their library and they are charging the same.
That is correct, prices for the whole Interplay catalogue went up some time ago, most games, including Earthworm Jim, used to be 5.99 iirc - and frequently on sale.
0 Likes
Cyba.Cowboy Nov 24, 2017
This is great and all, but I'm still waiting for the "Wolfenstein" and "Doom" sagas to be made available for Linux-based operating systems on GOG.com... All those wonderful games are sitting on my "wish" list, just waiting for purchase, GOG.com!
I will be picking-up this package (the Earthworm Jim package) as soon as I can though, because I'm old enough to remember when these games originally came out and Earthworm Jim is awesome.
Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 24 November 2017 at 11:37 pm UTC
I will be picking-up this package (the Earthworm Jim package) as soon as I can though, because I'm old enough to remember when these games originally came out and Earthworm Jim is awesome.
Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 24 November 2017 at 11:37 pm UTC
0 Likes
This is great and all, but I'm still waiting for the "Wolfenstein" and "Doom" sagas to be made available for Linux-based operating systems on GOG.com... All those wonderful games are sitting on my "wish" list, just waiting for purchase, GOG.com!If you are holding off in the hope that you can make your purchase count as a Linux sale that is fair enough, but if all you want to do is actually play Doom or Wolfenstein 3D on Linux you would be far better off using any number of source ports than a DOSBox wrapper. Even stick in the mud purists like myself have Chocolate Doom.
0 Likes
slaapliedje Nov 25, 2017
Earthworm Jim 1&2 are one of my best memories of game of Sega Genesis / Megadrive, along with Lost Vikings. I never found any game close to Lost Vikings gameplay until today, by the way.
That's so... something... Shame ? Frustration ? Sadness ? Despair ?
I think the closest to Lost Vikings is the Trine trilogy. Excellent games.
0 Likes
slaapliedje Nov 25, 2017
This is great and all, but I'm still waiting for the "Wolfenstein" and "Doom" sagas to be made available for Linux-based operating systems on GOG.com... All those wonderful games are sitting on my "wish" list, just waiting for purchase, GOG.com!If you are holding off in the hope that you can make your purchase count as a Linux sale that is fair enough, but if all you want to do is actually play Doom or Wolfenstein 3D on Linux you would be far better off using any number of source ports than a DOSBox wrapper. Even stick in the mud purists like myself have Chocolate Doom.
I think the best idea would be if GoG (or even Steam) could get permission to sell the Linux native versions of these. There are many different source ports, but I think a good many of them (especially Doom 3) had a proper port released by id.
0 Likes
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me