Earthworm Jim has to be one of the most disturbed games I've played in my years of gaming. I remember playing the first stage, New Junk City, experiencing the crazy soundtrack and, of course, the insanely unique style of gameplay mixed in with a dash of humor. One bewildering aspect of the game, though, was whether or not - from the sounds of his voice - Earthworm Jim was a hillbilly. Not that it matters, but, you know, it's just something that always perplexed me. With its out-of-this-world design and delivery, and entertaining gameplay, Earthworm Jim became entwined with our memories of gaming. And because Earthworm Jim was so savory, Gameloft has concluded that a remake needed to be done - an HD remake.

According to Gameloft, the enhanced version of the game is being worked on from the ground up, improved with extra features. It wouldn't be an HD game unless the graphics were getting revamped, so that's also confirmed. Earthworm Jim HD will also feature difficulty levels for the first time in the series for those of you who bitched about how intricately challenging the game was. Leaderboards will also be added which track the number of enemies you've blown to pieces (literally), and time of completion amongst other things. Aside from having the traditional levels of the original Earthworm Jim for Sega Genesis, the HD version will also feature the "Big Bruty" level which was included in the Sega CD and PC Special Edition of the game.

Gameloft also stated that there will be other "surprises" in this remake which, sadly, is being kept quiet for the time being. If I had to hope, I'd pray that they included the Earthworm Jim 2 in there and added a bunch of new weapons. Whatever the case, Earthworm Jim was a kickass game. The HD version will just be even more kickass-er... Did I just write that?