Earthworm Jim never takes himself too seriously, and apparently, neither do the developers of his latest game, Earthworm Jim 3D for the PC, PS, and N64.

　　We exchanged e-mail with Chris van der Kuyl, president of Vis Interactive, to find out more about Jim 3D. Here's what he had to say. And needless to say, it sounds like Chris could use some professional help (hey, we love ya' CK):

　　GameSpot: How many characters will return from the original Jim?Chris van der Kuyl: In the interests of those sensitive gamers who like gentle, fluffy gameplay and action scenes as hard as wet lettuce (the proverbial gentle stroll through meandering meadows of 3D gaming), we tried to keep 'em all out. But the following, alarming, security breach was witnessed on one of our perimeter security cameras, during the early stages of design:

　　SECURITY: Hmmm, let me see. One, two, hey you guys stop pushing. Jeez. OK, one, two, three, hey? Does the guy with the monkey on his head get in for the price of one, or do we make him pay a half for the primate?MONKEY (obscured by the clumsy disguise of an honest, clam salesman): Oook?SECURITY: Fine!, but no finishing off all the Bombay mix, like last time? OK?

　　Professor Monkey-for-a-Head, Bob the Fish, Number 4, Evil the Cat, and Psycrow all snuck back in. We tried to stop 'em but they're evil guys - evil guys have no manners and enjoy global-domination scenarios. They just turned up at a moment's notice without an invite (that's why they're bad guys!). They all have chips on their shoulders (some even have primates on their heads) - damn, it's so unfair on you guys, but I guess you'll just have to do your best. Any who didn't make it back in still reserve the right to intergalactic conquest just as soon as they raise the bus fare. (They initially tried to mug a granny for it, but the grannies in our game carry heavy weapons and a bad attitude.... They even smell funny and cats don't like 'em.) GameSpot: How many new characters will there be and who are they? CK: Because this game is set inside Jim's head, we decided to let his own phobias express themselves by way of characters. What can I say, we had problems trying to keep 'em all down! There are lots of 'em (and we mean lots). You should see the car park around here in the mornings. A small selection follows (the rest are forming a disorderly queue around the block): TV CYCLOPS: The TV Cyclops is a giant inhabitant of Physical with a mutated, humanoid body and a TV for a head (which shows the picture of a single eyeball). Like all TV-headed freaks we've known - uh? - he packs a damaging punch.FATTY ROSWELL: Fatty Roswell is an obese alien "gray" from another galaxy who has crash-landed in Happiness and used the remains of his saucer to create a fast-food franchise. A grinning ray-gun-wielding fiend, bulky and purple, who flies around with his burgers in an anti-grav saucer, this is the kind of foe that Jim can get his teeth into. Jim only bites in extreme circumstances - that should tell you something.BOVINE SPECIAL ELITE (the BSE): Bulls wearing berets that run around shooting guns in Aggression - madder than your average cow.BRATS: Bat-winged toddler imps that throw exploding rattles in Fear.GRANNY GUMMER: A toothless granny in Fantasy with a walker frame jury-rigged into devastating twin machine guns. GameSpot: Why are you bringing Jim back, even though Shiny always said "No Sequels"? CK: A hero that good? You couldn't leave him in the lawn! The world is no longer a safe place - wherever bad guys throw down the gauntlet of injustice, earthworms everywhere must lift that gauntlet (with a teeny crane, or something) and throw it back, or at least prod at it in a suspicious manner.

　　GameSpot: Will Jim have any new moves?CK: Hmm. There is, amongst others, the new and unexpected Pump Pack. This breakthrough allows bean energy to be mysteriously transmuted (by a highly secret process within Jim's super-suit) into - (uh) upward lift and a rather rude noise. We are not sure how the suit does this, but people seem to laugh. We are assured that it works under sound scientific principles.

　　GameSpot: How will the move from 2D to 3D affect gameplay?CK: While Jim was predominantly a "get to the end, collect the thingies" shoot-em-up, we have maintained all this while providing puzzle elements and the extra dimension of course (IN-ness is so much fun). We thought it would be nice to commemorate the occasion, by using this to allow you to explore a bit. Along the way, we hope we've managed to maintain the strange juxtaposition of humor that everyone loved in the first two games, while adding a lot more of our own.

　　GameSpot: Will Earthworm Kim be a love interest for Earthworm Jim? A rival? CK: Earthworm Kim was transmogrified during the design process. She's there in spirit, but not in body. GameSpot: Will the character have control over the camera? CK: Our cunning software people have anticipated your every whim and desire.

　　GameSpot: Is it a free-roaming 3D environment?CK: The game offers a full 3D environment, which combines platform play with free-roaming areas. Where possible, we tried not to constrain Jim by a linear presentation of play, and instead offered the option to explore and uncover the environment. It's a tricky balance to get right - off-setting nonlinear play against game progression - but we are confident that we made the right decisions. Along with the traditional shoot-em-up and collectibles, Jim has to solve a variety of challenges of varying complexity while engaging in dexterous gameplay.

　　GameSpot: Is Jim's main goal to reach the end of the level? CK: That would be too simple - it's what he keeps trying to do, but there is lots of cool stuff in his way (sorry about that). And besides, you're gonna have to repair his brain, somehow that's what the brain cells are for. GameSpot: How big are the six levels?CK: They are certainly big enough to keep us amused for hours and hours and hours, and we know what's going on. If you want an unofficial measure, we tried to attach our entertainment-o-meter to the levels with a pair of jumbo-sized jump leads. There was an incredible flash and we found our 30-plus maps had melted every plastic spoon in a ten-mile radius.

　　GameSpot: What kind of power-ups will be available?CK: Surprise is the greatest weapon in the invertebrate armory - so we aren't going to give too much away. But, because Jim is a direct kind of guy, we figured we'd pander to that small part of him that likes smiting evil with really neat guns (including the infamous goldfish gun, because even superheroes have pets, or the even more infamous Gnome Gun, because even superheroes have weird guns). Go out on your lawn, have a look around. You won't see any earthworms out there - but they're watching.

　　GameSpot: What are the game's special features? CK: Before they could stop us, we stuffed this game with more crisp, quality animation and more mad-cap sound and music than can possibly be allowed. We can't wait to show you this stuff! We have neat sub-games, too - special kinds of weirdness that include the next-generation pocket rocket, brain storms, and pig-surfing. Pig surfing? You know, when every superhero has to find out what he's made of on the synaptic rapids of his own tormented mind. Hold on, are we the only ones who know about this particular rite of passage? The only ones? Oh, OK. But it's really neat!

　　GameSpot: Which part of the game has you most excited?CK: We try not to play favorites with the deranged manifestations of a worm-type superheroic brain. We love all the squidgy bits - especially the stuff that smells like cheese and onion.