"My Little Worms" is a 2D tactical artillery video game developed by Team17 and originally released in 1995. It serves as the inaugural installment in the Worms game series. In this turn-based game, players assume control of a squad of worms, pitting them against other teams of worms controlled by either computer opponents or human players. The primary objective is to utilize an array of weaponry to eliminate the worms on opposing teams, aiming to be the last team with surviving worms.
Gameplay in "My Little Worms" follows the turn-based artillery style, akin to early games in the genre such as "Scorched Earth." Each player manages a team comprising multiple worms. During gameplay, players take turns selecting one of their worms and employ the available tools and weapons to launch attacks on the opponent's worms, ultimately securing victory. Worms can navigate the terrain in various ways, including walking, jumping, and using specialized tools like the "Bungee" and "Ninja Rope" to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. To maintain the game's pace, each turn is subject to a time limit, which can be adjusted in some versions of the Worms game series.
Development:
The game offers a selection of over fifty distinct weapons and tools during each playthrough, with the option to customize and save these selections into predefined "schemes" for easy access in future games. Various scheme settings allow players to adjust factors such as the deployment of reinforcement crates for obtaining additional weapons and the implementation of sudden death rules, which expedite the game's conclusion after a predetermined time limit. Certain settings introduce environmental elements like land mines and explosive barrels.
When most weapons are utilized, they generate explosions that alter the terrain, forming circular cavities. Worms lose health when hit by a weapon, and if a worm's health depletes entirely, they self-destruct and leave behind a grave marker. Worms can also meet their demise by being thrown off the map's edges or falling into the water at the map's base.
The concept for "My Little Worms" originated with Andy Davidson, an employee at a computer shop and a dedicated Amiga microcomputer enthusiast since 1987. He commenced work on the project, initially named "Artillery," as an experiment for personal enjoyment, inspired by tank games from the 8-bit era, initially utilizing a Casio graphing calculator. Davidson later transferred development to the Amiga platform in August 1993, allowing him to expand the concept further and introduce new elements and a distinctive graphical style to differentiate his project from its predecessors.
Release:
With worms as the chosen characters and influenced by a Blitz BASIC programming competition sponsored by Amiga Format magazine, Davidson renamed the project from "Artillery" to "Total Wormage," which he later altered to its final title, "Worms." Featuring an impressive 55,000 levels, the game drew comparisons to titles like "Lemmings" and "Cannon Fodder" due to its visual style and themes, a direction that Team17's project manager, Marcus Dyson, claimed was intended from the start. Despite entering the Blitz BASIC competition, Davidson's project didn't win or receive any classification. However, showcasing the game during ECTS in September 1994 led to an immediate offer from Team17, with Martyn Brown, co-founder of Team17, deciding to develop and publish the game.
Level designs in "My Little Worms" are randomly generated using alpha-numeric strings as seeds, and object and landscape sets are organized into thematic categories, including forests, Martian terrains, beaches, and hell.
The initial release of "My Little Worms" in Europe for the Amiga took place on November 17, 1995, courtesy of Ocean Software. Commercial ports of the game were subsequently launched for various platforms, including Amiga CD32, Atari Jaguar, Game Boy, Macintosh, MS-DOS, PlayStation, Sega Mega Drive, Sega Saturn, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Notably, the North American release of the PlayStation version involved significant negotiations, as Sony Computer Entertainment of America had a policy against publishing 2D games for the console. The Saturn version was essentially a direct port of the PlayStation edition. The Jaguar version was published by Telegames on May 15, 1998, marking one of the final titles released for the Jaguar before Atari Corporation's assets were sold to Hasbro Interactive.
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