Episode 654: Worms

Stuart: Worms has been a part of my life since I was around 1995. Which is why I spend most of my time going to and from the veterinarian. No, no, no, sorry, gross joke. I speak, of course, of Team 17’s venerable artillery series, which has attempted to spin out into various different perspectives and evolutions—not to mention genre shifts—but always seems to come back to Worms Armageddon, also known as “the best one”, as evidenced by its still being supported despite coming out in 1999 and its recent re-release on console from Digital Eclipse – who brought with it another of their patented timeline features to explore the history of the series.

This episode has been in the works for a hideously long time – years. In fact, we were scheduled to record a long, long time ago, and I ended up sleeping through the entire planned record time, the only occasion in Retronauts history that I have ever been that stupid. I’m sure I will again. Thankfully Dave Bulmer (Sonic the Comic the Podcast) and first-time guest Ben Paddon (Worms historian and Jump Leads co-creator/writer) forgave me and we recently reconvened to record a rather enjoyable turn at the Worms. It was the Digital Eclipse re-release of Armageddon that motivated us, given that Ben was a consultant on that version. It’s worth noting, though, that at the time of recording the game hadn’t quite released yet – having now played it myself I can reveal that it is tremendous and an outstanding PC-perfect port that you can now take on the go (and play online).

As you’ll hear in this episode, Worms means a lot to us, and we get into the weeds of its various incarnations while keeping the focus on the biggies. It was great fun recording with Dave (as ever!) and Ben, hopefully I can get him back in the future. Incidentally, I first discovered Ben’s work via his YouTube show PortsCenter over a decade ago, and it turned out that Dave had run a stream with him called Cereal Ports. Small world, this retrogaming business, isn’t it? Anyway, please enjoy the episode. I can’t think of a good way to end this blurb. Erm, Worms is good. That’ll do. Print!

Edits by Greg Leahy. Art by Greg Melo.

• 11:25 - Bjorn Lynne: "Wormsong"

• 20:31 - Bjorn Lynne: "Wormsong" (cont.)

• 32:45 - Worms (PC-CD): Arctic

• 42:20 - Worms (PC-CD): Hell

• 54:16 - Worms: The Director's Cut: Title | Worms 2: Short Intro

• 1:05:31 - Worms 2: Arm-up

• 1:18:14 - Worms 2: Stats

• 1:24:35 - Worms Armageddon (PC): Wormsong '98 (Extended Angry Scot Mix)

• 1:30:29 - Worms: Open Warfare 2 (PSP): Future War

• 1:39:42 - Worms Armageddon (PC): Cavern

• Closing - Worms Armageddon (PC): Wormsong '98 (Boggy B/Bulmer Mix)