A port of a PC basic that’s a bit tough across the edges.
The Worms franchise has been a staple of PC gaming because the ‘90s, and over time has made its solution to consoles in quite a few varieties as effectively. The collection beforehand made its solution to Swap in 2017 within the type of Worms: W.M.D., however now on the reverse finish of the Swap’s life we obtained Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Version, a port of the critically acclaimed 1999 sport. The port was launched in 2024, and in 2025 obtained a big replace that included emulated variations of a number of console ports of basic console variations of Worms.
The bottom sport of Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Version stays very true to the unique, which isn’t at all times a great factor. The core gameplay stays enjoyable, with difficult turn-based technique in 2D side-scrolling type. You management a squad of the titular worms and face off towards others, with all kinds of weapons out there to select from, most of which have the flexibility to destroy the terrain along with your enemies. Whereas the variability is enjoyable, it’s very clear that this sport was constructed for a PC interface. Making an attempt to navigate menus with a controller as a substitute of a mouse is clunky, and whereas it really works, it’s not the best solution to play.
Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Version additionally doesn’t embody a lot in the best way of a tutorial or coaching for brand spanking new gamers. It is a collection identified for its unforgiving problem, and it doesn’t actually even attempt to assist carry you in control. There are just a few missions referred to as coaching, however they don’t clarify the mechanics, they simply give you a chance to follow them. In the event you don’t know what you’re doing, this may contain a good quantity of trial and error and perhaps going off to YouTube to determine issues out.
Past the coaching the sport contains various single participant marketing campaign missions along with the usual deathmatch, however the sport might be finest loved in multiplayer. There are numerous choices for native video games with hotseat play on one system, in addition to on-line multiplayer, however if you wish to play on-line you’ll want to rearrange it forward of time with somebody, as a result of it doesn’t look like anybody’s nonetheless actively taking part in on-line on the Swap model.
The large draw of the 2025 replace for Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Version, which this evaluation coincides with, is emulated variations of Worms for Genesis, Worms for SNES, Worms Armageddon for Recreation Boy Shade, and Worms World Celebration for Recreation Boy Advance. Whereas these video games are attention-grabbing to poke round with for just a little bit as a curiosity, there’s no purpose to spend a lot time with them. As dated as the bottom sport can really feel at instances, all these basic ports are much more so, with restricted choices and management schemes that make the most of even fewer buttons. The one doable perk is that they embody a save state choice, and if you wish to abuse that so as to counteract the unforgiving problem it’s an choice.
Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Version is an efficient, devoted port of a basic PC sport, for higher and for worse. In the event you’re a fan of the collection, it’s an pleasing solution to play it regardless of the clunky controls, however when you’re a brand new participant it is best to anticipate a steep studying curve. The basic Worms video games are neat to mess around with for an hour or two, however are usually not price shopping for the sport simply to see.
