Earthworm Jim 3D is a platform game, the third in the Earthworm Jim series. It is a sequel to Earthworm Jim and Earthworm Jim 2, and the first game in the series to not be developed by Shiny Entertainment, which had recently instituted a strict no sequels policy. Interplay Entertainment, having recently purchased the Earthworm Jim rights, handed the franchise off to VIS Interactive. The game suffered a difficult, prolonged development cycle and was repeatedly delayed until it was released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64 and Microsoft Windows. The game was not received well, with critics claiming that the charm of the originals was lost, and that despite the long development period, the game still felt sloppy and lacked previously promoted features.