Earthworm Jim on SEGA Genesis.

Got it for $60. That is the most I’ve ever paid for a used game, and it was for this.

Usually, I’m thrifty. Buy things when nobody wants them. Dig around until I find something cheap.

But in this case? Shucks.

It’s Earthworm Jim.

I rented this game again and again from Rogers Video. I’d stay up all night playing the damn thing because I knew the next day it had to GO BACK.

A friend of mine had the SNES port. It was all right. I played the DOS version too, and that one is great.

But there’s something about the Genesis version because that’s how I experienced it.

Midnight. Can of Diet Coke on the coffee table. My sister upstairs blasting Pearl Jam.

Earthworm Jim.

Sometimes I get after people for dropping big money on collectibles because they start treating the stuff like investments.

But if something actually means something to you? Yeah, sometimes it’s worth dropping the extra coin.

Because Earthworm Jim?

That was a moment when I was happy.