Genesis

ToeJam & Earl

Well boo. You can play your serious games, with your platforms to jump, your FMV to sit through, your levels to be attained and your bosses to be fought. If you don't want to spend time chilling with ToeJam and Earl (and the Carrotman) you're like a total Weiner. Join us, join the Funklords. Once you've played a game with this much heart and soul, you'll wonder why all games can't have this much love poured into it. Peace out.

You won't be disappointed with TJ&E, though the asking price on eBay might scare some people away. If you can find a copy, I whole-heartedly recommend spending time with the grand masters of funk. Who knows, maybe you'll pick up a move or two.

ToeJam & Earl is a completely different experience each time you play, thanks to the game's random levels. Not only do the levels themselves change but also the food, items, presents, enemies, ship pieces and elevator locations, too. When ToeJam & Earl go their separate ways and then return to the same screen they even greet each other. Over the course of the game you'll find them belching, singing, fleeing tomato rain, chasing down Santa Claus, sleeping, hula dancing and even enjoying the occasional Jacuzzi as they stumble across the Earth reassembling their ride. ToeJam & Earl's randomization, open-ended gameplay, and light-hearted sense of humor (that doesn't quit) perfectly embodies that which most games sadly lack.

Sega, you've surprised me again! There I was, expecting this much-heralded cart to be a stupid kiddie game, and next thing I know, I'm locked away for a weekend with only a bag of chips, a bottle of Coke, and Toe Jam & Earl cranking on the Genesis. It's rare that a game with such fad-conscious mechanics comes off being truly original, but it does, and it's an excellent 2 player game to boot.

Funky aliens ToeJam & Earl need your help! While on a routine trip across the galaxy, their spaceship got caught in an asteroid field and crashed into some strange planet called Earth. Now they have to find the ten missing pieces of their ship so they can return home!

TJ&E will keep you playing for years, with the random level generation (which, incidentally, creates an almost "loading time" between levels, quite bizarre for a cartridge-based game) and presents whose contents are inconsistent making every time through a new experience. The two player mode is just awesome for a pair of intrepid adventurers, and single player is great if you're home alone on a Saturday night, waiting for that phone call that just never comes. Word. If you have a dab of patience and can handle a bit o' frustration, I guarantee that ToeJam & Earl will be one of the most fun games that you'll ever have played. Just don't open any presents marked "tomato rain".

Toejam and Earl are two really funny characters complete with funny animations and loads of other humorous creatures out to get you. Although I enjoyed most of this cart, especially the wacky sound test, it was just a little too weak in the gameplay department. Aloha!

Toejam and Earl is time consuming and you can't save your place, so make sure you have a few hours set aside before you begin your quest. The two-player mode splits the screen so each player has his own view, and this was quite novel for 1991. The music is probably the highlight of the game. These funky tunes don't sound like much as first, but they gradually get under your skin. There's even a "Jam Out" mode where you insert samples into a mini music video, and it's surprisingly fun. The game also features some nice psychedelic effects, including a hypnotic elevator sequence. Toejam and Earl is one of those games whose sum is greater than its parts. It's not the most exciting adventure, but if you give it a chance, it might just win you over.