ToeJam & Earl

The Good
Released in 1991, for the Sega Genesis, ToeJam and Earl, is a unique game that is difficult to classify. Is it a platformer? An adventure game? Puzzle? Well I still don’t know what to label it. I can tell that it is one hell of an original game.

In ToeJam and Earl, you assume the role of two funky fresh cats from Funkotron. When out cruising, possibly for intergalactic booty, they crash land on one of un-funkiest places in the galaxy…Earth. Now they must find the all of there spaceship pieces, and get back home.

Playing in either 1 player or 2 player co-op. And choosing either a set map, that is always the same, or the random, which makes every game different, you must traverse some 25 levels, each getting progressively more difficult. Some stages contain ship pieces, others are a race to the exit. Taking the form of an elevator that transports you to the next level.

“For how else do you capture a boogie, if you do not attack from the back”-Theme From The Black Hole, Parliament-

Along the way you will have to avoid some crazy enemies. From stampeding, Nerd Herds, Insane Dentists,(Aren’t they all?-MM-) crazed shoppers, a Fat man with a lawn mower, and the nefarious Phantom Ice Cream Trucks, to name just a few.

Note worthy is the fact that there are some references to Parliament. A 70’s funk group headed up by one George Clinton. Including an enemy called a boogie, that is best avoided or attacked from behind thus the above quote. The music is also very funk-esque but more on that later. And I can assure you that this is all true not just one of my acid trips, or meltdowns, (I can also assure you that I am not or have not smoked any crack.-MM-) or what ever you want to call it.

There is even some strategy involved. For example, when being chased by a tornado, you can dive into water and, swim away from it. Cause this works is real life….right? Oh well who cares, the point is that there is some strategies that can be used to aid you.

To defend yourself, you have presents. These may include, icarus wings, slingshots, rocket skates, and super high-tops, among many others. You can also collect cash and purchase new presents, have current ones identified, or pay a fat opera lady to kill you foes.

There are also some RPG elements in TJ&E. You actually gain EXP points and level up in rank. From Wiener to Funk lord, and everything in between.

Levels are presented in a top-down view point. You navigate the maze like levels to find, you ship parts, and presents, and of course the exit to the next stage. There is also food items scattered about. These can heal injuries, but beware of the rotten foods which will harm or possibly kill you. If you find the ringing telephone, it will reveal the map to you, or some of it anyhow.

That beat is so fresh…snap!

The graphics are pretty good in TJ&E, and still look decent. Considering it has been some 18 years since it was released. They are very bright and colorful. And the animations of the enemies as well of ToeJam and Earl are great, and can be quite fun to watch.

The music and sound effect are great. From the funk-esque music.(George Clinton would be proud.-MM-) You would not think that a 16-Bit console could reproduce funk music so well, but you would be wrong.

The silly sound effects, from Toe Jam and Earl’s responses to the creepy laugh of the dentist enemies, it is all great stuff. There is even a minigame where you can make ToeJam or Earl jam out to some fresh beats.

The Bad
Random is usually the way to go. As I find it offers the most fun and normally has a more gradual rise in difficulty. However sometimes it gets to hard to fast. And by stage 3 or 4 you are already seeing some of the most difficult enemies. Of course you might find it easier to use the fixed setting. It will all be up to the individual.

This game was really intended to be a Co-Op game. You can play alone and enjoy it all the same. But I think you will enjoy it more with another player. Furthermore there is no A.I. setting so playing alone, is literal.

And it can be quite brutal to get killed twice in a row, by pain in the ass enemies. There is no way to master the game per se. Especially if you play on the random setting. At least that means more replay value, right?

Why is there no save feature? Or at least passwords. (And I hate passwords.-MM-) I mean, I am no expert when it comes to save and or password systems of video-games. Yet I can help but consider how absurd it is that you cannot save. It is a real pain in the lower backside.(Yeah, that whole region.-MM-)

The Bottom Line
Every once and a great while, a game that is totally fresh and original comes out. And one of these games is ToeJam and Earl. As it defies classification, it is also a game hard to describe to others. Just play it and I think that you will find it to be a great game. Now where is ToeJam and Earl 4?

The Good
ToeJam & Earl is one of many video game games that were released, often by Sega, for the Sega Genesis in the early - mid 1990s.

Yo! Yo, Yo! Check this out! Two totally hip and funky, in a early 1990s way, space aliens crash, and end up stranded on planet earth. Like, totally funky to the max, man!

The only way that ToeJam and Earl can hope of getting back to their funky home planet, is by collecting all the missing pieces of their hip-hoping space ship.

Thus your adventure begins (one or two players) through a series of randomly generated (or standard) levels looking for a particular piece of your space ship.

Each surreal level has the wackiest assortment of enemies that stand in your way of getting a ship piece and or finding the elevator door to the next level.

You got crazy dentists (with one of the scariest laughs you will ever hear on the Genesis), annoying mothers pushing that are their kids in shopping carts, boogie monsters and that is just for starters.

The surreal, almost abstract, look of planet earth, and its eccentric inhabitants, along with the ability to explore the levels and even go back to your earlier levels is a level of sheer genius, creativity, wit and video game interactivity that was revolutionary for its day.

ToeJam and Earl can locate food to restore their energy bars (but don't eat too much), money (to buy items or get a bit of advice) and, yes, mysterious presents. As you progress in the game, your ''coolness' rating becomes better, which gives your a bigger energy bar and extra lives.

Yes, you read it correctly. You can collect Christmas (or holiday) presents of various shapes, sizes and or colors. Opening a present may give you temporary weapon (i.e. tomatoes), it may give you a new means of transportation (i.e. wings or rocket skates) or it may summon an enemy or cause instant death.

Initially, you are not entirely sure what a particular present offers you (you can pay someone to tell you) and its entirely possible that a small green present might give you wings, only to give you instant death or some other calamity the next time that you play the game.

In the two-player mode a split screen is used, when ToeJam and Earl are not together. This gives each player an increased level of interactivity and gives each player the chance to decide how much competition or help they want to give the other player.

Most of time the level map is not terribly helpful, until you explored most of the level and these are oftentimes HUGE (for a cartridge game) levels.

Terrain can very from golf coarse-inspired green grass, to desert and the design may remind you of an old cartoon, say one that stared Marvin the Martian.

Other nice popular culture nods can be seen with the sharks (who hum the "Jaws" theme song whenever they get close to you) and the old St. Nick himself who will drop a few presents, if you can sneak up on him, before flying away using a jetpack-like device.

Needless to say this was one video game that was made even more fun to play if you had the Game Genie device for the Sega Genesis.

The Bad
ToeJam & Earl can actually be a pretty tough game, especially in the later levels. If you do not have enough presents, and know what each one does, then you will certain later levels to be painfully difficult to complete.

Yes, this encourage exploration and you are (thankfully) free to revisit an earlier level (by falling down), but I am not entirely sure that certain levels can be successfully completed without a steady supply of certain presents.

ToeJam and Earl does not have a password feature and while it possible to earn extra lives (especially by upgrading your coolness meter), this is a long game that you need to complete in one setting.

The Bottom Line
ToeJam & Earl is a revolutionary game for its funky humor, popular culture wit and the extent that the player or players is free to explore the surreal and eccentric third rock from the sun.

The Good
It all started with this... Earl, TOejam longtime pal, wants a shot in the driver's seat. Unfortunately, this leads to disaster, and FUN! Their mistake is our pleasure. I grew up with Genesis, so I played all these types like Sonic and Vectorman... (etc.) and probably the best game EVER to hit the system was the TJ & E series. One of my favorite things was the split screen. It made it possible for TJ and Earl to be in different places at once, not what you get in Sonic the Hedgehog! Tails was basically useless in the early Sonic games. It took me until just the other dat to finally beat it, I had re-discovered Genesis at a game store somewhere and bought it. Then, played the whole way through barely winning on Lvl. 25... It rocks! There is a sequel to this game, and I wish Sega would make a handheld, like Gameboy, and re-release all the old Genesis games with new twists and surprises. If Nintendo can do it with Gameboy (e.g. Mario Series [Super Mario Advance was Super Mario Bros. 2]) why can't Sega? People say Sega is dead, but it lives on in many people's dreams.

The Bad
When you would fall off a cliff, the game would freeze for a minute or two, but, not a problem really.. Game could have been a tad longer like TJ & E 2....

The Bottom Line
A must have for people who live in the past and LOVE games like that!