ToeJam & Earl

The Good
Well I love the main theme music and I like the idea of having these two aliens that are way too cool for earth. The ending, the return to Funkotron, is very good too and an original idea, being able to guide the player through the ending scene.

I didn't play in the split-screen, two player mode, but it seemed like a good idea. I think the best thing about it would be that you can split the responsibilities in half and complete the game quicker.

Oh and I love the boogiemen...."Boogie boogie boogie!".

The Bad
Well it's slow, boring and I couldn't wait for it to be over. I realize now that the developers were fans of Rogue. I quite like Rogue and enjoy the odd game of it, but it seems a weird combination...."cool" funk and hip-hop culture and "nerdy" RPG dungeon crawling. I have to ask, how good can a series of levels generated by the computer be? Not that the fixed world is anything special, but I have to question the idea of random worlds. The backgrounds are so damn repetitive, mostly green, black and yellow. Were it not for the "save state" feature of the emulator, I probably would've quit every time I fell off an island, rather than endure the drudgery of getting back to where I fell.

So the colourful presents were supposed to be like the scrolls and potions from Rogue, but more "cool and funky" I suppose. I sometimes enjoyed making use of the aids e.g the icarus wings, sneakers, floater, spring shoes. Actually I enjoyed the sneakers best(super hiptops), because they got me through the slow, boring levels quicker.

The Bottom Line
Well I can only assume that the people who liked this and were disappointed by the platformer sequel, liked Rogue and rogue-likes. I assume they like replaying with a randomly generated world.

For people who like funk and hip-hop, well unfortunately I think the theme music is the most funky thing about the game. Of course, it's great music, but overall I don't know if this game has enough elements of funk and hip-hop and even then some might consider the funk and hip-hop to be a little pretentious and tacked on.

Anyone who doesn't much care for rogue-likes or funk and hip-hop, I can't see that this game would offer you anything.

The Good
As far as Mega Drive games go, Toejam & Earl is the cream of the crop. The premise is simple. Toejam & Earl have crashed landed on a forbidden planet that goes by the name of Earth You must control TJ & E in either one or two player mode & find the broken bits of TJ & E's rocket ship and get back home. This is done by looking across a couple of dozen levels of Earth, just avoid those pesky humans if you can.

In TJ & E the world is like a wedding cake, it's stacked vertically. To progress from level (literally) to the next you use an elevator. This is ingenious as if you miss something vital you just drop off the current level to fall back to the previous one.

This is one of the most creative & playable games made in the last 20 years. It works best in two player mode but can be fun played solo. The whole idea is made for the two player mode though and the most benefits come from using this mode. You must work together to succeed, an idea that is rarely used in games nowadays.

You have to play the game to fully understand how good this game is as it is more of an experience than a game.

The sounds, graphics & smooth play of the game make it fantastic from start to finish and that coupled with the chance to rob Santa make this a must play title.

The Bad
The fixed world option is a tad lame.

The Bottom Line
Approach with an open mind and play for an hour, you will be hooked.

The Good
it is very easy to get to grasps with. the story is easy to get to grips with. the landscapes are easy to know what they are, e.g grass.

The Bad
THE NAME. i don't know were they got it from but who would want to be known as "toe jam"??? It reminds me to much of a (expletive deleted), or a dirty (expletive deleted) session with a smelly, homeless (expletive deleted). And when your actually in the game, all you seemingly do is go wondering around doing exactly (expletive delted).

The Bottom Line
A BORING GAME. a waste of money. a waste of time. a waste of money. To sum up that last line, A WASTE!