ToeJam & Earl

aka: TJ&E
Moby ID: 7247
Genesis Specs
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Description official descriptions

Toejam and Earl are two hip aliens from the planet Funkotron. One day, they are cruisin' their galaxy in the sweet spaceship ride. Unfortunately, Earl wasn't paying enough attention to where he was driving, and ran the ship into an asteroid. The ship crash landed onto the most bizarre planet in the galaxy: Earth.

Toejam and Earl must travel from level to level on Earth and collect the 10 scattered pieces of the ship. But the various Earthlings, such as Nerd Herds, Giant Hamsters, Phantom Ice Cream Trucks and the Bogeyman will make that difficult.

The power up items that TJ and E can pick up come in the form of wrapped presents. You never really know what a power up is until you open it. What's more, randomized levels and item locations make it a different game every time.

The game features a dynamic screen splitting - screen joining 2-player mode. Players start the game close to each other. If one gets away from the other, the screen vertically splits to allow each player to move freely. When players are close again, the screens join together to become one single screen.

Spellings

  • トージャム&アール - Japanese spelling
  • 홀이와 뚱이 - Korean spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Genesis version)

11 People (9 developers, 2 thanks)

Game Design
Game Program
Additional Programming
Music Direction
Music Composition
Artwork
Sound FX
Invaluable Aid
Producer
Awesome Support
Character Design (uncredited)

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 80% (based on 21 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 66 ratings with 8 reviews)

Jammin

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.

Genesis · by Liam Dowds (39) · 2003

Can I Drive?

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!

Genesis · by brandon kasper (2) · 2005

If George Clinton And Parliament Made A Game, The Result Might Be ToeJam And 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?

Genesis · by MasterMegid (723) · 2009

[ View all 8 player reviews ]

Trivia

Awards

  • EGM
    • 1992 Buyer's Guide - Best Sound Effects

Analytics

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Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 7247
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by quizzley7.

Wii added by Corn Popper. Nintendo Switch added by Rik Hideto. Windows, PlayStation 3 added by Sciere. Macintosh, Linux added by Foxhack.

Additional contributors: paul cairey, Alaka, j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】, Rik Hideto.

Game added September 20, 2002. Last modified January 27, 2024.