ToeJam & Earl

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ToeJam & Earl
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ToeJam & Earl is an action game developed by Johnson Voorsanger Productions and published by Sega for the Genesis console. Released in 1991, it centers on ToeJam and Earl—alien rappers who have crash-landed on Earth. As they attempt to escape the planet, players assume the role of either character and collect pieces of their wrecked spacecraft. It references and parodies 1980s and early 90s urban culture and is set to a funk soundtrack. ToeJam & Earl's design was heavily influenced by the role-playing video game Rogue (1980) and derived various features from the game, such as the random generation of levels and items. As such, ToeJam & Earl is often considered to be an example of a roguelike game.[4]

The game was positively received by critics, who praised its originality, soundtrack, humor and two-player cooperative mode. It attained

Sega Vintage Collection. The game was also re-released on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack
on December 16, 2021.

Synopsis

ToeJam & Earl has been called a

California slang.[8] The game is set to a soundtrack which has been described both as jazz-funk,[5] and as hip hop.[9] For the game's unique sound, composer John Baker was inspired by Herbie Hancock and The Headhunters.[5]

In the game's opening sequence, ToeJam explains that Earl's erratic piloting abilities have resulted in a crash-landing on planet Earth. He says that they must find the widely scattered pieces of their spacecraft's wreckage to return to their home planet, Funkotron.[10] The player guides the characters as they avoid Earth's antagonistic inhabitants and search for the debris.[5] Should the player succeed, the final sequence depicts ToeJam and Earl escaping the planet in their reconstructed spacecraft. Under the player's control, the characters proceed across a purple landscape that represents Funkotron and are greeted by their friends and family.[11]

Gameplay

Two aliens, one red and one orange stand in fields surrounded by chasms. A red demon and an elevator are near the red alien. The two aliens are separated by a purple line that runs horizontally through the image.
ToeJam (above) and Earl (below) explore floating islands which represent Earth, while avoiding "Earthlings" such as the devil seen on the top screen.

ToeJam & Earl takes place from a

dungeon-crawlers.[12][13] The game contains both single-player and two-player cooperative modes. The latter displays a single screen when both characters are near each other, but splits it apart when they are not.[5] Playing the game with two players reveals dialogue and jokes between the characters not heard in the single player game.[5][8]

The game is set on Earth, which is represented by randomly generated islands that float in space,

Bogeymen, man-eating mailboxes, and chickens armed with mortars that shoot tomatoes.[5][8][14] Certain Earthlings aid the player.[5] The game has been described as "largely non-violent",[15] as the protagonists can only attack enemies with thrown tomatoes—one of many temporary, randomly generated power-ups.[5]

Power-ups are contained in wrapped presents,[12] which are categorized by appearance. The contents of a present are unknown to the player until it is opened; afterwards, all presents of that appearance are identified. A certain type of NPC wearing a carrot costume will also identify presents for a fee. Presents with question marks can hold any item at random, so their contents cannot be identified on sight alone. Identification of presents' contents is a central gameplay mechanic.[12][13] Each power-up has a unique effect: while one might increase the player characters' running speed, another distracts enemies.[8][12] Certain presents contain harmful power-ups, such as the ”Total Bummer” which causes the player to lose a "life", or the "Randomizer" which resets the identity of all presents. In the game's cooperative mode, if one player character opens a present in the vicinity of the other, its contents affect both characters.[13] As players open more presents, the chances of accidentally opening the Randomizer are increased, which prevents the game from becoming easier as more presents are identified.[13]

Development

ToeJam & Earl creator

Mount Tam in 1989. He related the concept of ToeJam & Earl to Voorsanger, and the two resolved to make the game together. They formed Johnson Voorsanger Productions, and serious work on the game began soon after.[16] Their status as commercial game designers allowed them to meet with Sega of America, and they used cards covered in landscape drawings to demonstrate their idea of randomly generated levels.[16] Sega marketing manager Hugh Bowen was immediately interested in the concept, and he enlisted the aid of producer Scott Berfield to sell the game to management; Sega wanted innovative games and new mascots to compete with Nintendo.[5][16]

The game's small development team was composed of Johnson's previous colleagues,[5] and its music was composed by John Baker. The team's goal was to make a humorous game that was "original, easy to understand and offered an immediate response to the player's actions". The designers wanted to include a two-player mode so that they could play together, and they considered ToeJam & Earl "a two player game with a one player option."[17] While Sega believed that hardware issues would prevent the feature from working, Voorsanger successfully implemented it.[16] In a 1992 interview with Sega Visions, Johnson stated that the characters ToeJam and Earl evolved as reflections of his and Voorsanger's personalities. Voorsanger disagreed and called the characters "two different aspects of Greg's personality".[17] Steve Purcell has stated that he contributed character designs to the game.[18]

Reception

ToeJam & Earl received positive reviews,

UGO described as "almost unanimous critical acclaim".[22] However, Sega deemed it a commercial failure due to low initial sales. The game built a cult following through word of mouth,[16] and it was further aided by the Sega Genesis's Christmas 1991 sales spike, caused by the release of Sonic the Hedgehog.[5] ToeJam & Earl was later considered a "cult" success.[16] According to Ken Horowitz (2016, p. 74) author of Playing the Next Level: A History of American Sega Games, "In all, the game sold 350,000 copies for Sega, a remarkable feat for such an unconventional title on a fledgling console."[23] Entertainment Weekly picked the game as the #9 greatest game available in 1991, saying: "Simply hilarious, from the Warner Bros. cartoon-inspired sound effects to the rap songs players can improvise while using the control pad".[24]

Mean Machines found the game addictive and original, but found fault with its slow-paced combat.[8] One of the reviewers said, "Not everyone will like it—it's not normal enough for mass appeal—but I think it's destined to become a massive cult classic".[8] GamePro called the game's originality "incredible" and praised its graphics, music and humor.[25] MegaTech praised the graphics, and the 2-player option, and said the game was "great fun - pure and simple".

Boys' Life called it "another hot game" for the Sega Genesis, alongside Sonic the Hedgehog.[28] Ed Martinez of Game Informer commended the game's soundtrack and unique concept, but found it to be too easy.[29]

A review published in both the Chicago Tribune and Rome News-Tribune likened ToeJam and Earl to "an outer-space, rap version of Abbott and Costello". The reviewers called it "the funniest game we've seen in a long time" and praised its soundtrack, graphics and action.[9][30]

The Toronto Star acclaimed the game's "hilariously designed split-screen two-player mode", and said, "If you've got a Sega-Genesis system, you simply must check out [this] awesome rap 'n' roll game".[31] Sega Visions praised the game's "no-repetitive action" and said, "This is the zaniest game that ever rocked Sega's Genesis system."[32] Several months after the game's release, Mega ranked it the 13th best Sega Genesis game in its All-Time Top 100 feature. The magazine praised the game's "superbly manic and zany action" and deemed it both "original and insane".[33] The Channel 4 video game programme GamesMaster
gave the game a 70% rating.

ToeJam & Earl was re-released on the Nintendo

1UP found the game's two-player co-operative mode more enjoyable than its single-player and described the graphics and sound as "oddly primitive". Parish considered it "one of the best games to hit VC to date".[15] Eurogamer's reviewer negatively received the game and believed its gameplay to be unsatisfying and overly slow.[7] IGN called the game's visuals a "mixed bag" and derided the slow pace, but praised its unpredictability and believed that its sound design was "one thing you absolutely can't fault".[35]

Legacy

ToeJam and Earl became one of Sega's second tier mascots, alongside Sonic,

platform game, as Sega were inclined to publish games in this genre.[5][16] The game, titled ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron, was highly anticipated, and it was a commercial and critical success when it released in 1993. However, fans of the original game were disappointed by the change in design to a perceived generic style.[5] Due to poor relations between Johnson Voorsanger Productions and Sega, which held the ToeJam & Earl rights until 1995, the ToeJam & Earl franchise was neglected.[38] A ToeJam & Earl game planned for the Dreamcast was cancelled (a beta of the game was preserved and, on Christmas Day 2013, released on the internet by enthusiasts), but a third installment, ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth, was released for the Xbox in 2002. The release returned to the concepts of the original game, but generated mixed reviews and poor sales.[5][16] In 2019, ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove was released, which was essentially an enhanced remake of the original game. ToeJam and Earl also appeared as a tag-team playable character in 2021's Mighty Fight Federation.[39]

ToeJam & Earl has been called "weird",

Sega Vintage Collection series for release on November 7, 2012, to be released individually on PlayStation Network and as a collection on Xbox Live Arcade.[43] A remake of the game has been announced for release exclusively for the Intellivision Amico.[44] The notion of a ToeJam & Earl game for the Nintendo DS failed to generate interest from publishers, but Johnson has reiterated the possibility of such a game in the future.[45] Greg Johnson later gave ToeJam and Earl a comeback with a new game called ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove, which was made through Kickstarter fundraising by his own independent company HumaNature Studios. Greg Johnson said he was able to make a new ToeJam and Earl game without needing a publisher, since the popularity of downloadable independent games, but Adult Swim Games came to publish the game as well as for retail copies.[46][47] ToeJam & Earl would later influence the American animated series Regular Show, which J. G. Quintel has played as a kid, and later described it as "the perfect platform" for Regular Show protagonists Mordecai and Rigby.[48]

Film adaptation

On December 5, 2022, it was announced that a ToeJam & Earl movie is in development from

Unanimous Media along with producing partner Erick Peyton, dj2 Entertainment's Dmitri M. Johnson, Mike Goldberg, Dan Jevons and Tim I. Stevenson, and the game's creators Voorsanger and Johnson executive producing and Amos Vernon and Nunzio Randazzo writing the script.[49]

References

  1. ^ "Sega Power Issue 24 pg. 10". Sega Retro. November 1991. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  2. ^ "GamePro Volume 3, Number 9 pg. 62". Sega Retro. September 1991. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  3. ^ "トージャム&アール". Wii(R) バーチャルコンソール メガドライブ 公式サイト (in Japanese). Sega. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Toejam & Earl: Roguelike in Rapmaster's Clothing - IGN". 9 October 2011. Retrieved Feb 10, 2021 – via www.ign.com.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Fahs, Travis (January 15, 2009). "Funkotronics 101". IGN. pp. 1–3. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  6. ^
    Minneapolis City Pages
    . Retrieved April 14, 2009.
  7. ^ a b c Reed, Kristan (January 23, 2007). "Virtual Console: SEGA Mega Drive". Eurogamer. p. 2. Retrieved April 8, 2009.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Julian Rignall and Edward "Rad" Laurence, "Mega Drive Review: ToeJam & Earl", Mean Machines, Nov 1991 (issue 14), pp. 106–08
  9. ^ a b Chip and Jonathan Carter, "Inside the Video Games", Rome News-Tribune, Dec 17, 1991, Young Romans Supplement p. 5
  10. ^ ToeJam: "We were cruisin' in our rocket, thumpin' out a funky beat, when big Earl said he'd like a shot in the driver's seat ... You should never let Earl drive. Yo, so here we are, chillin' out on the most insane planet in the galaxy, planet Earth! Thanks to Earl ... All we have to do now, is find the 10 pieces of our rocketship and we can jet outta here. No problem."
  11. ^ ToeJam & Earl, Sega, 1991
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gerstmann, Jeff (January 23, 2007). "ToeJam & Earl Review". GameSpot. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  13. ^
    Gamasutra
    . p. 12. Retrieved April 8, 2009.
  14. UGO
    , Accessed Apr 8, 2009
  15. ^
    1UP
    , Dec 29, 2006, Accessed Apr 13, 2009
  16. ^
    Gamasutra
    . Retrieved April 6, 2009.
  17. ^ a b c "Jammin' Out With Greg Johnson and Mark Voorsanger", Sega Visions, May/June 1992, pp. 38–39
  18. Gamasutra
    . Retrieved April 6, 2009.
  19. ^ MegaTech, May 1992 (issue 5), p. 78
  20. ^ Mega, June 1993 (issue 9), p. 23
  21. ^ Marshal M Rosenthal, Sega Pro, Nov 1991 (issue 1), p. 63
  22. ^
    UGO
    , Accessed Apr 10, 2009
  23. ^ Horowitz, K. 2017. Playing the Next Level: A History of American Sega Games. McFarland Publishing
  24. ^ "Video Games Guide". EW.com. Retrieved Feb 10, 2021.
  25. ^ "Genesis Pro Review: ToeJam & Earl", GamePro, 16 Bit Buyer's Guide February 1992, pp. 56–57
  26. ^ Mega, Oct 1992 (issue 1), p. 76
  27. ^ Bob Strauss, Is 'Zap' All There Is?, Entertainment Weekly, Nov 22, 1991, Accessed Apr 14, 2009
  28. Boys' Life
    , Dec 1991, p. 44
  29. ^ Ed Martinez, "Sega's ToeJam & Earl 'Yo! What's up?'", Game Informer, Nov/Dec 1991 (issue 2), p. 4
  30. ^ Chip & Jonathan Carter, "2 of the best and the brightest, just in time for Christmas", Chicago Tribune, Dec 20, 1991, p. 62
  31. The Toronto Star
    , Dec 28, 1991, p. V6
  32. ^ "ToeJam & Earl", Sega Visions, Summer 1991 (issue 5), p. 18
  33. ^ Stuart Campbell, "Mega All-Time Top 100", Mega, July 1992
  34. ^ "Wii Shop Rated", Official Nintendo Magazine, Sept 2008 (issue 33), p. 129
  35. ^ a b Lucas M. Thomas, ToeJam & Earl VC Review, IGN, Jan 24, 2007, Accessed Apr 14, 2009
  36. ^ Chris Johnston, Too Much Funk for GT, GameSpot, Apr 23, 1999, Accessed Apr 13, 2009
  37. ^ Staff, The Wednesday 10: Ill-Fated Franchise Reboots, IGN, Jan 28, 2009, Accessed Apr 13, 2009
  38. ^ "There's Never Enough Bass in Space". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 105. Ziff Davis. April 1998. p. 24.
  39. ^ "ToeJam & Earl Are Coming to Mighty Fight Federation Soon". 25 July 2020.
  40. ^ Sam Kennedy, ToeJam & Earl Go PlayStation 2, GameSpot, June 2, 1999, Accessed Apr 14, 2009
  41. ^ Levi Buchanan, ToeJam & Earl Favorites, IGN, Jan 20, 2009, Accessed Apr 14, 2009
  42. ^ Toejam & Earl gets XBLA re-release, Computer and Video Games, Aug 24, 2009, Accessed Oct 12, 2009
  43. ^ Jeffrey Matulef, ToeJam & Earl and its sequel rocket skate onto XBLA and PSN next month, Eurogamer, Oct 10, 2012, Accessed Oct 11, 2012
  44. ^ "Intellivision® Reveals Initial Details For The Upcoming Amico™ Home Video Game Console!". PR Newswire (Press release).
  45. ^ Brian Ashcraft, Catching Up With Toejam & Earl, Kotaku, Nov 10, 2009, Accessed Nov 10, 2009
  46. ^ "Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove". Kickstarter. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  47. ^ "ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove coming 2017 from Adult Swim". polygon.com. 24 August 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  48. ^ TheBasementCouch (October 16, 2011). "NYCC 2011: Regular Show Interview w/ J. G. Quintel, Sam Marin, and William Salyers". The Basement Couch. youtube.com. Retrieved March 8, 2012.[dead YouTube link]
  49. ^ Galuppo, Mia (December 5, 2022). "'ToeJam & Earl' Movie in the Works from Amazon, Stephen Curry (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 5, 2022.

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