ToeJam & Earl
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
Synopsis
ToeJam & Earl has been called a
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
ToeJam & Earl takes place from a
The game is set on Earth, which is represented by randomly generated islands that float in space,
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
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,
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".
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]
ToeJam & Earl was re-released on the Nintendo
Legacy
ToeJam and Earl became one of Sega's second tier mascots, alongside Sonic,
ToeJam & Earl has been called "weird",
Film adaptation
On December 5, 2022, it was announced that a ToeJam & Earl movie is in development from
References
- ^ "Sega Power Issue 24 pg. 10". Sega Retro. November 1991. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
- ^ "GamePro Volume 3, Number 9 pg. 62". Sega Retro. September 1991. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Toejam & Earl: Roguelike in Rapmaster's Clothing - IGN". 9 October 2011. Retrieved Feb 10, 2021 – via www.ign.com.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Minneapolis City Pages. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
- ^ a b c Reed, Kristan (January 23, 2007). "Virtual Console: SEGA Mega Drive". Eurogamer. p. 2. Retrieved April 8, 2009.
- ^ 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
- ^ a b Chip and Jonathan Carter, "Inside the Video Games", Rome News-Tribune, Dec 17, 1991, Young Romans Supplement p. 5
- ^ 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."
- ^ ToeJam & Earl, Sega, 1991
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gerstmann, Jeff (January 23, 2007). "ToeJam & Earl Review". GameSpot. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
- ^ Gamasutra. p. 12. Retrieved April 8, 2009.
- UGO, Accessed Apr 8, 2009
- ^ 1UP, Dec 29, 2006, Accessed Apr 13, 2009
- ^ Gamasutra. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
- ^ a b c "Jammin' Out With Greg Johnson and Mark Voorsanger", Sega Visions, May/June 1992, pp. 38–39
- Gamasutra. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
- ^ MegaTech, May 1992 (issue 5), p. 78
- ^ Mega, June 1993 (issue 9), p. 23
- ^ Marshal M Rosenthal, Sega Pro, Nov 1991 (issue 1), p. 63
- ^ UGO, Accessed Apr 10, 2009
- ^ Horowitz, K. 2017. Playing the Next Level: A History of American Sega Games. McFarland Publishing
- ^ "Video Games Guide". EW.com. Retrieved Feb 10, 2021.
- ^ "Genesis Pro Review: ToeJam & Earl", GamePro, 16 Bit Buyer's Guide February 1992, pp. 56–57
- ^ Mega, Oct 1992 (issue 1), p. 76
- ^ Bob Strauss, Is 'Zap' All There Is?, Entertainment Weekly, Nov 22, 1991, Accessed Apr 14, 2009
- Boys' Life, Dec 1991, p. 44
- ^ Ed Martinez, "Sega's ToeJam & Earl 'Yo! What's up?'", Game Informer, Nov/Dec 1991 (issue 2), p. 4
- ^ Chip & Jonathan Carter, "2 of the best and the brightest, just in time for Christmas", Chicago Tribune, Dec 20, 1991, p. 62
- The Toronto Star, Dec 28, 1991, p. V6
- ^ "ToeJam & Earl", Sega Visions, Summer 1991 (issue 5), p. 18
- ^ Stuart Campbell, "Mega All-Time Top 100", Mega, July 1992
- ^ "Wii Shop Rated", Official Nintendo Magazine, Sept 2008 (issue 33), p. 129
- ^ a b Lucas M. Thomas, ToeJam & Earl VC Review, IGN, Jan 24, 2007, Accessed Apr 14, 2009
- ^ Chris Johnston, Too Much Funk for GT, GameSpot, Apr 23, 1999, Accessed Apr 13, 2009
- ^ Staff, The Wednesday 10: Ill-Fated Franchise Reboots, IGN, Jan 28, 2009, Accessed Apr 13, 2009
- ^ "There's Never Enough Bass in Space". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 105. Ziff Davis. April 1998. p. 24.
- ^ "ToeJam & Earl Are Coming to Mighty Fight Federation Soon". 25 July 2020.
- ^ Sam Kennedy, ToeJam & Earl Go PlayStation 2, GameSpot, June 2, 1999, Accessed Apr 14, 2009
- ^ Levi Buchanan, ToeJam & Earl Favorites, IGN, Jan 20, 2009, Accessed Apr 14, 2009
- ^ Toejam & Earl gets XBLA re-release, Computer and Video Games, Aug 24, 2009, Accessed Oct 12, 2009
- ^ Jeffrey Matulef, ToeJam & Earl and its sequel rocket skate onto XBLA and PSN next month, Eurogamer, Oct 10, 2012, Accessed Oct 11, 2012
- ^ "Intellivision® Reveals Initial Details For The Upcoming Amico™ Home Video Game Console!". PR Newswire (Press release).
- ^ Brian Ashcraft, Catching Up With Toejam & Earl, Kotaku, Nov 10, 2009, Accessed Nov 10, 2009
- ^ "Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove". Kickstarter. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
- ^ "ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove coming 2017 from Adult Swim". polygon.com. 24 August 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
- ^ 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]
- ^ Galuppo, Mia (December 5, 2022). "'ToeJam & Earl' Movie in the Works from Amazon, Stephen Curry (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
External links
- ToeJam & Earl Productions: Developer's official website
- ToeJam & Earl's Virtual Console site
- ToeJam & Earl at IMDb