Random Video Game Series Review - ToeJam & Earl

Yeah, I know it's not quite their milestone anniversary yet, but decided to celebrate it early. Back in the 90s, Sega was big and like Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony nowadays, they too were making game consoles. For a long time, they had the edge over Nintendo, with their console the Megadrive/Genesis being that bit faster than Nintendo's SNES. Many of us know of Sega's biggest franchise Sonic the Hedgehog, but today I'm looking at one of their games that is definitely one about getting hip with the kids, at least at the time. ToeJam and Earl are bizarre characters who are alien rappers that just want to get home and want to be a bit funky about it. We have four games to look at featuring these two surprise hits (one of which had no involvement from Sega whatsoever), so let's get to it:

ToeJam & Earl

The pair find themselves crash-landed on planet Earth and must work together to rebuild their spaceship and return home while navigating an Earth that's full of 80s and 90s urban culture. As with all Megadrive/Genesis games, this one is played in 2D but has a 3/4 perspective to it. As a game with two characters to play as, this supports 2 player co-op, but can be played alone too (plus with two players, some new dialogue will be shown). Earth in the game is represented by randomly generated islands that float in space, with each one being a layer above the last and all connected by elevators. If you fall, find the elevator to get back up. Some islands contain parts of the ship, which must be collected to win the game. There are of course enemies that are basically us but evil in a way. It's not a violent game by any means, but power ups such as throwing tomatoes at enemies can help in a way. But not all power ups will work. This is a fun little game that has rightly gained a cult following. It may not be one of Sega's most well known games, but it's certainly up there as one of their most iconic (it's even included in compilation games years later). 9/10

Panic on Funkotron

The pair manage to return to their home planet, but somehow enemies from the last game have stowed away onboard. With chaos happening on their planet, the pair work to undo the mess they have caused and send the Earthlings back to where they came from. This game switches genre to be a side scrolling platform game, but players can still play together or alone like before as you are tasked with capturing the Earthlings. You do this by using a radar and then chucking them into jars to trap and collect them. Finding them all is key to completing each level. Power ups are back and there is now a system where you can buy things with coins, such as environmental changes in a level and minigames. There are other collectibles too which can determine the ending based on how many you collect. Despite the change in genre, this is another well-made game. It's fun, bonkers, and worthy of being a great sequel to an otherwise great game. 9/10

III: Mission to Earth

The third game in the series is an interesting one as it's the first 3D game, but also the result of work that was originally planned for the Sega Saturn, then the N64 and Dreamcast before finally settling on the original Xbox. ToeJam and Earl alongside newcomer Latisha, are sent to Earth to recover the stolen Sacred Albums of Funk and return them to Lamont the Funkopotamus. The game combines the genres of the two previous games and once again allows players to play alone or together as one of the three main characters, who each have their own attributes (some being more obvious than others). All the levels are randomly generated, but connected and focused on exploration. You must find the albums and some keys to access more levels. The attacking style in the game is known as Funk-Fu which can be used on enemies which are all Earthlings from the previous games. There's also plenty of powerups and a rhythm minigame too. Compared to the previous two games, this one is a mess. Latisha felt like an unnecessary addition, and the game overall isn't sure of what it wants to be. Kind of a shame really because until this one, it had been a great iconic series. But fortunately, it would not be the last game, even though it's the last one with Sega's involvement. 7/10

Back in the Groove

Released only two years ago after a successful Kickstarter, the indie developer HumaNature Studios gives us this latest entry which returns the series back to its roots while also implementing some minor things from the first sequel. We are back on exploring islands, searching for things, and we get to play as up to nine different characters. Not much can be said about this game other than it's good to see it go back to where it all began and not be too misguided on what it's trying to be, unlike the third sequel. 8/10

A nearly 30-year-old series that started off well, but went down hill before coming back up in what I hope will be the first of many new games in the series. But until then, get funky to the beat and enjoy! 8/10