
	Platform Genesis Genre Vaguely Action-esque Developer Toe Jam and Earl Productions Publisher Sega Released 1990
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Toe Jam & Earl

toe jam and earl,sega genesis

Two funky aliens crash land on Earth. To get back to their home planet of Funk-o-tron they need to find the pieces of their spaceship. Basic, simple story but the gameplay is so solid that you will be playing and laughing for hours.

The music and sound is the most important aspect of Toe Jam and Earl. Right from opening cutscene to the return to Funk-o-tron, the game has consistently good music. Six years later I can still hum the title theme. The sound effects are very good for the Genesis. There are lots of sampled effects that are put to good use.

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Toe Jam and Earl are on Earth, but it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen. The human characters are all outrageous and exaggerated. Each one acts as an archetype of North American living. There’s an overweight, cigar chomping man controlling a psycho lawn mower. Men dressed in devil costumes. Clouds of bees. Even Santa Claus makes an appearance. To escape these humans there are a liberal amount of power-ups scattered over the landscape in the form of

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presents (which can be stored in the players’ inventory). Until a present is opened the contents remain a mystery. Beware the randomizer! Once you open a present and discover it’s contents you’ll always know what’s in that particular present. But if you open a randomizer everything reverts to question marks. In a two-player game, it randomizes both inventories. Power-ups are varied from wings to super high-tops to spring shoes to extra men to tomato slingshots.

The spaceship pieces are scattered over several levels. Each level is randomly generated so each game is different. Sometimes ship pieces can be found on three consecutive levels then nothing for five levels. To travel to the next level Toe Jam and Earl must find the elevator (and the ship piece if there’s one available). Because the levels are stacked on each other it’s also possible to fall to the previous level if a jump is miscalculated. And, in fact, it might be a necessary tactic. The environments range from desert with quicksand to areas with huge amounts of water. Everything is bright and lush. The actual landscape is wacky, just like the entire game. Hidden paths appear when the player walks close enough to them. These paths often bridge to seemingly inaccessible areas. Occasionally there won’t be a path to another section and the player is forced to utilize a power-up to attempt a jump. This makes the landscape part of the challenge.

As Toe Jam and Earl make their way through the world they gain experience points that act to boost hit points. These extra hit points will be needed as the later levels are teeming with humans.

As a two-player game, Toe Jam and Earl really shines. Split screen is implemented to good use. And because the levels are randomly generated, the replayability is high. The two characters also handle differently. Earl, a big guy, is slow moving but can take more damage. Toe Jam, due to his three legs, is faster than Earl but is more susceptible to damage. Both can also tip-toe, necessary to sneak pass sleeping enemies.

In the case of Toe Jam and Earl, something different is something good.

Remember this one?: Get two Icarus Wing presents then fall all the way back down to the starting screen. Use the wings to fly to the bottom left of the screen until you find a hole to a lower level. Drop in for some bonus action!

- Omni