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''ToeJam & Earl'' is a 1991
action video game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, rhythm games and ...
developed by
Johnson Voorsanger Productions ToeJam & Earl Productions, Inc. (1989–2003) was an American video game developer, video game company founded by Electronic Arts developers Mark Voorsanger and Greg Johnson (game designer), Greg Johnson. Their best-known titles were ''Orly's ...
and published by
Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...
for the
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...
console. It centers on ToeJam and Earl— alien
rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...
s who have crash-landed on
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
—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 Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
soundtrack. ''ToeJam & Earls design was heavily influenced by the
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
'' 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 Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a style of role-playing game traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player character. Most ro ...
game. The game was positively received by critics, who praised its originality, soundtrack, humor and two-player cooperative mode. It attained
sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...
status despite low initial sales, and its protagonists were used as mascots by Sega. ''ToeJam & Earl'' was followed by two sequels: '' ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron'' and '' ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth'', released for the Genesis and
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
respectively. The sequels' commercial and critical performance were mixed. A fourth title, '' ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove'', was released on March 1, 2019 without Sega's involvement, using funds from
Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...
. The game was re-released for the
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
's
Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...
in December 2006 and re-released again on
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and
Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...
in November 2012 as part of the '' Sega Vintage Collection''. The game was also re-released on the
Nintendo Classics Nintendo Classics is a line of Video game console emulator, emulated retro games distributed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch family of systems and Nintendo Switch 2. Subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online service have access to games for ...
service on December 16, 2021.


Synopsis

''ToeJam & Earl'' has been called a surreal, comic
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
and a "daringly
misanthropic Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, or distrust of the human species, human behavior, or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. Misanthropy involves a negative evaluative attitude tow ...
commentary on Earthly life". ToeJam is red and has three legs. Earl possesses a stout build, with a solid and
fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specif ...
physique, and is orange. ToeJam wears a large gold medallion and a backwards baseball cap, while Earl is marked by
high-top The high-top is a shoe that extends slightly over the wearer's ankle. It is commonly used for sports, particularly basketball. It is sometimes confused with the slightly shorter mid-top, which typically extends no higher than the wearer's ankle. ...
s and oversized sunglasses; both outfits are "over-the-top appropriations" of 1990s
urban culture Urban culture is the culture of towns and cities. The defining theme is the presence of a large population in a limited space that follows social norms. This makes it possible for many subcultures close to each other, exposed to social influence ...
. Their speech features California slang. The game is set to a soundtrack which has been described both as
jazz-funk Jazz-funk is a subgenre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat, electrified sounds, and analog synthesizers. The integration of funk, soul, and R&B music and styles into jazz resulted in the creation of a genre that ranges from ...
, and as
hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
. For the game's unique sound, composer John Baker was inspired by
Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...
and The Headhunters. 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 A spacecraft is a vehicle that is designed spaceflight, to fly and operate in outer space. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth observation, Weather s ...
's wreckage to return to their home planet, Funkotron. The player guides the characters as they avoid Earth's antagonistic inhabitants and search for the debris. 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.


Gameplay

''ToeJam & Earl'' takes place from a 3/4 perspective in a 2D game world. Its gameplay mechanics were inspired by '' Rogue'', which has led it to be compared to genres like
Roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a style of role-playing game traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player character. Most ro ...
s or dungeon-crawlers. 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. Playing the game with two players reveals dialogue and jokes between the characters not heard in the single player game. The game is set on Earth, which is represented by randomly generated islands that float in space, each one a layer above the last. They are connected by elevators. Some islands contain pieces of spacecraft wreckage, of which the player must collect 10 to win the game. The
player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...
drops to the island below if he falls from an island's edge, which necessitates that the player again locate an elevator.Julian Rignall and Edward "Rad" Laurence, "Mega Drive Review: ToeJam & Earl", ''
Mean Machines ''Mean Machines'' was a multi-format video game journalism, video game magazine published between 1990 and 1992 in the United Kingdom. History In the late 1980s ''Computer and Video Games'' (''CVG'') was largely covering the outgoing generatio ...
'', Nov 1991 (issue 14), pp. 106–08
Each island is populated by antagonistic "Earthlings", such as phantom ice-cream trucks, aggressive packs of "
nerd A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted, or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly t ...
s", giant hamsters, Bogeymen, man-eating mailboxes, and chickens armed with
mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...
that shoot
tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...
es. Certain Earthlings aid the player. The game has been described as "largely non-violent", as the protagonists can only attack enemies with thrown tomatoes—one of many temporary, randomly generated
power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a Game mechanics, game mechanic. This is in contrast to an Item (game), item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that ca ...
s. Power-ups are contained in wrapped presents, 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. Each power-up has a unique effect: while one might increase the
player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...
s' running speed, another distracts enemies. 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. 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.


Development

''ToeJam & Earl'' creator Greg Johnson became a fan of ''Rogue'' as a university student. After he left university, he worked on games for
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
, including '' Starflight'' (1986). After the completion of '' Starflight 2'', Johnson conceived ''ToeJam & Earl''—first the characters, then the plot—while on a beach in Hawaii."Jammin' Out With Greg Johnson and Mark Voorsanger", '' Sega Visions'', May/June 1992, pp. 38–39 The idea was a combination of ''Rogues gameplay concepts and a lighter version of ''Starflight's'' science-fiction themes. Johnson met programmer Mark Voorsanger through a mutual friend, while walking on 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. 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. 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 is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
. The game's small development team was composed of Johnson's previous colleagues, and its music was composed by John Baker. Johnson himself did the game's art and provided the character voices. 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." While Sega believed that hardware issues would prevent the feature from working, Voorsanger successfully implemented it. 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". Steve Purcell has stated that he contributed character designs to the game.


Reception

''ToeJam & Earl'' received positive reviews, which Bill Paris of UGO described as "almost unanimous critical acclaim".Bill Paris
Funkotronic Alien Invasion?!
UGO, Accessed Apr 10, 2009
However, Sega deemed it a commercial failure due to low initial sales. The game built a cult following through
word of mouth Word of mouth is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others a ...
, and it was further aided by the Sega Genesis's Christmas 1991 sales spike, caused by the release of ''
Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...
''. ''ToeJam & Earl'' was later considered a "cult" success. In the words of historian Ken Horowitz "In all, the game sold 350,000 copies for Sega, a remarkable feat for such an unconventional title on a fledgling console." ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' 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". ''
Mean Machines ''Mean Machines'' was a multi-format video game journalism, video game magazine published between 1990 and 1992 in the United Kingdom. History In the late 1980s ''Computer and Video Games'' (''CVG'') was largely covering the outgoing generatio ...
'' found the game addictive and original, but found fault with its slow-paced combat. 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". ''
GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...
'' called the game's originality "incredible" and praised its graphics, music and humor. ''
MegaTech ''MegaTech'' (sometimes styled with the katakana メガテケ) was a publication from EMAP aimed specifically at the Sega Mega Drive gaming market. The magazine was started in 1991. The launch editorial consisted of a small team including Pa ...
'' praised the graphics, and the 2-player option, and said the game was "great fun - pure and simple". '' Mega'' said that it was "An OK game, but one which becomes completely essential when played with someone else. Got any friends? Buy this. Haven't got any friends? Buy this and make some". The game also appeared at number 26 on its list of the best games of all time. ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' praised the "absolutely hilarious" sound effects and music. Jeff Csatari of ''
Boys' Life ''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are children between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas. ''Scout Life'' is published ...
'' called it "another hot game" for the Sega Genesis, alongside ''Sonic the Hedgehog''. Ed Martinez of ''
Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...
'' commended the game's soundtrack and unique concept, but found it to be too easy. A review published in both the ''
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'' and ''
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'' likened ''ToeJam and Earl'' to "an outer-space, rap version of
Abbott and Costello Abbott and Costello were an American comedy duo composed of comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, whose work in radio, film, and television made them the most popular comedy team of the 1940s and 1950s, and the highest-paid entertainers in t ...
". The reviewers called it "the funniest game we've seen in a long time" and praised its soundtrack, graphics and action.Chip and Jonathan Carter, "Inside the Video Games", ''
Rome News-Tribune ''Rome News-Tribune'' is the local daily newspaper of Rome, Georgia, in the United States. Begun originally as a weekly newspaper, the paper has survived several merges with other newspapers and now distributes news on a daily basis through prin ...
'', Dec 17, 1991, Young Romans Supplement p. 5
''
The Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands division. The newspaper was establis ...
'' 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
his His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, ...
awesome rap 'n' roll game". '' Sega Visions'' praised the game's "no-repetitive action" and said, "This is the zaniest game that ever rocked Sega's Genesis system." 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". The
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video game programme ''
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'' gave the game a 70% rating. ''ToeJam & Earl'' was re-released on the Nintendo
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
's
Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...
in 2006. ''
Official Nintendo Magazine ''Official Nintendo Magazine'', or ''ONM'', was a British Video game journalism, video game magazine that ran from 2006 to 2014 that covered the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, and Wii U video game consoles released by Nintendo. Originally p ...
'' scored the game 85% and praised its humor, originality and two-player mode. However, the reviewer believed that the game's enjoyability had diminished with time. ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' felt that the game's 1990s idioms were dated, but that the gameplay—particularly the two-player mode—was still enjoyable by modern standards. Jeremy Parish of ''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".Jeremy Parish
Retro Roundup: Saturnalia Edition
1UP, Dec 29, 2006, Accessed Apr 13, 2009
''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...
''s reviewer negatively received the game and believed its gameplay to be unsatisfying and overly slow. ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' 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".Lucas M. Thomas
ToeJam & Earl VC Review
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
, Jan 24, 2007, Accessed Apr 14, 2009


Legacy

ToeJam and Earl became one of Sega's second tier mascots, alongside Sonic, and one of the Sega Genesis's key exclusive franchises. The characters appeared in a spin-off light gun game, ''Ready, Aim, Tomatoes'', developed by Johnson Voorsanger Productions as one of six
mini-game A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements and is often smaller or more simplistic than th ...
s for the Menacer 6-game cartridge. In early 1992, the developers began work on a sequel to ''ToeJam & Earl'' and spent three months expanding on the original game's concept by adding indoor areas and more terrain types. Sega was not impressed by the sequel and believed it to be unmarketable. The team redesigned it as a
platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...
, as Sega were inclined to publish games in this genre. 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. Due to poor relations between Johnson Voorsanger Productions and Sega, which held the ''ToeJam & Earl'' rights until 1995, the ''ToeJam & Earl'' franchise was neglected. A ''ToeJam & Earl'' game planned for the
Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...
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. 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''. ''ToeJam & Earl'' has been called "weird", "strange", and "thoroughly odd". Critics have difficulty in determining a genre for the game; it has been called a platform game and roguelike, as well as action and
action-adventure An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...
. While ''ToeJam & Earl''s success did not match that of the Sega Genesis's other popular titles, it has been considered a "classic", and a "cult" game. Prior to ''ToeJam & Earl IIIs conception, research by its developers found that the original ''ToeJam & Earl'' was preferred over its sequel. In an ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' survey, 65% of respondents cited it as their favorite of the three games. ''ToeJam & Earl'' was re-released on the Nintendo
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
's
Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...
in 2006. The game was set to be re-released on
Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...
after winning a poll arranged by Sega, but this became uncertain because Johnson owns the rights to the characters rather than Sega. The game, along with its sequel, was announced as part of '' Sega Vintage Collection'' series for release on November 7, 2012, to be released individually on
PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...
and as a collection on
Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...
. A remake of the game has been announced for release exclusively for the
Intellivision Amico The Intellivision Amico (currently referred to as simply Amico) is a planned home video game console developed and marketed by Amico Entertainment (known as Intellivision Entertainment prior to Atari SA's acquisition of the Intellivision brand i ...
. The notion of a ''ToeJam & Earl'' game for the
Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
failed to generate interest from publishers, but Johnson has reiterated the possibility of such a game in the future. 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 & 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. ''ToeJam & Earl'' would later influence the American animated series ''
Regular Show ''Regular Show'' (known as ''Regular Show in Space'' during its Regular Show season 8, eighth season) is an American animated sitcom created by J. G. Quintel for Cartoon Network. It ran from September 6, 2010, to January 16, 2017, over the cours ...
'', which
J. G. Quintel James Garland Quintel is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, writer, producer, and voice actor. He is best known as the creator of the Cartoon Network series ''Regular Show'' (2010–2017), in which he voiced Mordecai and High ...
has played as a kid, and later described it as "the perfect platform" for ''Regular Show'' protagonists Mordecai and Rigby.


Film adaptation

On December 5, 2022, it was announced that a ''ToeJam & Earl'' movie is in development from
Amazon MGM Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...
with
Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player and point guard for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Chef Curry", he is widely regarded as the ...
producing through his production company 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.


References


External links


ToeJam & Earl Productions
Developer's official website
ToeJam & Earl's Virtual Console site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:ToeJam and Earl 1991 video games Action games Cooperative video games Dungeon crawler video games Nintendo Classics games PlayStation Network games Roguelike video games Sega Genesis games Sega video games Split-screen multiplayer games Video games about extraterrestrial life Video games developed in the United States Video games using procedural generation Virtual Console games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games Multiplayer and single-player video games ToeJam & Earl Productions games