ToeJam & Earl

From Sega Retro

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ToeJam & Earl Title.png

ToeJam & Earl
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Virtual Console
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Action

















ToeJam & Earl (トージャム&アール) is an action game developed by Johnson Voorsanger Productions, and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive. It stars two extraterrestrial rappers who, by way of pilot error, end up crash-landing on Earth. While there, they must search for the missing pieces of their spacecraft in hopes of reassembling it. The game frequently parodies and satirizes 1990s urban culture, and includes common 90's slang and a funk soundtrack. Much of this charm is what drew people toward the game. The game was followed by Toejam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron.

Gameplay

The game takes place in a surreal isometric world representing Earth, where land is in the form of a stack of randomly-generated floating islands. In each of the game's 25 island, the player must find the elevator that will bring them to the next level. Occasionally, a rocketship piece will be hidden somewhere on an island, although the player is not required to collect it right away before moving onto the next island. Every island besides the first is surrounded by a void, falling in at any time will cause the player to fall to the previous level.

Presents are scattered around the island that can be collected and used at any time. The effects of each present box are randomized each time the game is played. Some presents have helpful effects, such as restoring health, temporarily bestowing special abilities, or revealing hidden sections of the map. Others, however, can do more harm, and can do things such as summon enemies, cause the character to fall asleep and leave them open to attack, or randomize the effects of all the presents.

While most inhabitants of Earth will attack or otherwise hinder Toejam & Earl when they spot them, some will help them in exchange for money. The man in the carrot suit will identify presents, and the wizard will fully restore a character's health. On occasion, Santa Claus can be found, if the player is successful in sneaking up to him without alerting him, he will drop a few random presents.

The player has a rank shown on the bottom of the screen with their health and number of extra lives, and begins the game at the rank of 'Weiner'. As the player scores points by uncovering squares of the map and opening presents, their rank will increase at certain point values. When the player increases in rank, their maximum health increases, and for every second increase in rank, the player receives an extra life. The player is able to increase in rank eight times.

The game can either be played with one or two players. In two-player mode, if Toejam & Earl wander too far apart, the game will go into a split-screen so both players can keep track of their characters, with the screen returning to normal once the characters reunite. If Toejam & Earl walk into each other, they will high-five, causing the player with the most health to give a little to the player with less health. If one player loses all of their lives, they can also take a life from the other player to come back into the game.

The game ends when the player finds all 10 pieces of the spacecraft.

A sneaks and causes a character to use a present's special ability, when applicable. B pulls up an item screen. C switches to a map of the current island.

Production Credits

Game Design: Greg Johnson
Game Program: Mark Voorsanger
Additional Programming: Robert Leyland
Music Direction: Mark Miller
Music Composition: John Baker
Artwork: Greg Johnson, Avril Harrison
Sound Fx: Robert Leyland, Mark Miller
Invaluable Aid: Paul Reiche, Fred Ford
Producer: Scott Berfield
Awesome Support: Hugh Bowen

Physical Scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
87
87
75
20 №53
Sega Mega Drive
67
Based on
4 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
70
[1]
ACE (UK)
0
[2]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
73
[3]
Computer Game Review (US) NTSC-U
79
[4]
Console XS (UK) PAL
93
[5]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
70
[6]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
70
[7]
Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)
80
[8]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
68
[9]
Game Power (IT)
72
[10]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
84
[11]
Gamers (DE)
73
[12]
GamesMaster (UK)
70
[13]
Games-X (UK)
90
[14]
Game Informer (US)
90
[15]
Game Zone (UK) PAL
89
[16]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
80
[17]
Hobby Consolas (ES)
87
[18]
Joypad (FR) PAL
94
[19]
Joystick (FR) PAL
88
[20]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL
72
[21]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
71
[22]
Mega (UK) PAL
91
[23]
Mega Force (FR) PAL
85
[24]
MegaTech (UK)
87
[25]
Mean Machines (UK) PAL
87
[26]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
87
[27]
Player One (FR)
75
[28]
Play Time (DE)
95
[29]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
91
[30]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
93
[31]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
88
[32]
Sega Force (UK) PAL
94
[33]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
73
[34]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
77
[35]
Video Games (DE)
62
[36]
Sega Mega Drive
79
Based on
36 reviews

ToeJam & Earl

Mega Drive, US
TJaE MD US Box.jpg
Cover
Tje md us cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, EU
ToeJam MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, JP
Tje md jp cover.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, BR
TJaE MD BR Box.jpg
Cover
  1. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 246
  2. ACE, "February 1992" (UK; 1992-01-08), page 98
  3. Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1992" (JP; 1992-03-07), page 35
  4. Computer Game Review, "January, 1992" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 32
  5. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 135
  6. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "November 1991" (US; 1991-1x-xx), page 24
  7. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 363
  8. Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 109
  9. Famitsu, "1992-03-20" (JP; 1992-03-06), page 38
  10. Game Power, "Febbraio 1992" (IT; 1992-0-xx), page 54
  11. GamePro, "October 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 40
  12. Gamers, "Februar/März 1992" (DE; 1992-xx-xx), page 60
  13. GamesMaster (UK) "Series 1, episode 5" (1992-02-04, 24:00) (+5:40)
  14. Games-X, "31st October-6th November 1991" (UK; 1991-10-31), page 36
  15. Game Informer, "November/December 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 33
  16. Game Zone, "January 1992" (UK; 1991-12-18), page 24
  17. Hippon Super, "April 1992" (JP; 1992-03-04), page 84
  18. Hobby Consolas, "Enero 1992" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 34
  19. Joypad, "Octobre 1991" (FR; 1991-09-17), page 65
  20. Joystick, "Octobre 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 164
  21. Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 95
  22. Mega Drive Fan, "June 1992" (JP; 1992-05-08), page 83
  23. Mega, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 21
  24. Mega Force, "Septembre/Octobre 1991" (FR; 1991-09-13), page 86
  25. MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 81
  26. Mean Machines, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-10-29), page 106
  27. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 142
  28. Player One, "Novembre 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 60
  29. Play Time, "3/92" (DE; 1992-02-05), page 86
  30. Sega Power, "February 1992" (UK; 1992-01-02), page 35
  31. Sega Pro, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-xx-xx), page 62
  32. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 68
  33. Sega Force, "January 1992" (UK; 1991-12-12), page 30
  34. Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 86
  35. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 203
  36. Video Games, "4/91" (DE; 1991-12-06), page 32