ToeJam & Earl

From Sega Retro

n/a

ToeJam & Earl Title.png

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

















Release Date RRP Code
Wii Virtual Console
JP ▼ 		600pts600
Wii Virtual Console
US ▼ 		800pts800
Wii Virtual Console
EU ▼ 		800pts800
CERO
Missing Parameter!

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 90s 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

Promotional Material

  • TJaE MD US PrintAdvert.jpg

    US print advert

  • TJaE MD UK PrintAdvert.jpg

    UK print advert

  • TJaE MD BR PrintAdvert.jpg

    BR print advert

Digital manuals

  • Steam manual

Physical Scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
20 №53, p98[1]
80 №3, p8
73
70 №5
90 №28
89 №3, p24
87
94 №1, p65-67[2]
88 №20, p164
72 №5, p95
91 №9, p23
87 №1, p81[3]
87 №14, p106-108[4]
75 №14, p60/61
94 №1, p30/31[5]
91 №27, p34/35
93 №1, p62/63[6]
88 №18, p68
67 2008/4/7
62 Vol 91, №4
Sega Mega Drive
 80
Based on
20 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
70
[7]
ACE (UK)
0
[1]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
73
[8]
Computer Game Review (US) NTSC-U
79
[9]
Console XS (UK) PAL
93
[10]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
70
[11]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
70
[12]
Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)
80
[13]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
68
[14]
Game Power (IT)
72
[15]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
84
[16]
Gamers (DE)
73
[17]
GamesMaster (UK)
70
[18]
Games-X (UK)
90
[19]
Game Informer (US)
90
[20]
Game Zone (UK) PAL
89
[21]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
80
[22]
Hobby Consolas (ES)
87
[23]
Joypad (FR) PAL
94
[2]
Joystick (FR) PAL
88
[24]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL
72
[25]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
71
[26]
Mega (UK) PAL
91
[27]
Mega Force (FR) PAL
85
[28]
MegaTech (UK)
87
[29]
Mean Machines (UK) PAL
87
[4]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
87
[30]
Player One (FR)
75
[31]
Play Time (DE)
95
[32]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
91
[33]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
93
[34]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
88
[35]
Sega Force (UK) PAL
94
[36]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
73
[37]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
77
[38]
Video Games (DE)
62
[39]
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
TJE md us manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, EU
ToeJam MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
TJaE MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, JP
Tje md jp cover.jpg
Cover
ToeJamEarL MD JP CartTop.jpg
TJaE MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, AU

Mega Drive, BR
TJaE MD BR Box.jpg
Cover
TJaE MD BR Cart.jpg
Cart
Toejamearl md br manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, KR
ToeJamandEarl MD KR cover.jpg
Cover
ToeJamandEarl MD KR carttop.jpg
ToeJamandEarl MD KR cartback.jpgToeJamandEarl MD KR cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, CA
ToeJamEarl MD CA cover.jpg
Cover

External Links



Games in the ToeJam & Earl Series
Sega Mega Drive
 ToeJam & Earl (1991) | ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (1993)
Xbox
 ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth (2002)
Xbox Live Arcade
 Sega Vintage Collection: ToeJam & Earl (2012)
PlayStation 3 PlayStation Network
 Sega Vintage Collection: ToeJam & Earl (2013)
ToeJam & Earl related media
Music
 ToeJam and Earl Rap (1991) | Sega Tunes: ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (1996)
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 File:ACE UK 53.pdf, page 98 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:ACE UK 53.pdf_p98" defined multiple times with different content
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 File:Joypad FR 001.pdf, page 65 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joypad FR 001.pdf_p65" defined multiple times with different content
  3. ↑ File:Megatech UK 01.pdf, page 81
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 File:MeanMachines UK 14.pdf, page 106 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachines UK 14.pdf_p106" defined multiple times with different content
  5. ↑ File:SegaForce01UK.pdf, page 30
  6. ↑ File:Segapro UK 01.pdf, page 62
  7. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 246
  8. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1992" (JP; 1992-03-07), page 35
  9. ↑ Computer Game Review, "January, 1992" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 32
  10. ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 135
  11. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "November 1991" (US; 1991-1x-xx), page 24
  12. ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 363
  13. ↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 109
  14. ↑ Famitsu, "1992-03-20" (JP; 1992-03-06), page 38
  15. ↑ Game Power, "Febbraio 1992" (IT; 1992-0-xx), page 54
  16. ↑ GamePro, "October 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 40
  17. ↑ Gamers, "Februar/März 1992" (DE; 1992-xx-xx), page 60
  18. ↑ GamesMaster (UK) "Series 1, episode 5" (1992-02-04, 24:00) (+5:40)
  19. ↑ Games-X, "31st October-6th November 1991" (UK; 1991-10-31), page 36
  20. ↑ Game Informer, "November/December 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 33
  21. ↑ Game Zone, "January 1992" (UK; 1991-12-18), page 24
  22. ↑ Hippon Super, "April 1992" (JP; 1992-03-04), page 84
  23. ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Enero 1992" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 34
  24. ↑ Joystick, "Octobre 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 164
  25. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 95
  26. ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "June 1992" (JP; 1992-05-08), page 83
  27. ↑ Mega, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 21
  28. ↑ Mega Force, "Septembre/Octobre 1991" (FR; 1991-09-13), page 86
  29. ↑ MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 81
  30. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 142
  31. ↑ Player One, "Novembre 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 60
  32. ↑ Play Time, "3/92" (DE; 1992-02-05), page 86
  33. ↑ Sega Power, "February 1992" (UK; 1992-01-02), page 35
  34. ↑ Sega Pro, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-xx-xx), page 62
  35. ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 68
  36. ↑ Sega Force, "January 1992" (UK; 1991-12-12), page 30
  37. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 86
  38. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 203
  39. ↑ Video Games, "4/91" (DE; 1991-12-06), page 32
Retrieved from "https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=ToeJam_%26_Earl&oldid=271648"