ToeJam & Earl (1991)

Toejam & Earl is a one-of-a-kind game - a roguelike that focuses on fun over frustration, and with an impressive layout and seamless co-op that create an unforgettable experience.

Toejam and Earl are jammin dudes from another planet, but have crashed onto Earth with their spaceship in pieces. Questing across 25 either fixed or randomly generated floors, the player(s) can be either Toejam, Earl, or both. There are slight differences (speedier Toejam, Earl with more HP) but they aren't really advantageous over each other. The player mainly walks and avoids enemies, with the ability to pick up random presents and use their effects. Once used, these are recognized and can be re-used on pickup (unless you pick the Randomizer, ughhhh)

The presents are the real star of the show - rocket shoes, rain clouds, fudge sundaes, Icarus wings, instant death - you won't know what you're getting into but the presents better get used fast, or enemies like boogeymen, tornadoes, crazy doctors, and ladies with babies will run you down. The co-op is solid as well - the screens split to allow both players to go where they please and can even end up on different floors, creating an aid to exploration (and some bait!)

As for the visuals and music, that's where the game goes unforgettable. The vistas of wavy curves in the starry sky look incredible, with procedural generation that makes you scratch your head and wonder how such a masterpiece could be put together from a random seed. The music is incredibly catchy, and the UI and background scenes are some of the funkiest I've seen in a video game.

All in all, this game is probably my favorite rogue-like (sorry, Rogue) of all time. Creating an experience that is actually fun and a blast with friends, you won't put down this gem anytime soon.

Gameplay, Story and Value:

The premise of Panic on Funkotron is admittedly excellent: Humans have stowed away in Toejam and Earl's spaceship from earth, and are now invading Funkotron! If these lamo Humans aren't sent back home, they'll suck all funk out of the planet, leaving it a bland and boring monochrome wasteland... Since it was Toejam and Earl who brought them here, it's Toejam and Earl who'll have to round them up and send them back. Naturally, to do so they will use special totally-no-proto-Pokéball Human Capture Jars, toss the jars into a sack, and toss that sack onto a one-way shuttle back to Earth.

The atmosphere is fantastic, and the great NPCs only enhance the experience. It's unfortunate, then, that in the actual gameplay department Panic on Funkotron is wholly average.

The UI at the bottom of the screen presents you with all relevant information, chief among which is the Human Detection Arrow. This arrow will constantly point in the direction of the nearest Human, making the hunt fairly streamlined while not always too simple. Additionally, the entire game world is filled with arrows, always guiding you where to go, either in your quest for mass Human captivity or to secret areas. Herein lies my major complaint with the game. While I greatly appreciate the guidance, the result is that levels feel needlessly non-linear, and there's never any real incentive to break off the defined path. I'm all for on-rails games, I love left to right platformers after all, but Planet on Funkotron ultimately comes off as a mindless collect-a-thon.

The controls are straightforward and responsive, with one button to jump, another to throw jars, and a third to use your "Funk Power" and teleport a few yards. Jar throwing is nice in that you can throw in multiple directs with varied effects. Throwing forward has the greatest range but a slow rate of fire. You can throw jars in an upward arc to hit enemies above you, or jump and launch a barrage of jars straight downward. Finally you can set jars on the ground to have them act like mines.

The platforming itself, while never "bad", ranges from average to borderline nonsensical. Platforms and power-ups appear out of nowhere, often behind you. Switches can send you anyway, or nowhere, and secret areas can often temp you from just off-screen with seemingly no way to access them and often nothing worthwhile when you finally do.

Finally, a save system would have been nice given the length of the game and its levels, but instead we're left with complex passwords given out every two or three stages...

Presentation, Music and Sound:

Visually, Panic on Funkotron is a pretty good experience, though never truly spectacular. Environments seem alien and strange at first, but there's a distinct cohesion between all areas. While that's not really a bad thing, stages aren't particularly memorable as a result. Character animations are great and the funkiness promised by the title shines through in these character designs. It all looks like a trippy cartoon, and that's rad. The aforementioned UI does a very good job of providing all necessary information in a clean and easy manner, so no complaints there.

The music is... fine. It does a good job of setting the mood of the game though its subdued nature causes it to quickly fade into the background. Digitized voice samples of the main characters are a great touch, and further enhance the game's atmosphere.

Afterthoughts:

My feelings towards Planet on Funkotron are very similar to, of all things, Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Great story and style, but the gameplay is ultimately repetitive and average. This is another game that I would have preferred to be a straight-up platformer, I think, as the entire Human collecting element just felt tedious after not too long. Add to that the fact that there's 15 levels to get through, none of which could be called short, and you end up with a game that I'm just not compelled to sit through.

Review:

Gameplay: