Toejam & Earl is one of the earliest games I can still remember playing all the way back on the Sega Genesis. I also remember being pretty crap at it, but I was also maybe 8 years old at the time. Still, it was a game with a lot of character. I’ve had an eye on the remaster for a while, and finally pulled the trigger on it when it went on sale.
Toejam & Earl: Back in the Groove is a faithful remake of the original game. The graphics have been updated so that the characters and world match the art style shown off in the promotional material. The 90s charm is still there in all the right ways. The Rugrats style backgrounds for loading screens, the main duo’s “hip” style, and the surreal enemies you face. I remember the evil dentist and his cackling laughter from back in ’96. And there were other characters I remembered after seeing them pop up here, like the carrot man, evil mailbox, and sand twisters. But they’ve updated the game with new enemies, the most noticeable being the two kids who text on their smartphones. They also give you characters and silly hats to unlock. The hats give you power-ups and each character has a set of stats like speed, health, presents identifying, etc. You can earn random upgrades to these skills, there’s no RPG style level up system where you can pick what to invest in.
A lot of the classic present powerups are back, like the running shoes, map revealing telephone, and insta-death ones. I did notice a lack of the Icarus wings & rocket boots, but that may be due to poor RNG luck on my part. My favorite part of the original game made it’s return here, Level 0. It was the first secret level I ever found in a game. It’s back here with the hot tub and lemonade stand, but they’ve also added a spot to show off all the big backers of the game. I learned in the credits this game was produced by Macauley Culkin, which was an unexpected meeting of 90s-ness.
So, there’s a lot of nostalgia factor to this game, but probably the biggest is the music. While Toejam & Earl are stylized as hip-hop rap guys, the soundtrack is much more funk. The 16-bit tunes have been updated with actual instruments. It’s a lot of funky bass that reminded me of the one Primus song I know. Each level gives you a different funk track to play to. Admittedly some are better than others, but none are painful to listen to.
As I said, I remember Toejam & Earl being difficult. Its gameplay is what one would call “roguelike”. They do give you a game mode where all the levels are fixed, so you can learn the layout of them after each playthrough, but there’s also a random level mode, which is more how I remember the original. The goal is still the same as the Sega version. Go around collecting your broken ship parts and avoiding the wacky Earthlings. The difficulty comes in with navigating the levels. Earth is a set of floating islands and our heroes can’t jump. You have to uncover the map and find hidden paths to reach the missing ship parts and the elevators that take you to the next level. Toejam & Earl have no offensive capabilities besides a few presents that give them limited ranged attacks. You have to avoid drawing Earthlings’ attention and keep at a constant pace. Most of them are faster than you, especially in later levels. Running out of their roaming area or hiding in water is the most effective ways to avoid them, but even still you will get got a couple times. If they hit you just right you will fall off your current level to the previous level you just played. That was something that always made the game unique, but does mean you’ve got to replay the level again.
I couldn’t tell what exactly triggered an enemy noticing you. It seemed more about randomness than line of sight or any other factor. Later levels started to feel a bit unfair. You were required to go a certain direction, possibly down a narrow path, and there would be a dangerous enemy right behind you. If you didn’t have any presents that provide some defense, you basically have to accept the hit. The ice cream trucks are the worst. I lucked out on the very last level that I had an “amped-up” present that teleported me straight to the ship part. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t have beat the game.
The game can also be played in co-op. That’s actually the encouraged way to play it. I played a game with my sister, just like the old times, and it was tough. I noticed that playing co-op does make the levels harder, even if you’re on the same difficulty. There were more enemies spawned in and they seem to hit a lot harder. Still, two players has it’s fun moments, like watching your teammate fall off the edge being goofy and waiting for them to ride the elevator back up.
All in all, this game’s most potent weapon is nostalgia & it does good on recapturing the joy of the Genesis classic while strategically updating it in unobtrusive ways. This may have appeal to people who this is their first Toejam & Earl game, but it’s mainly made for the fans of the classic.
