Adventurous: Sprinkled with vibrant details, the new Toejam and Earl game is full of visual surprises, just like its predecessor.

Originally released in 1991, the original Toejam & Earl video game was a good summation of the era’s eclectic tendencies in child entertainment.

A newly released remake of the game titled Toejam & Earl: Back in the Groove captures all of the franchise’s eager weirdness for a whole new audience, or simply for older gamers wanting to taste that nostalgia.

Fans of the original game will likely take some enjoyment to it while newer gamers may feel the game’s legacy precedes its playability.

Exclusively released on the Sega Genesis, the original game introduced two rap-and-funk-loving alien creatures whose accidental crash-landing on earth takes them on a mission of trying to locate pieces of their spaceship, all in order to get back to their home planet.

The co-op nature of the game was one of its strongest features, with a then-rare split screen display for two buddies to control both characters during simultaneous play.

Toejam & Earl brought together late 80s and early 90s hip-hop and funk culture with the kind of off-kilter humor that seems tame today but felt really out there back then.

There were ghostly ice cream trucks prowling about, geeky-looking villains, mailboxes that would try to eat you, gigantic hamsters and chickens whose claws were equipped with mortars that would shoot out tomatoes.

The two titular characters are somewhat of a satirical take on urban culture with their street getups and lingo. The game was not an immediate hit but word-of-mouth recommendations slowly made it a cult hit, and it eventually became successful enough to be seen as one of Sega’s defining titles.

The remake is the fourth official entry in the franchise (the last one was 2002’s underwhelming Mission to Earth) and it acts as modernized rendering of the first game. It was produced through a Kickstarter campaign, which aimed to fundraise US$400,000 but ended up bringing home $500,000 — showcasing just how strong its fan base still is.

The game’s original release date of 2016 kept getting pushed back due to publishing issues, eventually resulting in its digital self-publication by HumNature Studios, with Limited Run Games publishing physical versions for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.

Back in the Groove is, for all intents and purposes, the same game as its descendent — so much so that it often feels like basically replaying the old game, only with better graphics.

The visuals explode with color and a sense of limitlessness that owes a lot of to the loud, vibrant nature of street art. The characters move as they did in the old game, chill and dazed, but the new graphics make them and the surrounding elements pop out even more. The universe is simply much more intriguing to experience and explore — something that the game certainly encourages players to do.

Again, the aliens’ ship has crashed and the duo must locate the missing pieces in order to return to their home planet: the very 90s sounding Funkotron. There are 10 of these pieces scattered about the lands, which lay somewhat atop of each other and are connected by some sort of elevator.

The gameplay works as a classic role-playing game (RPG), with the characters having to traverse through the levels in a procedural manner. All the elements — the pieces of the ships, objects and enemies — are strewn about differently with every playthrough.

This means every run-through will engage players in different ways, and with different levels of difficulty. You simply never know how hard your search or your encounters with enemies will be each time.

These enemies come in many forms including tiny devils and evil cops. That death results in a complete level start over — much like the old games of the franchise’s heyday — adds very much to the challenging, if not frustrating nature of gameplay.

Indeed, with most of the franchise’s feelings of nostalgia stemming from its aesthetic and lackadaisically “chill” elements, it’s easy to forget just how challenging the game can actually be.

Still, the challenges, I suspect, will for many take a backseat to the game’s presentation and pacing. It is simply an out-there experience, with an almost open-world feel as Toejam and Earl can spend time exploring their colorful surroundings.

The randomness of the things you can pick up with every playthrough adds a lot to the game and gives it a lot of its personality.

Players can pick to play as old school versions of these characters or their modernized versions. Each have different skills and abilities. For instance, the old version of Earl can eat practically anything without getting sick while the new one, for some reason, gets discounts when he goes out for sushi and root beers.

Playing the game old-school co-op style remains the best way to experience it, but up to four players can play together online.

The soundtrack is one of the title’s calling cards, and it remains rooted heavily in funk and rap (leaning more heavily toward the former).

The humor of the series remains, and while it may sometimes feel a little dated, there’s a lot to admire in how Back in the Groove moves forward with its aesthetic and gameplay without trying to be as edgy as much of today’s comedy. It’s definitely very 90s and comfortable with the fact. (ste)

— Photos courtesy of HumaNature Studios and Limited Run Games

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Toejam & Earl: Back in the Groove

Developer: HumaNature Studios
Director: Greg Johnson
Publisher: HumaNature Studios and Limited Run Games (Physical PS4 and Switch versions)
Available on: Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Reviewed on Nintendo Switch

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