Once again Kickstarter and crowd-funding is hopefully poised to bring back another classic series to the modern era. Toejam and Earl was a real out of left field series for the Sega Genesis and now one of the co creators is back to create the first true sequel since the original in 1991.
Toejam and Earl Back in the Groove:
When many people think of great classic or old school titles, they normally turn to the PC with games like Starcontrol 2, Simcity, Doom and other genre defining or original games. But the consoles also had their fair share of original and amazing games and Toejam and Earl was one such game.
The titled characters are aliens who crash land on Earth and have to work together to find their missing spaceship parts and get off of the messed up planet before the Earthlings do them in. What’s very interesting about the game was how the gameplay really was ahead of its time in several fascinating areas.
First is that Toejam and Earl actually had rogue-like elements and if we think about it, it was one of the first examples of rogue-like design that was not on the PC. Every level of the game was randomly generated based on items, enemies and the overall environment. Pits and the boundary of the level would drop the player one floor below while finding elevators would send them up to the next. The object of the game was to find their missing spaceship pieces which were randomly scattered throughout the game.
Like most rogue-like games, Toejam and Earl had randomly placed items in the form of presents hidden in the game. Each present box design would become assigned to an item that would last until the end of the game where all the presents would have their contents randomized again. Reading all that back does sound very much like a rogue-like but Toejam and Earl also had one other great part — co-op multiplayer.
The entire game could be played solo or with a friend and the two players can work together on every level. What’s very interesting is that this is the first game that I can think of for the console market that had split screen co-op along with a very catchy soundtrack made the game a hit.
The sequels didn’t capture the magic of the original sadly due to genre and design changes which the co-creator and Kickstarter runner Greg Johnson is aware of. And that’s why he is turning to Kickstarter to make the Toejam and Earl sequel that he wants and one that he is hoping the fans want as well.
Funky:
At this time there isn’t much information regarding Back in the Groove and I will be speaking with Greg on an upcoming podcast to get more info. What we know is that this is definitely a sequel to the original’s rogue-like design and structure so expect randomly generated levels and a tough challenge.
New features include online co-op with up to four players, a new art style which the video here is still early footage and subject to change along with other enhancements.
What has me excited is that I still have fond memories of the original Toejam and Earl and I have an awesome story about this game that I’m going to talk about on the podcast which involves my mom and how for one day she was the best gamer I knew.
Other then the prospect of seeing a sequel to one of my favorite games growing up, I’m not seeing anything standout that is either good or bad from the kickstarter campaign. There are a lot of physical rewards which we’ve talked about on numerous podcasts as a risky venture, but Greg assures that the shipping and manufacturing has been factored and will not cause any issues with funding. And be aware that I will definitely do my best to try and sweet talk him into giving me some of that swag like those Toejam and Earl figures.
Classic Crowdfunding:
Kickstarter has been instrumental over the last few years in getting classic series and genres new life and it appears that it’s time to try it with Toejam and Earl. I’m wishing them the best of luck as getting the chance to make the game that you want to make without publisher interference is one of the best advantages of kickstarter and a unique series like Toejam and Earl needs a fully aligned creative vision.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lC-f-s0XbQ[/youtube]
