ToeJam & Earl Review - Screenshot 1 of 2

This is a very strange game. It was hugely popular at the time and most Megadrive / Genesis gamers at the time will probably remember the wacky lead characters, but how does it fare today?

The action is played from a top-down view. As either Tom Jam or Earl you must search the planet Funkatron for all the scattered parts of your spacecraft, with all manner of strange beasties throwing tomatoes and such like at you. This game has a very strange sense of humour and is quite psychedelic in places!

To prepare yourself for the weird inhabitants of Funkatron you can pick up a variety of weapons and "hi-top sneakers" which will help you run away (which is probably the best plan). You don't really have that much in the way of offensive options so if you're an action game fan then this is unlikely to get your pulse racing.

ToeJam & Earl Review - Screenshot 2 of 2

The two player mode is worthy of note and is one of the key reasons this game is so fondly remembered by fans. It gives you a split screen and works quite well. Considering this was one of the earlier Megadrive/Genesis games, the graphics are nice and colourful and the music is some of the best ever heard on Sega's 16-bit console. In fact, some of these tunes sound seriously catchy even by today's standards!

Conclusion

With nostalgia glasses on it will be easy to award this game top marks, but looking at it from a newcomer's point of view it is a bit dated. The gameplay is very slow moving and there are many things that are unfair like presents which impact you negatively and aliens who you have little chance of escaping from that knock you off the planet's surface and make you fall several levels! It's still worth experiencing but just don't blame us if you hate it!