MaverickHunterX
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Who are ToeJam & Earl? And why should you care?
ToeJam (the red guy with three legs) & Earl (the big orange guy with the shades) are teenaged aliens from the planet Funkotron. Usually laid-back and carefree, (ToeJam usually the outspoken of the two, while Earl replies in simple, one-worded responses), the duo's journey begins with a simple joyride that goes awry due to Big Earl's horrid driving skills.
The team finds themselves stranded on the planet Earth, whose strange and annoying inhabitants wish to do them harm. In order to escape their predicament, TJ&E have to transverse the strange terrain in order to seek out the missing parts of their wrecked ship, and find their way back home. The title allowed two players to go their own path into search of parts and power-ups(found in Christmas presents). Players could also choose preset worlds or randomized ones where every game was a new experience. Based on their performance, players could also level up their character (starting with the "wiener" status). The title even had a "Music-Video" mini game where you could make your own TJ&E video mixed to various beats.
The sequel, "Panic on Funkotron," picks up immediately after the end of the first game. Their home planet of Funkotron celebrates at the return of our funky duo, until they discover that TJ&E brought back something with them - the antagonistic Earthlings from their first adventure. To make matters worse, the "alien" invaders scare the master of Funkotron's funkiness, Lamont the Funkapotamus into another dimension. This leaves Funkotron a boring place without any fun or color, and most of its population super-peeved at our heroes. In order to get out of hot water, TJ&E must capture all of the Earthlings, ship them home, and find the favorite items of Lamont in order to convince him to come back to Funkotron (the latter being a decider of which of the multiple endings you would receive). Sounds easy, right?
More history...
TJ&E were created by game designers Greg Johnson and Mark Voorsanger, who were inspired by open world dungeon crawlers, hip-hop, jazz/funk, and light-hearted science fiction. They pitched TJ&E to Sega in 1991. TJ&E was released to critical acclaim but slow sales. This changed after the Genesis/Mega Drive system picked up steam due to the release of Sonic the Hedgehog. The game then reached "cult" status.
In 1993, Johnson and Voorsanger approached Sega about a sequel, but they were quickly shot down. The team re-worked the game into a co-op platformer to which Sega accepted, preferring it than another open world styled title. "Panic on Funkotron," opened to commercial and critical success, but yet alienated fans of the original.
TJ&E also made their status as Sega mascots by appearing in several other titles for the system. This includes the "Ready, Aim, Tomatoes!" for the Menacer 6-in-1 cart, as well as the Mario Paint-style game Wacky Worlds.
A third game was originally planned for the Dreamcast, but was later ported to the Xbox in 2002. "Mission to Earth," was met with mixed reviews and poor sales despite a return to the open world structure of the first game. It is also worth noting that TJ&E3 was one of the first Xbox games that supported DLC.
Because of this, TJ&E disappeared from the limelight. It has been even said that the original game was removed from several Sega Classics collections due to this disappointment. The last time the series had touched a console was on the Wii's Virtual Console collection on Christmas Day, 2006 (the series finally received an official PC port on the Genesis Collection Gold Edition on Steam).
A few years back, Sega held an online poll where they asked which of their classics would customers loved to see revived on the HD twins. The number 1 title was the ToeJam & Earl series. However, plans were halted when the original creators (who own the copyrights to the funky duo) stated that Sega had never consulted them about a supposed release.
Here and Now...
We are receiving new ports of both TJ&E games on both Xbox Live Arcade and PSN.
These versions will include
-New emulation by M2
-Co-op play via local and online (for both titles)
-Voice Chat for Online Play
-Achievements and Trophies for each version
-Leaderboards
-Dolby Digital
-Low, Low price (especially when looking at the originals on eBay)
-The games will be sold separate on PSN for $4.99 each on November 6/7 (US/EUR) and in a double pack on XBLA for 800 Microsoft Points/Space Bucks/$10 on November 7.
Screens (courtesy of xbox.com)
Achievement/Trophy List (courtesy of ps3trophies.org/xbox360achievements.org)
Word Up! Back To Outer Space!
[TJ&E] Clear a Random World (Gold/40GS)
Smell Ya Later, Earth!
[TJ&E] Clear the Fixed World (Silver/40GS)
The Long Road To Funkiness
[TJ&E] Obtain a rank of FUNK LORD (Silver/30GS)
The Mailbox Ate My Mail!
[TJ&E] Defeat a Demon Mailbox (Bronze/15GS)
Fallen Angel
[TJ&E] Defeat a Cupid (Bronze/15GS)
Wh-wh-what Time Is It!?
[TJ&E] Wake up from a nap (Bronze/5GS)
This Earth Food Isn't Half Bad!
[TJ&E] Eat all of Earth's delicacies (Bronze/15GS)
It's All About The Kicks
[TJ&E] Dash with the Super Hitops (Bronze/5GS)
We're Unstoppable
[TJ&E] Fly across water using the Rocket Skates (Bronze/5GS)
Up, Up, And Away
[TJ&E] Fly using the Icarus Wings (Bronze/5GS)
Even Adults Like Presents
[TJ&E] Snag some goodies from Santa (Bronze/15GS)
Lovin' This Earth Lifestyle
[TJ&E] Jump in the bath on Floor 0 (Bronze/10GS)
Peace Returns To Our Home
[TJ&E2] Clear the game (Gold/50GS)
Inner Child
[TJ&E2] Clear "Lil' Kid Mode" (Silver/30GS)
Take Back The Skies
[TJ&E2] Defeat a duck on a flying carpet (Silver/20GS)
I'll Just Go On Ahead
[TJ&E2] Find a Warp Room (Bronze/15GS)
Clean Better, Faster, Easier!
[TJ&E2] Suck up 4 or more things at once with the Funk Vacuum (Bronze/15GS)
FeeLIN' KRaZy
[TJ&E2] Go into Panic Mode (Bronze/15GS)
The Jingle of Change
[TJ&E2] Use some coins (Bronze/5GS)
Shake, Rattle, and Fall!
[TJ&E2] Shake 5 presents out of a single tree (Bronze/10GS)
Sorry, I Just Can't Help Myself!
[TJ&E2] Have a laughing fit (Bronze/10GS)
Treasures Just Out Of Sight
[TJ&E2] Use the Funk Scan (Bronze/10GS)
Can't Hide From Me!
[TJ&E2] Find an Earthling hidden in a plant (Bronze/15GS)
A Big Wet Kiss
[TJ&E2] Give a blowfish an underwater kiss (Bronze/5GS)
Who are ToeJam & Earl? And why should you care?
ToeJam (the red guy with three legs) & Earl (the big orange guy with the shades) are teenaged aliens from the planet Funkotron. Usually laid-back and carefree, (ToeJam usually the outspoken of the two, while Earl replies in simple, one-worded responses), the duo's journey begins with a simple joyride that goes awry due to Big Earl's horrid driving skills.
The team finds themselves stranded on the planet Earth, whose strange and annoying inhabitants wish to do them harm. In order to escape their predicament, TJ&E have to transverse the strange terrain in order to seek out the missing parts of their wrecked ship, and find their way back home. The title allowed two players to go their own path into search of parts and power-ups(found in Christmas presents). Players could also choose preset worlds or randomized ones where every game was a new experience. Based on their performance, players could also level up their character (starting with the "wiener" status). The title even had a "Music-Video" mini game where you could make your own TJ&E video mixed to various beats.
The sequel, "Panic on Funkotron," picks up immediately after the end of the first game. Their home planet of Funkotron celebrates at the return of our funky duo, until they discover that TJ&E brought back something with them - the antagonistic Earthlings from their first adventure. To make matters worse, the "alien" invaders scare the master of Funkotron's funkiness, Lamont the Funkapotamus into another dimension. This leaves Funkotron a boring place without any fun or color, and most of its population super-peeved at our heroes. In order to get out of hot water, TJ&E must capture all of the Earthlings, ship them home, and find the favorite items of Lamont in order to convince him to come back to Funkotron (the latter being a decider of which of the multiple endings you would receive). Sounds easy, right?
More history...
TJ&E were created by game designers Greg Johnson and Mark Voorsanger, who were inspired by open world dungeon crawlers, hip-hop, jazz/funk, and light-hearted science fiction. They pitched TJ&E to Sega in 1991. TJ&E was released to critical acclaim but slow sales. This changed after the Genesis/Mega Drive system picked up steam due to the release of Sonic the Hedgehog. The game then reached "cult" status.
In 1993, Johnson and Voorsanger approached Sega about a sequel, but they were quickly shot down. The team re-worked the game into a co-op platformer to which Sega accepted, preferring it than another open world styled title. "Panic on Funkotron," opened to commercial and critical success, but yet alienated fans of the original.
TJ&E also made their status as Sega mascots by appearing in several other titles for the system. This includes the "Ready, Aim, Tomatoes!" for the Menacer 6-in-1 cart, as well as the Mario Paint-style game Wacky Worlds.
A third game was originally planned for the Dreamcast, but was later ported to the Xbox in 2002. "Mission to Earth," was met with mixed reviews and poor sales despite a return to the open world structure of the first game. It is also worth noting that TJ&E3 was one of the first Xbox games that supported DLC.
Because of this, TJ&E disappeared from the limelight. It has been even said that the original game was removed from several Sega Classics collections due to this disappointment. The last time the series had touched a console was on the Wii's Virtual Console collection on Christmas Day, 2006 (the series finally received an official PC port on the Genesis Collection Gold Edition on Steam).
A few years back, Sega held an online poll where they asked which of their classics would customers loved to see revived on the HD twins. The number 1 title was the ToeJam & Earl series. However, plans were halted when the original creators (who own the copyrights to the funky duo) stated that Sega had never consulted them about a supposed release.
Here and Now...
We are receiving new ports of both TJ&E games on both Xbox Live Arcade and PSN.
These versions will include
-New emulation by M2
-Co-op play via local and online (for both titles)
-Voice Chat for Online Play
-Achievements and Trophies for each version
-Leaderboards
-Dolby Digital
-Low, Low price (especially when looking at the originals on eBay)
-The games will be sold separate on PSN for $4.99 each on November 6/7 (US/EUR) and in a double pack on XBLA for 800 Microsoft Points/Space Bucks/$10 on November 7.
Screens (courtesy of xbox.com)
Achievement/Trophy List (courtesy of ps3trophies.org/xbox360achievements.org)
Word Up! Back To Outer Space!
[TJ&E] Clear a Random World (Gold/40GS)
Smell Ya Later, Earth!
[TJ&E] Clear the Fixed World (Silver/40GS)
The Long Road To Funkiness
[TJ&E] Obtain a rank of FUNK LORD (Silver/30GS)
The Mailbox Ate My Mail!
[TJ&E] Defeat a Demon Mailbox (Bronze/15GS)
Fallen Angel
[TJ&E] Defeat a Cupid (Bronze/15GS)
Wh-wh-what Time Is It!?
[TJ&E] Wake up from a nap (Bronze/5GS)
This Earth Food Isn't Half Bad!
[TJ&E] Eat all of Earth's delicacies (Bronze/15GS)
It's All About The Kicks
[TJ&E] Dash with the Super Hitops (Bronze/5GS)
We're Unstoppable
[TJ&E] Fly across water using the Rocket Skates (Bronze/5GS)
Up, Up, And Away
[TJ&E] Fly using the Icarus Wings (Bronze/5GS)
Even Adults Like Presents
[TJ&E] Snag some goodies from Santa (Bronze/15GS)
Lovin' This Earth Lifestyle
[TJ&E] Jump in the bath on Floor 0 (Bronze/10GS)
Peace Returns To Our Home
[TJ&E2] Clear the game (Gold/50GS)
Inner Child
[TJ&E2] Clear "Lil' Kid Mode" (Silver/30GS)
Take Back The Skies
[TJ&E2] Defeat a duck on a flying carpet (Silver/20GS)
I'll Just Go On Ahead
[TJ&E2] Find a Warp Room (Bronze/15GS)
Clean Better, Faster, Easier!
[TJ&E2] Suck up 4 or more things at once with the Funk Vacuum (Bronze/15GS)
FeeLIN' KRaZy
[TJ&E2] Go into Panic Mode (Bronze/15GS)
The Jingle of Change
[TJ&E2] Use some coins (Bronze/5GS)
Shake, Rattle, and Fall!
[TJ&E2] Shake 5 presents out of a single tree (Bronze/10GS)
Sorry, I Just Can't Help Myself!
[TJ&E2] Have a laughing fit (Bronze/10GS)
Treasures Just Out Of Sight
[TJ&E2] Use the Funk Scan (Bronze/10GS)
Can't Hide From Me!
[TJ&E2] Find an Earthling hidden in a plant (Bronze/15GS)
A Big Wet Kiss
[TJ&E2] Give a blowfish an underwater kiss (Bronze/5GS)
