ToeJam and Earl: Back in the Groove

Genre: Roguelike / Misc. Game

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local Splitscreen)

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Review:

ToeJam and Earl is the latest game Sega’s odd series of games starring a pair of “funky” aliens getting into misadventures on a bizarre version of Earth. This is a series that has repeatedly shifted and changed, and Back in the Groove takes things back to gameplay resembling the original game in the series, that has you searching for “gifts” and rocket pieces while avoiding pesky Earth-dwellers.

I’ve never liked the ToeJam and Earl games. I know that some people love ’em, but I just never saw the appeal. I didn’t care for the tryhard “funky fresh” presentation, I didn’t care for the aimless and seemingly random gameplay that didn’t seem to have any point to it. So if you love those earlier games and saw something in them that I simply can’t, you can take what I say with a grain of salt, beyond this – ToeJam and Earl: Back in the Groove is, by all appearances, a lovingly-crafted follow-up to the first game in the series.

For me, that means I still don’t like it. The game still strikes me as a random mess of tedious non-gameplay with a tryhard presentation, but I can at least appreciate that fans of the original will absolutely love this game, with its colorful, high-definition visuals that carry the spirit of the original game, and Roguelike elements that fit in perfectly with the random mess of gameplay the original had.

“But tell us how you really feel”, right? ~sigh~ In the end, I respect what ToeJam and Earl: Back in the Groove has done here – this is absolutely a game for fans of the original game, and I have little doubt that those fans will fall in love with this game. I am not one of those fans and I recognize that. But I also believe that other non-fans will feel as I do – that this is a pointless exercise in tedium not worth playing. In other words, this is a love it or hate it game.

tl;dr – ToeJam and Earl: Back in the Groove plays like a direct sequel to the first game in the series, and like that game you’ll be searching through levels for presents and ship parts while avoiding humans. Fans of the original game will love this, as this is a love letter to the that game. However, everyone else will find it tedious and dull.

Grade: C-

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