ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth is an action video game released for the Xbox on October 23, 2002. Developed by ToeJam & Earl Productions and Visual Concepts, and published by Sega and Microsoft, it is the third installment in the ToeJam & Earl series. Players assume the role of one of three extraterrestrial protagonists: ToeJam and Earl, who starred in the series’ first two games, and Latisha, a new character. While using power-ups to combat enemies, players seek to collect the twelve “Sacred Albums of Funk” and defeat the antagonistic “Anti-Funk”.
The original two ToeJam & Earl games were a key Sega Genesis franchise, but development of a third game was prevented by the poor North American commercial performance of the console’s successor, the Sega Saturn. Versions of ToeJam & Earl III developed at different times for the Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast were canceled, but the latter was completed for the Xbox. On release, the game met with poor sales and mixed reviews; while certain critics found its gameplay innovative, its humor, soundtrack and graphics were variously praised and derided. Opinions of the game’s overall enjoyability and longevity were also mixed.
The game has been called both a platform game[2] and an action-adventure game.[9] GameSpot asserts that it combines elements of ToeJam & Earl and its platformer sequel, ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron,[9] while GameNOW and Electronic Gaming Monthly liken it to the former game.[10][11] The game features both single- and two-player modes; in both, players control one of the three protagonists. ToeJam moves quickly and jumps high, but has weak attacks; Earl is tougher and has more powerful attacks, but is slow and jumps lower than ToeJam; Latisha ranks between the two in terms of athleticism, and gains additional power-ups later in the game.[7] In the game’s two-player mode, the camera moves between single and split-screen as players maneuver their characters away from each other. Characters can share power-ups when in close proximity.[7]
The game’s randomly generated levels are connected together by hubs.[8] Additional levels can be downloaded from Xbox Live.[7] Level exploration is based around collecting items: the player searches for the Sacred Albums of Funk, and for keys that grant access to more levels.[2][12] Enemies include rabbit ninja, a “demented chicken”,[2] and “psycho cheerleaders”,[8] which the player combats with Funk-Fu and Funk Notes. Funk Notes are projectiles that render enemies “funkified”, or harmless;[8] more powerful than Funk-Fu, they require the player to gather ammunition.[2] The player may also find wrapped presents, which contain power-ups such as rocket skates, spring shoes and food;[9] these variously grant greater defensive abilities, access to certain areas, and additional health.[7] Another power-up involves a simple rhythm game, and leaves nearby enemies “funkified” if the player successfully copies on-screen rhythms.[8]
Platforms
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