Sega, master of secrets, has yet again let another unannounced game slip by: Toejam & Earl Vintage Collection. Achievements listed here:
http://exophase.com/game/svc-toejam-earl-xbox-360/achievements/
For those too young to have ever played Toejam & Earl, you're in for a treat. The original remains one of the most unique games ever to grace a console. Toejam & Earl was a 90's-influenced funk-themed roguelike for the sega genesis with an outrageous sense of humor. Featuring endless randomized worlds, it hit a peak that I feel none of the sequels ever came close to approaching.
Toejam & Earl 2 changed things up drastically, moving the game from a randomized rougelike to a platform game that, while extremely high quality and very fun, wasn't quite up to the standard of the first.
The third Toejam & Earl game was Ready, Aim, Tomatoes!, a menacer lightgun game that took place on the Earth of Toejam & Earl 1. Nearly all the enemies from the original game returned, including my favorites, the boogey man and the mad dentist.
Many years after Ready, Aim, Tomatoes was released, a fourth TJ&E game, confusingly named Toejam & Earl III, was released for the Xbox. It largely replaced Funk with Hip-Hop, and wasn't nearly as good as the rest of the series, but I still have a soft sport in my heart for it.
The Toejam & Earl games had an incredibly heavy focus on multiplayer, more so than most games at the time. They're all co-op affairs, and a good portion of each game's features aren't available to you unless you're playing with a friend. For example, in Toejam & Earl 1, you could gain exp by donating portions of your life to your partner by highfiving them.
The Toejam & Earl collection will without a doubt contain Toejam & Earl 1 and 2, and perhaps Ready, Aim, Tomatoes (which is, sadly, largely forgotten). I wouldn't count on TJ&E3 being included. However, the bigger piece to take away from this is that Sega apparently has some sort of deal with TJ&E Inc in place - Sega doesn't own Toejam & Earl. If Sega has been dealing with TJ&E Inc lately.... perhaps they're in Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed? Dare to dream.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FXdbE7AQOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgqESH1wgUk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COypNOdJOog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v35rh7dXQo4
OH SHIT! Open Rocket Boots Present and GTFO!
My brother and I had so much fun with this game growing up.
TJ&E3 I never got to play, since it was only released on an inferior system that I did not want to own for that one game alone. I really wish they would rerelease that one.
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I hated when you'd be late in the game, and have most presents identified, and you'd get one you didn't recognize and OH SHIT. It's the presents randomizer.... now you have no idea what your inventory -- or any present for that matter -- was.
Did anybody else ever find the hidden level 0 in the first toejam & earl? You had to either go to a higher world and drop down on the lower left hand corner of the map for level 1, or you could get some rocket boots or Icarus wings and either shoot over in that direction or fly over there. It was this tiny map with a hot tub and a bunch of girls in bikinis, and going there leveled you up a few times and replenished all your health.
I LOVED the first TJ&E. It was the first Genesis game I got after Sonic the Hedgehog, Columns, and Thunderforce, which I all got with the Genesis. It was the most stylish game of that entire generation IMO. The humor was the best part... I loved the chatter between toejam & earl between levels, yet another feature you don't get if you're playing solo.
EDIT: Also, Sega is in the habit of going the extra mile in their DD packages, be it full HD upgrades, translating games never released in the US, or whatever. Maybe, MAYBE if we're reeeeeeaaaallllyyyyyy lucky, this'll have online play.
Almost every mechanic from Toejam & Earl was taken from Rogue. It's a prototypical roguelike, probably the highest profile roguelike release ever to hit a console, but it's still a roguelike. What separates it from, say, nethack, however, is that it's extremely accessible and inviting, and it has a great theme and setting.
I can appreciate games like nethack today thanks to the hours I put into toejam & earl back in the day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLGq-3tSveQ
A classic moment. Also where I learned the word "titter" exists.
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There are so many things in the game which make you laugh, or at least grin. Those hula girls were my most hated enemy, yet I simultaneously loved them because both Toejam and Earl's dance when they came near them made me laugh.
Also, nostalgia overload:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_m_7bBUqaM
I remember we'd sometimes open a randomizer on purpose if we saw the other person battling with a Mob, Dentist, Ice Cream Truck or any of the other many dangerous foes. It was always hilarious as they frantically tried to get away, and we'd laugh hard when it was a close call. However we could also get into a wrestling match if it did end in their demise.
When I wanted to be a dick, I'd use the rose bushes to push my friend back towards a cliff, and eventually knock him off. Sometimes I'd get lucky and he'd fall like 6 or 7 levels, and he'd be PISSED. Such a fun game.
I loved the shit out of the first game. Played it a ton in high-school.
Actually, going down to level 1 always deposited you onto the tiny island in the middle, so you had to make a special trip to the lower left hand corner with boots, wings, or an innertube (safest route). There's also a small island in the top right corner covered with presents, but it's usually not worth the trip in my experience. It can be difficult to get back to the central island unless you have more travel items or a doorway (which also always deposits you on the central island).
I played this game so much. My parents loved it too. My mom and I always explored as much as possible (because more presents and XP!) and my dad and sister always just wanted to beat the game. Exploration was risky though, especially on sandy levels.
We had sneaking up on Santa down to a science.
Elevator banter was the greatest thing ever.
We've gotten as close as one piece when we were kids, but my mom arrived to pick me up.
Now a days I just suck at the game. One day... one day..
The Genesis (and 32bit era in general I guess) was a great time for games.
Also i feel like I'm the only human being alive who liked panic on funkotron more than the first. And i loved the first one. But panic was easily one of my favorite platformers of all time. I really really enjoyed it.
Hyperfunk zone indeed.
Oh and i remember reading up on the games history and apparently there was plenty enough risk making it back then. I know i read there was a lot of doubt in the direction the game was going.
I only beat the second game, the original was too much for me in my youth. Shit, beating the second was no small task either. Ill be delighted to try my hand at the first once again.
This is going to be totally rad; totally rad to the max, poindexter.
Finished the first though. One badass gaming night as a kid with my friend.
Oh man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vloYvK2sK1g
The sound at 1:17 is burned into my brain. See an enemy that'll probably kill you and go into ohfuckohfuckohfuck mode.
Also, I don't think we ever beat it.
This and herzog zwei were two of the best multiplayer games.
I read the manuals over and over again for the enemy descriptions. I found them profoundly amusing.
he always made me play as tails in sonic 2, so when he got this game instead i was elated to actually play a real 2-player game
This game is just...
yeah. I can't believe I didn't make the connection with roguelikes until this thread, though.
I was just holding my head for a few minutes, stunned at the revelation.
Also,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vswQ3-J7yM
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Yeah you aren't the only one. Someone mentioned it in here and I was like OH HEY!
If these games come out on steam or something and have online play, oh god
Rap, rap!
I'm fine with either one.
This is a Sega Vintage Collection, meaning emulation handled by M2.
We just knew it was cool as heck but then frustration set in. . .
Other news is that you can grab the games individually or as a bundle and online co-op is featured.
Definitely going to snag the first game. I had it back when I was a kid and I loved it.
For shame. And you're even a Diablo/Torchlight fan.
This is the original Diablo!