Nothing breeds success like success. And having a whiff of nostalgia certainly helps, too. Following in the footsteps of Underworld, Wastelands, Tex Murphy, Shadowrun, all successful Kickstarter resurrections, the Sega Genesis classic ToeJam & Earl is prepping its own funky return.
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The crowdfunding campaign started yesterday and is already well on its way to success. For those of you who don't know, because you were actually born in the 90s, ToeJam & Earl was basically "The 90s: The Video Game", as seen through the lens of science fiction characters. It's all funky beats, ridiculous clothing and wicked slang. And it was all so glorious, one of gaming's best co-op experiences. Three games were released, with the last, 2002's ToeJam & Earl III: Mission To Earth, a pale imitation of the games that came before. It was an ignoble end to a really fun set of characters.
Until today.
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Original creator Greg Johnson and his company Humanature Studios are seeking funding for ToeJam & Earl: Back In The Groove! which will bring the funky twosome to a new generation of gamers. The PC game - sorry console players - will retain the same great gameplay from the original while giving everyone a nice new graphics overhaul. ToeJam and Earl will remain 2D sprites, but now in a 3D world that is entirely randomly generated.
Plus, they're bringing friends for some epic four player co-op that can be utilized either on-line or in the same room. We simply must stress again at how well the original two player experience works even to this day.
Also, "unlike the original TJ&E game, we now have elements that carry over from game to game, and players can gradually build up as they play repeatedly. We'll be introducing the idea of secret winged presents. Find and catch these to introduce new presents into the game. Collect hats that you keep from game to game, that boost your stats or give you abilities."
The studio will also be releasing a comic-book, which players can access a few pages at a time when they complete the game over and over again.
Lest we forget, the game will absolutely, 100 percent be bringing the funk. They're even going to shoot a music video featuring Tonez the Prince (ToeJam) and Greg Brown (Big Earl). You can listen to the track at the bottom of the KS page.
They're a quarter of the way done with plenty of time left. And there are rewards aplenty. Head over to the Kickstarter page to show your support!