ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove! | PS4 | Review

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Bust out the hi-tops, gold chains, fluorescent trousers and square hair, gang, for it’s time to revisit the beloved 90s world of ToeJam & Earl. That’s right, the titular twosome are Back in the Groove.

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by Rob Holt

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@acousticmagic

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Developer: HumaNature Studios INC
Publisher: HumaNature Studios INC
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Players: 1 - 4

Those familiar with the previous SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis incarnations - Toejam & Earl and Panic on Funkotron - will know exactly what to expect here, as not much has changed in 20 years (take that as you will). Whether you know the series or not, though, you’re in for a serious nostalgia trip, albeit not without its flaws...

This Kickstarter-funded revival begins when ToeJam and Earl crash their spaceship into none other than our fair Earth, blasting the ship into ten separate pieces conveniently scattered across a truly bizarre depiction of the planet. They’re ready and waiting for you (plus potential chums) to find, on a journey which sees you discover mini-games, power-ups, stitch-ups, and a seriously kooky cast of characters in a collect-a-thon of radical proportions!

In true 90s arcade fashion, each Back in the Groove session begins with the tricky task of selecting one of the nine available (three of which are unlockable) characters. Once that mountain has been conquered, your quest to find the pieces of your ship begins. Those looking for dense story and deep gameplay should probably walk away, right about now - this one’s not for you.

​Each level of BITG is presented as a collection of isometric islands, all simply suspended in space. Some levels contain ship parts for you to find, others do not, but each stage always has worthy characters to seek out before unearthing the lift to the next level and riding it up to the proceeding piece of floating land.

The yes-of-course-he’s-dressed-as-a-carrot Wiseman character serves to level you up from the lowly rank of Cabbage, right through to Poindexter and the dizzying heights of Funklord, in a fun, but not particularly meaningful, RPG-lite system. There are healers (self-explanatory), sushi chefs (they’ll knock you up something tasty and rejuvenating for a fee), dodgy dealers (item tradesmen) and perhaps our favourite, Gandhi, who makes the surrounding area peaceful and vibrant.

​Let’s not forget the baddies, though: the cast of irritants and nasties feature earthlings of all flavours, encompassing autograph-hunting fans, FBI agents, and even sharks. That’s neglecting to mention the likes of ghostly cows, that corpulent, bald casanova, Cupid, and tornadoes that’ll knock you off the edge of a level, back down to the previous one. These foes are rarely threatening, mind, as there’s always a Sunflower forest to hide away in, playing a sublime little jingle whenever you walk into one.

Waltzing around as a bodacious alien, dressed as Vanilla Ice, bopping to a superbly funky soundtrack, is quite the treat in itself.

Now, you could be forgiven for reading all of the above and wondering what the point of the whole shebang is. A fair assessment, perhaps, but that’d be to miss the essence of BITG completely. Waltzing around as a bodacious alien, dressed as Vanilla Ice, bopping to a superbly funky soundtrack, is quite the treat in itself.

Yes, the core gameplay of searchin’ ‘n’ findin’ might not lend itself to the most thrilling of loops, but throw into the mix procedurally generated levels, different difficulties, the kind of laughs that only local co-op play can provide, and mini-games that break up the monotony - on that note, the dancing game is great, but the auto-runner isn’t so much - and there’s scope for even the non-nostalgic to enjoy themselves.

Visually, ToeJam and Earl have thankfully been dragged punching and hollering into the can-only-meet-people-via-an-app age. Gawping at the cartoony wonder of trees, water, snow, desert and caricature-style NPCs is a dream, so it’s a real shame that performance can suffer on occasion, when, in all honesty, the game really isn’t pushing the limits of modern hardware. The mid-level elevator scenes are a prime example of this: fantastic Fresh Prince-inspired backdrops that chug and wheeze as the next level loads.
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The undeniable presentational standout here, though, is the absolute funkathon of a score. Squelchy, popped ‘n’ slapped bass smashes through the speakers, throwing some serious aural shapes alongside subdued, crunchy beats. Kickstarter backers had the opportunity to get a copy of the soundtrack on vinyl, and of that fact we’re considerably jealous.

Where does all this leave us though, folks? In reality, ToeJam & Earl is as anti-mainstream as ever, and we appreciate that. If you like local multiplayer games, adore funkadelic basslines, or just have a hankering to revisit 1991, you’ll certainly have fun with Back in the Groove. Comrades with short attention spans, or who find early 90s pop culture and/or the basic trappings of dungeon crawlers abhorrent, though, should breakdance right outta here. PEACE.

Pros

• Absolutely killer soundtrack
• Gnarly visuals
• Stays the right side of nostalgic rehash
• Couch co-op is jolly entertaining
• Good, old-fashioned dumb fun
• Random and hard modes provide longevity, but...

Cons

• … Core gameplay has the potential to get old quickly
• Lacks depth
• Frame rate issues
• Might be too pricey (£16.99) for those on the fence

7/10