Game: Toe Jam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron

Platform: Sega Genesis
Year Released: 1993

A few months ago, I gave the 1991 Sega Genesis gem Toe Jam & Earl the Throwback review treatment and explained how I instantly fell in love with the game when it became available on the Wii’s Virtual Console in late 2006. After spending many hours with my best friend exploring the hideous and terrifying Planet Earth looking for spaceship pieces, it should come as no surprise that I was elated when the game’s sequel, Toe Jam and Earl in Panic on Funkotron, appeared on the Virtual Console in the summer of 2007. I downloaded it immediately, anxiously waiting for my then-roommate to get home from work so we could start playing it together. Unfortunately, we ended up devoting far less time to the sequel than we did the original.



When playing Panic on Funkotron, it becomes obvious right away that the game is very different than its predecessor. Instead of endless levels of open-world exploration, the game is a side-scrolling platformer. It takes place on the jammin’ aliens’ home planet on Funkotron, as the title implies. It appears that when Toe Jam and Earl escaped Earth at the end of the first game, some Earthlings snuck on to the spaceship and came back with them. Now Funkotron is overrun with the foul creatures and it’s up to the guys to get rid of them. They also need to convince Lamont the Funkopotamus (the source of all funk in the universe, obviously) to come back and restore the funk to Funoktron.

If the premise of the game seems completely ridiculous, that’s because it is. In fact, the hilarious tone (made even funnier by the now-dated early-90s slang and style used in the game) is one of the best things about the series. It’s also a great-looking game; there is far more detail used than in the first, even if the layout is completely different. The characters are still absurd and likeable, the dialogue is silly and entertaining, and the game doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is necessary with a series like this.



Unfortunately, the game isn’t quite as much fun to play as the first. Some of this can be attributed to subpar level design, which can make finding humans more frustrating than it needs to be. I can give the developers credit for trying to do something different, but it’s way too easy to miss something, like a secret platform, hiding person, or otherwise important item, which leads to a lot of backtracking. It’s not that I needed this game to be as simple as the “find spaceship piece, find elevator, don’t die, repeat” strategy of the first one, but something about it just didn’t quite feel as natural.

With a game as unique, fun, and addictive as the first Toe Jam & Earl, it’s hard to make a follow-up that will live up to expectations. Panic on Funkotron wasn’t everything I wanted it to be, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t any fun. With a funk-loving friend nearby, this game could lead to hours of enjoyment, even if you do get frustrated from time to time. It’s worth a buy from the Virtual Console, but don’t expect the same magic that the original game delivered.

 

 

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