Toejam and Earl Return In 2017
The galaxy’s funkiest aliens are returning for one more visit. Toejam and Earl were one of the main selling points of the Genesis, and their initial roguelike game was well ahead of its time.
The second T&E was a platformer, and the third was a botched attempted revival on the original XBox, but this time, the developers know what they’re doing by crafting the gameplay closer to the original. The characters are licensed by Sega and brought to life by Humanature Studios, with a little help from Adult Swim Games, who’s publishing the title on consoles and PC.
Originally development was kicked into gear through a Kickstarter campaign. “We’re kind of splitting the difference in a way,” said Greg Johnson, the brains behind the T&E series. “We’re going to make it feel very much reminiscent of the first game, much more so than ToeJam & Earl 3 was, and it’s going to look more like that. But it’s also not just a straight-up remake. There’s going to be a bunch of fun new things. There’s a long list of things I want to get in. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll have the resources and the time to do it.”
Fortunately Humanture landed a publication deal, which took care of the resources. As for the time, it’s been 18 months. The product is close to complete now, and looks jammin’ fresh.
Toejam and Earl will be out in 2017 for PC and at least one console. Specific platforms haven’t been revealed, but Adult Swim Games usually gets its titles on the PS4 at least.