ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove

ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove
Developer(s) HumaNature Studios
Publisher(s) HumaNature Studios
Director(s) Greg Johnson
Platform(s) Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release Fall 2018[1]
Genre(s) Action platformer
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove is the upcoming fourth entry in the ToeJam & Earl series of video games. The game will be developed by HumaNature Studios, the company founded by series creator Greg Johnson. It will be published by the studio in late 2018.[1]

Gameplay

The game will play most similarly to the original ToeJam & Earl game for the Sega Genesis.[2] The game will play from a fixed, isometric viewpoint, and feature the same basic gameplay of searching and exploring up a successive layer of floating islands.[3] While it will mostly not play like the game's vastly different sequel - ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron, it will implement some of the minor side aspects of it, such as the "Jam Out" rhythm-based mini-game.[2] The game will feature nine different playable characters, and four-player cooperative gameplay, both online and locally.[4]

Development

The game will be developed by HumaNature Studios, the company founded by ToeJam and Earl series creator Greg Johnson.[5] Work on the game's premise started shortly after the team prior game release, Doki-Doki Universe, which released December 2013.[5] After teasing that the team had been busy working on the game's premise in early 2015, the game was formally announced in March 2015.[6] The game's original plan was to forgo securing a publisher, in favor of raising funds through crowd sourcing.[6] The team ran a Kickstarter campaign throughout the month of March, with a goal of raising $400,000 to fund the game.[7] The game's goal was met on March 25, two days before the campaign's end, and ended up at over $500,000 as the total amount, successfully funding the game, but failing to meet the stretch goals required to get the game released on traditional video game consoles, instead being relegated to the Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows.[7] The team, at the time, consisted of just three people - Johnson, an engineer, and an artist.[3]

Initially scheduled for a 2016 release, in August 2016, it was announced that Adult Swim Games had joined on to publish and give additional funding for the project.[8] This allowed for the game's release on additional video game platforms, but did not specify which ones, and delayed the game into 2017.[8] While Adult Swim Games is publishing the game, the deal does not involve the creation of any sort of animated cartoon for its Adult Swim television broadcast.[4] On February 28, 2017, during a Nintendo Direct focused around indie and crowd-funded games coming to Nintendo platforms, the Nintendo Switch was revealed to be one of the platforms the game would be released on, with more to be announced.[9][10] Versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were confirmed in April.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 "Update 63: Incoming Transmission from Funkotron! · Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  2. 1 2 Mahardy, Mike (25 February 2015). "ToeJam and Earl Returns With New Kickstarter Project". Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  3. 1 2 Kollar, Philip (25 February 2015). "The plan to resurrect ToeJam & Earl". Polygon. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove partners with Adult Swim, due 2017". Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  5. 1 2 Phillips, Tom (5 February 2015). "ToeJam & Earl game teased by Doki-Doki Universe dev". Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  6. 1 2 Matulef, Jeffrey (26 March 2015). "Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove rocket skates to Kickstarter". Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  7. 1 2 McWhertor, Michael (25 March 2015). "New ToeJam & Earl game hits fundraising goal on Kickstarter". Polygon. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  8. 1 2 McWhertor, Michael (24 August 2016). "ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove coming 2017 from Adult Swim". Polygon. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  9. ↑ "ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove Coming to Nintendo Switch". WWG. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  10. ↑ "Update 55: Back in the Groove coming for the Switch!! · Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove". Kickstarter. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "Update 56: Almost there! · Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove". Kickstarter. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
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