Score: 75
Overall User Average: 7.38 / 10 (74.7%)
Gameplay User Average: 7.00 / 10
Graphics User Average: 7.92 / 10
Sound User Average: 7.23 / 10
mrmp3
Date reviewed: December 18, 2003.
Overall: For a person that played (and still plays on his emulator) TJ&E and TJ&E: Panic on Funkatron, I was looking forward to this for months. However, the reviews were very average and Gamespot even awarded it most disappointing Xbox Game of the Year. But I had to find out for myself. And I really really gave this one a chance hoping it would grow on me, but I returned it and rented MK: DA. This game veers a lot away from the originals and was very disppointing to me. However, if you've never played the first two, you most likely would enjoy it.
Gameplay: Firs thing that bugged me was the dialogue and the dancing. In the old days, my bro always took TJ and I took Earl. When we tried this out, we both agreed TJ was defintely 50 times worse. We hated how he talked, how he acted, and his choice of words in dialogue just sucked. Earl was still cool though :) . Once we got passed the horrible FMV sequences, we started looking for the records. The controls in the game are fine and I was actually rather pleased. Once we got to the first mission, however, the stupidity comes in to play. Your mission: spray little fiary dust on humans and make them funky. Besides the fact it was amazingly easy and as fun as castrating yourself, combat was terrible. I was expecting to throw cans at the boogieman and the people with the cameras like in Panic on Funkatron. Instead move your arm sideways and throw fairydust. Now I thought it's just the first board combat will improve. We upgraded our guys, got the spring shoes, fought with the boogiemen, converted a bunch of chickens into funky, and the combat still sucked. All you did was spray fairydust on pretty much every board. The upgrade just made it so you could spread it over a wider distance. There was no challenge at all. Talking to the humans after they have been "funkified" is funny like "My mommy says you owe us money" but the fact is they repeat the same lines a lot. It's like they didn't add any since the DC version. The xbox can fit a lot more audio. Another thing is those 3 singing...blob choir alien before each mission. WHY WHY WHY??? No point in having them at all. Just to annoy me and wanna saw my ears off at the very sound of their voices. Although gameplay is still decent, you expect it to be better than it was 10 years ago on a system that had a lot less power. And since I was very diappointed, I gave it a 1.
Graphics: Graphics are a mixed bag. I like the whole theme of everything and the enviroments. Some textures are just plain shoddy. Character models are nice.
Sound: The only thing I can appalaud are in game sound effects. Those are pretty good. However, the rap music, voice acting, the three singing blobs, and repetitive one liners all just flat out suck. I mean if TJ&E are trying to act like rappers at least A) sound like goofy white guys trying to be rappers or B) Be rappers and have some funny sayings. This game does not do either.
All I can say is those who have played either of the first 2, veer away from this one. For those who haven't played the first two, you may actually like it. I'd defintely recommend a rental.
Suggestions: All I can say is end the franchise. For players like me who played the past 2 titles, you have scarred this franchise. I can't even look at Toe Jam and say he's so cool with his third leg. Now he's just an annoying character that doesn't belong anywhere. I suggest making combat more than funkifying people with fairy dust and I suggest you change the game a lot. This looks very much like the DC version I saw at IGN.
Overall: 60 %
Gameplay: 20 %
Graphics: 70 %
Sound: 30 %
Blind-RazoR
Date reviewed: November 5, 2003.
Overall: Sweet. It is about time they came out with this game. . . I have been waiting scince the first one for them to come out with one similar to it.
Gameplay: Yeah I know some people say it is repetative but I am an old school gamer and I have a lot of fun with this game especially with another person.
Graphics: Great graphics, A big improvment from the first game (Chuckles) but then again I hope it to be better.
Sound: Great sound and This game is a keeper and I think I will go play it after I finsh this form. I like the downloadable content also but I don't want to pay.
Suggestions: Thanks. . . . I have been waiting
Overall: 90 %
Gameplay: 90 %
Graphics: 80 %
Sound: 80 %
XSpy8
Date reviewed: October 22, 2003.
Overall: Not a bad game, but lame compared to what you can get for the Xbox. I just found myself having deja vu while playing this game compared to games on the play station, n64 and even my calculator for comprable gameplay.
Gameplay: Just way too simple, run around squash little kids with one button and jump with another. The game is really funny though, so it does have some entertainment purpose.
Graphics: Pretty good for characters that the had to make up, enviroments look a lot a like though.
Sound: Good little one liners, like when you hit one of the little kids they bealt out a line like "My mommy says your my daddy and you own me some money" and things like that, you also gain music as you go (thats your insentive for progressing, pathetically).
Suggestions: Increase gameplay, and youve got a good game, funny though!
Overall: 60 %
Gameplay: 60 %
Graphics: 90 %
Sound: 90 %
Mercury
Date reviewed: December 15, 2002.
Overall: Platforming goodness, and add two player action and you've got yourself a winner. The game has its funny moments and the gameplay is addicting. Do you love platform games? Then you'll love TJ&E. Very well done.
Gameplay: The game is platforming bliss. Very well done. A lot to do, collect, and different modes of play. The two player mode is very well done.
Graphics: Very crisp and clear graphics. Funny characters and good animation. The water is well done. I love the animations of your characters. Especially when Earl is running at hyper speed. Hilarious stuff.
Sound: Good stuff here. Many different voices all happening at once. Good voice acting as well. The music is fun and well done. The rhythem games are a blast! The best ever!
Suggestions: Make another and don't skimp on anything. Great work guys!
Overall: 90 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 100 %
Sound: 100 %
ScrewTape
Date reviewed: December 5, 2002.
Overall: this game bores me to tears. I say this as a person who has never played any TJ&E games, so take my opinions with a grain of salt.
Gameplay: irritating and pointless. I had no idea what was going on, ever!!!
Graphics: It wasn't bad, I liked the splitscreen thing it did, but that was about it. You could tell this game was originally for DC.
Sound: irritating voice overs that say the same thing over and over again. I didn't like the music at all, even though I'm a huge funk fan.
Suggestions: Well, if the fans like it, I say don't change it. this is just the opinion of person who doesn't like games like this. I guess my only suggestion is to make another JSRF game. THAT GAME RULES!!!
Overall: 30 %
Gameplay: 20 %
Graphics: 50 %
Sound: 30 %
natewebb
Date reviewed: December 4, 2002.
Overall: This game isn't good for kids or adults so I can only assume it's for teenagers.
Gameplay: It just seems kinda boring to me.
Graphics: The graphics are OK and the cutscenes are nice.
Sound: Very funky indeed
Overall: 50 %
Gameplay: 40 %
Graphics: 70 %
Sound: 70 %
DaGameBoy
Date reviewed: November 19, 2002.
Overall: The rating that this game gets is for it's inovation and a few other items. Look at my review of sections to find out why I rated this game a 3
Gameplay: To be totally honest, I almost didn't play the game after sitting through the seemingly endless intro. Some ppl may like the off color jokes and comments that TJ makes during the game and intro, but personally, I have grown up and just find it distasteful. So this was one offset. I was hoping to find another Oddworld, but was sadly mistaken. My children love to play Oddworld, but I would not let them watch, let alone play, this game (for reasons mentioned above). For actual gameplay, I give it a 2. However, inovations (as I mentioned earlier) are what bring the overall up to a 3. Inovations such as great camera control. I love it! Too bad all games did not have this great of camera control. Another + was the ability to download new characters and levels. Wow! A game that actually utilizes the X's hard drive, along with Live capability. That's enough to almost give it a 4 rating alone. The reason that I am so keen on the download idea (even though I dislike the game) is twofold. One, they have created a game that can go on and on. Finish the game? Not really, cause you can download new characters and levels. Great idea! The other reason, I would point to Morrowind. A game, which admittedly from the designers, has several bugs but cannot be fixed and so you must start your whole adventure over again (as I did) or pray that you do not run into one of the MANY bugs (for a list, see their site's forums). However, with the ability to download through Live, if there is a patch... bang... you've got it and your on your way. Problem solved. For that alone, I praise the inovation of the design team. If more games would offer this, the X would rule even more. For example, if X-Men offered more characters and levels, and whatever, I would be all over it. Even if I had to pay a few extra $$$ for the new characters. It would be worth it. Gameplay in this game is pretty decent. Game flows smoothly, but as somebody said earlier, you almost have to be a TJ & Earl fan to like this game past a few hours.
Graphics: Visual was pretty nice. Not the best that I have seen on the 'box, but def not the worst. The cutscenes could have used some work, but the worlds themselves were nicely rendered.
Sound: Sound is sound is sound is sound. Sound fx match the game nicely and the background music blends with the game. Not imposing or overbearing. Not sure about playing the "in-game" tracks with the albums, cause I didn't try them. Just grabbed the albums and went.
Suggestions: Great job on the Live idea! That was excellent thinking. An idea I wish more developers would use. Also, wonderful work on the camera operation. Camera was a delight to use.
Overall: 60 %
Gameplay: 40 %
Graphics: 70 %
Sound: 50 %
oddworld20-3000
Date reviewed: November 15, 2002.
Overall: The game can be boring after a while not the best xbox game.
Gameplay: Don't really how to say this. But if you are a hardcore Toe Jam and Earl fan you may like this.
Graphics: Graphics are still done right. Not the best on the xbox but still good enough. Most of the time there are graphic gliches that can be annoying.
Sound: The sound is okay. The funk is all nice and smooth. But when you are playing you can't almost hear anything because there are those !&%$@#* ed annoying kids saying stuff I'm cuter then you, Toe Jam and Earl sitting on the tree, or My teddy bear will kick your ass.
Suggestions: Better then original.
Overall: 60 %
Gameplay: 60 %
Graphics: 60 %
Sound: 60 %
NitroNeon
Date reviewed: November 3, 2002.
Overall: I love the fun charectors. The story is great this is a good sequal to a fun game. Its just a all around fun game.
Gameplay: The controls are great no camera problems and the frame rate is great. It keeps you coming back for more.
Graphics: Beautiful backgrounds and High detail charectors. I like the smooth framerates and nice animations have to be seen.
Sound: The sound is top notch. great sound effects. great music and well done voiceovers and rap songs. Well done
Overall: 100 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 100 %
Sound: 100 %
David Ezenwa
Date reviewed: October 28, 2002.
Overall: I love this game. It is so fun, and it gets fairly challenging too. The game is also very hilarious. There is almost never a moment when I play the game and not laugh. I think the characters are just funny. And also, there are plenty of stages to go to and lots of things to find. I don't see how anyone can play this game and not fall in love with it. It's very cool.
Gameplay: I love the way this game plays. Once in a while the game does get hard and some enemies start getting annoying, like the cupids, and that annoying dentist. But most of the time, the enemies are fairly easy to beat. Also, I like the controls. I felt right at home when I played this game. And I would like to comment about what Latex said about the camera. Dude, I don't know what your problem is. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this camera. It works better than camera systems I've seen in a lot of games.
Graphics: The graphics are sweet. I love the way the characters look. I love the environments. You should see the way some areas turn from daylight to dark. Now that's nice. The water looks good too. Here's another comment I want to make to Latex. I know you were just giving your own opinion, but I think you need some glasses and contact lens at the same time if you cannot see how great this game looks on the xbox. Even though I sort of agree that Sega could've done more with the visuals, which is why I'm giving the game a 4.5 instead of a 5.0, I strongly do not think that the game was that bad looking to give the visuals a 3.0. And to say that the game looks like it was ported off the dreamcast is just ludicris. I think the game looks way better than it would've looked if it was on dreamcast. You need your eyes checked, man.
Sound: Now, if there was an area where the game falters a bit, it may be the sound. The game does have some nice sounds though, but sometimes I found the music to be a little bit drabby, and I begin to get sleepy. The music is cool, but you may not want to play it at night.
Suggestions: Try to make some nice, hipper, music.
Make some hardcore music too. Not that I hated the songs here, but they don't have that feeling to me like the music in jet set radio future did.
Overall: 100 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 90 %
Sound: 80 %
BillyDKid
Date reviewed: October 27, 2002.
Overall: Unique, quirky exploration-based platformer with lots of character. Gameplay is simple, but addicting. Funk/rap/hip hop theme works great. Characters & phrases are hilarious and fun.
Gameplay: You are funkified aliens come to Earth in search of stolen funk albums. You roam around floating levels in the sky converting humans with funk fu, collecting presents (power-ups), playing mini-games and laughing your !&%$@#* off at the characters, comments and design. A beautiful game, one of the most relaxing and enjoyable games I've played. Two-player co-op, random levels and downloadable content multiply the value and extend the life of the game enormously.
Graphics: Colorful & cartoony are the name of the game here. Humans are hilarious caricatures/parodies.
Sound: Character comments are flat-out funny as hell and really make the game. Voice acting/singing is very good actually although it doesn't take itself seriously.
Suggestions: Know that you've created an incredibly fun and enjoyable game here and please continue to make more.
Overall: 90 %
Gameplay: 100 %
Graphics: 90 %
Sound: 90 %
LatexMantus
Date reviewed: October 26, 2002.
Overall: it has it's good, it's bad, and it's ugly. the good is that i remember the days of the first ToeJam & Earl, and this game does manage to bring some of that back. the bad is that they didn't manage to do it properly. the ugly is that they seem to try to force the games attitude down your throat, almost making you gag on it. it's fun for now, but it may become tiresome in the future. good multiplayer fun, but would've loved to seen a fourth character and allow four player action. on the nice side, Sega claims they'll have downloadable levels and characters, so that could be a huge plus, if they actually follow through and give more than just a tiny sampling.
Gameplay: the gameplay itself works fairly well. the game takes you slowly from the easy stuff into more complicated later in the game. this is not a complex game, easy to learn, and not much harder to master. i take issue with the camera though. while there is a button to center the camera behind you and you can use the right analog to zoom and rotate, i would really have loved a smarter auto-camera. if there is a huge flaw, it's in the camera.
Graphics: the games graphics suit it's style, the funky cartoon look, but you get the feeling they could've done a lot more, even if it was as simple as running in a higher resolution. the games graphics make it playable, but it doesn't make it a site to behold. nice, but it's looking like they didn't try too hard when converting this from a Dreamcast game to the Xbox, which is a little sad.
Sound: i always find sound hard to judge. some of the comments can be amusing, others rather boring. the characters don't seem to flow naturally with their comments, almost seeming very pushed. they try to have attitude within the game, but end up shoving way too much attitude in your face. reminds of the 80's, and i'm not sure that is a good thing.
Suggestions: first, decide which you are going for, funk or hip-hop. the game says it's about funk, but it seems to being trying too hard at the hip-hop style. although if you are making fun of hip-hop, all the more power to you. fix the auto-camera, it really needs work. i hope you follow through with the downloadable content, and do so often, but glad to see you considered Xbox Live. but please, when making a game for the Xbox, make it for the Xbox and not another console, which means make use of the Xbox's power.
Overall: 70 %
Gameplay: 80 %
Graphics: 60 %
Sound: 60 %