Skip to main content

Toejam and Earl will return to Funkotron thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign

toejam and earl successfully funded back in the groove
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Gamers who grew up familiar with the phrase “Genesis does what Nintendon’t” likely have fond memories of Toejam & Earl and slightly less fond memories of its sequel ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron. The games saw a third sequel on the original Xbox, but it failed to capture the magic of that first game. Thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, one of the game’s original creators has another chance to do right by the series’ fans.

The campaign for Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove launched on February 25 of this year, and at first, it didn’t seem certain that the project would attain its goal. With just under two days the spare, the campaign finally hit its target of $400,000 on March 25. At the time of this writing, the campaign has earned just over $430,000.

Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove is a return to the form of the original in both its looks and its gameplay. Writing on the game’s Kickstarter page, Greg Johnson, one of the franchise’s original creators, says that the goal is “to make that ultimate ToeJam & Earl sequel that the fans have been asking for all these years.”

No release date has been announced, but the game will be available on the PC, Mac, and Linux platforms. Stretch goals to port the game to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Wii U are set at $600,000, $700,000, and $800,000 respectively. While it seems unlikely that these goals will be reached this late in the campaign, one stretch goal — old school skins for Toejam and Earl — has been reached at $425,000.

Other stretch goals include additional zones, more playable characters, and guest composers for the game’s music. The campaign will come to a close on March 27, so if you want to back the project or increase your pledge, now is the time to do so. For a look at what’s in store, check out this video of a rough prototype in action.

ToeJam and Earl: Back in the Groove
Kris Wouk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
PlayStation Plus’ most notable free April offerings come from Microsoft
Four players stand together in the 4v4 PvP mode of Minecraft Legends.

Sony outlined all the new offerings PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers can expect in April; surprisingly, Microsoft is the company behind two of this month's four offerings, Minecraft Legends, and the Overwatch 2 Mega Bundle.

On April 2, PS Plus can get those two things free of charge in addition to Immortals of Aveum and Skul: The Hero Slayer. Immortals of Aveum is a single-player shooter where players use magic instead of weapons. Although the thing it's most notable for is flopping upon its release, Immortals of Aveum is still a solid shooter that you might have missed out on, and you should give it a shot now that you can get it through PS Plus. Meanwhile, Skul: The Hero Slayer is a tough 2D platformer roguelike that should entertain fans of that genre for quite some time.

Read more
These are the 10 best gaming PCs I’d recommend to anyone
Graphics card in the CLX Hathor PC.

We review dozens of gaming PCs each year. In 2024, there are a ton of great options, but we've narrowed down a list of the 10 best gaming desktops that deserve your hard-earned money.

In 2024, we still recommend the Alienware Aurora R16 due to its fantastic design, solid performance, and decent value. However, there are several other options depending on your needs and budget. If you want a deeper look into how we evaluate gaming PCs, make sure to read our post on how we review desktops.

Read more
Mecha Break’s robot customization shakes up the battle royale formula
Mecha Break robot head with glowing blue eyes

Mecha Break isn't the kind of multiplayer game you can master right away.

You might equip a lance that you barely know how to use because it seemed like a good idea, and spend the rest of a round attempting to bash yourself into enemies to help your teammates. It incorporates action that's more similar to that of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon than it is to the shooter-focused gameplay in Gundam Evolution, Bandai Namco's multiplayer mecha shooter that shut down last year. Overwatch does come to mind, but in a way where mechs are still the focus rather than the pilots within them.

Read more