Collection essentials #143: ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (Genesis)

The original ToeJam & Earl was a very unique game. For this sequel, though, they decided to do something entirely different rather than build on the foundation of the first game. ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron is a 2D platformer, which as you probably realize by now was a very common thing back then. Thankfully, though, this is far from just being a cookie-cutter, run-of-the-mill platformer, so it’s not as though all the creative juices were drained.

After reassembling their ship at the end of the first game, ToeJam and Earl travel back to their home planet of Funkotron. But when they arrive, they discover something most unfortunate; a whole mess of earthlings stowed away on their ship and are now running rampant! They must be stopped! And so, the objective of this game is to scour every level for earthlings until you have captured every single one, and then you can throw them onto a rocket headed to Earth and proceed to the next level to find more. How does one capture earthlings? With jars, of course, what else? ToeJam and Earl have an unlimited supply of jars to throw, and upon hitting an earthling with a few, they will magically get shrunk down in size and stuffed into the jar. 

One thing striking about Panic on Funkotron is how much meat there is on the bones here. Back in this time period, it wasn’t unusual for games to be very light on content, with a skilled player able to see most if not all of a game in not much more than an hour. But Panic on Funkotron will likely take at least a few hours to get through, even if you already know what you’re doing. There are plenty of decent-sized levels, and a lot of them aren’t simply linear, requiring you to explore a bit to find all the earthlings. 

There are plenty of things to do other than simply catching earthlings, too. You need a supply of “funk” to use some of your moves, so there are a few different mini games our alien friends can play to earn more funk if they want to. The game has a better alternate ending that involves collecting a series of hidden objects scattered across various levels. Doing some of this stuff involves talking with fellow Funkotronians, which brings me to another good thing in this game: the humor! The characters and dialogue have lots of personality and are bound to make you smile at one point or another over the course of a playthrough. And to top it off, the game features two-player simultaneous co-op, which wasn’t very common in platformers back then. 

This is also a highly nostalgic game for me. It was one of the games that my cousins had on their Genesis, and being two players it was a frequent pick. Sadly we never came anywhere close to beating the game, and that was because we had no idea that ToeJam and Earl can perform a “high jump” which is required at one point that we never figured out how to get past! But, actually, just this year, I had my cousin Kevin over to play through the entire game and get the good ending with me, and we did just that. It was immensely satisfying to take care of that unfinished business.

ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron has a bit of a mixed reputation, and part of that stems from being a sequel that is very different from the game that series fans fell in love with, which is understandable. Even the developers of the game later admitted that they wished they hadn’t switched genres for the second game. But, dangit, Panic on Funkotron is still an absolutely wonderful game, one of my absolute favorites on the Genesis. It’s not quite as unique as the first game, but still stands out more than well enough on its own. In my mind, a clear essential.