ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth

"A loved Sega classic is finally 3D, but not in perfect form"

Story: 7/10
The story begins with ToeJam doing a MTV style introduction with big Earl filming it. Then after a bunch of fooling around with the camera by the two aliens, they make their way to Latisha's house, their third member in their posse. They tell you about how the great Funkapotamus (the leader of funk) has assigned them to collect the 12 sacred albums of funk,which were stolen, for him. Basically, the story's not great, but in a game of this caliber, I don't expect it to be.

Gameplay: 6/10
Boy how this game has aged. The third game in the ToeJam and Earl series is a exact replica of the first game to enter this beloved franchise and the gameplay shows it. The main formula of this game is to complete the mission's the game gives you at the start of a new level. Since the game has randomly generated levels, the goal structure is very thin. Most of them involve discovering a new item to use for the rest of the game or converting humans ''to the ways of funk''. Simply put, it's not very deep. After a while, you realize your doing the same objectives and you start to despise the repetitiveness of it all.
Your mission's to get back the Funkapotamus' albums back from Earth. You will not be going to the weird planet unarmed. You get to use funkfoo, a art that allows you to convert earthling to the ways of funk. They will then not attack you and sometimes give you money if you talk to them afterward. You can upgrade your funkfoo by going to the wise man in the carrot suit, who you will pay with points you got for converting the humans. It is impossible to convert some of the more tougher in the species without stronger attacks, so be sure to be aware of this. Overall, I didn't like the system too much with the frustrations it caused me by not knowing I could upgrade my attacks.
You will not be going to earth with just funky attacks though. The game also helps you out by giving you presents to collect. Using these gifts from god is the best part of this game. Some are defensive maneuvers, some are options on how to get places, and some you don't know what are! Not all presents are good though. Some will subtract your health a bit and such. Present's can be stolen as well, so be careful. This is essentially the meat of the game and is a ton of fun.
The game also allows a multiplayer mode which is pretty much the same as the single player experience. Same objectives and it gives what you earn equally. It is fun to have someone by your side while playing the monotonous missions, so be sure to have two controllers ready.

Graphics: 8/10
The overall look is not technically impressive for an X-Box game, but it gets the job done. Character models and designs are good and the effects are splendid. Although environments could use a lot of work, they are big in size and are full of bright colors. Load screens are also minimal, which helps the expirence to be more enjoyable.

Sound: 8/10
Voices acting is great and there's plenty of lines to go with all the characters. Some of the dialogue is quite crude and racy though. Being as everyone talks in a way people who don't watch Snoop Dog or listen to Rap music in general will have a hard time understanding the humor. The music it self is quite alright with a nice variety of slow beats.

Replay: 6/10
As I said earlier, the missions are mighty repetitive and get boring fast. Many will not bother to finish it.

Overall: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/28/04