ToeJam & Earl is an action game developed by Johnson Voorsanger Productions and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) console. Released in 1991, it centers on ToeJam and Earl—alien rappers who have crash-landed on Earth. As they attempt to escape the planet, players assume the role of either character and collect pieces of their wrecked spacecraft. It references and parodies 1980s and early 90s urban culture and is set to a funk soundtrack. ToeJam & Earls design was heavily influenced by the role-playing video game Rogue (1980) and derived various features from the game, such as the random generation of levels and items. As such, ToeJam & Earl is often considered to be an example of a roguelike game. The game was positively received by critics, who praised its originality, soundtrack, humor and two-player cooperative mode. It attained sleeper hit status despite low initial sales, and its protagonists were used as mascots by Sega. ToeJam & Earl was followed by two sequels: ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron and ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth, released for the Sega Genesis and Xbox respectively. The sequels' commercial and critical performance were mixed. A fourth title, ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove, was released on March 1, 2019 without Sega's involvement, using funds from Kickstarter. The game was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in December 2006 and re-released again on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in November 2012 as part of the Sega Vintage Collection. The game was also re-released on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack on December 16, 2021. Synopsis ToeJam & Earl has been called a surreal, comic satire, and a "daringly misanthropic commentary on Earthly life". ToeJam is red and has three legs. Earl is fat and orange. ToeJam wears a large gold medallion and a backwards baseball cap, while Earl is marked by high-tops and oversized sunglasses; both outfits are "over-the-top appropriations" of 1990s urban culture. Their speech features California slang. The game is set to a soundtrack which has been described both as jazz-funk, and as hip hop. For the game's unique sound, composer John Baker was inspired by Herbie Hancock and The Headhunters. In the game's opening sequence, ToeJam explains that Earl's erratic piloting abilities have resulted in a crash-landing on planet Earth. He says that they must find the widely scattered pieces of their spacecraft's