“ToeJam & Earl” Video Game Co-Creator Greg Johnson Reflects on 30 Years of Planet Funkatron

As the name might suggest, the story of the popular 1991 Sega Genesis video game, ToeJam & Earl, is dual-pronged. But that’s not the case just because the original game focuses on the two crash-landed aliens, ToeJam and Earl. It’s not just the case because the game was the creation of Greg Johnson and Mark Voorsanger. In fact it’s both of those things and this: the original ToeJam & Earl game, which earned a beloved underground following that’s not so underground anymore, was created in a “stream of consciousness” way, Johnson says. But ever since that beloved first title, the game has experienced many planned-out sequels and each of those more hard-framed blueprints haven’t given fans what they’ve wanted from the goofy, big-hearted, music-loving original. Now, though, ToeJam & Earl are back with the sequel it always should have had since its debut in the early ’90s. With the recent ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove, the series is on sturdy legs again—those of Big Earl’s and the three-legged ToeJam.