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Video game fans with roots in the ’90s will likely remember the oddball duo of ToeJam & Earl. The pair of alien rappers were a hit on Sega Genesis, parodying pop and urban culture from the ’80s and ’90s in a way that was highly endearing to fans. Their first, nominal game in 1991 was followed by a sequel in 1993 dubbed ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron, which returned the pair to their home planet. That title also did well and things were going great for the franchise— until the train wreck that was Sega Saturn. The failure of that console pushed back development of a third ToeJam & Earl, with development started and stopped on Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast. By 2002, ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth arrived on Xbox and bombed commercially, garnering mixed reviews.
In 2015, ToeJam & Earl creator Greg Johnson, with his new studio HumaNature Studios, decided to revive the series via a Kickstarter campaign. It was a success, receiving over $500,000 in funding but falling shy of stretch goals that would’ve seen the title released on actual video game consoles. While relegated to PC platforms, ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove was set to reinvigorate the franchise with a new installment that drew from the best of the first and second games. By 2016, however, Johnson and company received some pleasant news when Adult Swim Games announced it would be coming aboard to provide additional funding in order to, in part, bring Back in the Groove to contemporary consoles.
One of the systems the game is coming to is Switch, and it’s been recently confirmed that Back in the Groove will be landing this coming fall. What’s more, HumaNature is now back to being the sole publisher of the game in order for Adult Swim Games to handle its own summer slate of titles and prevent Back in the Groove from being further delayed. A closed beta will be happening for Early Access backers from July 5 to 19. Fans aren’t allowed to stream or post pics of the beta, but their feedback will be used to improve the game before its launch in the fall. Once we have a firm release date, we’ll share it here!
Source: HumaNature Kickstarter
