_____This game gets back at the roots of TJ&E while making plenty of advances as well. Of course, the story takes place after the Panic. Somehow Lamont, the Funkopotomous, lost his valued collection of funk-filled records. It's ToeJam and Earl's job to get all the hallowed vinyls back in one piece. But wait, what's this? There's another character on the team? All right, I dig. Enter Latisha. The newest member to the harbingers of funk is, yes, a woman. But don't let her good looks (antennae and all) deceive you, as she can roll with the best of 'em. Each alien has his or her own uniqueness, like Earl's ability to eat anything, ToeJam's above-average speed, and Latisha's ability to ride tornados. For the most part these are negligible as they don't have too much of an impact on the game. Additionally, if you're having trouble with one character, you can switch to another one by exiting the level and accessing the switch pad on the outer zone. So, where did those pesky albums go you might ask? Why, the least funky place imaginable: Earth, of course. Departing from Funkotron in your trusty spaceship, you land in the Grassy Zone of Earth and begin your quest.

_____As stated, the game reaches back to the series' roots. This means multi-player, baby. Two can play at the same time, and it offers split-screen when the two heroes are not together. Secondly, the original game focused on exploration where as Panic on Funkotron lacked it to a degree. In the third adventure this element is back full swing and is presented admirably. In short, each level features a checklist of items to find, presents to unlock, and missions in which to partake. To break up this repetitive gameplay, the developers, ToeJam & Earl Productions, threw in additional mini-game levels to act as tutorials for various power-ups. For example, one of the presents available is the ever-popular pair of Spring Shoes. In the Urban Zone there is a mini-game in which you are to jump from rooftop to rooftop smashing targets as you go. Learning made fun!

_____Additionally, ToeJam et al. have the knowledge of Funk-Fu. In other words, they have a bit more than tomatoes and jars to use upon us pathetically un-cool earthlings. Like the original, you have a rank from Wiener up to Funkmaster. You collect points by using your Funk-Fu on the earthlings. With these points you can upgrade your rank which gives you more abilities, heightens existing ones, makes your life meter larger, gives you lives, and raises your belt level (White, Yellow, Orange, etc.) in Funk-Fu. These are important, for as you progress through the game the enemies may not be vulnerable to your lower-level Funk-Fu.

_____Also, like its predecessors, there are many different types of presents available to collect and use. Some are good, like food, and some are bad, like possessed rocket skates. In all, the variety of presents has been raised significantly. Also, like in the original, if you open a present while in the same screen as the other person, you both get the benefits of the present. Sweet! However, there is something troubling about these goodies. At any given time, some presents may be "risky". I'm not sure what makes a particular present risky and others not. So, if you open a risky present, there's a chance it could backfire. If this happens it usually results in an earthling appearing in your close proximity, an alarm going off alerting all earthlings in the vicinity of your presence, or some other unfortunate event. This makes the game annoying at points, especially when it costs you valuable lives.

_____Which brings me to another point. We know that ToeJam, Earl, and Latisha are friends, but for some reason they have a collective cache of lives. So, while the game gives you 6, if you die, you not only cost yourself the life you lost, but your partner a life as well. As a gamer, I have never seen this life system in any game, and I doubt I'll see it in any other (unless they make a 4th TJ&E).

_____After first hearing about this title, I visited the TJ&E Productions website often for updates. They were few and far between, however they did offer a section where you could e-mail the heads of the company to issue some questions or suggestions. I thought that an important part of the first two installments was the funky, and catchy, tunes. So, I e-mailed them and about 3 months later I received a reply (busy guys, apparently). Basically, they took songs from the first two games and updated them with better samples. Excellent choice! If you're familiar with the original tunes, many of these songs featured in the game you will already know. As you collect vinyls you're allowed to select different tracks as if you're playing the record yourself. Among the songs are classics like "ToeJam Slow Jam", "TJ&E Theme", and "Funk Down Under." On the other hand, where the music excels, the voice acting is atrocious.

_____Throughout the game you are subject to a cartoony 3d representation of someone giving you the low down on the level ahead of you. Usually it is a trio of large black women in the form of a gospel choir, other times it is Lamont, or perhaps Santa Funk ("Ho ho ho, I got three ho's" he says). These briefings act as loading screens but I found them to be extremely annoying. The choir was awful, Lamont sounds like a squeaky toy with an attitude, and Santa Funk. . . let's not even go there. The developers tried to push an image and, sadly, it fails miserably. No one actually talks like these characters, and they're not even good enough to laugh at.

_____Conversely, in game there are times when, after converting the earthlings to the "ways of the funk", your character talks to them. This can be comical at points, and doesn't really detract from the gameplay. Each earthling will have a set number of sayings to say to each alien. For example, a little girl might ask ToeJam "How come you don't have a mouth?" or "My mommy says you're my daddy and you owe us some money!" In this respect, the game has a bit of edginess that is appreciated. It's good to know that as we grew up, so did TJ&E. The developers, smartly, also included a kid-safe option, which leaves out certain phrases.

_____Graphically, the game is decent. You'll find nothing groundbreaking here, folks. You most definitely won't find yourself confusing the game with real life. The main characters made the successful jump from two dimensions to three. The earthlings have the same cartoon-like feel to them. The worlds are appealing with no glaring problems. The game is quite colorful, but not so much that it hurts your eyes. The camera swivels around the characters by holding down the triggers ensuring no bad angles. The only exception to this rule is when both characters are sharing the same screen. Then, either player can rotate the camera at will, which might lead to some confusion.

_____Before buying this game, I remember talking to a friend about it. He said that he had played it and that it wasn't very good. I disagree with him. Yes, some parts, like the voice acting, are a bit hazy, but ToeJam and Earl 3 is a fun game despite its shortcomings. Being able to play with another person on the same television and not having to be confined by the edges of the screen is always enjoyable. The music stays true to the originals and I consider it a worthy addition to the series. The gameplay is a bit repetitive, but you can advance through it at a reasonable rate. Replayability is low as there isn't much else to it after you beat it and each alien can be switched to mid-game. I give ToeJam and Earl 3: Mission to Earth 3.5 obsessive record collectors.