Does anyone remember the old days? Not the OLD days, as in Atari or Nes, A little later than that. It wasn't that far back, but in the videogame world, that was the Middle Ages. I'm talking about the early 90's. The best games came out then. SNES and Genesis were in full power, and the gaming world was still made up of good companies making good games. Not corparate crap like today. Well, back then, a company decided to make a game that didn't play by the rules. A game that did things THEIR way. A game called Toejam and Earl. And what a game it was. It's sequel was even better. Both featured a pair of funky aliens going around doing ''stuff'' By ''stuff'' i mean anything they needed to do. The mission was always set out in plain English, but the pair had their own way of doing it.

Enter 2002. today, games have to meet the ''bottom line'' Games like Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy sell because of name recognition. But TJ&E have name recognition too. But not as much as those aformentioned titles. And yet again, the good people at TJ&E Productions decided instead of taking their characters and puting them in a stereotypical platform setting, they did what they do best. Break the rules. They decided to release a game on their terms. One that made the old fans happy. So many other series have gone down the drain trying to be ''the norm'' even though they sold, that didn't meen the game was good. But TJ&E didn't. And what we got instead was one of the greatest platformers since Mario Bros. 3. The game, like it's characters, isn't taking crap from anyone. Thus making it even greater.

Gameplay:
The gameplay is a mixture of platforming and straight up action, with a tad nit of rpg-esque elements. You take control of either Toejam, Earl, or Latisha. Each with slightly varied abilities. You travel through either predetermined worlds, or random versions of the, collecting presents, keys, and vynils. Vynils are the whole point of this game. You see, this character called Lamont, the Funkapotomus, has sent you to earth to get his records back. There are TONS of presents which give you a plethora of abilities and powers to use to get them back. There is a wide variety of creative enemies as well, ranging from mad dentists to chickens with mortars. All of which require different tactics to beat. They're not your typical enemies that all do the same thing. The levels are vast and broken up over 5 unique worlds. So there is a lot of variety here. Each world also has a boos and a few minigames. Instead of some drab loading screen, you'll get to see raps or at least some music and dancing. At the start of each level, a gospel choir sings something that will sometimes give you clues to the level. And of course there's Lamont. Sometimes the funky alien will give advice in his ubber-cool voice. )hats off to Flamey) This game sounds great. Trust me.

Graphics:
The game looks great. One thing some people don't seem to notice is the terrific lighting and shadows, which aren't too far behind those in Splinter Cell. Shadows actually move across the ground depending on the time of day. There are lots of great textures and the characters and enemies look great. The water and other reflective surfaces look outstanding. And there are a lot of great particle effects.

Sound:
This is a key feature to this game. The music really gets you into the funky feel of things. The character's have hillarious lines that really set them apart. The enemies do as well. There are certain times where you will have to rap and this sounds great too.

Longevity:
This game has ''replay'' writen all over it. Since everytime you play it is different, you can never get bored. There is so much to do it's unbelievable. The amount of depth and little extras and tweeks in this is amazing. Most games out now seem half-assed and underdeveloped, but the developers went all-out on this, sparing nothing. Also, there is downloadable content with more levels and characters, adding to the already great game.

Round Up:
You might have noticed I like this game. Well, you're right. I hope people don't flame me for this, but in my honest opinion, I think it is one of the top 3 best platform games ever made for any system. It's that good. I think everyone with an Xbox should get this RIGHT NOW! Don't overlook this terrific game.