Toe Jam & Earl III: Mission To Earth - Development

Development

ToeJam & Earl and its sequel ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkatron together formed one of the Mega Drive's main series. However, creator Greg Johnson said that installments for the console's Mega-CD or 32X add-ons were never planned, and though rumors of a new game persisted throughout the commercial life of the Sega Saturn console, that system's poor performance in North America prevented development of a sequel. Johnson and programmer Mark Voorsanger regained the rights to ToeJam and Earl in 1995, and in November 1998 made an agreement with GT Interactive to publish a new game in the franchise for the Nintendo 64. Johnson and Voorsanger conducted research to determine whether series fans preferred the original ToeJam & Earl or its sequel; the former emerged as the clear favorite. In April 1999, however, it was reported that the deal with GT Interactive had fallen through; the publisher had decided that the series' previous game was not an encouraging success commercially, particularly in Europe. GT Interactive's restructuring and the Nintendo 64's declining commercial performance were also believed to be factors by commentators.

It was reported the following month that the developer was planning to create the game for Sony's PlayStation 2, perhaps to coincide with the console's release. Ultimately, however, the developer became involved with Sega's Dreamcast through Visual Concepts—a Sega developer in charge of third-party game development. Johnson and Voorsanger began development of the third game with the intention to re-make ToeJam & Earl; according to Johnson, the game would include the same elements as the first game, but with improved graphics. However, this notion was curtailed by Visual Concepts, who felt that the result would be too old-fashioned, and too niche in appeal. Johnson later said that he was unsure, at the time, whether to cater to fans who wanted a remake of the original or attempt to capture a new audience.

Visual Concepts assisted with the development process, as ToeJam & Earl Productions was struggling with the game's technical demands. Johnson and Voorsanger indicated the development of a new character with the game's working title, "ToeJam, Earl, and Latisha". Lisa Lopes was nearly signed to provide Latisha's voice acting, but disagreements over fees caused the deal to fail. Actress Sherrie Jackson provided the character's voice instead. The game was previewed at E3 in 2001, but Sega subsequently ceased its support of the Dreamcast due to poor commercial performance. Once again, Johnson's preferred format was the PlayStation 2 or Nintendo GameCube, but the developer ultimately ported the game to Microsoft's Xbox because of its technical simplicity, as well as free advertising offered to Sega by Microsoft. Promotional copies of the game portrayed the Anti-Funk as a disembodied head reminiscent of a Ku Klux Klan mask—an anti-racism statement, according to Johnson. Sega vetoed this, however, and the character was changed to a skull design for the game's retail release.