daytrum - the technology guide for families

Publisher: Sega; www.sega.com

Ages: seven and up.

Parental Advisory:
None.

Exclusive to the Xbox, Sega's ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth delivers a comic adventure of cosmic proportions. While the humorous game, the third in the series, is mostly adequate, fans of the series will probably be disappointed.

It seems that the 12 Sacred Albums of Funk have been stolen and it's up to gamers playing as ToeJam or Big Earl, the members of the funky alien rapper duo, or as a new friend, Latisha, to journey to Earth and return the vanished vinyls to Lamont the Funkopotamous, the source of all Funk in the universe. Scattered throughout the 30 randomly generated levels, the 12 Sacred Albums of Funk will ultimately give gamers the power to square off against the dreaded Anti-Funk and save the universe.

As gamers explore Earth they battle hordes of un-funky Earthlings - from drill-wielding dentists and perky cheerleaders to medusa babies. Players must master the ways of Funk-Fu and also make use of gift-wrapped power-ups.

ToeJam, Earl and Latisha each have their own strengths, weaknesses and personality. The game also offers dozens of mini-games, rhythm matching challenges and sub-quests. The game has an intriguing cooperative mode that automatically displays a split screen when players separate from each other. Since the game's levels are generated randomly, the title can be replayed. In each new game, the geography chances, and enemies and items are found in new places.

Graphically, ToeJam and Earl and the game has never looked better. However, for an Xbox game, the graphics, as well as the audio in ToeJam and Earl are simply par.