Not every title from the 16-bit era of consoles is readily available to legally play, but three more games from the Sega Genesis vault are heading to Nintendo Switch. ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron, Vectorman, and Mercs will all be available starting today. Nintendo made the announcement on X and dropped a brief trailer for all three games.
Three classic SEGA Genesis games have just been made available for #NintendoSwitchOnline + Expansion Pack members!
☑️ ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron
☑️ Vectorman
☑️ WOLF OF THE BATTLEFIELD: MERCS
Original packaging shown. Contest has ended. pic.twitter.com/83mMTzfl4m— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) November 27, 2024
ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron is the first sequel in the franchise, and it debuted on Genesis in 1993. While the aliens known as ToeJam and Earl were stranded on Earth in the first game, Panic on Funkotron brings the duo back to their home planet where new problems await them. Several humans stowed away on their journey to Funkotron, and it’s up to ToeJam and Earl to make things right in this side-scrolling platformer.
Vectorman was a state-of-the-art game by 1995 standards, and also Genesis’ answer to Super Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Country. Developer BlueSky Software successfully utilized pre-rendered 3D models that made this 2D action-platformer stand out from other Genesis titles. The initial story for the game is similar to Pixar’s WALL-E, because the Earth has been abandoned by humans who left robots behind to clean up their mess. The story diverges when one of the robots becomes a nuclear-powered tyrant known as WarHead, leaving Vectorman as the only robot on Earth who isn’t under his control.
Mercs–or Wolf of the Battlefield: Mercs–was an arcade title developed and released by Capcom before Sega brought it to the Genesis in 1990. Up to three players could assume control of the covert mercenaries in Wolf Force. Their mission was to infiltrate Zutula–a fictional African country–and rescue the former President from rebels who seized control of the land.
ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron and Vectorman are among the long list of games that Sega is delisting from Steam in December. Meanwhile, Sega launched a new line of Genesis game-themed merchandise at Amazon. The company is also planning to reboot five of its classic franchises: Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and Crazy Taxi.