The worlds of celebrities and video games have collided in strange ways before — usually when Jack Black makes a YouTube video, or when any Kingdom Hearts game needs to be casted — but this is one of the more left-field announcements in my memory. ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove releases today, and while it seems to be a great dose of nostalgic fun, you may be surprised to learn who made it a reality (or not, if you’d read the headline) — Macaulay Culkin.
Yes, that Macaulay Culkin, the star of the first two Home Alone movies and one of the most famous child actors out there. Culkin, as it turns out, is a huge fan of the ToeJam & Earl franchise, having played the Genesis original frequently with friends while he was a teenager. They’d come up with twists on the typical way to play the game, turning it into a competitive setting and (when they were older) eventually a drinking game.
Here's some things I'm doing instead of watching the #oscars
5. Toejam & Earl pic.twitter.com/w2jWutHw83
— Macaulay Culkin (@IncredibleCulk) March 5, 2018
After tweeting about the game during the 2018 Oscars (and mentioning it on the podcast for his satirical news site, Bunny Ears) Culkin was messaged and began talks to fly up to San Francisco and look at Back in the Groove, which was originally kickstarted in 2015. There he got to play the beta and meet series creator Greg Johnson, which Culkin described as “meeting an oracle.” It’s nice to see that his contribution to the game comes from a place of genuine respect and admiration.
You can check out Culkin’s full interview with Engadget for more info. And stay tuned for the inevitable discovery that the upcoming Samurai Shodown revival is being executive produced by whoever played Ralphie in A Christmas Story.
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Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
