Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden

Download/Buy:
http://devscape.org/BarkleyGaidenV108.zip
Developer:
Tales of Games Studios (http://www.talesofgames.com/)

Barkley received the kind of publicity most indie/amateur games only dream of getting. The game had humble enough beginnings, starting it’s early life as an RPG Maker demo before being ported, beefed up as heck and completed in Game Maker. Although it shares a large part of its name with the 1993 SNES game, it’s merely a case of being inspired by, rather than following, the original. The exposure began in earnest when GamingW.net forum member ‘Drule’ created a trailer for the demo, which spread using viral sites such as Digg and Kotaku. News of the game spread from RPG Maker and indie sites to all-round gaming sites, even ending up in well known sports websites and entertainment magazines. Backed by the Quad City DJ’s theme from the otherwise forgettable 1996 Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan team up flick ‘Space Jam’, the trailer somehow manages to make turn-based RPG battles and sprites engaging in conversation seem like an event not to miss, something both epic and deep in nature.

The story is far from simple, although I’ll do my best to provide a reasonable length spoiler-free summary. In the year 2041, basketball’s darkest day (the ‘B-Ballnacht’) occurred when Charles Barkley performed a ‘Chaos Dunk’ at a game, wiping out nearly all patrons and players present. Basketball was summarily outlawed and thousands of basketballers were killed in the ensuing outpour of hatred towards the game. Fast forward a little over a decade to 2053 and we meet Charles at home with his son, watching the news unfold of another Chaos Dunk in Manhattan which has wiped out at least 15 million. Barkley, the only person known to have the power to cause a Chaos Dunk, desperately seeks to clear his name while being hunted by the B-Ball Removal Department (led by Michael Jordan). No doubt it sounds silly, and it is, but Chef and his team at Tales of Games have presented the story in such a serious light that you can’t help but be drawn in. This is helped along by some fantastic writing and surprisingly compelling gameplay which all combines to make an impressive all round package. You might even be lulled into taking the game seriously yourself at points, until you realise just what people are saying and what you’re contemplating and it just seems all the more hilarious because of it.

The dialogue is one of the games strongest points and there is a hefty chunk of it. Usually the level of dialogue here would be enough to turn away more casual gamers, but here it’s laden with a genuine sense of humour, pop culture and internet references, a lot of basketball talk (and Space Jam talk, for that matter) and some near-impeccable parody of the clichés of Japanese styled RPG’s. The save points have been a big draw of positive comments for the game and with good reason. They read like the messages of an overly serious, Japan-obsessed RPG and anime fanboy. Somewhat like a poor forum post (which by what I’ve heard is exactly the aim, as Chef apparently based them off some real forum posts and some fake posts of his own), the ‘truck pumps’ will rant about ‘vidcons’ and berate you and any other assumed fans of games like Madden and Quake. I can’t really do justice to the hilarity of these extended diatribes without ruining the fun, so I won’t. They’re honestly the most fun I’ve ever had with a save point in a game ever and although that isn’t saying much it’s something Barkley will be remembered for, if nothing else.

Putting a twist on familiar themes is something this game also does well. The arbitrary sewer level is turned into a ‘furry’ paradise, complete with greedy plastic surgeon and a love story between a snail (whom you write poetry for) and a fox, providing one of the games best moments. Later in the game you’ll visit wasteland towns, talk to evil Square-Enix employees, participate in a sequence mocking adventure games (complete with ‘use’, ‘examine’ and ‘pick up commands) and find various other ways to spend your neo-shekels. Items and characters are a refreshing departure from the norm as well. Tobacco heals you, diabetes runs rampant (requiring insulin), alcohol cures Aspergers and a chicken fry is one of the most valuable commodities available in the future world. The characters somewhat fit the class mould brought forward by other games in the genre, but their personalities and fighting styles definitely offer a change up. We have Barkley, his son, robotic basketball players, a cyberdwarf (with a basketball head) and a couple more. The NPC’s are great as well, coming in the form of basketball players and allusions to sport and game companies. Jordan makes for a great villain, especially when you stop and think about exactly what he’s saying while relating it to his real life persona.

Technically the game holds up admirably as well. The graphics aren’t great, but definitely sufficient for the game. The sprites are good for the most part (they occasionally clash) and fighting is quite pixilated but some of the effects offer some cool moments and are all handled well (Barkley’s skill ‘Showboat Jam’ really worked to me). Aurally the game works with a nice smattering of borrowed tracks and quite a few originals composed by Chef. The battle theme is quite memorable and won’t grate, which is always a plus. Other personal favourites include ‘Outskirt’ and ‘Spalding’. There’s a somewhat techno-styled influence to many of the songs, but even the most traditional RPG players will find Chef’s compositions at the very least competent. The sound is fine, it has a low quality vibe to it but works well in conjunction with the graphics. Fighting in the game is actually fun and as sad as it is holds more depth and interactivity than the majority of similar turn-based Japanese RPG styled systems. Every move involves some form of interaction, whether it be a timed button press, directional commands, button mashing, aiming or something else of that manner. You get the gist. The battles are fairly easy but provide enough of a challenge as to not be a walk in the park and you’re usually rewarded for going out of your way in the story line. Granted, it’s quite linear, but the game is really held high by its dialogue and story and thusly it makes sense to want to keep it moving.

It’s a short game which may bother some, but if anything to me it prevented any of the elements from getting stale. I’d estimate the time to completion at about four to six hours depending on how much you get into it and how much you do. There’s little to do after completion bar a Victorian Steampunk mode (little more than top hats and monocles for the portraits) or the option to play through in Al Bhed (which is impressive work if nothing else). It’s the first chapter of an estimated two to three more, so fans will probably be satiated and wanting more after finishing up the game. In this respect the length really is fine, and I appreciate they didn’t go and turn it into a buggy thirty hour epic just ‘because they could’.

All round the game isn’t incredible or groundbreaking, but it is a lot of fun and honestly funny (which is more than I can say for many games, especially indie/amateur parody ones). Anyone with a sense of humour and no overbearing hatred to RPG’s will find this a lot of fun. It got the reputation from its funny moments and that’s really where the best parts of the game lie, but luckily the rest isn’t half bad either.

8/10