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There are some games made to just be weird, hilarious, and satirical all at the same time. They are few and far between, but it's great when they show up on the gaming radar. It means that there's a new hilarious game to play, and that's always a good thing. The game this week is one of these kinds of games. It's a satire of Japanese role-playing games, internet culture, and the absurdity of sequels. For a good laugh at the expense of these different things, Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden, Chapter 1 of the HoopZ Barkley SaGa is the best.

Since the name is so ridiculous and long, I will be referring to this week's game as Shut Up And Jam Gaiden rather than the full name the whole article. It is much easier to say than the full name, after all. The great thing is that the full name itself is a parody of JRPGs, independent game studios, and sequels in general. Specifically, it pokes fun at the Tale of Tales development studio, producer credits in the title, and ridiculous naming conventions. But there's more to the game than just the name, after all.

The story of Shut Up And Jam Gaiden can be a little confusing, so here's the run-down. The year is 2053 in an alternate universe where basketball was an influential sport from the dawn of history. Basketball has been outlawed, however, after Charles Barkley performed a "Verboten Jam", one of the forbidden arts of basketball. The move, referred to as the Chaos Dunk, has the power of a 150 megaton nuclear bomb. Not knowing this, Charles Barkley accidentally destroyed a city with the move, killing the population and forcing basketball players into hiding after widespread persecution began to take place. Living in Neo New York with his son, Charles Barkley is full of guilt and shame over what he did to the world and the sport of basketball. When another Chaos Dunk is performed in Manhattan, killing millions, Charles Barkley is implicated and must find the true perpetrator to clear his name and bring back basketball.

It's a rather ridiculous story, but it serves well as a backdrop for the heavy parody and satire seen in the game. Despite the overly ridiculous nature of the setting, nobody blinks an eye. Dialogue is approached very seriously, and nobody ever stops to consider the complete absurdity of some of the situations. Some of these bizarre scenarios include being spontaneously sugarified and encountering a dwarf made of basketballs. However, to not spooil the game, it would be best to stop there.

The gameplay is great even though the linearity of the game is bothering. There's no real wiggle room in terms of levels, and by the end of the game you will only be level 13 or so. There are no random encounters and monsters do not repopulate when you leave and re-enter a zone. You only get to use the world map for about 30 seconds, and while on the world map there are no random encounters, extra places to visit, or any of that. The game is essentially the first 5 hours of larger epic, and the blatant references to a second chapter in both the name and story indicate that things aren't wrapped up.

The basic play consists of dungeons with roaming monsters that you can touch and initiate a battle with, much like the games in the Chrono series. When in these turn-based battles, you are presented with five options per character: attacks, run away, defend, items, and specials. What the game does to differentiate between itself and other JRPGs is in the more interactive nature of attacks. Instead of simply choosing "Attack" and choosing an enemy, each main character has three attacks they can use by pressing a different button. Each attack also has a different gameplay mechanic, making the battle system extremely engaging. Some examples include:

• Charles Barkley's Free Throw: A timing minigame where you have to match a ball to a red silhouette. The closer you are to the silhouette, the more accurate your attack will be. You get two shots, and can change targets for the second shot.
• Zauber Slash: A move used by two characters, this move encourages the player to mash Action while the projectil is between the user and the target. The more the button is mashed, the bigger the projectile is and the more damage it deals.
• Cyberdwarf's Combo System: The most engaging part of the combat system, the Cyberdwarf's default attack is a timing-based combo system where the player must chain together punches, kicks, and finishing moves. Certain moves deal more damage, and certain finishers reduce the stats of the enemy in question.

These are just a few of the moves available to the player characters. Specials are also useful, as each character learns at least 3 specials and each special is useful until the end of the game. They range across the possible spectrum, from status effects to damage to healing, and always turn the tide of a battle. As most of the enemies you face are boss characters, using specials is something you will get used to. However, most regular enemies can be defeated fairly quickly with default attacks, making it unnecessary to use specials on them

The rest of the game features typical JRPG progression. You kill enemies, gain experience and levels, get money, and spend the money on better equipment and disposable items that remove status effects and the like. If you have ever played a Final Fantasy game, you will have an idea of what to do in any particular situation, which is rather nice.

Shut Up And Jam Gaiden is definitely not a game that will appeal to everyone. It has an incredibly bizarre sense of humor and sticks to genre conventions in terms of gameplay and story progression. However, if you want a JRPG that has a great combat system, hilarious parody elements and dialogue, and a surreal setting, then this is definitely the game for you. You can download the game from our downloads section or the Tales of Game's website. Let us know what you think of it in the comments!

For another look at freeware games, take a look at Joystiq's Free Game Club weekly feature!