Cool Thing of the Week: Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden

Jake's post inspired this Cool Thing Of The Week Feature. You see, I've never been able to get into Japanese RPG's at all. I usually get tired of all the grinding and angst and just get bored. But in my lifetime there have been three JRPG's that I have managed to finish: Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, and Tales of Games Presents: Chef Boyardee's Charles Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden: Chapter One of the Hoopz Barkley Saga. Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden is absolutely brilliant satire. Not only is it a send up of all things JRPG (and quite a few things regarding PC gaming,) it's a geniuinely good game. The story is interesting, the battle system requires a lot of player interaction, and most importantly there's no grinding. You can pretty much coast through this game, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun. The humor in CB,SUAJ:G is sometimes overt, many times subtle, and always hilarious. This isn't simple parody, that's been done to death. This is a loving homage that knows and embraces the flaws of its inspiration. Everything about the game is ridiculous, from the story to the status effects (normal effects like confusion and poison are replaced by Aspergers and glaucoma, cured by alcohol and "chup") but every thing is played completely straight faced. It's short, fun, and absolutely brilliant. Go play it now.