Barkley Shut Up & Jam!
Review by Gaztee
Less graphics

The latest Basketball game to hit the Jaguar is this near complete game by Ringler Studios. It is a 1-4 player team tap compatible 2 on 2 street basketball game.
														

On the title screen you get the chance to select the type of game you want to play. You can play in a tournament where you battle your way through 7 cities in the US before facing the final match against Sir Charles! You can play a series, either 5 or 7 games against friend(s) or the Jaguar. Or you can just play a one off match, again against either the Jaguar or a friend. You also get to choose the length of the game you want to play. 1,3 or 5 minute quarters if you want timed games, or there is the option to either play first to 21 or 50 points.  

		
You have the choice of 16 players to choose from when you selecting your team. None of the characters from the previous versions have been kept. They appear to be members of the Ringler Studios team digitised in all their beauty, of course except for Sir Charles himself!  As usual they all have their own individual strengths and weaknesses.  Pick your team and away you go.

After selecting your game mode, number of players etc you are treated to a loading screen. Yes the game takes an age to load, which is strange even though it is a 4MB cart. So to pass the time away you get to take part in a little bout of Breakout! A nice touch this, as you have a Basketball as the ball & the hoop & backboards as the bat! Another nice touch is that the score is kept as you carry on throughout the tournament, so you get two competitons for the price of one! 

		

The game plays like NBA Jam TE, but looks like WMCJ with the digitised graphics. Whether this was supposed to be the case or not it can only be good, as NBA is a very playable game. You have the same sort of feel with super dunks & limited power bursts. 
The game in single player is fun, but nowhere near as in depth as NBA Jam, but probably a bit more so than WMCJ. It is also (for me at least) probably the hardest of the 3 Jag basketball games. The difficulty especially near the end of a tournament is hard. Sir Charles is one tough cookie to beat, but it is possible.

The graphics in game are a big improvement over the other earlier versions of the game. The backdrops for all the courts are nice & crisp. The movement of the players however does seem a little a little too blocky at times, but not too much as to be a big problem, just slightly annoying. 
		

The controls of the game are good. I would personally recommend using a pro controller for the game. Not mentioned in the manual is the fact that the shoulder buttons are used to push the opponent in order to try to steal the ball. With an ordinary pad you can use any one of the numbers on the keypad. The A button is the special power bar activator in both offence and defence. You get a limited number to use each quarter and have improved accuracy when shooting, faster speed & are more likely to steal the ball when activated. The B button is used to jump and shoot in offence, and jump and defend in defence. The C button allows you to pass on offence, and attempt to steal on defence.

		

As with any multiplayer game this comes in to its own when played with friends.  The Jag is still a tough competitor even when playing with a friend. Of course four friends is fun because of all the trash talking you gets to do.

	                            The halftime stats screen. This is also displayed at the end of the game so you can see where you     got your ass kicked

The problem with the game lies in the fact that although mighty close, it is not complete. A sign of this is the time for the quarters. One minute only gives you 37 seconds, three minutes gives you 1:52 & five minutes 3:47. The biggest though is probably the lack of sound in the game. All you really get is the bouncing of the ball & not a lot else. No taunts from Sir Charles or words of encouragement either. No background music too. Another problem I found was that playing two player using the team tap did actually cause frequent crashes. Maybe I was just not good enough at the game, but I couldn’t find any Easter eggs which are known to be in other versions of the game.

These small problems aside this is a really good game, not as good as NBA Jam, but a whole heap better than WMCJ. It is a shame it was never finished properly, but don’t let these very small problems put you off. If you like your Basketball, in the video style, then you should really own this too. Is a good game as it stands  The game is now available with a free Team tap for the bargain price of $69.99 from B&C computer Visions. If you go to their website at www.myatari.com  then you will be able to download the excellent manual done by Just Claws & Kevin Manne for free.

Overall rating 8/10