Barkley Shut Up and Jam!

n/a

Barkley Shut Up and Jam!
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Accolade
Developer: Accolade
Distributor: Tec Toy (BR)
Sound driver: Accolade sound driver
Genre: Sports (Basketball)
Number of players: 1-4
Release Date RRP Code US 1994-02 $69.9569.95 T-119066-00 US ▼ (Sega Channel) 1994-06-01 SUBsub EU 1994-04 T-119066-50 UK 1994-03-08 £39.9939.99 T-119066-50 AU 1994 FBAR02SMC BR 199x 044920
Non-Sega versions Super NES

Barkley Shut Up and Jam! is a 1994 two-on-two basketball game for the Sega Mega Drive and Super NES by Accolade. The Mega Drive version was not released in Japan.

During development, the game was known simply as Charles Barkley Basketball.

Gameplay

The game is an arcade-style two-on-two basketball game. The game supports up to four players with the Team Player. Though very similar to NBA Jam in terms of gameplay and controls, the game provides a faster and more aggressive pace by containing less basketball play regulations, emulating the looser and rougher nature of casual, urban basketball. There is no shot clock and no fouls except goaltending. Players can control former NBA MVP Charles Barkley or one of fifteen fictitious basketball players in matches on mostly outdoor courts across eight different cities of the United States. The court location has no effect on gameplay, while each of the playable characters has a unique set of status skills (with Barkley having the best stats overall).

Players are moved around the court with the D-Pad. Players can activate power, allowing the character to move faster, improving the odds of making a shot, and enabling super dunks, by pressing . Each player starts with the ability to activate power six times but must earn each use back by stealing (on defense) or making three-point shots (on offense).

Players can play a single match, a series, or a tournament. The single match and series modes can be played by one to four players; players choose a character (along with a teammate when playing with a computer) and a locale. In two-player games, players can play on the same team or against each other. Series are played for the best of 5 or the best of 7 matches. The tournament mode can be played by one or two players (on the same team). Players choose a city to represent, which has two pre-selected characters, and play a series of games against all the other cities. The final game always takes place in Phoenix (which cannot be selected by the players to represent) against Charles Barkley. The game has no save feature and utilizes a password system to keep progress through tournament mode. In all modes, matches can be timed (with quarters of 1, 3, or 5 minutes) or played up to a certain number of points (21 or 50).

	Tip-Off
	Each game starts with a tip-off, where a player from each team leaps with for possession of the ball (with and moving the player in midair).
	Defense
	When the player's team does not have possession of the ball, the player can jump to block the opposing team's shots with . Goaltending is called if a defensive player blocks a shot that is above the rim and moving downward, which awards the other team the points for the shot. When near an opposing player, the player can try to steal the ball with . The ability to steal depends on the character's skill rating. When an opposing player is attempting a super dunk, the player can defend against it by pressing in the air.
	Offense
	When the player's team has possession of the ball, the player can perform a jump shot by holding . The ball is released when the button is released. After activating power with , the player can do a super dunk with when near the basket. Each character has unique super dunks. The player can pass the ball with . When playing with an AI teammate, pressing forces the AI to pass the ball. Opponents can intercept the ball as it is being passed.

Players

Character select

Players are rated on Twos (ability to hit 2-point jump shots), Threes (ability to hit 3-pointers), Dunks (ability to slam dunk), Rebound (ability to retrieve missed shots from the opposing team), Steal (ability to steal the ball from opponents), and Speed.

• "Sir Charles" Barkley
• Stonewall
• Spike
• Wildman
• T-Bone
• Sweet Pea
• Newts
• D-Train
• Chilly
• Sarge
• Fly By
• Funky-D
• Smoothy
• Gunner
• Xaos
• Dane

Courts

Most courts are outdoors, with the exception of Phoenix and Houston.

Phoenix

Indoor arena

Watts

Schoolyard

Seattle

Rooftop

Miami

Beach

Houston

Warehouse

Brooklyn

Ghetto

Oakland

Junkyard

Chicago

L-Train

History

Legacy

The game was followed by Barkley Shut Up and Jam 2 in 1995, exclusively for the Mega Drive.

In 2008, an indie fan game named Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden was released, jokingly presented as an unofficial sequel to both Barkley Shut Up and Jam! and the movie Space Jam. The game is an RPG that has nothing to do with Barkley Shut Up and Jam! aside from the title and also starring Charles Barkley, and the developers have stated that they have never played the original game.

In 2021, both Barkley Shut Up and Jam! games were re-released for the Evercade retro gaming handheld by Piko Interactive as part of the Piko Interactive Collection 2. Since Piko does not hold the license to use the likeness of Charles Barkley, these versions were renamed to Hoops Shut Up and Jam and Hoops Shut Up and Jam 2, with Charles Barkley replaced by a player named "Joe Hoops." Hoops Shut Up and Jam! would later be available on PC and consoles through Accolade Sports Collection, now with the ownership of Atari SA.

Production credits

• Design: Charles Barkley, Kathy Ells, Tony Hsieh, Danny Pisano, Bob Smith
• Programming: Tony Hsieh, Bob Smith
• Lead Artist: Kathy Ells
• Graphic Art: Thomas Applegate, Bob Busick, Armand Cabrera, Kathy Ells, Steven Graziano, G. Scott Heckenlively, James Johnson, Steve M. Martinez, Kelley Pinson, Steve Smith, Mike Ulrich, John Xu
• Sound: Rudy Helm, Richard Kelly
• Music: Dominic Messinger, Rick Rhodes
• Test: Alex V. Cabal, Don "Newts" Felice, Matt McKnight, Mike Person
• Produced By: Danny Pisano
• Product Marketing Mgr: Daniel Jeung
• Manual Writing: Wallace Poulter (NENC), Jeff Becker
• Manual Editing: Shirley Sellers, Jon Mongelluzzo

Source:

US manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Barkley Shut Up and Jam!/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #57: "April 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:

• GamePro (US) #57: "April 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #59: "June 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Print advert in Game Players (US) #0705: "Vol. 7 No. 5 May 1994" (1994-0x-xx)
also published in:

• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #58: "May 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
• GamePro (US) #60: "July 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
• EGM² (US) #1: "July 1994" (1994-07-19)
• EGM² (US) #2: "August 1994" (1994-0x-xx)

Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #19: "June/July 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 40 Consoles + (FR) 80 Computer & Video Games (UK) 56 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU) 40 Game Players (US) NTSC-U 56 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 83 Gamers (DE) 7 GamesMaster (UK) PAL 80 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 61 Hyper (AU) 61 Joypad (FR) PAL 73 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 61 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) 80 Mega (UK) PAL 54 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 77 Mega Power (UK) PAL 72 MegaTech (UK) PAL 70 Megazin (SI) 76 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 74 Player One (FR) 70 Play Time (DE) 83 Power Unlimited (NL) 90 Sega Power (UK) PAL 77 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 77 Sega Zone (UK) PAL 76 Sonic the Comic (UK) PAL 83 Todo Sega (ES) 83 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 72 Video Games (DE) PAL 73 VideoGames (US) NTSC-U 50

	68
Based on 30 reviews

Barkley Shut Up and Jam!

Mega Drive, US (Accolade Cart)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US (Sega Cart)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US (Cardboard Slipcase)
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, AU (NTSC Import)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart

Technical information

Main article: Barkley Shut Up and Jam!/Technical information.