GET YOUR HANDS ON THIS GENRE SPOOF.

Byline: Redmond Carolipio Staff Writer

`God Hand'' isn't for everyone. It's the gaming version of an inside joke -- those who get it will love it.

This latest title from the soon-to-be-defunct Clover Studio is the equivalent of the Stephen Chow movie ``Kung Fu Hustle'' -- a body of work that entertains while poking fun of the genre it falls under.

It's a comedy disguised under a tarp of retro smashmouth action.

However, its humor works best with people who know the material.

It's the classic ``beat-'em-up'' genre that gets the treatment here.

Old-school titles like ``Kung Fu Master,'' ``Final Fight'' and ``Double Dragon'' are just some of the works that gave gamers thumbsores over the years.

In beat-`em-ups, problems are solved by laying righteous smackdown on waves of thugs, who get progressively harder to beat as you trudge through the levels. In addition to your fists, you use stuff like bats, chains, or other melee weapons. ``God Hand'' takes all of this into account, but also exploits many of the genre's foibles, such as the simplistic approach to story line.

While contemporary games take the time to set the tone with cinema screens or lengthy narrative, ``God Hand'' just plops you in a random town with people running up to fight you. Unless you read the manual, you don't quite know why you're there, or what you have to do. But you know liberal use of your fists and feet are involved.

Beat-'em-up games focus a lot on fighting moves, and ``God Hand'' players will find a massive and odd mix of strikes and combos that have a variety of effects on the bad guys. Some moves make an opponent dizzy, while others are designed to knock them into the air.

Players can customize their combos much like they would put together an iTunes playlist -- if you find the right mix, you'll find yourself blocked less frequently.

However, while this is a sound gameplay element, the game earns its stripes with offbeat humor that shows itself in every aspect of the game.

First is the moves list, which seems to poke fun at the fighting arts in general. Embedded with the various punches and kicks are moves that reek with silliness, such as the ``pimp hand'' (a powerful slap) and a ``granny chop'' -- which is extremely slow but does lots of damage.

There's also stuff like the ``fist of justice'' and the ``Yes Ma'am Kablaam,'' which is a drawn-out, exaggerated punch that triggers the audio of a cheering crowd when it connects.

Those are just the normal moves. When you make an opponent dizzy, pressing the circle button opens up a litany of wild attacks, such as cracking someone's neck, to punching them 100 times in a matter of seconds or -- get this -- bending them over your knee and spanking them about 50 times before sending them flying into the wall.

The game also hints at the old-school with an almost ridiculously simple approach to sound and visuals. Some of the music feels like a better fit for a Sega Genesis than a PS2, and most of the buildings and backgrounds look like they came out of an abandoned prop warehouse.

Overall, there's a visual cheesiness to the game that I'm convinced is intentional -- this is the same studio that put out the visually rich and engrossing ``Okami,'' after all.

If you've grown up with gaming, then I'd recommend giving ``God Hand'' a try. The only downside is that a newer gamer could look at ``God Hand'' and decide that it's the worst game ever on the PS2. Then again, I don't think ``God Hand'' is for those people.

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Photo:

no caption (``God Hand'')