Adult Swim has its share of strange television shows and Samurai Champloo is clearly one of the most bizarre. The strange mix of ancient Japan and hip hop is a classic case of oil meets water, yet both have been cleverly woven to produce a product that's somehow cooler than crushed ice. Everything just works, and in most respects, the same can be said about the videogame, Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked, a title that, although rough around the edges, is a fine compliment to the series that it's based on.

Sidetracked continues to story of Mugen, Jin, and Fuu, three weary travelers that are in search of the samurai that smells of sunflowers. The game is actually a bonus episode that compliments the series, so if you're a fan this will only enhance the overall experience, though if you've never watched a single episode, developer Grasshopper Manufacture has done an excellent job designing it so that the intro clues you into the goings on, and by and large, the narrative is well told. I'm a little put off at how slow some of the reaction times are (a character will say something, and then it'll take the other character a few seconds to respond), but overall, the cut scenes are fun to watch, the music is decent, and the voice acting is passable. Nothing shines in particular, but at the very least, the show's essence has been almost perfectly transferred to the videogame.

In order to buy into Grasshopper's artistic vision, you're going to have to absorb some initial shock. Samurai Champloo is a 2D animated series, but Sidetracked a 3D game. With that being said, it took me a few seconds to adjust to the 3D version of Fuu and company, but the developers haven't lost what makes them who they are. Jin is still calm and reserved, Mugen is wild and crazy, and Fuu is still a compulsive eater. Plus, Grasshopper did a good job with the character models. The CG versions look excellent, and the in game representations, while jaggy, resemble their cartoon counterparts.

What makes the game unique is the same things that make the series so off the wall. Samurai Champloo takes place in ancient Japan, yet it's been infused with hip hop as well as a quirky, off beat style that can be seen everywhere from the weird loading screens to the cut scenes to the actual combat. Sidetracked provides us with an almost typical hack-and-slash gameplay experience, yet it's original because of the way the fighting works. Basically, the character that you choose (Mugen, Jin, or a third mystery fighter) can bring two LPs into battle at a time. Each LP contains signature combo trees that are displayed at the very top of the screen, and you can switch between them on the fly using the right analog stick. So during the course of battle you'll be mashing buttons and grooving to one beat, then if you'd like, you can flick the right analog stick and dramatically change the music as well as the combos. Doing so doesn't dramatically alter the gameplay, as it never goes beyond simple button mashing, but it's still a cool feature, especially since you can purchase new LPs while in towns, then choose which two you'd like to bring into battle.

Now if you want to be boring, then that's all you really need to know. Change your records, then press triangle a lot. You can beat the game this way, but you'd be missing out on the deeper elements such as the button timed counter attacks and most importantly, Tate Mode. Here, and after kicking a certain amount of ass, you'll be transferred from the combat area to an image of sliding doors. Suddenly, both your character and one of the enemies will rush at each other, and just as they meet the game will ask you to quickly press a button, X for example. If you time it just right, then you'll have to rapidly press X, Triangle, O, and Square before time runs out (all the while, your character will be slicing like mad), and if you get 100 slashes or more you'll enter Trance Mode, a whacky state of being where you can just go crazy and cut up as many enemies as you can. And this same routine goes on for the entire game, with you beating up enough bad guys to enter Tate Mode, and then entering Trance Mode if you reach 100 slashes.