SHAQ-FU:
Game Type: Fighting Game
Release Date: 1994
Developer: Delphine Software International (published by Electronic Arts)
-A game that was bizarre even for the "Shovelware" era that was the mid-1990s,
Shaq-Fu came out and was quickly ignored, but has since gone on to become infamous simply by virtue of how STUPID an idea it was, and has now become known as one of the worst video games of all time. The funny thing was, at the time, the game was merely considered "Eh, this was bizarre and dumb, but the game is okay, I guess". I mean, this was *1994*. You have any idea how many Fighting Games came out in frickin' 1994? There were DOZENS of them. I seriously doubt any reviewers had more than a minor chance at checking out many of these in-depth, and there were surely a couple of worse examples.
I still remember my issue of
GamePlayers Magazine which featured Shaq himself as the Guest Reviewer, of course giving his own game a good review. The two actual staff members doing supporting reviews were fairly like "Yeah, if Shaq is here, we're giving his game a good review", but confessed to liking parts of it regardless. The game, developed by a company that's now out of business, came out for the Super NES, Genesis, Game Gear and Game Boy that year, and featured the insane story of Shaq fighting an evil Egyptian Mummy Lord for the life of a young boy. Shaq, of course, was a worldwide phenomenon in the mid-90s, having debuted in the wake of Michael Jordan creating a whole new generation of basketball fans. Hell, he was the first big "Universal Name" of the post-Jordan era, with a distinctive name, famous talent, and INCREDIBLE size (he was much taller than Jordan, Kobe, Rodman or any of the other guys- one of the best "Bigs" in basketball history in terms of skill, too). Big, buff and charismatic, he was an instant mega-star as soon as he debuted, and was given all manner of silly things- rap albums, a couple of MOVIES (the infamous flop
Kazaam!, in which he played a genie, and
Steel, based off of the DC superhero), and of course, THIS.
The origins of the game are pretty goofy, and actually fit Shaq's "So I want to do a rap album now" personality fairly well- initially supposed to be a Basketball game (owing to, you know, Shaq being a BASKETBALL PLAYER), it was changed to a Fighting Game after meeting Shaq, who was like "I love
Mortal Kombat and want this to be a Fighting Game instead". And so they created this bizarre protagonist-centered game where Shaq goes into the "Second World" to fight a mummy, a bull-man, a catgirl and more in a quest to save young Nezu from Sett-Ra. And the developers of course chose to have all the characters be these tiny lil' sprites, cuz when you have SHAQUILLE O'NEAL as your protagonist, you think of "make him look super-tiny on the screen". They apparently went this route because they knew they couldn't compete with rival fighters on basis of technology or gameplay, and so showcased their one strength- smooth animation. Similar rotoscoping technology was used for this game as was used in
Flashback and other games, with animators drawing over video of people actually performing the moves, allowing for some very smooth movements. Very smooth... and TINY. Even Shaq was half the size of Johnny Cage, as one YouTube video showcases. Stages at least had day & night variations, but this was like
Prince of Persia (the original version) or
Flashback, not
Street Fighter II.
This review indicates some of the issues:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-6GM6UVZSQ. The controls are infamous in retrospectives, and likely stem from the
Flashback-like realistic movements, which show all the frames of animation inherent to human movement... ignoring that for most Fighting Games, the characters move FASTER than humanly possible, because to do otherwise makes them very delayed and sluggish. By being too "real",
Shaq-Fu has slowed things down considerably, leading to tremendous lag. This means that normal fighting tactics won't work, and you can instead beat down opponents by leaping up and spamming the same couple of attacks repeatedly until they fall over. In essence, it's like someone made a game entirely out of the combat sequences of the original
Prince of Persia game- not really the stuff of legend.
Reviews were mixed in its own time-
GamePro said it was pretty decent, saying there was fast gameplay.
GamePlayers put it around 70% or so (but almost confessed to being biased, given Shaq was RIGHT THERE). One guy at
Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it a 6/10, which isn't bad, but another give it 4/10. The most negative review came from
Next Generation, which pointed out that "
Shaq-Fu includes everything a good fighting game needs, with the exception of good fighting." in their 2/5 review. The years would be... less kind.
Nintendo Power called it #3 in the Worst Games of All Time list. Though a guy from IGN pointed out something I kind of believe as well- the myth of the game and stupidity of the idea probably make it sound worse than it really was. Major problems include the game being fairly buggy (some attacks simply just whiff for no reason), everyone having the same amount of Toughness (not shown in my builds, but apparently the 7'1" Shaq and 4'6" Nezu have the same durability with regards to taking damage), and odd heights and reach making certain attacks useless against certain characters.
A sequel was initially planned for 1995, but plans were dropped after the weak reception the first one got. The infamy the game had would actually create a tongue-in-cheek goofy sequel,
Shaq-Fu: A Legend Reborn in 2018, now reimagined as a Beat 'Em Up side-scrolling game.
There are some odd differences between the various editions of the game- the Sega Genesis version actualy features FIVE MORE CHARACTERS and three more stages- a far cry from them dropping Earthquake to fit
Samurai Shodown on their console.
The game allows "Finishing Moves", not quite Fatalities, though in some cases the character would be seen dying. The Story Mode takes place on four separate islands- on each island, you can face the enemies in the order you choose. The first island is comprised of Diesel, Voodoo, Leotsu, Rajah, Auroch, and Mephis. The third just has Kaori, The Colonel & Nezu. The third island only has Beast, with the fourth, Tombstone Island, holding Sett. Three "Bonus Fights" exist- two feature recolors of Beast & Sett-Ra, while a third has you fighting a series of Skeletons, none of whom attack. Beat 20 and you get an extra continue.
The Roster:
Shaquille O'Neal- The Main Hero.
Mephis
Rajah- A turban-wearing Indian-themed guy with scimitars.
Kaori- Catgirl. Mind-controlled by Sett-Ra.
Nezu- Young boy. Genesis exclusive.
Auroch- Bull-man. Genesis exclusive.
Diesel- A Greaser-dressing tough guy with knives (in the Second World)? Genesis exclusive.
Colonel- A cyborg soldier discovered by Beast. Genesis exclusive.
Leotsu- A "wise old master" into whose dojo Shaq wanders at the beginning of the story. Genesis exclusive.
Auroch- A horned bull-man. Genesis exclusive.
Beast- A strange, demonic-looking red monster with no skin. Sub-Boss, fought before Sett-Ra.
Sett-Ra- An evil Mummy Lord. Final Boss.
.
