Shaq-Fu

"This is a Fine Tournament Fighter, Contrary to What Others Say."

One day, when a Buy-Way was closing down (here in Canada they were everywhere, and then they just fizzled), I went to their store to see what they were clearing out. They were clearing out two or three games (cannot really remember how many there were...), and there was one game that I had only heard of (negatively), and for this reason, I had to try it out. It was Shaq-Fu, a game that, due to humans being a rude and racially prejudiced race, really isn't so bad after all. Shaquille O'Neal does not deserve the flak that he gets. I have known many people that have been turned off of this game just for racial reasons, and it is disgusting. Game play will give you a glimpse of how good this game really is.

Game play: 8/10

This game is very easy to learn and the controls are fluid. The only difficulty with the controls is that unless you have a 6 button controller, the playing will be quite difficult. There is no move list (possibly on the manual, I wouldn't know), thus the moves may be a bit tricky to learn, otherwise though there is nothing wrong. There are three game modes: One is a tournament style mode, the next is a story mode (a lot of fun and quite humorous), and the final is an up to 8 man tournament, great for parties. The 8 man tournament is a great feature of this game, and Midway obviously caught on because in their next installment of Mortal Kombat (UMK3), they included an 8 man tournament, and for Genesis days, this was a great feature. There are 12 characters to choose from, each with their own moves and levels. The story mode is cool in that you can walk Shaq around to different locales to fight hsi enemies. Very nice little feature. Story is next, not cheesy at all.

Story: 8/10

I do no know why people think this story is cheesy, because it isn't. By the way, aside from the main story, through the one man tournament mode, you can find out each of the other character's stories. The main story is as follows. Shaquille O' Neal is about to play a charity game in Tokyo, Japan, when he stumbles along an intriguing do-jo. Upon entering, the master living in the do-jo mistakes Shaq for a warrior from the stars, and in turn sends Shaq to another dimension to rescue a young boy who will be killed after doing no harm. He has been captured by the Mummy Sorcerer Sett-Ra, and Sett must be stopped before any more evil can be made. Not cheesy in the slightest, neither are the graphics.

Graphics: 9/10

The best part of the game. The only con with the graphics are that the characters are too small, then again though, that isn't the fault of the graphics. Anyways, the characters, though small, look ver detailed and very unique. You can tell that a lot of effort was put into the character animations. The backgrounds are also excellent, and add a really good atmosphere to the game. Graphics are good, how about sound?

Sound: 7/10

The weakest element of the game, though not as weak as people say it is. Beeps? There are no beeps at all, buy a new tv if you want to hear the sound in this game. The sound effects are poor. They are muffled, and they do not sound very realistic, on the other hand, the music is very good, and really adds to the game. Some of the tunes are also very catchy. There is not a single beep in this game. Like I said, buy a new tv. Replay ability will follow.

Replay ability: 8/10

To find out each person's story through tournament mode, that will keep you playing for a while. If you have a bunch of buddies over though, or if you are having a party, you can play for hours on end. Enjoy.

Buy or rent?

You cannot rent this game, and knowing how human nature is, if you listen to others comments, you will probably not buy this game. Even if you don't play it though, it is good to have for novelty purposes. Buy this game, you won't be disappointed.

This IS a GOOD game, make no mistake about it. It is just too bad that critically poor games don't do well. There is a time and place for these games, but Shaq-Fu is not one of these games, and it did not deserve the negativity. Poor Shaq. He is just trying to make a bit more money on the side, and people give him hell for it. Hey you'd do it too, but nobody would hate on you would they? Shaq: "Where is Nezu?" Auroch: "Argggghhh!!!!!"

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/06, Updated 09/11/09

Game Release: Shaq-Fu (US, 1994)