Shaq-Fu

"Basketball is bad enough."

It sickens me how far stars will go to make a quick few bucks. Whether it's from a video game, movie, or a music album, the final product is usually bad. Shaq Fu is no exception.

The overall feel and story of Shaq Fu seems rushed. In the game, Shaq is on a trip to Tokyo. And while site seeing along the streets, he wanders upon a broken down Dojo shop. Inside: a confused, senile old man. The old man insists on Shaq being a heavenly warrior, here to stop the evil spirit Sett Ra . Sett Ra has took a precious gem to society, and all around shrouded in mystery on why he’s important, the boy Nezu.

Story aside, game modes are lacking. Duel mode pits you and a friend against each other, letting you choose from any character in the game, and any fighting arena. Tournament mode lets you choose eight characters (four per player), and you fight yourself in winner-faces-winner type rounds. Finally, Story mode puts you in the role of Shaq in an over world, going from land to land trying to get info on how to get to Sett Ra's tomb; where the boy is being held. In retrospect, a training mode would of helped a lot.

In a nutshell, the fighters that work for Sett Ra will try to stop you from getting the boy. Ranging from a Cat-Lady, a Samurai, to a Voodoo Chick with a bad attitude, they are all-stereotypical in their own ways; and just seem like cheap throw-ins in this tragic story. Strangely enough, the game would of had more lasting game play if the four extra characters from the Genesis version of Shaq Fu were implanted in this SNES port. Because of this, oddly enough, the game play falls short.

The fighting system is rather simple, yet it performs rather poorly. X and Y are the punch buttons, and A and B are the kick buttons. Also, L and R shoulder buttons serve as blocking buttons and throwing buttons. Driving your character around the arenas can come off as a bit sluggish, and makes performing moves hard and frustrating. Move selection for each character is there, but the sluggish physics makes them hard perform. Unless you've learned a new projectile move, making contact moves (such as super-punches and kicks) connect without you being blown back is quite the surprise.

What cuts the games replay value short is the frustratingly difficult AI the game presents. Even on the easy difficulty, the computer presents much of a challenge. You'll find yourself constantly dodging projectiles by jumping about sluggishly.

Animation wise, the game is a mixed bad. While letting the characters sit there, you'll notice that the animations are quite crisp and fluent. Boy, when some action starts, you'll notice the games incredible amount of slow down and frame rate loss. While jumping, you'll be suspended in air for about 3 seconds, leaving you vulnerable to any sort of attack.

While there are sever lack of battle grounds (only six), they are all kept simple and to the point. From waterfalls, jungles, and even a volcano pit, each arena compliments the enemy’s character and interest.

Despite clunky battle physics, Shaq Fu's visuals are bright and detailed. Character models are a bit small, but are quite distinguished. On the other side of the spectrum, you have the ho-hum sound effects. Though somewhat muffled, they are clear and they go nicely with the corresponding action. Thankfully, nicely tuned music accompanies you during your fights. While being upbeat, it manages to go excellent with the corresponding battle-arena theme.

Shaq Fu is a Class-A example of producers spending too much time in areas not necessary to game play, and not spend the correct amount of time in key elements such as game play, modes, and AI. I give it a five for performing well in some areas, but the rest just-- not there. –Shin (5/16/00)

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 05/25/03, Updated 05/25/03