Shaq Fu

"Ice Water investigates the forgotten game everyone knows of...Shaq Fu"

Going through the local game store one day, I stopped by the Gameboy case hoping to score a copy of Megaman Zero 3. Before I reached the Gameboy Advance row however, I stumbled across a lost classic known as Shaq Fu. I looked closer to see how much the thing was worth and noticed a hefty price tag of fifteen dollars. "FIFTEEN BUCKS?! SCREW THAT" I said as I was leaving the store. I don't think the owners heard me because they were distracted by the Halo 2 demo or something. So I went back to my dorm and looked for information on the little game and came up with nothing at all. There were no screen shots, no codes, not even a review came up on Google. So I had to sit and wonder if it would be worth spending 15 bucks on a game no one had any clue about.

Later, I noticed that one of my friends had Shaq Fu for his Gameboy, so I asked if I could play it. He handed it over, and I popped the bad boy into my classic Gameboy and started to Shaq it up.

Boy was I in for a surprise. After reading through a bunch of credits, I was finally at the title screen of the game everybody had forgotten.

Story/Gameplay
Apparently, there IS no story for this version of Shaq Fu. You just get out their and beat the crap outta your opponents. Also, instead of getting the normal Duel/Story/Tournament/Options menu like in the Genesis/SNES versions, you get these modes: Shaq Fu/Duel Mode/2 Player/Options.

Not much of a noticeable difference, except you now lack a tournament and a story. What's up with that?! I know this is a portable system, but still. This version makes you suffer with only two playable modes since no one really has this game for some odd reason.

Shaq Fu mode pits you against all six of the other characters as the Shaq Master himself. The characters are exactly the same as the SNES version, so you will still be missing out on the characters exclusive to the Sega Genesis version. Durn. Oh well, you can still kick some butt through all six levels! OH YEAH! You only get three continues in this mode, but if you can last, you can treat yourself to the ending of the game.

Duel Mode lets you play as any of the seven characters, then you select another for your opponent (played by the computer of course). Not as fun as Shaq Fu mode, but if you want a quick fight, this is the way to go. Also good for practice incase you can't defeat one of the characters in Shaq Fu mode.

The gameplay is much like it was in the Genesis/SNES versions, only this time, you lack a few moves due to the change in controls. The gameplay puts you and your opponent in a normal fighting manner (much like Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat), and you then duke it out within the time limit that you set (can be anywhere from 10-90 seconds, or unlimited). You then fight until the other guy gets the crap beat out of him. You get a fury bar that builds up as you get beat down, but as soon as you hit your opponent with a move (be it punch, kick, or Shaquriken), the fury will go away.

Graphics
The graphics of Shaq Fu are on par with its Genesis and SNES counterparts. You can tell that's Shaq kickin' butt that's for sure, even on this tiny screen. Heck, you could even see for yourself that this was Shaq due to the fact that you can actually make out his name on his jersey in this version. The animations for the characters aren't too shabby either. Shaq still does his famous Shaq Shuffle after he kicks his opponents butt! Too bad they got rid of the starting animations.

The Vs. Screen looks exactly like its counterparts! The only difference you will notice though is that the taunts and prebattle taunts have been removed. What a shame. Oh well, at least they look the same as the 16 Bit console versions. The backgrounds in the levels also look like their 16 Bit counterparts, which is a big benefit. It's almost like you're playing the SNES version on the go since everything looks the same, only in a black and white sort of way.

Other than that, there's nothing too special about the graphics.

Controls
The controls for this game are quite simple. A is Punch, B is kick, Left and Right move you left and right, Down makes you duck, and Up makes you jump. To compensate for the missing buttons that the Genesis/SNES had, you get to run by double tapping forward, and back flip by double tapping backwards. You also get a force field if you press Down and Forward at the same time. Simple enough right?

The only problem with this system is when you are trying to perform a special move. One that comes to mind is the Shaquriken. You have to press Forward, Back, Forward and punch to perform it. However, if you are trying to throw the special fast, you'll end up running towards the guy and he gets in a free punch on you. OUCH! That really hurts the controls there! At least punching and kicking is solid...

Music and Sound
Yeesh, at least I could stand the music in Shaq Fu on the Genesis/SNES. There's only two or three tracks in this game, and they're all pretty bad. And this is coming from the guy who actually likes game music. This is one of the few games I've actually shut the music off for. The sound effects are mostly just thuds and punches being landed. Nothing special. You should probably turn on some music from the SNES/Genesis version instead of listening to this game's. You'd enjoy it much better.

So is this game worth the fifteen bucks?
Uh...NO! Fifteen bucks for this game is a RIPOFF. I was able to beat the thing within an hour of playing on NORMAL mode. If you can find this for less than five bucks, it would be worth it, but anything higher, forget about it. If you seriously want a version of Shaq Fu, get the better Genesis/SNES versions instead. You'll get much more enjoyment out of them. I swear the Gameboy just cannot make a great fighter, but this one almost came close! It would be worth the five bucks just to have something to entertain yourself with five minutes before class.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/04/04