In the 90s

Harley3651

Level: 14

POSTS: 18/41
POST EXP: 10005
LVL EXP: 11974
CP: 1128.6
VIZ: 53492

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The 90's were a crazy time in the world of video games. Back then they would turn pretty much everything and anything into a video game. Soda mascots, fast food icons, and even sports athletes would get their own games. The latter brings me to my review of Shaq Fu for Sega's Game Gear. Is it a good game? In a short answer no its not. It really isn't. But let's see how I got there with my Review of Shaq Fu for the Sega Game Gear.

Side Note: I really did not want to play this game due to all the negative feedback its gotten. I'm going to tell you right now that it was a chore to sit through this game myself and play through it just to form my opinions about it. As of right now I could end this review by saying the game sucks do not play it. But as a reviewer I believe in sharing my honest thoughts and opinions about this terribly bad game. And with that said on to the review.

Graphics 4: The graphics aren't that impressive. Even for the time they were bad. The only positive thing I will mention is the backgrounds were real nice to look at. The character graphics not so much. They were not detailed at all. I had a tough time making out who or what they were. They looked like a blocky mess.

Sound 3: The sounds of this game are really hard to listen to. Look I know for a fact the Game Gear is capable of producing far better sound quality then what Shaq Fu puts out. The kicks, punches, and music all sound like they were filtered underwater and then muffled with wet blankets. Got so bad that after awhile I had to literally mute the audio on my computer just so I didn't have to hear them anymore.

Addictiveness 1: The game is a chore to play through. It really is. I felt no sense of accomplishment after I had beaten it. This is a game I will never play again. It is not addicting in the slightest. Theo only addicting thing about it is saying how bad of a game it is.

Story 1: In the game's storyline, Shaquille O'Neal walks into a dojo while heading to a charity basketball game in Tokyo, Japan. After speaking with Leotsu, a martial arts master, Shaq goes to another dimension, the Second World, where he must rescue a young boy named Nezu from the evil mummy Sett Ra. That is the games whole story in a nutshell. Of course with it being a fighting game you don't expect it to have a big story at all. But come on both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat both had far better stories then Shaq Fu has.

Depth 1: The game is easy to beat. Seriously it is. I managed to sit and beat it in 20 minutes by just spamming kicks and punches. Yeah I know that's a cheap way to play. But the games A.I. Is cheap as well. I don't mean cheap as in Mortal Kombat 3 cheap. I mean cheap as in half the time they just stood there and did nothing. That being said it allowed me to pick up meaningless victories.

Difficulty 1: The game is easy. I mean real easy. I played it for the first time ever and I was sail right through the game on the hardest difficulty setting the game offers. The controls on the Game Gear version are easy to master as well. You have a button for kicks and a button punches. That's it. The only hard part of the controls is trying to pull off the special moves. How hard is it to pull of said special moves? Think Street Fighter 1 levels of hard and there's your answer.

Final Thoughts: The game is not fun. It suffers from poor sound quality, little to no depth, poor A.I., and is marred by easy controls but poor execution of special move inputs. I do not recommend this game. If you're looking for a decent fighting game on The Game Gear then you're better off with Mortal Kombat. If your looking for a laughably bad fighting game on the handheld then Give Shaq Fu a try.

Game Trivia: Back in 1995 Delphine Software (the company that originally developed the game) had plans for a sequel. It was to be titles Shaq Fu 2 (how original). Plans were scrapped however due to the poor sales and mixed reviews Shaq Fu had gotten.

Bonus Trivia: March of 2014 saw a crowd funding start up for a sequel titled Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn (hey an original title at least). After the games successful campaign (I can't imagine why people wanted a sequel) no word was mentioned about its development. In June of 2018 however, The sequel was released. Now I haven't played the sequel much but from I did play of it the game play is very repetitive the controls are very unresponsive and its marred by lousy collision. Seeing a pattern here? That's right the first game suffered the same way as well.

Well thanks for taking the time out to read my review on Shaq Fu and my mini thoughts on its sequel A Legend Reborn. Quite possibly the worst fighting game I have ever played. Not to mention its sequel is the worst beat 'em up I have ever played as well.