Shaq-Fu is a
Fighting Game released in 1994. It was developed by
Delphine Software International and published by
Electronic Arts.
The plot is as follows: Shaquille O'Neal heads to a basketball game in Tokyo for a charity event and decides to stop in a gift store. A wise old man notices him and tells O'Neal it's his destiny to save his grandson from the
Big Bad Sett Ra, or else he will
Take Over the World. To do so, O'Neal must step through the mirror and enter the dimension known as the Second World.
Shaq-Fu is frequently seen in "Worst Games of All Time" lists
*, mainly because of a
ridiculous plot and the
Hitbox Dissonance.
The Angry Video Game Nerd does a
review
on it in Part 2 of his "
Yet Another Christmas Carol" episode, and
there's even a website dedicated to finding all copies of the game and destroying them
And another dedicated to finding all copies of the game and saving them
.
This game contains examples of:- Adaptation Expansion: The Sega Genesis version has more levels and characters. This version was ported to the Amiga for Europe only, though this version lacks the music.
- Alternate Dimension: The Second World.
- Always Night: Diesel's Stage, the Yasko Mines.
- Bare Your Midriff: Voodoo.
- Because Destiny Says So: Why Shaq's involved to begin with.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Leotsu, Rajah, Kaori and Nezu.
- Brick Joke: When you defeat Beast, he says he'll travel through time to stop you. In the ending, he shows up at the charity basketball game Shaq is supposed to play in.
- Cat Girl: Kaori.
- Cyborg: Colonel.
- Does Not Like Shoes: Voodoo.
- The Dragon: Beast.
- Dual Wielding: Rajah uses two swords.
- Hitbox Dissonance: You basically need to hit the center of your opponents to do any damage.
- I Know Madden Kombat: The profile says he's skilled in Shaquido.
- Nintendo Hard: Most notable in the sense of its shoddy controls and hit detection.
- Plot Hole: Leotsu, Nesu's grandfather, fights you on the first island and asks you to save his grandson, even though you met him in the gift shop.
- Also, when you face Sett Ra, Shaq tells him to release Nezu when he just saved him earlier.
- Rotoscoping
- Shock and Awe: Memphis summons lightning as one of his special moves.
- SNK Boss: Sett Ra.
- Turns Red: Fury mode increases your attack power and turns your character red when you take major damage during the fight.