It was by 1994 that we grew familiar with 2D fighting games: a one vs. one matchup where characters would yell “Hadouken” or “GET OVER HERE!” and beat the living tar out of each other. Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat are the staples of the genre, and, due to their successes, spawned a fury of notable competitors and shameless rip offs.
Among one of the biggest abominations unto the Lord was Shaq-Fu. Shaquille O’Neal was capitalizing on everything in the 90’s from bad raps to Kazaam, but it was Electronic Arts (EA) (voted the ‘Worst Company In America’ twice) that thought it would be a good idea to make a video game that sends a professional basketball player to a different dimension to fight the evil mummy Sett-Ra.
Critics like Allgame called it a “dud”; Gametrailers rated it their #4 worst in their “Top Ten Best and Worst Video Games”; GameInformer magazine placed it as #2 on their “Top 10 Fighting Games We’d Like To Forget”; and I, who rented the game at a Blockbuster, thought the music was frightening, the physics were fatty, and the only redeeming quality was Shaq killing a vicious demon with a basketball.
It was so bad, that 20 years after its release, EA Sports’ Sandy Sandoval (I am not making that name up) said: [It’s] probably one of the worst games in EA history.”
So what demented sadists decide to resurrect Shaq Fu? Why, the developers at Big Deez (who’s name comes from a joke about testicles), whom in which made an Indiegogo crowd funding campaign that managed to reach its goal through the investment made by 1,340 misanthropists.
The sequel is called Shaq-Fu: A Legend Reborn. In response to its predecessor’s failure, the man himself assures viewers: “This time, we won’t FU it up.”
And how much did they ask for, you ask?
$450,000
…and they managed to raise $473,884.
Big Deez confirmed that ‘work’ has come underway on PC, PS4, Wii U, PS3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360.
In a press release, Shaq said: “”I’ll admit it, Shaq Fu was a horrible game. I’m a huge fan of video games and want to have my name associated with a Shaq Fu game that I’m proud of and would like to play,”
Well that’s good.
Aren’t you just excited to play as a cyborg Arsenio Hall?
Images via their wonderful Indiegogo campaign
