Review for Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn. Game for Android, PC, iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 05/06/2018
If there was a ranking of the most senseless projects in the world the idea of bringing back to life Shaq Fu, remembered as one of the worst video games of all time, would certainly be in the very first places. Instead, in the now distant 2014, the "madmen" of Big Deez Production and Saber Interactive, together with the help of Shaquille O'Neal himself, raised almost half a million dollars on indiegogo and here we are, 24 years after the original, to review on Nintendo Switch this Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn, not a remake, but more of a sequel of what was a real disaster at the time.
The new development team has in fact decided to abandon the structure to the Killer Instinct of the original and instead turn it all into a 3D scrolling fighting game, certainly not very topical genre but interesting to retrace. Unfortunately we can tell you right away that this new title starring the legend of basketball (and at times of cinema and TV - Shaquille O'Neal proves to be really limited, again showing the gaps of a studio that we really look forward to with the next NBA Playgrounds 2 to really see what they are made of.
Total delirium. But that's okay
It is clear that from a fighting game where a very strong Shaq beats people one cannot expect a realistic, coherent or at least serious story, but Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn just can't take himself seriously, perhaps exaggerating at times. The incipit is the most absurd of all: Shaq was born in a Chinese village, cared for by an old and very small master. One day his difficult life - his companions in fact make fun of him because he is different - is upset by explosions and death and the destruction of his village by strange invaders. From that point you will embark on a handful of levels (very few, it all ends in two or three hours) full of gags bordering on politically correct, fighting stereotypes here and there, complete with bosses that make the line to celebrities from Justin Bieber to Trump, passing through Paris Hilton. Totally voiced by Shaq himself, Shaq Fu can also make you miss a few smiles but in general it will flow quickly and without topical moments, lasting too short and without no incentive to keep playing.
There are no leaderboards, there are no major unlockables (just a few pictures and character cards), no bonuses to unlock or multiplayer: complete the campaign, earn points and coins and you will look around saying "what now?".
Shaq Attack
And to say that the game is also competent in terms of gameplay (much less the technical realization, at least on Nintendo Switch, really of a generation ago to be good), even without "inventing" anything. A good variety of enemies will lead to different approaches during fights. Shaq will start with a rather limited arsenal of basic melee moves, and then learn others throughout the story, such as area attacks, dodges or sprints, useful not only for attacking enemies, but also and above all to escape their moves, perhaps in a duel with a boss. The difficulty level is adequate and it will not be easy at all in the last two levels avoid losing lives (and consequently coins).
If 90% of the clashes are resolved with the classic pattern - advance + kill everyone on the screen + advance again - sometimes Saber Interactive and Big Deez Production at least tried to shuffle the cards on the table, inserting two special powers that allow Shaq to transform into a mecha or a giant cactus (!), sharply changing the gameplay in predefined sections. We also really appreciated when the development team came up with an early game boss challenge improvised mini-game in a rhythm game style: we hoped it was the first of many variables in the classic formula of Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn, but unfortunately it turned out to be more of an exception than the rule.
We have the idea that Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn could fall into the same fate as its predecessor: to be an unassuming game, with an unlikely license and at least questionable quality, but that will be remembered to posterity as a product on the verge of the offensive. and with even worse qualities than those it truly offers gamers. For those who happened to be there by chance or received it for free as "compensation" for another hole in the water on Switch like NBA Playgrounds, at worst it will remain a forgettable and volatile addition to your game history.
► Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn is a scrolling fighting game developed by Big Deez Production Saber Interactive and published by Wired Productions for Android, PC, iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 05/06/2018
