Reviewed by Dyson Turner
Shaq Fu, was a truly bad game. Not only did it look bad it
sounds bad, and it has bad control. I can't believe I spent
good money on this game, I mean it could have been a lot
better than this and I was hoping for a lot better. Just
because Shaq's name was on the front was the only reason
that this game sold anything and the only reason I bought
it. There were some huge gigantic flaws in it, and that
couldn't be over looked by anyone, I could go on and on
talking about them. I don't even think there are any good
points about this game, and it certainly isn't fun. Not even
the world's biggest Shaq fan could find any thing fun about
this game, and this is a huge waste of money. My first
impression of this stink wad was why was it even created?
The graphics stunk, the characters were too small and the
story just wasn't enthusiastic.
Story 0.0/10
Whoa! What were they thinking when they came up with this
story. First off this is a fighting game, but it has a
story, that should tell you that there is major problems
with this game. You are Shaq on your way to Tokyo to play in
a charity game. (Shaq always travels to Tokyo to be in
charity games?) Anyway, before the game instead of
practicing (Shaq knew he would destroy the Tokyo team I
sure) he decides to wander the streets! So after wandering
around in a Basketball uniform, he comes across a small
store/Gift Shop/ Random Place whatever. The storeowner was
not startled that a man 2 feet taller then him waltzes in
the store. (I suppose 7'2" guys walk in all the time) He
mistakes Shaq for some type of Warrior from the stars. This
warrior was supposed to save his friend's grandson from a
mummy. Despite the fact that he was suppose to be in a
charity game decides to walk into a magical phone booth,
(I'm sure he walks into Magical Bill & Ted type Phone Booths
every day) and listen to the old crazy man. Despite the fact
that this story didn't make sense and there was NO LOGIC
behind it Shaq decided to second this project. What a waste
of good talent if you ask me?
Graphics 0.5/10
Well the Shaq character somewhat looked like it could have
been Shaq. Since he was very recognizable because he was a
lot taller than everyone else. The other characters
resembled what you would see in any other generic Street
Fighter clone. A cat woman, a swordsman, a robot dude, and
some other characters. The only good graphical part was the
cut scenes during story mode, which were really just the pre
fight profiles. The backgrounds in this game didn't look
like much, and most of it resembled that un realism commonly
associated with Sega. Even the waterfall stage looked bad,
if this were to look good I would have had to give them some
credit. The opening scenes where you see Shaq looks
absolutely nothing like him. Then in the cut scenes, they
don't look like him either, the animation was definitely bad
in most of the game. The game moves too fast that and the
characters are too small is a dangerous mix for the eyes.
Overall the graphics could have been a whole lot better, but
that wouldn't have saved the game too much.
Sound 0.5/10
The music on this game was just horrible, from the opening
screen theme to the ending credits, this game did poorly.
There was only maybe one good song on Shaq's board that was
just slightly memorable. Other than that this sound track
should stay off. I heard rumors before this came out that it
would use Shaq's voice, well those rumors were dead wrong.
No where in this game do you hear Shaq say anything at all.
None of the other characters talk either. We have to settle
for corny cut scenes with words on them, usually just a line
or two. The sound effects were pretty crap-tacular as well
you barely heard them even though they were drowned out.
Everything was evenly low, but you still didn't hear any
effects only when Shaq did the Shaquriken did you hear a
sound and it wasn't much. The sound effects, and the music
was terrible on this game, and was something you should
immediately turn off right after your hear them. They did
nothing to help the graphics in this poor game.
Game Play 1.0/10
This game is for one or two players, but I seriously doubt
your going to find a second player to play this with, That's
just how bad this game is. You have your standard two out of
3 rounds win matches. You have your standard vs. Mode, and
Story mode, and your tournament mode. The vs. mode was
really reserved for those who wanted to beat the game with
another player besides Shaq. The story mode was Shaq only,
and both of them stunk pretty badly. The story mode you were
knows bigger pinky toe, and you were very hard to see
running along a map screen. There were different buildings,
which represented the different places you could go, and the
different characters homes. When you beat each character on
each plateau you went across a bridge to fight some harder
characters, and you read the cut scenes on hints and who to
fight next. Didn't really matter you could fight any body
you want any time you want. When you think about it, this is
just a dressed up vs. mode. The Tournament mode was the
dumbest mode yet the tournament made no sense I could lose
every round with Shaq and some how win? What's up with that?
The difficulty was Adjustable, and there wasn't any save or
password feature.
Overall 2.0/10
This game really doesn't deserve a 2 by I'll have to give it
one I guess. The only reason it even warrants a 2 is because
Shaq was in it, and I have to give it 1 point. That's the
only real reason, other than that, this game wouldn't even
been bought. The Fun Factor was non existent, this game
actually bored me That's how bad it was. The replay value
was incredibly low, if you even make it through this with
Shaq that's saying a whole lot. This game disappointed a lot
just like Shaq's two movies, and his music. Even the biggest
Shaq fan won't want this so this game is absolutely for nobody.
