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The Worst Game Ever Made Sees a Sequel: Shaq-Fu - A Legend Reborn

Posted on March 6, 2014

I'm not much for hyperbole and sensationalism when it comes to games journalism, but I'm fairly confident in my titling here. The original Nintendo NES Shaq-Fu game is critically-acclaimed for being the worst game ever made, almost unanimously so. In fact, we even published an April Fools piece on it a couple of years ago. It's sort of become part of the fun to take jabs at Shaq-Fu -- the game has a, let's face it, fairly charismatic and talented protagonist and some of the worst gameplay ever. Actually, Shaq's even laughing with us.

shaq-fu-mocapShaq-Cap studio

In the new trailer announcing Shaq's indiegogo campaign for the sequel, "Shaq-Fu: A Legend Reborn," the athletic legend states:

"Why am I making another Shaq-Fu? All right. I admit it. The first Shaq-Fu was [thumbs down] terrible! But now, I've got the same people who designed Halo, Street Fighter, and Final Fantasy. I'm back!" In another video, Shaq says: "And this time, we won't fool it up!"

They know what the reception is and they're embracing it; honestly, that's probably the best marketing strategy there is when it comes to this type of game.

shaq-fu-1 shaq-fu-2

Shaq-Fu is meant to be silly, comical, and totally superfluous in all aspects. You play Shaq, who (naturally) doubles as a Kung-Fu expert, and battle against an onslaught of evil ninjas in arena-like combat. Shaq-Fu: A Legend Reborn developers Big Deez Productions describe the game as "Streets of Rage meets Street Fighter meets Devil May Cry. It's a modern day take on the classic beat 'em up." They make this statement with many bold words, indicative of competence and truthiness.

The game's got destructive environments, power-ups, and persistent character progression, making it sound familiar to titles some of us played in the 90s. It's built around ridiculous finishing moves and "pimping out your character" with abilities and fighting styles, but ultimately, comes down to button-mashing. They further boast an adaptive AI system -- this could mean a number of things, but in theory, the AI will attempt to learn your playstyle and combat it with well-timed counters.

Hosted on indiegogo, there are a lot of silly perks (like Shaq recording a voicemail for you) for various levels of investment, but 5% of it goes to Shaq's chosen Boys & Girls Club charity.

You can read more here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/shaq-fu-a-legend-reborn

- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.