Shaq-Fu: unfairly attacked?

[DickNixonArisen]

I bought this game about three months ago, fully expecting a trash experience, and ended up playing through four times. It's not the best fighting title on the system by any means, but it's hardly the worst. Here's a few GEN fighters I AM familiar with:

 

Samurai Shodown

King of the monsters

SF2:CE

SF2

Eternal Champions

Justice League task force

TMNT tournament

Killer Instinct

Primal rage

Brutal: paws of fury

ballz

MK

Fatal Fury

body count

time killers

clay fighter

double dragon v

pit fighter

world heroes

 

 

I'd say 2-4 of these are true classics, but many of them are truly janky, with slipshod controls, painfully slow and jagged animation and iffy hit detection. I think Shaq Fu is better than half of the games on this list or more. The idea is admittedly bizarre, but the character design is quite nice, the animation is fluid, graphics as a whole aren't bad, it's got a map screen just for kicks, plenty of options, slightly-above-average or at least average control, and good basic action.

 

For anyone that's unaware of it, there's a 'society for the liberation of shaq-fu' which aims to destroy all copies of the cart in existence. I think it's just a fad to hate this game, sort of like ... pirates vs. ninjas was.

[Animan]

Personally, I've never played Shaq-Fu, so I can't really say anything about it.

 

In my opinion, the worst fighter i've played is VR Troopers. The controls and collision detection are total garbage.

 

But as for Shaq-Fu, It's probably just one of those game that a long time ago somebody hated , and talked about it on a forum, and got everybody hating it, even though most people have never played it. Same thing happened with E.T. and 2600 Pac-Man.

 

Everybody has a game they like but a lot of other people hate. For me, it's Bugs on the 2600 and Bubsy 3D.

[Ghost Soldier]

Shaq-Fu is not that bad. I think most people attack it because of Shaq being in it.

[Austin]

Yeah, I have played far, FAR worse fighters (and games in general). Criticom, anyone?

 

In actuality, the visuals are well-done and are animated nicely, the sound is pretty good and the backgrounds are interesting. Its biggest fault is probably the way the characters jump and the way moves are performed (Not exactly always the most responsive). Also, more often than not, it seems the safest way to win is to knock an opponent down and then repeatedly mash on your basic ducking-kick attack.

[DickNixonArisen]

...knock an opponent down and then repeatedly mash on your basic ducking-kick attack...

 

 

that's what they're doing to this game, hah

[2600Lives]

I own Shaq-Fu for the Genny.

 

It's utter SHIT.

 

I paid 25 cents for it and I want my money back.

 

Lately it seems that there's this weird movement to like video games that are universally labeled as bad, like E.T. (oh man, you can seriously injure some buttholes around here by badmouthing the allmighty E.T.).

 

The controls for Shaq-Fu SUCK BALLS, and the AI is just so insanely cheap. It may not be the absolute worst game ever made, but seriously, are you going to tell me it's better than TMNT Tournament Fighters, or Samurai Shodown?

 

BTW, Killer Instinct never appeared on any Sega system, it was an SNES exclusive.

 

So, in the end, Shaq-Fu is a steaming pile of Shaq-Poo.

[DickNixonArisen]

No, I said it was better than *half* of the games on that list. Samurai shodown is a great title, although the GEN port isn't so awesome, it's a better game than Shaq-Fu. TMNT? About equal, I'd say, or with TMNT coming out ahead solely based on having the better license. Casey Jones.

 

What am I thinking of on Killer Instinct? Was there another robot game on the gen? Anyway, If you open up the SNES library of fighters, Shaq-Fu slips down the list a little more, but it's still got plenty of stuff under it to cushion the fall. Weaponlord, for example.

[cvgplus]

I think Ballz for the Sega Genesis is the worst fighting game. Shaq Fu I don't like either and has to be in the top 5 worst fighting games for the Sega Genesis though after the Street Figher and Mortal Kombat success a lot of fighting games were produced. The Super Nintendo has some really, really crappy fighting games. Everyone views games differently though.

Edited May 28, 2010 by cvgplus

[mbd30]

What am I thinking of on Killer Instinct? Was there another robot game on the gen?

 

"Rise Of The Robots", "Cyborg Justice" and "Heavy Nova"(which might not count as a "fighter" per se, but it involves robots) are robot fighters on the Genesis. They're all supposed to be pretty lame.

Edited May 28, 2010 by mbd30

[DickNixonArisen]

ah, rise of the robots it was.

[2600Lives]

RotR sucked ass on every system it was released on. Cyborg Justice on the other hand RULES. It's not lame in the least. You actually rip off opponent's limbs and either use them as weapons or integrate them into your own body. Very innovative.

 

Weaponlord? I liked that game! It was brilliantly complex, and had actual REPLAY value. Man, I still recall trying to remember all the moves each character had. It was just a little ahead of it's time, really. It was also released on the Genny, so it still gets a comparison to Shaq-Fu, and WL takes a giant steamer all over S-Fu in that respect, as it's a FAR superior game.

 

Now, Doomsday Warrior, THERE is a SNES game that sucked. I'd say that it's a dead even tie for which one sucked more here. I'd also say that S-Fu is better than Street Combat (but not the Ranma 1/2 game that it was based on, that one was quite fun).

 

It's a shame they never made a Steel game based of the movie. That would have been the perfect storm of suck.

[Jess Ragan]

This game's worst crime is that it killed Delphine Software dead. The development team was also responsible for Flashback, but do you think anyone remembers that game? No... it's all about Shaq Fu now.

 

Anyway. Shaq Fu was an incredibly dumb game and an incredibly bad idea, but Delphine did the best it could trying to polish EA's turd. The game had very smooth animation, certainly better than other 16-bit titles and nearly up to par with fighting games on the Playstation and Saturn. The problem is that in order to get that silky animation, they had to shrink the characters down to gnats. This made jump kicks, a crucial part of player strategy in good fighting games, nearly impossible to land. I can forgive some of Shaq Fu's flaws, but not that one. Few fighting games have been worse for competitive play than that one.

Edited May 28, 2010 by Jess Ragan

[Austin]

This game's worst crime is that it killed Delphine Software dead. The development team was also responsible for Flashback, but do you think anyone remembers that game? No... it's all about Shaq Fu now.

 

Yep, this is one people should be talking about.. A timeless classic, for sure. It's sad how games like this are so easily forgotten.

 

"Rise Of The Robots", "Cyborg Justice" and "Heavy Nova"(which might not count as a "fighter" per se, but it involves robots) are robot fighters on the Genesis. They're all supposed to be pretty lame.

 

On the contrary, Cyborg Justice is actually pretty good. It's a beat 'em up, ala Streets of Rage or Final Fight, albeit with a very hefty move set. Actually, asides from the greats like Final Fight, Streets of Rage or TMNT, this is probably one of the best console-exclusive beat 'em ups of the early '90s.

 

Rise of the Robots is a turd, for sure.. I've tried to get into that one on multiple occasions, on multiple platforms. You essentially have punch, kick, and.. well, that's about it, really, ha.. what a joke. The sequel tries to make up it, and while it does a better job, it's not exactly "stellar" either..

Edited May 28, 2010 by Austin

[+Cafeman]

I will also vouch for Cyborg Justice. It's pretty fun, and very well animated. I like the 2-player VS mode too, we used to have a blast ripping off each other's torso's.

[DickNixonArisen]

Eternal Champions.

Ballz.

Rise of the Robots.

Double Dragon v.

World Heroes.

Time Killers.

JLA task force.

Brutal.

Primal Rage.

Pit Fighter.

 

 

Basically, my point isn't that this is some great game - If I play a fighter on the GEN, I play SF2:CE, or maybe MK (which isn't that great either, now that the glitz has worn off), or perhaps the SS port if I'm getting my butt handed to me for being sloppy in the real game. Shaq-Fu is a twice-a-year play. But here's a list of ten GEN fighters worse than Shaq-Fu, and I'm sure there are more than that available if you feel one or more don't belong below Shaq-Fu - so hopefully people will slow their hyperbole and rush to judgment on the subject. It's not the worst fighting game of all time, or even the worst fighting game on the GEN. It's not even part of the ten worst fighting games on the GEN. I'm not even sure it's below average.

 

Plus, if U don't like it, it's cause UR RASIST!

 

Love,

- not Shaq posing as atari collector to defend his own game

[DickNixonArisen]

Is Cyborg justice at all connected to Capcom's Cyberbots? Cause I want me some o' DAT

[superdevil]

 

It's a shame they never made a Steel game based of the movie. That would have been the perfect storm of suck.

 

 

I'm still waiting on a KaZaam tie-in.

 

Edited May 28, 2010 by superdevil

[Austin]

Eternal Champions.

Ballz.

Rise of the Robots.

Double Dragon v.

World Heroes.

Time Killers.

JLA task force.

Brutal.

Primal Rage.

Pit Fighter.

 

Can't say I agree with Eternal Champions or Primal Rage being on there, but that's just me.. EC was a well-done game with solid gameplay, cool finishers, big visuals and a cool concept.. Not to mention it paved the way for one of the best console fighters of the mid '90s, Eternal Champions: CD. Rage on the other hand had visuals that make me want to puke, but the gameplay and combos from the arcade game are all there. All in all, it's still a faithful (and very playable) port that happens to look and sound like ass.. Kind of like the MK series on the Genny.

 

I'd have to agree with the rest though, absolutely..

 

Regarding Cyborg Justice, no, it has nothing to do with any of Capcom's titles. This is all Sega, baby!

 

I have a video of it on my YouTube page (Shameless plug, yes).. Click the link and search for the title in my uploads section.

[2600Lives]

Eh, it's all semantics. It's like arguing which breed of dog has stinkier shit. I personally like most of the games you have posted up there. Brutal was pretty fun, actually. World Heroes is a classic, JL Task Force is flawed but playable, Double Dragon, again, flawed but playable, Primal Rage is hella fun, Time Killers was awesomely fun in the arcade, and while it takes a hit on the Genny, it retains the mindless fun of the original. Eternal Champions is a true Genesis classic, and extremely complex and fun to play. The only ones that I would even consider in the same league as Shit-Fu are Ballz and RotR. Pit Fighter doesn't really count, but the Genesis version of that game is GOLD compared to the SNES version.

[Austin]

Pit Fighter doesn't really count, but the Genesis version of that game is GOLD compared to the SNES version.

 

True, and come to think of it I think I'd classify Pit-Fighter more so in the Beat 'em Up category.. I have to admit, I did give the Genny version a lot of play time, and it was much better than, well.. Any other home version in the '90s, lol.

[DickNixonArisen]

Well, I looked around for gen fighters I hadn't heard of, and made some snap judgments based on watching youtube videos (admittedly, I can't feel the controls), and my judgement now places Shaq-Fu at Exactly average, certainly not the worst, in the worst five, or even in the worst ten (even if you pick FOUR games out of my worse pile and decide they're better, it's still not in the worst ten. I also wrote a song about Shaq-Fu! Now I am ready to move on to something else - mega man 64. Hugely underappreciated!

 

15 GEN fighters better than Shaq-Fu:

-------

SF2:SCE

SSF2

Fatal Fury

Samurai Shodown

Cyborg Justice (from what you're saying)

Fighting Masters

power moves/deadly moves

Art of Fighting

TMNT: Tournament Fighters

MK 1

MK 2

MK 3

King of the monsters 1

King of the monsters 2

Eternal Champions

 

Shaq-Fu:

---------------

Shaq-Fu

 

14 GEN fighters Worse than Shaq-Fu:

--------------------

Ballz.

Slaughter sport

Rise of the Robots.

Double Dragon v.

World Heroes.

Time Killers.

VR troopers

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Body Count

Clay fighter

Dragon: the bruce lee story

JLA task force.

Brutal.

Primal Rage.

[malducci]

You just happen to like a shitty game, that's all. Happens to the best of us. Don't sweat it

[Austin]

*sigh*

 

Cyborg Justice is a beat 'em up/brawler. Comparing it to the versus fighting game genre as we've come to know it (usually one-on-one) is like comparing apples to bananas.. Likewise with King of Monsters 1 & 2..

 

oi.. I digress, I should probably stop here..

Edited May 29, 2010 by Austin

[Pixelboy]

But as for Shaq-Fu, It's probably just one of those game that a long time ago somebody hated , and talked about it on a forum, and got everybody hating it, even though most people have never played it. Same thing happened with E.T. and 2600 Pac-Man.

E.T. and Pac-Man got their reputation by word of mouth (there were no such things as "online forums" back then, especially for kids) and in Shaq-Fu's case, I would tend to point at EGM and other printed mags of the time for trashing the game. Those mags were pretty influencial back then, and sometimes gamers would just believe what they said and not even bother to try the game at all.

[Gabriel]

I doubt that Shaq Fu is as horrible as popular media opinion says. From what I've seen, it's a fairly attractive game from the era. The backgrounds seemed fairly imaginative and the characters looked nice. Videos make it seem animated well. The music has that typical 90s videogame blandness/suck to it.

 

I don't think it's any worse than many of the other fighting games from the era. I watched a couple of let's play and I don't see the suffering which comes from playing a truly bad game. It's a button masher, and might actually be entertaining in short plays.

 

There's also no way in hell I can imagine it being anywhere near as bad as Ballz.