Is Shaq-Fu [SNES] Worth Playing Today? - SNESdrunk

[@kyluya]

when they destroy all the copies of Shaq fu they can find I will own the only copy.

[@71dembonesTV]

"Go play Shaq-Fu; it's better than Pit Fighter" - SNES drunk, 2016 Game: 3/10 Analysis: 10/10

[@rars0n]

"It's uh... better than Pit Fighter."

[@JoshRafail]

Great video man. I always appreciate your point of view on things, I can always relate with how you feel about games and such.

[@SNESdrunk]

Thanks Josh

[@leisj_gt]

SNES drunk You need way more subs man...

[@Dashman98]

i've always thought this game always got unfair treatment just to feed some meme. i understand ppl this game isn't great but to be honest this game is a whole better than other fighting games like Rise of the Robots, which no one seems to mention much

[@not2tired]

I clearly remember the SNES clearance bin at the Minnetonka Best Buy was about 25% composed of Shaq Fu in 1996.

[@shadowyshutterbug]

haha from the twin cities here

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

But... but it has a _catgirl_ in it! Hell, she's even been confirmed to return for the sequel!

[@koopakape]

Catigirls are great, but she ain't nothin' compared to Felicia. Props for making the only African-American catgirl I know of from any media, though.

[@nautromusic3821]

It is a furry

[@valentinom.4292]

@@koopakape Well, Cats exists now.

[@zackschilling4376]

I kinda have a soft spot for Rise of the Robots. Lets call it a "Guilty Pleasure". I always liked how the robots looked. Im a sucker for Robot fighting games. If you dont mind me making a suggestion, Id love to see you do an episode on unconventional SNES games/genres. Games like Metal Marines, or King Arthurs World. Games that are more akin to something you would see on the PC. Great video as always

[@somanymods]

Zack Schilling I had rise of the robots as a kid. I think I got it for cheap at funcoland (at least I hope I did). I feel kind of the same way as you, it looked cool but it was pretty horrid to play.

[@RyuBateson218]

"Better than pitfighter" should be on the cover.

[@SmokeBreakGaming]

Maybe it's blind nostalgia, maybe it's the fact that i got this instead of SF2T for my genesis for my birthday, but I always enjoyed it. Who knows.

[@TheGameGrinder]

I've laughed at this game since it was originally released, and I'll just keep those sentiments.

[@williamb223]

Though I disagree with your views on Mortal Kombat games, I'm happy we can agree that Pit Fighter is vomit in the form of an SNES cartridge. Nice vid!

[@RamonChiNangWong078]

Now I need to check on Shaq's rap album review

[@baalfgames5318]

part of me wants to see the console Wars to Tackle this game, but honestly I want them to do a regular best episode instead of a worst episode because you are right. This game is not good, but it's not THAT bad either.

[@Shinobi33]

It's also obvious that it's basically an unreleased game that they basically added the Shaq character to at the end. Which is why he doesn't seem fit in.

[@justino8935]

0:23 “everything Shaq touched turned to sh*t” lmao

[@haruruben]

The sprite animated look amazing

[@VadelGame]

I played this game so much as a kid, I loved it hahaha

[@lhfirex]

This video's length is 4:20, and if you plug in a controller and mash buttons while it's playing, it's also better than Pit Fighter!

[@hotdogwater7037]

i couldnt even beat the first opponent i thought it was impossible, but i guess i just suck at "basketball star's non-basketball game that was accidentally released" fighting games

[@leob4403]

It bothers when they have 7 fighters instead of 8. Too see a blank spot instead of even number harmony just bothers my brain somehow.

[@jerryray5879]

so since I'm too young to remember back then. 1v1 fighting was like the cod of today. so shaq fu back then would be like a shaq fps game today?

[@SNESdrunk]

That's a fair comparison

[@christopherthibeault7502]

I always figured the hate train against Shaq Fu was a little overdone. I've beaten the game after renting it. It's nowhere near as horrible as some of the things we've seen, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll have a good time since the control is very deliberate and I couldn't figure out specialty moves at all.

[@seamusburke639]

Hell, I can name three fighters for the Genesis that were worse than Shaq-Fu... 3. Ballz 2. Heavy Nova 1. Batman Forever (it used the Mortal Kombat engine, so it counts)

[@nicozico8876]

hey you should try cotton 100% for super famicom

[@nathansomething4634]

Now I see why it feels like Prince of Persia: The Fighting Game.

[@bobdotexe]

hmm, that dose look pretty interesting, for $5 with free shipping, it looks good enough for a few laughs :) Thanks for this awesome video I may pick this up eventually!

[@nicklausbooks1593]

I got this as punishment as a kid.

[@trunks10k]

i remember owning this game as a kid and beating it and liking it. I too agree I dont know what the hate was all about. I agree it isn't the greatest fighting game but it's not a bad one.

[@jghollowell4]

I always thought this was a basketball game

[@John_Doe974]

HEY, Steel is a great picture, better than most of the trash superhero pictures pushed out today.

[@IgoByaGo]

I loved this game.... but on the Sega Genesis.

[@Christian-rn1ur]

This game looks great - key word being looks. I wish it was good :(

[@chrislowee8475]

7 characters made the vs mode get real old real fact. Pit Fighter wasn’t a game, it was a joke.

[@rickdavis32]

His rap album was decent especially compared to some current shit! The screen movement and frame rate were oddly better than many contemporaries! The game designer explains a lot of its strengths and character designs.

[@4lifejeph]

Shaq-fu should have been a beat em up. It would have gotten a lot less crap over the years. Also' his album over all isn't that good but the song "I Got Skillz" was great.

[@darinstaley1993]

Got this game from a thrift store as a kid and I thought the gameplay was awful and stiff. I didn't really like this game. I rather play something like Killer Instinct. One of the things I did like was the music and I thought that voodoo lady was pretty hot though lol

[@pietjebel9130]

backgrounds look OK / nice

[@jghollowell4]

Does it got a special chip?

[@Bae_Cop2027]

This is a bit inaccurate. The SNES version received overall decent reviews. As a side note, his Rap album received critical acclaim and went platinum. Just saying, people have spotty memories when it comes to how popular Shaq was.

[@nythepremier]

Great video...can you do tournament fighters review around time of home release of ninja turtles movie.

[@victorkenarsy3024]

Pit Fighter was a wasted Blockbuster rental

[@duhmez]

Pit fighter was shit ion the arcade too.

[@nitraw]

It's got some great music too

[@mage1over137]

The Genesis version is actually really good

[@esotericmissionary]

Nobody talks about how swank the animation is in this game.

[@k.roberts8541]

There is another...a legend reborn you might say... eeerrgghh

[@Jayw-mg6hp]

I remember loving this game on the Genesis when I was young. Played with Memphis the most.

[@killerofvikings3577]

The hood supported the 1st album and this game....

[@ZeRoCooL-ht8rf]

I had this for game gear lol lol

[@diegocrusius]

great job

[@lisandro2882]

What's with the hate with Shaq's rap game? He was okay. Not Biggie or Pac for sure, but still decent!

[@DeimosXVX]

Enjoyed it on Mega Drive. As a fighting game but paid no care to the story.

[@LibraG89]

I know I'm four years late but bra Shaq went platinum so it couldn't have been shit

[@jasondixon6012]

Nice Classic

[@MeanimeGD]

"Play Shaq-Fu because it's better than Pit-Fighter." Good enough for me.

[@mattweber2512]

In order for a game to be meme-bad, it can't just be bad. There are tons of bad games that are of no interest to anyone that are completely forgotten. A meme-bad game has to be entertainingly bad. In the case of Shaq Fu, it likely boils down to the concept being, as the kids these days would put it, pure cringe coupled with the blatant cynicism of putting Shaquille O'Neal's image all over it despite having basically no connection to him in any way.

[@BADC0FFEE]

the megadrive version is actually pretty good and probably the best fighing game on the console after the sf, mk series maybe just weaponlord is better

[@supersexysega]

Fatal Fury 2, Eternal Champions, Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown are all better. It's in the league of Power Rangers, DBZ, VR Troopers, Justice League Task Force and King of Monsters 2. Shaq-Fu is definitely a solid game on the Genesis.

[@BADC0FFEE]

Spencer Bradbury agreed, even if I like a lot more Shaq-fu graphics over Eternal Champions. In the end, it's not a masterpiece, but it's not bad, it's a bit clunky but still interesting

[@Hatchbasic]

The idea was great. The controls and such were so bad

[@Xehemoth]

It would be decent if Killer Instinct didn't exist.... or mortal kombat.... fucking Clay Fighter....

[@dasaggropop1244]

no. hell no. never was, never will be. other than for the memes. i mean even when it came out we only rented it to see how bad it was. its okay for a couple of laughs i guess.

[@daniel-zh9nj6yn6y]

I come from the future. The sequel also sucks.

[@dexocube]

She Woman Cat Type Thing strikes again...

[@mikeMrBear]

Shaq fu was a horrible game and youre not going to convince me. This was absolutely in the top 3 worst fighting games. It was boring, horribly controlled, and not worth the money you paid to rent it.

[@kanasas2]

Game on sega is way better

[@Junior-tj4bv]

No, it's terrible.

[@gedaman]

Shaq-Fu is terrible. What are you talking about? The controls, the character design, the story - all terrible. The only thing done well is the animation.

[@LukeDodge916]

I have always been a big fan of this game since I first rented it. The animation is incredible, the colors beautiful. It really is not as bad as people would have you believe. Great video...

[@hectots]

No one talks about Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City. It's a pretty good game with an interesting set of mechanics.

[@miguelbayonrivera2467]

Damn! I've forgotten all about that game.

[@Milshare]

I honestly never heard of that one before now.

[@jiles8187]

i had it. it actually plays well although the idea felt silly to me. i had that game when i was in 3rd grade and remember thinking i’d rather be playing basketball with Jordan and the bulls than this. looking back though, it actually was a well made game,

[@chapterblaq]

Honestly I didn't realize that game existed. (I got it confused with Barkley Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden) Looks like Amy Hennig (Uncharted) was the designer. That's a wild journey as a dev.

[@wiggelzz11]

Man I hated that game

[@HybridAngelZero]

I've actually played this a long time ago, and my opinion is pretty close to yours, I've never understood the bile thrown at this game, and I personally enjoy the absurd camp of the story mode. Also, can I just say how great the character animations look in this game? It's no surprise that the Flashback/Another World team worked on this

[@ChipWhitingtonIII]

Lol, that should have been on the cover..... "Hey, it's better than Pit Fighter."

[@chaser5616]

I agree,this should be common, Shaq Fu isn't that bad anyways

[@sewersidewithLP]

kudos to you for actually reviewing this like an actual review and not just going on some AVGN style overexaggerated rant about how much it sucks. it really is not *that* bad, and you can tell who has played some of those more dire SF clones from this time period and who has it.

[@sewersidewithLP]

*hasn't lol

[@tifforo1]

But there aren't that many terrible games on Super Nintendo, so it may still be up there among the worst of them. This has got to be in the top four worst fighting games for the system, right?

[@sloppynyuszi]

tifforo1 the SNES has some timeless classics, but there are games that were always awful and then there games that just aged horribly. Like every single FX chip game.

[@theyoungladd7700]

@@sloppynyuszi yoshi island Did you forget it used the fx chip

[@TheMichaelJordanofGambling]

Actually, his rap albums weren’t too bad. They had some seriously talented rappers that made appearances, and both albums sold reasonably well. Not sure who thought they were a joke. While they aren’t classic albums, they’re fine. Also given that Shaq was THE most recognizable sports figure aside from MJ, I’d say the marketing worked.

[@AtticusSP]

I'd love to see someone out there take the bizarre setting and characters and surprisingly decent spritework and make an alternate universe Shaq Fu that was a beat-em up instead of a broken fighting game. A basic beatem up with mooks and unlocking the weirdas fuck characters as you progress could be kinda great. Like the D&D Mystara games, but Shaq.

[@ForeverChiIIin]

AtticusSP probably could find a beats of rage mod for it.

[@CrashWeezerman]

I think that's what A Legend Reborn is trying to do.

[@gochadc]

This comment aged well

[@AtticusSP]

@@gochadc I got monkey pawed on a fucking Shaq game.

[@CabbageFarmerAi-Chan]

People can crap on this game all they want but DAMN , no one can say shit about the Prince of Persia levels of animation on the characters.

[@jbobdavis1984]

I thought I was the only one that felt like this. The animation in this game is among the best on the SNES

[@Styleshift88]

Thank you. This game sucks but it's not nearly as bad as something like street fighter the movie.

[@XhodanXeus]

Street Fighter the Movie on the PS 1? I enjoyed it alot but i guess thats because on the PS 1 you had like movie clips of the Movie and what not which made it feel better graphic wise.

[@edwardreese976]

shaq's rap albums actually went platinum, so SOMEBODY liked them. Although I was not one of them.

[@StevenMorris]

This game should have been a beat-me-up.

[@CidGuerreiro1234]

Late comment but beat-'em-ups were another incredbily oversaturated genre back then. This game shouldn't have been made at all.

[@PumpkinSwag]

Well, the sequel that came out recently is a beat-em-up, so there’s that.

[@mattwithoutyou]

Oh god, the ads for Shaq Fu, it's been years and they still haunt me. They were everywhere.

[@elkinfencer10]

I have this on both Super Nintendo and Genesis. I want to get the Game Boy and Game Gear ports at some point. It's so lame, but it's so awesome.

[@koopakape]

Nice to see an actual balanced, thoughtful review of this for once, I'd like to see similar truly fair reviews of all kinds of overly hated-on games, even if it's unlikely I'll end up being convinced to actually play any of them. Also, wasn't there another Shaq game on SNES too? Chaos in the Windy City or whatever?

[@SNESdrunk]

That was Michael Jordan

[@troyworden9803]

Me and my mates liked this game when we were teenagers the megadrive version was heaps better though

[@shemoanstyrone9227]

Bruh Shaq Fu is making a comeback

[@dorothykrupa4761]

She Moans Tyrone LMAO on the ps4

[@shemoanstyrone9227]

Dorothy krupa exactly

[@duhmez]

As I have never played Shaq Fu, I can definitely say that no, it is not worth playing. I know this because the internet told me this for many years now.

[@interghost]

Yeah I always thought it was an "ok" game. Many worse ones for sure ;)

[@thejesman]

"There's even a website dedicated to destroying all copies. Not sure what that's gonna accomplish." Lol, it makes my copy more valuable, that's what it accomplishes.

[@Ramjet164]

The animation is smooth I'll give it that!

[@jessragan6714]

The big problem is that Electronic Arts made a game company known for great animation but NOT known for fighting games design this. Delphine's strengths shine through in this release, but their complete lack of experience in the genre is just as obvious. Also, because it's a 16-bit game, those well animated characters are super tiny. Maybe it could have worked on the Saturn or Playstation, who knows. ...wait, did you say Shaq Fu had finishing moves?!

[@josephhuffman2757]

I remember liking pit fighter as a kid. The animation on shaq fu looks buttery smooth. Thankfully I own it on genesis so I have access to all the fighters because 7 is pretty bad. I will have to give this game another go sometime. Any in remember the game Hey Punk Are You Tuff Enough? I'm pretty sure that's how it's spelled. Another fighter of questionable quality.

[@BakiX]

100% agree. I can see the many downsides to the game for sure, but for what it is I always thought ShaqFu had amazing sprite work,animation, and colors. Its goofy, but harmless. I also agree that Pitfighter is easily the worse snes game there is lol. The game as a whole is garbage, but the watered down version the snes rocks is almost completely unbearable.

[@chairmanm3ow]

Shaq Fu is a fighting game???? This whole time I imagined it was a beat-em-up

[@joeyparkhill8751]

My proposed title for the sequel is Shaq-Fu 2: Who Flung Pu?

[@richardbrooks9446]

Try doing a 24hr shift on this and see if you still like this gem

[@SNESdrunk]

I don't hate myself THAT much

[@richardbrooks9446]

It wasn't by choice. Ocean published it and I drew a short straw

[@daniel-zh9nj6yn6y]

What is worse, this game, or Shaq's free throws ?

[@Ghost_Of_SAS]

"Shaq Fu is perfectly playable" said no one ever before today.

[@zintosion]

The fking leap jump ruin it. But it's mediocre overall.

[@dionysus122]

Shaq-Fu... more like Suck-Fu

[@Protoman85]

Most people complain about how the controls are shit. But are they, or are they just not Street Fighter 2? SF2 was so ubiquitous with fighting games that I think people expect those controls to be standard without realizing thats a Capcom thing

[@SNESdrunk]

Try it yourself, there's a delay between input and what you see on the screen that's really aggravating

[@Protoman85]

I see. I guess I meant are the combos different, people seem to play all SNES fighting games and expect down-forward punch to do a special move, if you understand what I mean

[@ChipWhitingtonIII]

I concur. Most def played way worse fighting games and I always liked the graphics.