Shaq-Fu: A Legend Reborn is a story of redemption. Not just in terms of the in-game narrative, but the actual game itself. Let’s be honest, the original Shaq Fu game released in 1994 on the Super Nintendo was bad. It was real bad. But now, thanks to crowd funding via Indiegogo, Shaq is back! And the developers over at Big Deez Productions have delivered.
(Check out my initial thoughts on this let’s play)
The story begins with Shaq, just your average Chinese orphan being raised by his mother. He got bullied because of his enormous size. Enter Ye-Ye, a village elder who spots potential in big Shaquille and teaches him the ancient fighting technique of Wu Xing. Shaq is just an ordinary rickshaw driver when the game begins but his home town comes under attack by a strange force and it’s time for the 7″1 powerhouse to put all his training to the test.
The story plays out well without ever being anything more than funny and endearing, but where the game really shines is in it’s graphics, gameplay and overall polish. It’s a slick effort to say the least and Big Deez Productions has definitely planted themselves on my radar for the future.
At any one time you can have up to twenty enemies on screen and the frame rate doesn’t dip for a second. There are a fair number of different enemies, many of which have to be approached in a different way to defeat. The game is very good a chopping and changing what comes next which always keeps you thinking and adapting your style. I don’t want to say too much about the boss fights as I feel it’s best to experience them first for yourself, but they also do a great job in adding to the humour and slick package.
I did come across one downside during my time with the game. During the boss fight at the end of Chapter 3 (CHECK) I ran into a weird glitch where Shaq and all enemies on screen just stopped, started walking on the spot and the controller stopped working. I reloaded chapters and restarted checkpoints but it continued to happen (around 10 times in total). Then, when I was down to my last nerve and giving it one final attempt, the glitch just didn’t happen and I defeated the boss as intended. I spoke to a few other people who had played this section and did a quick check through social media and as far as I can tell I am the only one this happened to, so hopefully none of you run in to a similar issue.
The only other negative I could find was the trophy list. 21 bronze trophies, no platinum. Developers continue to overlook the importance of getting this right. It’s an easy 100%, but throw some silvers and golds alongside a platinum in there and I guarantee this sells more units.
Another thing I appreciated about Shaq-Fu was that it didn’t outstay it’s welcome. This game is something akin to a Double Dragon or Streets of Rage and while the moment to moment gameplay is a blast, it doesn’t need to be a 10 hour epic. When all is said and done this comes in at around 3-4 hours, which is spot on in my opinion.
Overall Shaq-Fu: A Legend Reborn is a great downloadable title that deserves to be on everyone’s radar. If you are a fan of old school beat ’em up games you will love this new entry in the genre. It’s mix of good humour, solid gameplay and great graphics. What more could you ask for?
VdZe.
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