Shaq Fu
From Sega Retro
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Shaq Fu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Game Gear | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Publisher: Electronic Arts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Developer: Delphine Software International Tiertex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Licensor: Mine O'Mine Inc. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sound driver: GEMS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Peripherals supported: Six Button Control Pad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre: Action | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of players: 1-2 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Shaq Fu is a Sega Mega Drive fighting game developed by Delphine Software International and published by Electronic Arts. Endorsed by and starring American professional basketball star Shaquille O'Neal (also known as Shaq), it was first released in the United States and Europe in October 1994, and also saw an American-exclusive Sega Game Gear port the following year courtesy of Tiertex. A European Game Gear release was listed for October 1994.[5]
Shaq Fu is most notable both for its extensive use of Delphine's distinctive rotoscoping techniques for visibly-fluid fighter animations, and for its unfortunate modern reputation as one of the worst video games ever released. Unlike other games which legitimately deserve the title, Shaq Fu is instead a victim of other factors: the novelty of its seemingly-bizarre premise, its strikingly-campy kung fu film-inspired title, and most importantly, that it stars a recognizable and humorous celebrity personality in a fighting game. In recent years, Shaq Fu has since seen a critical re-evaluation as a fairly standard fighting game with smooth animations and competent gameplay.[6][7]
Contents
Story
Long ago and far away, in a place called The Second World, there ruled the heartless sorcerer Sett Ra. His hunger for power still gnawed at him even though his dominance over the Second World was unchallenged; he longed to extend his grasp to the fair First World, Earth.
Sett Ra's Plan was simple. He would destroy the Pharaoh of Egypt and usurp his throne. He created a perfect assassin from his own shadow who would serve him without question. This shadow became beast, the mightiest and most loyal of all Sett Ra's minions. Beast destroyed the Pharaoh, and the disguised Sett Ra soon sat upon his throne.
However, the Pharaoh son Ahmet was not deceived. He brazenly confronted the powerful sorcerer, threatening to reveal him. Sett Ra escaped from the palace to the Great Desert, where his grandfather, Leotsu the Wise, dwelt as a monk and hermit. Leotsu and Ahmet united with a coven of powerful wizards from the lands beyond Egypt, and their combined power was able to send Sett Ra back to the Second World, comatose and imprisoned within a rune-encrusted pyramid. He slumbered for a millennium, bound by the wrappings of a mummy. Beast roamed the Second World, dedicated to finding and releasing his dread master. Successful at last, Beast and Sett Ra vow to wreak havoc on those who stopped them before.They have gathered a battalion of formidable fighters to further this end.
To regain his full strength and to end his exile from the First World, Sett Ra must perform an ancient ritual upon a descendant of Ahmet. Beast has now returned from Earth with the child Nezu, a child in whose veins the royal blood runs pure. All is ready for the final cataclysmic battle-only the Chosen One can stop Sett Ra now. One who possesses strength, spirituality, courage, agility, intelligence, and unsurpassed skill in the martial arts. Where will the world find such a one? Only Shaq knows.
Gameplay
Basic Moves
- Fast Kick:
- Power Kick:
- Fast Punch:
- Power Punch:
- Blocking: Hold to block high and mid-range attacks, or hold to block low attacks. Blocking Special Attacks will cause a minimal amount of damage to the blocker.
- Shield: Pressing + makes characters create a shield around them. The shield will block projectile attacks, but other attacks will go through.
- Throw: Characters can throw when up close by pressing +.
- Taunt: Press to taunt. Taunting will leave a character open to attack. It doesn't do anything.
- Fury Bar: As a character takes damage, their Fury Bar will charge up. When it is full, the word "FURY" will appear on it and the character will deal slightly more damage for a while.
- Dizzy: If a character is hit multiple times in a row without dealing any damage themselves, they risk being dizzied. When dizzy, a character will be stunned on the ground while stars rotate above them. Recover from a dizzy by pressing buttons rapidly.
Characters
Stages
History
Development
- Main article: Shaq Fu/Development.
Delphine first began development of what would eventually become Shaq Fu as a basketball game, but after talks with American athlete and endorser Shaquille O'Neal (a self-proclaimed fan of Mortal Kombat), the title soon evolved into a competitive fighting game starring the titular celebrity.[8]
Release
Cross-promoted with Shaq Fu was Shaquille O'Neal's second studio rap album, Shaq Fu: Da Return, released twelve days after the video game and eventually peaking at #19 in Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and #67 in the Top 200 chart. Specific copies of the game shipped with an included CD single titled Shaq Fu: Stand and Deliver, coming enclosed in a small cardboard sleeve which fit inside the main box. The CD was also available for mail order directly from the publisher itself.
Legacy
Shaq Fu's reputation as one of the worst games ever released eventually led to the creation of a website dedicated to destroying all copies of the game the owner could acquire.[9] As a response to this, a second website was created dedicated to saving as many copies from destruction as possible.[10]
An unrelated sequel which capitalized on the original name, Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn was announced in March 2014 as a three-dimensional beat-'em-up again starring Shaquille O'Neal. Developed by Big Deez Productions for eighth-generation game systems and published on June 5, 2018, it received generally negative reviews upon its release.
Versions
Compared to the original Mega Drive version, the handheld Game Gear port features a selection of only six playable characters, and lacks both the original game's tournament mode and its digitized voice samples.
Production credits
Mega Drive version
- Project Manager: Paul Cuisset
- Design Lead: Paul Cuisset
- Lead Programmer: Thierry Gaerthner
- Programmer: Arnaud Carre
- Lead Graphic Artist: Thierry Levastre
- Graphic Artist: Valerie Amghar, Stephane Aussel, Michele Bacque, Thierry Bansront, Gregory Beal, Eric Caron, Michaël Douaud, Laurent Dreno, Serge Fiedos, Herve Gaerthner, Elie Jamaa, Frederic Michel, Christophe Moyne, Olivier Nicolas, Fabrice Tete, Cecile Thomas, Jean-Marc Timert, Paul Tumelaire, Roman Vaidis
- Music: Raphael Gesqua
- Assistant Producers: Jeff Brown, William Schmitt, John Vilandre
- Testing: Jeff Brown, Ryan Enslow, Chris McCall, Chip Probst, Matt Vella, John Vilandre, Michael Yasko
- Executive Producer: Don Traeger
- Producer: Jim Rushing
- Associate Producer: Greg Suarez
- Product Manager: Lisa Higgins
- Documentation: Valerie Hanscom, Michael Humes
- Package Direction: Nancy Fong
- Package Design: 13th Floor, Dave Parmely
- Stuntmen: Remi Canaple, Patrick Cauderlier, Abi Espanol, Marc Le Loeuff, Dany Rocca, Phil Vitt
- Special Thanks: Leonard Armato, Tim Brengle, John Brooks, Lori Christensen, Jean Charles Meyrignac, Shaquille O'Neal, Management Plus, Sarah Smith, Dennis Tracey
Game Gear version
- Shaq Fu Game Gear Was Converted by: Tiertex Ltd
- Programmers: Donald Campbell, Dave Stead
- Project Management: Dympna Forkin, Thierry Gaerthner
- EA Management Team: Don Traeger, Jim Rushing, Greg Suarez, John Vilandre
- Tiertex Testing: Gary Marshall, Lee Walker
- EA Testing: Anji Mayfield, Heather Meigs
- Original Graphics: Thierry Levastre for Delphine
- Converted by: Kevin Knott at Tiertex
- Music Originated by: Raphael Gesqua
- Game Gear Music and Effects: John Prince
- Special Thanks: Dany Boolauck, Lori Christensen, Paul Cuisset, Anne-Marie Joassim, Shaquille O'Neal, Management Plus, Sarah Smith, Dennis Tracey, Jean Charles Meyrignac
- Product Management: Lisa Higgins
Magazine articles
- Main article: Shaq Fu/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
- Main article: Shaq Fu/Promotional material.
Physical scans
Mega Drive version
Sega Retro Average | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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70 | |
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Based on 29 reviews |
Mega Drive, US (Free CD) |
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Mega Drive, EU (Free CD) |
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Game Gear version
Sega Retro Average | |||||||||
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67 | |
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Based on 1 review |
Technical information
- Main article: Shaq Fu/Technical information.
External links
- Shaq-Fu review by Vice Thornburg at Sega-16
- Shaq-Fu article by Nick Zverloff at Hardcore Gaming 101
- Save Shaq Fu
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Press release: 1994-10-26: SHAQUILLE O'NEAL TO STAR IN FIRST EVER VIDEOGAME
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1994" (UK; 1994-08-xx), page 3
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Computer & Video Games, "October 1994" (UK; 1994-09-15), page 94
- ↑ GamePro, "September 1994" (DE; 1994-08-26), page 35
- ↑ Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1994-08-29), page 10
- ↑ https://www.sega-16.com/2005/12/shaq-fu/ (Wayback Machine: 2021-03-03 11:38)
- ↑ http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/shaq-fu/ (Wayback Machine: 2021-10-29 10:28)
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "August 1994" (UK; 1994-06-30), page 28
- ↑ http://www.shaqfu.com:80/main.html (Wayback Machine: 2008-03-19 12:56)
- ↑ http://www.saveshaqfu.com
- ↑ File:Shaq Fu MD credits.pdf
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 203
- ↑ Alaab Alcomputtar, "" (SA; 1995-06-xx), page 80
- ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 184
- ↑ Computer + Video Giochi, "Dicembre 1994" (IT; 1994-xx-xx), page 130
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 357
- ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 12 December 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 170
- ↑ GamePro, "December 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 124
- ↑ GamesMaster, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-20), page 50
- ↑ GamesMaster (UK) "Series 4, episode 2" (1994-09-27, 24:00) (+6:54)
- ↑ Games World: The Magazine, "January 1995" (UK; 1994-11-xx), page 14
- ↑ Joypad, "Novembre 1994" (FR; 1994-1x-xx), page 118
- ↑ LeveL, "Únor 1995" (CZ; 1995-02-24), page 40
- ↑ MAN!AC, "11/94" (DE; 1994-10-12), page 62
- ↑ Mega, "January 1995" (UK; 1994-12-30), page 28
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1994" (UK; 1994-08-xx), page 76
- ↑ Next Generation, "Premiere Issue 1995" (US; 1994-12-08), page 107
- ↑ Player One, "Décembre 1994" (FR; 1994-1x-xx), page 156
- ↑ Play Time, "2/95" (DE; 1995-01-04), page 111
- ↑ Score, "Únor 1995" (CZ; 1995-02-01), page 44
- ↑ Sega Magazin, "Dezember 1994" (DE; 1994-11-17), page 22
- ↑ Sega Power, "December 1994" (UK; 1994-10-20), page 64
- ↑ Sega Force, "3/95" (SE; 1995-06-20), page 22
- ↑ Sonic the Comic, "3rd February 1995" (UK; 1995-01-21), page 10
- ↑ Todo Sega, "Diciembre 1994" (ES; 1994-1x-xx), page 66
- ↑ Tricks, "3/95" (RU; 1995-xx-xx), page 11
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 154
- ↑ Video Games, "12/94" (DE; 1994-11-23), page 92
- ↑ VideoGames, "January 1995" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 63
- ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 8 No. 12 December 1995" (US; 1995-1x-xx), page 89
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