We might get to play another Shaq-Fu game, finally. Former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal and new developer Big Deez Productions has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to make a followup to 1994's Shaq-Fu, widely considered the worst fighting game of all time and one of the worst games ever, period. They're hoping to raise $450,000.
Big Deez says it's well aware of Shaq-Fu's terrible reputation, and that this new game will have little to do with it besides the name and Shaq's leading role. It describes the project as a 3D beat 'em up with dynamic destructible environments, saying Shaq will fight thousands of enemies, learn new skills and moves, and do the other things you'd recognize from the character action game genre.
“Think Devil May Cry with an old school Streets of Rage feel mixed with classic Shaq humor,” says Big Deez's Katya Maximova.
The project's Indiegogo page claims that Shaq assembled Big Deez's all-star team for the creation of Shaq-Fu. It includes industry professionals that have previously worked on projects like Halo, Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, Battlefield, and others. The mention of Street Fighter is particularly interesting, as what we can see of the game looks very much like Street Fighter IV, with the inky interface and exaggerated, high contrast style.
As to why Shaq, a retired NBA player and millionaire, isn't funding the game himself, Big Deez says that the purpose of the campaign is to see how much the public is interested in becoming Shaq's partner in making the game. Shaq will also invest “a lot” of his own time in money in the project, and Big Deez will be investing “considerably more” money than it's asking for.
You can find out more about the game on Indiegogo .
