Shaq takes it to the streets on ninjas in this beat-em-up, with fully destructible environments. Make use of power ups, melee and ranged weapons to defeat enemies and bosses.
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why does this exist, i just got remembered of it and i hate it so much. its just some meme game from a meme that everyone had forgotten in 2008. The celebrity stuff was already outdated when it came out (pretty sure it was dead when production started) the game is not funny, not interesting, its just a boring confussing mess. im just confused, who did they make this for? who even bought this? I just genuenly can't believe that they got a team of people working on this game.
Edit at time of uploading review (3/19/24): I recommend this game much less highly now. The actual action is only OK and the writing is only funny when it's not fucking awful and tasteless. Buyer beware :/
I bought this game entirely because Elkin's review of the Barack Fu DLC for it had me in stitches. I was very disappointed to find that apparently the Barack Fu DLC isn't actually on the American PSN store yet, apparently? Regardless, I played through Shaq Fu and had a pretty good time. I played through on normal difficulty and it took me like 2 or 2.5 hours (this game ain't long).
The game is a 2.5D brawler, and it's an okay to not-so-great one. The hit detection can be a bit funky, as you can walk around in a 3D space but can only attack left and right, not up and down, but that wonky detection tends to be in your advantage and not the enemy's, so it's not a problem. The combos are pretty simple but satifsying, and the game is short enough that they never get tedious or anything. The greatest sin I can say against the mechanics is that they just really aren't good enough to allow the hard mode to be playable. Enemies hit like twice as hard in the hard mode, and some enemy types like ninjas are just an absolute nightmare to fight with how agile they are compared to you. The hard mode is a total waste of time.
The game also has absolutely no multiplayer of any kind, which is insanely stupid for a beat 'em up released in 2018, quite frankly. I'd go as far as to call it downright inexcusable considering the $30 price tag the game goes for physically (or $40 if you're getting it on Switch). Given that it's a 2 hour game with very little replayability and not even multiplayer, I'd say the asking price on this thing is even a bit much for the default $20 digital price tag.
Where the game really shines is the writing though. It's very unabashadly silly and tongue-in-cheek writing. It has some low-points in the comedy that'll really make you cringe, but the highs far outweighed the lows for me. The music is also really fun 90's rap in a catchy but bad way and the theme song is just such stupid fun in that same vein. I gotta agree that I'm pretty damn tempted to pick up some of the soundtrack because it's just that damn catchy. The graphics are colorful, but nothing amazing. Very serviceable.
Verdict: Recommended. The writing is silly enough and the gameplay is just-okay enough that this is a game that I enjoyed my time with. Lack of multiplayer aside, the biggest downside to it as it is is the price tag. If you can get this for $10 or $15, this is definitely one to pick up to have a laugh with over an afternoon.
I bought this game entirely because Elkin's review of the Barack Fu DLC for it had me in stitches. I was very disappointed to find that apparently the Barack Fu DLC isn't actually on the American PSN store yet, apparently? Regardless, I played through Shaq Fu and had a pretty good time. I played through on normal difficulty and it took me like 2 or 2.5 hours (this game ain't long).
The game is a 2.5D brawler, and it's an okay to not-so-great one. The hit detection can be a bit funky, as you can walk around in a 3D space but can only attack left and right, not up and down, but that wonky detection tends to be in your advantage and not the enemy's, so it's not a problem. The combos are pretty simple but satifsying, and the game is short enough that they never get tedious or anything. The greatest sin I can say against the mechanics is that they just really aren't good enough to allow the hard mode to be playable. Enemies hit like twice as hard in the hard mode, and some enemy types like ninjas are just an absolute nightmare to fight with how agile they are compared to you. The hard mode is a total waste of time.
The game also has absolutely no multiplayer of any kind, which is insanely stupid for a beat 'em up released in 2018, quite frankly. I'd go as far as to call it downright inexcusable considering the $30 price tag the game goes for physically (or $40 if you're getting it on Switch). Given that it's a 2 hour game with very little replayability and not even multiplayer, I'd say the asking price on this thing is even a bit much for the default $20 digital price tag.
Where the game really shines is the writing though. It's very unabashadly silly and tongue-in-cheek writing. It has some low-points in the comedy that'll really make you cringe, but the highs far outweighed the lows for me. The music is also really fun 90's rap in a catchy but bad way and the theme song is just such stupid fun in that same vein. I gotta agree that I'm pretty damn tempted to pick up some of the soundtrack because it's just that damn catchy. The graphics are colorful, but nothing amazing. Very serviceable.
Verdict: Recommended. The writing is silly enough and the gameplay is just-okay enough that this is a game that I enjoyed my time with. Lack of multiplayer aside, the biggest downside to it as it is is the price tag. If you can get this for $10 or $15, this is definitely one to pick up to have a laugh with over an afternoon.
I'm only giving this game a star, because I got it for free.
I enjoyed this one. I know it’s not the best but shaq was funny.
Diverte pela gameplay, a arte é legal, os bosses interessantes, mas repetitivo em inimigos, cenarios, o jogo parece sempre o mesmo, podia ser melhor, se esta sedento por um jogo de porradaria vale tentar, mas tem muita coisa melhor para ser jogada por ai.
This review contains spoilers
Spoilered because it gets gross.
I'm going into this Backloggd thing with the goal of honing in how I look at video games critically. One of the things I'm seeing is that games I score this low are abject failures of some caliber. Maybe they are amusing in how thoroughly they fail. Maybe they completely and thoroughly befuddle me in their failure. And maybe they just pissed me off. Shaq Fu 2 is definitely the latter category.
I am all for the idea of a self-aware successor to a bad meme game. I only know the original Shaq Fu by reputation, but it's the perfect candidate for this sort of thing. I legitimately was excited for this - not enough to buy it, but enough to rent it from the video store for a weekend playthrough. I looked forward to seeing what they'd do this time around, especially since they were treating this one like a soft reboot.
So the setup is that Shaq was discovered by a Chinese peasant woman, Baby Moses style. He's destined to be the chosen one, so a martial arts master trains him. Shaq gets his chance to fulfill his destiny as a young adult, when a pack of demons disguised as celebrities try to take over the world.
Decent enough setup, okay. I will admit, I very rarely am able to get into celebrity parodies. I'm generally not in touch enough with mainstream pop culture to get these sorts of references while they're relevant. As a consequence, by the time I get to a celebrity parody, it usually feels super outdated. I think some of these were dated on release - even I know that 2018 was late for Justin Bieber and Mel Gibson circa Braveheart parodies - but some stuff like the Trump parody would have been contemporary. So while I personally feel that something like a Trump parody is something destined to feel dated (and I know it doesn't seem like it somedays; just give it time), I get if that's your thing. Entirely fair.
But, like... I fucking hate this game's sense of humor? Like the mentor figure's an old gay pervert who sexually harassed teen Shaq, the Chinese village ("Hunglo"; I know that's likely to be a Shadow Warrior shout-out as much as anything, but still) is littered with washing machines and conical hat stores, the game reached for a nonbinary "assuming my gender" joke then later has the lamest comedic takes I've seen on Nazis and Klansmen...
All that's the low-effort shit. What about high effort? Well, for one, there's the Kim Kardashian parody, who turns into a giant floating ass with wriggling cellulite, and it attacks by having violent taco shits, which the game giddily describes as "Brownbeard's Revenge".
There is basically nothing for me to like here. I don't find the moveset or power-ups interesting, I don't find the levels interesting, the gameplay animation is either basic or gross, the plot basically devolves into crass and crude edgy and referential humor without any real heart or charm. There are no unique mechanics or meaningful challenges, nothing that iterates upon the genre or acts as more than a momentary distraction. You get endless retries, so just get back up and go. No multiplayer, either. Just grind out the game, put it back in its jewel case, and put it away forever.
I'm not gonna pretend I'm the end-all-be-all authority to what does and doesn't make for good media. If you liked this game, man, I'm not gonna tell you you can't. I'm just saying, this was thoroughly not what I'm looking for in a video game.
...it is kind of cute that Icy Hots heal you. I'll give the game that.
I'm going into this Backloggd thing with the goal of honing in how I look at video games critically. One of the things I'm seeing is that games I score this low are abject failures of some caliber. Maybe they are amusing in how thoroughly they fail. Maybe they completely and thoroughly befuddle me in their failure. And maybe they just pissed me off. Shaq Fu 2 is definitely the latter category.
I am all for the idea of a self-aware successor to a bad meme game. I only know the original Shaq Fu by reputation, but it's the perfect candidate for this sort of thing. I legitimately was excited for this - not enough to buy it, but enough to rent it from the video store for a weekend playthrough. I looked forward to seeing what they'd do this time around, especially since they were treating this one like a soft reboot.
So the setup is that Shaq was discovered by a Chinese peasant woman, Baby Moses style. He's destined to be the chosen one, so a martial arts master trains him. Shaq gets his chance to fulfill his destiny as a young adult, when a pack of demons disguised as celebrities try to take over the world.
Decent enough setup, okay. I will admit, I very rarely am able to get into celebrity parodies. I'm generally not in touch enough with mainstream pop culture to get these sorts of references while they're relevant. As a consequence, by the time I get to a celebrity parody, it usually feels super outdated. I think some of these were dated on release - even I know that 2018 was late for Justin Bieber and Mel Gibson circa Braveheart parodies - but some stuff like the Trump parody would have been contemporary. So while I personally feel that something like a Trump parody is something destined to feel dated (and I know it doesn't seem like it somedays; just give it time), I get if that's your thing. Entirely fair.
But, like... I fucking hate this game's sense of humor? Like the mentor figure's an old gay pervert who sexually harassed teen Shaq, the Chinese village ("Hunglo"; I know that's likely to be a Shadow Warrior shout-out as much as anything, but still) is littered with washing machines and conical hat stores, the game reached for a nonbinary "assuming my gender" joke then later has the lamest comedic takes I've seen on Nazis and Klansmen...
All that's the low-effort shit. What about high effort? Well, for one, there's the Kim Kardashian parody, who turns into a giant floating ass with wriggling cellulite, and it attacks by having violent taco shits, which the game giddily describes as "Brownbeard's Revenge".
There is basically nothing for me to like here. I don't find the moveset or power-ups interesting, I don't find the levels interesting, the gameplay animation is either basic or gross, the plot basically devolves into crass and crude edgy and referential humor without any real heart or charm. There are no unique mechanics or meaningful challenges, nothing that iterates upon the genre or acts as more than a momentary distraction. You get endless retries, so just get back up and go. No multiplayer, either. Just grind out the game, put it back in its jewel case, and put it away forever.
I'm not gonna pretend I'm the end-all-be-all authority to what does and doesn't make for good media. If you liked this game, man, I'm not gonna tell you you can't. I'm just saying, this was thoroughly not what I'm looking for in a video game.
...it is kind of cute that Icy Hots heal you. I'll give the game that.