"...serves the purpose of uselessness..."
Gameplay in Shaq Fu is pretty lame, and an indiotic story mode adds to the torment. The story begins with Shaq wandering around Tokyo I think, and he happens upon this little Kung Fu joint and walks in. He meets this old man who thinks Shaq is the fulfillment of some sort of prophecy and sends him off to look for this kidnapped kid in another dimension. This kind of supernatural storyline featuring an NBA player is moronic to say the least, and again the correlation to Mortal Kombat is really not that coincidental. From here Shaq will fight in a sequence of events, arenas, and other warriors, all of which are nothing spectacular. It's kind of stupid you see this one big guy in fighting garb with big muscles on one end of the fighting stage, then you look to the other guy (Shaq) who happens to be in basketball attire. This mix just doesn't come out very well in the long run. It makes things kind of dumb, and it I think it really hurts the overall game. Aside from the story mode you can go after tournament mode, which you play with another player (should you want to lose a friend), or duel mode which pits you against the computer in a series of fights. These modes aren't necessarily bad, especially for a fighting game, but for Shaq Fu they make things worse. Combat here is cumbersome, torturous, and just plain terrible. You can pick any one of the fighters in the game, but for the sake of this review it'll be from Shaq's perspective. Shaq can duck, kick, and do "all sorts" of things, but all in all he just plain stinks at Kung Fu. Despite the name you might find yourself mashing buttons to make Shaq do this one long kick forward just to take down the other guy. Combat gets really old and it ultimately is very unsatisfying. The whole idea of Shaq, let alone any other NBA player on a fighting game, is totally foolish.
Graphics here are actually pretty good from what you'd expect from a Sega Genesis game. Combat stages are varied and even feature background animation. They are discernable and fit the genre nicely. Character models are also done quite well as they are very fluid. Combat moves like throwing a sword or activating a magical shield are done pretty well, but they're not superb. The game also offers these little slides with text to advance the story. This is nice, but afterwards if Shaq wins he throws off some silly quip in text about the other guy losing.
Sound in Shaq Fu is absolutely horrendous-- if there was any sound. Actually, there are tunes that plays while in menus and during gameplay, but they're extremely annoying. I think someone wanted to get an Asian-themed soundtrack going, but instead they got a whole bunch of annoying beep-like loopings that make you want to strangle someone. Aside from the horrible music, there are virtually no sound effects in Shaq Fu. Not so much as a "whomp" or an "ouch", and the lack of any SFX really is the last nail in the coffin for Shaq Fu. Sound drops of the cliff for this ill-fated fighting wannabe.
Value is nothing to put it simply. With other games out there like Mortal Kombat just forget about Shaq Fu.
Ultimately there's not much to say about Shaq Fu in the way of gameplay or sound. However, I can say with all honesty and certainty that Shaq Fu is the worst fighting game ever made. The idea of an NBA player in a Mortal Kombat wannabe bombs here, and has literally no saving grace. Well, don't take my word for it. Play the game, but God forbid-- don't buy it.