Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn Review

2/10 Total Fail

Why does this game exist? Now, normally, I like to keep the articles and reviews at Game Infinite, a little bit more positive. Usually, I also try to avoid bad games. Being a hardcore gamer who owns hundreds of games, over the years I've developed a good sense for when a game is going to be worth the time. However, with this, my curiosity got the better of me. This game is the sequel to a 24 year old game, and not a beloved classic, not a gaming treasure, a game KNOWN for being bad. The original Shaq Fu is famous for being a bad game. No, it is not the Sharknado of games, some classic known for being so bad it's good. Shaq Fu is so bad it is in the Hall of Bad sitting between ET and Superman 64. So when I first saw that Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn was a thing, I honestly thought it was a joke. Why would anyone make a sequel to something so bad? They had to have a reason. Maybe they wanted to redeem it? Maybe they wanted a funny parody? I had to know. Well... whatever the reason, it failed.

HARD.

This game has everything wrong with it that can possibly really go wrong in a game. It has the most not funny cringy humor in a game that I've seen in a while. This isn't bad humor like "isn't funny to me" or "not my kind of humor" bad. This game is borderline racist. The entire game is a ridiculous parody of Asians, enforcing lame stereotypes. The old man master who helps Shaq, every word that leaves his mouth is a cringy racist joke. Throw in a few anti-gay jokes, endless jokes about rice, fake voice acting, and you have a whole bag of non excuse for existence.

Now, if this game was only filled with bad humor and stereotypes than maybe it would be enough in the coffin, but pair that with the fact that the controls are just trash. This game's controls are so bad that it literally hurts my hands to play. I didn't even think that was possible. I don't know how, but the 3D map applied to a 2D game makes fighting a pain. The kicking and punching mechanics are slow, painful, and only work when carefully lineup with the enemies. This game plays bad. This game is bad. AND I can't stress enough, not "good bad" just, makes-your-hands-hurt, cry-a-little, angry-you-spent-any-money BAD.