About

<h2>Overview</h2><figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/original/0/7539/486585-shaq_fu__u_____060.png" data-ref-id="1300-486585" data-ratio="0.875" data-width="256" data-embed-type="image" style="width: 256px"><a class="fluid-height" style="padding-bottom:87.5%" href="https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/original/0/7539/486585-shaq_fu__u_____060.png" data-ref-id="1300-486585"><img alt="No Caption Provided" src="https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/original/0/7539/486585-shaq_fu__u_____060.png" srcset="https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/original/0/7539/486585-shaq_fu__u_____060.png 256w" sizes="(max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px" data-width="256"></a></figure><p>Shaq Fu is a 2D contemporary-fantasy fighting game developed by <a href="/delphine-software-international/3010-742/" data-ref-id="3010-742">Delphine Software International</a> and published by <a href="/electronic-arts/3010-1/" data-ref-id="3010-1">Electronic Arts</a> for the <a href="//www.giantbomb.com/genesis/3045-6/" data-ref-id="3045-6">Sega Genesis</a> and <a href="//www.giantbomb.com/super-nintendo-entertainment-system/3045-9/" data-ref-id="3045-9">Super Nintendo Entertainment System</a> on October 28, 1994.</p><p>The game follows professional <a href="/basketball/3015-3505/" data-ref-id="3015-3505">basketball</a> player <a href="/shaquille-oneal/3005-90/" data-ref-id="3005-90">Shaquille "Shaq" O'Neal</a>, who must use the deadly arts of Shaqido in a mystical <a href="/alternate-reality/3015-701/" data-ref-id="3015-701">alternate dimension</a> (known as the Second World) to rescue <a href="/nezu/3005-28472/" data-ref-id="3005-28472">a mysterious boy</a> from an army of servants loyal to an evil, powerful <a href="/mummy/3015-1736/" data-ref-id="3015-1736">mummy</a> known as <a href="/sett/3005-28469/" data-ref-id="3005-28469">Sett-Ra</a>. He must be quick, so he can go back to a charity basketball game in downtown <a href="/tokyo/3035-1341/" data-ref-id="3035-1341">Tokyo</a>!</p><p>As a typical 2D fighting game for the era, Shaq Fu is known not only for its detailed animations (which sometimes resemble games like <a href="/international-karate/3030-16939/" data-ref-id="3030-16939">International Karate +</a>), but for its complicated (and sometimes inconsistent) gameplay and its bizarre use of a <a href="/celebrity-tie-in/3015-201/" data-ref-id="3015-201">celebrity tie-in</a>. It is also known for its inconsistency between versions, as the SNES version loses almost half of the Genesis version's roster.</p><p>In 1995, the game later received conversions to <a href="//www.giantbomb.com/amiga/3045-1/" data-ref-id="3045-1">Amiga</a> computers (in Europe only, developed by <a href="/dome-software-developments-the/3010-833/" data-ref-id="3010-833">The Dome</a> and published by <a href="/ocean-software-ltd/3010-6983/" data-ref-id="3010-6983">Ocean</a>), the <a href="/game-gear/3045-5/" data-ref-id="3045-5">Sega Game Gear</a> (developed by <a href="/tiertex-design-studios/3010-1638/" data-ref-id="3010-1638">Tiertex</a>), and the <a href="//www.giantbomb.com/game-boy/3045-3/" data-ref-id="3045-3">Game Boy</a> (developed by <a href="/unexpected-development/3010-4415/" data-ref-id="3010-4415">Unexpected Development</a> and co-published by <a href="/black-pearl-software/3010-1605/" data-ref-id="3010-1605">Black Pearl</a>) a year later. Ocean was also the publisher of the SNES version in Europe.</p><p>The "Shaq Fu" name was later used for the 2018 beat-'em-up game <a href="/shaq-fu-a-legend-reborn/3030-45591/" data-ref-id="3030-45591">Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn</a>.</p><h2>Characters</h2><p>The game includes all 12 playable characters in the Genesis and Amiga versions, with only 7 of these characters in the SNES and Game Boy version, and only 6 characters in the Game Gear version.</p><p>In the game's main Story Mode, players only have access to one playable fighter (Shaq) as he fights a variety of opponents on each Island <a href="/open-world/3015-207/" data-ref-id="3015-207">in any order</a>. The Game Boy version instead uses a fixed order (Kaori, Rajah, Mephis, Voodoo, Beast, Sett). The Game Gear version has the Second Island include a doppelganger Sett and a Mephis rematch, with the Third Island being an evil Shaq doppelganger.</p><ul><li><strong><a href="/shaquille-oneal/3005-90/" data-ref-id="3005-90">Shaq</a></strong> (Genesis/SNES/Amiga/GB/GG) - The game's main protagonist and a professional <a href="/basketball/3015-3505/" data-ref-id="3015-3505">basketball</a> player who founded the extremely lethal <a href="/martial-arts/3015-515/" data-ref-id="3015-515">martial art</a> form of "Shaquido".</li></ul><p>First Island</p><ul><li><strong><a href="/auroch/3005-17406/" data-ref-id="3005-17406">Auroch</a></strong> (Genesis/Amiga) - A bandit from the Second World who fights for pleasure.</li><li><strong><a href="/diesel/3005-55140/" data-ref-id="3005-55140">Diesel</a></strong> (Genesis/Amiga) - A longshoreman from <a href="/san-francisco/3035-191/" data-ref-id="3035-191">San Francisco</a> who excels in rough brawling.</li><li><strong><a href="/leotsu/3005-55139/" data-ref-id="3005-55139">Leotsu</a></strong> (Genesis/Amiga/GG) - An elderly master of an ancient <a href="/asia/3035-1663/" data-ref-id="3035-1663">Far Eastern</a> martial art and the grandfather of the kidnapped boy Nezu.</li><li><strong><a href="/mephis/3005-4921/" data-ref-id="3005-4921">Mephis</a></strong> (Genesis/SNES/Amiga/GB/GG) - An <a href="/undead/3015-1155/" data-ref-id="3015-1155">undead</a> <a href="/wizards/3015-1694/" data-ref-id="3015-1694">sorcerer</a> who was once Sett's apprentice.</li><li><strong><a href="/rajah/3005-28466/" data-ref-id="3005-28466">Rajah</a></strong> (Genesis/SNES/Amiga/GB/GG) - A Second World mystic who is skilled in swordsmanship with his twin <a href="/scimitar/3055-2201/" data-ref-id="3055-2201">scimitars</a>.</li><li><strong><a href="/voodoo/3005-28468/" data-ref-id="3005-28468">Voodoo</a></strong> (Genesis/SNES/Amiga/GB) - A <a href="/voodoo/3015-1192/" data-ref-id="3015-1192">voodoo</a> mystic from <a href="/haiti/3035-4660/" data-ref-id="3035-4660">Haiti</a>, later revealed to be Mephis's daughter. In the SNES version, she is fought in the Second Island instead.</li></ul><p>Second Island</p><ul><li><strong><a href="/colonel/3005-28471/" data-ref-id="3005-28471">Colonel</a></strong> (Genesis/Amiga) - A <a href="/cyborg/3015-950/" data-ref-id="3015-950">cyborg</a> from an Earth bio-tech corporation and the sole survivor of a battle in the Second World.</li><li><strong><a href="/kaori/3005-28470/" data-ref-id="3005-28470">Kaori</a></strong> (Genesis/SNES/Amiga/GB/GG) - The martial arts champion of an <a href="/alien/3015-186/" data-ref-id="3015-186">alien</a> <a href="/feline-humanoid/3015-4588/" data-ref-id="3015-4588">feline</a> race known as the Cimothans. In the SNES version, she is fought in the First Island instead.</li><li><strong><a href="/nezu/3005-28472/" data-ref-id="3005-28472">Nezu</a></strong> (Genesis/Amiga) - A cunning teenage martial artist who was kidnapped to free Sett.</li></ul><p>Third Island</p><ul><li><strong><a href="/beast/3005-28467/" data-ref-id="3005-28467">Beast</a></strong> (Genesis/SNES/Amiga/GB) - Sub-boss. A beast-like creature and the mightest of Sett's servants, created from Sett's own shadow.</li></ul><p>Fourth Island</p><ul><li><strong><a href="/sett/3005-28469/" data-ref-id="3005-28469">Sett</a></strong> (Genesis/SNES/Amiga/GB/GG) - Final boss. A <a href="/mummy/3015-1736/" data-ref-id="3015-1736">mummy</a> and an entity of ancient evil who was entombed ages ago.</li></ul>