Shaq Is Back This Spring with the Release of Shaq Fu: a Legend Reborn

The sequel you didn’t know you wanted, but are getting anyway, is almost here. The crowdfunded beat ’em-up starring basketball legend, rapper, and actor Shaquille O’Neal will be releasing both digitally and physically on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC this Spring.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the first game (or those of us who tried to remove it from our memories), the original Shaq Fu was a 1994 fighting game released for the SEGA Genesis, SNES, Game Boy, Game Gear, and Amiga, and featured Shaquille O’Neal beside an unfamiliar cast of playable characters, including Auroch, Beast, and Voodoo.

While it received mixed reviews upon its release, retrospective criticism of the original Shaq Fu has been overwhelmingly negative. The new, playful trailer for Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn addresses this criticism. One of the main selling points that the new trailer pushes is that it is “better than the old one.”

Anyone who purchased Saber Interactive’s NBA Playgrounds on Nintendo Switch prior to June 10, 2017 will be treated to a free digital copy of Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn, which is also being developed by Saber Interactive. This was to make up for the fact that NBA Playgrounds launched on Nintendo Switch without online play.