Shaq Is Testing the Limits of 90s Nostalgia With Another Video Game

Shaquille O'Neal is many things: basketball legend, cult movie star, talking head, victim of Aaron Carter's repeated aggressions. Indie game developer? Not so much. Sure, Shaq has lent his likeness to many basketball video games over the years. But the one time he tried to branch out of sports games, it didn't go over so well. Shaq Fu, a Street Fighter-esque fighting game released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, has gone down in history as one of those games only worth remembering as something so bad that it's almost good. But even by that low standard, it wasn't that good.

That hasn't stopped Shaq from trying again. Nearly two decades after Shaq Fu first graced those now defunct consoles, the friendly giant is putting his weight behind a sequel. Developed by the as yet unknown studio Big Deez Productions (which claims to draw talent from "game industry professionals" who've worked on franchises like Halo, Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, Alan Wake, Spec Ops: The Line, Battlefield, Killzone, Max Payne, and Duke Nukem), Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn was announced late last night by way of an Indiegogo campaign asking for $450,000.

Here's the trailer in all its Shaq-filled glory:

Now, you might be wondering why someone of Shaq's stature is petitioning the internet for a paltry $450,000. That's an infinitesimal fraction of the $292 million Shaq made during his professional athletic career, according to a Bloomberg report published at the time of his retirement in 2011.

Like any self-respecting crowdfunding campaign that doesn't actually need the funding of a crowd, Big Deez said that the Indiegogo campaign isn't about the money. It's "to see how much interest there is in becoming Shaq's partner and in seeing the game happen." Sure, Shaq could have personally bankrolled the production of a video game nearly the size of Grand Theft Auto V. But that wouldn't give forlorn Shaq Fu fans the chance to win cool prizes that offer "unprecedented access to his life with incredible perks" like a pair of signed sneakers or even a chance to play a pick-up game with the man himself.

But enough about rich and famous people ruining online crowdsourcing for the people who might actually need it. What about the game itself? A Legend Reborn looks ridiculous and unabashedly silly, of course. But it actually looks like it could be a lot of fun for people hungry for a modern spin on the side-scrolling beat-em-up, a genre that's been almost forgotten as immersive fully 3D games ascended to the top of the food chain.

It might not be the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time. But then again, nothing will be. We all have to accept that fact someday.

As of this writing, Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn has already pulled in more than $50K. If you want to throw your hat in the ring for a chance to hack-Shaq, check out the campaign here.