Shaq Fu Sequel Is Not A Joke, Is Really Happening

It's been twenty four years since the release of the notoriously terrible Shaq Fu on the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. Since then, the game -- which stars former basketball pro Shaquille O' Neal -- has become kind of a cult classic, emblematic not only of bad 90s game design, but a confusing era of celebrity-endorsed videogames. 

And now, the developers behind a sequel called Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn have announced that it's definitely coming out sometime this spring. A Legend Reborn was crowdfunded on Indiegogo way back in 2014, but news about the game's development has been sparse since then. The game is more akin to a comedy beat 'em-up, and as the title demands, will feature Shaquille O'Neal's likeness.

In an update posted to Indiegogo, the studio behind the game, Big Deez Productions, said that "unforeseen difficulties" made for a "long, difficult road" in getting the game released. “You wouldn’t believe some of the problems we’ve encountered,” Big Deez Productions said. "We wrote the game over three years ago and had not [sic] idea what history had in store for the world at that time."

As a result, Big Deez Productions had to rewrite certain story elements and rework sections of the game impacted by them. The studio did not give specifics as to what those changes entailed, though. Licensing issues were also reportedly a source of headaches, details one report from Techraptor. 

Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn will arrive for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this spring, after being picked up by Saber Interactive, the same publisher behind NBA Playgrounds. The trailer below acknowledges the reputation of the original Shaq Fu, and promises it will be, "better than the old one."

On an additional note, Polygon reported that owners of the Switch version of NBA Playgrounds will be receiving Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn as an apology freebie.