In the game's storyline, Shaquille O'Neal wanders into a kung fu dojo while heading to a charity basketball game in Tokyo, Japan. After speaking with a kung fu master, he stumbles into another dimension, where he must rescue a young boy named Nezu from the evil mummy Sett-Ra.

The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis version of Shaq Fu has five more playable characters (Auroch, Colonel, Diesel, Leotsu and Nezu) and three more stages (The Lab, The Wasteland, and Yasko Mines) than the Super NES version, therefore the Mega Drive/Genesis version has a longer story mode. The North/South Gate stage is accessible in the SNES version with a cheat code, whereas the Mega Drive/Genesis version has the North/South Gate stage available from the start. The Amiga version is the same as the Mega Drive/Genesis version (it even keeps a "Licensed by Sega Enterprises, LTD" leftover from that version in the title screen), but the backgrounds have no animation. It also only has three songs; there is no music during the fights.

The Game Boy port has the same seven characters as the Super NES version, whereas the Game Gear port only has six characters. Both the Game Boy and Game Gear versions have no tournament mode or in-game voices. Due to the Game Boy's monochrome screen, the Game Boy version is not in color.

Gametrailers rated it #4 Worst in their "Top Ten Best and Worst Video Games".Allgame gave it a negative review, commenting that "Shaq Fu is a dud" in terms of fighting games based on basketball players.GameInformer magazine placed it #2 on the Top 10 Fighting Games We'd Like To Forget. In response to the negative feedback to the game, Levi Buchanan from IGN stated it was undeserved as a result of collective exaggerations. The website Shaqfu.com is dedicated to liberating the game from existence.

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