Last year we brought you news that former NBA star and retired genie Shaquille O’Neal was putting together a sequel to Shaq Fu, the old game that dared to ask: What if Shaq fought a mummy? (The answer: It’s pretty boring, and then your mom gets mad because you didn’t like the game she spent her hard-earned money to rent for you from Blockbuster, and nobody gets ice cream that night.)
A year later, the crowdfunding campaign for the new game—titled Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn—appeared to have already fulfilled its primary function, in that we all got a chuckle at the idea of a Shaq Fu sequel, and then we moved on with our lives. But apparently neophyte studio Big Deez Productions didn’t get the memo, because they’ve been hard at work translating O’Neal’s famous combat acumen into an actual game, which they showed off at last night’s The Game Awards ceremony in L.A.
Most of the teaser trailer devotes itself to the game’s knowingly stupid-looking story, but there’s also some actual gameplay on display. (It involves kicking people.) There’s no sign of Auruch, Kaori, Colonel, or any of the other beloved fighters from the Shaq Fu-niverse (or Aaron Carter, who seems like he’d be a natural fit), but we do get a look at some truly terrible new character designs, including a guy we’re going to call “Fat Nazi,” and some sort of supervillain with a giant tank of purple “Sizzurp” strapped to his back.
It all looks really dumb, but it remains to be seen whether it’s the kind of dumb that’s fun, or just tedious. (Meanwhile, the secret cabal of investors and designers waiting to see whether it’s finally time to reboot Michael Jordan: Chaos In The Windy City are watching the response to the trailer with baited, freeze ball-frozen breath.)