2020/3/14: Genesis: NBA Action '94, NBA Action '95, Shaq-Fu

Let me know what you think about my reviews.
User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18106
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

2020/3/14: Genesis: NBA Action '94, NBA Action '95, Shaq-Fu

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 14th, 2020, 10:52 am

No NBA on TV, but you can still play the sport on your Genesis.
Let's hear your thoughts on these new reviews.
The NBA Action games are re-reviews (slightly downgraded grades) and Shaq-Fu is new, setting up my review for its PS3 sequel.

goldenband
Posts: 766
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 10:29 pm

Re: 2020/3/14: Genesis: NBA Action '94, NBA Action '95, Shaq-Fu

Postby goldenband » March 14th, 2020, 1:10 pm

Ah, Shaq-Fu. That one turns stone-bustingly tough on Expert difficulty. Took me a long time to beat!

The "trap them in a corner and kick the snot out of them" tactic won't work anymore, and it becomes an interesting (though punishingly difficult and frustrating) tactical fighter, with different approaches required for each foe. Some you have to bait and whittle down, some you have to overwhelm, some require defensive play/turtle tactics.

I've read that the Genesis version was optimized for PAL-50 regions and plays significantly better at 50Hz. The big issue with the game is definitely the input lag; Kaori, the super-quick cat-woman, is especially tough because of it.

Too bad about the limited continues, there was no need to do that.

The SNES version is dramatically worse than the Genesis game, BTW, which is well-reflected in your current grades (D vs. F).

By the way, punches become crucial on Expert -- they're noticeably quicker to connect!

User avatar
ASalvaro
Posts: 745
Joined: May 24th, 2019, 11:51 pm

Re: 2020/3/14: Genesis: NBA Action '94, NBA Action '95, Shaq-Fu

Postby ASalvaro » March 14th, 2020, 1:34 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:No NBA on TV, but you can still play the sport on your Genesis.
Let's hear your thoughts on these new reviews.
The NBA Action games are re-reviews (slightly downgraded grades) and Shaq-Fu is new, setting up my review for its PS3 sequel.

lol i like your "retired" comment on Michael Jordan
i always felt he was forced to retire and it was a league suspension because of his gambling

User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18106
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

Re: 2020/3/14: Genesis: NBA Action '94, NBA Action '95, Shaq-Fu

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 14th, 2020, 3:17 pm

First off, Michael Jordan temporarily retired from basketball at the time so he could try his hand at baseball - a move that never panned out. That's okay, he returned for three more championships. One does wonder if he missed two championships during the years he took off.

Second, I was not aware that I had reviewed the SNES version of Shaq-Fu! I didn't even know I owned it! I just checked out the review and it was dated 1999. I might have to give that one another look.

jon
Posts: 1562
Joined: April 9th, 2015, 4:30 pm

Re: 2020/3/14: Genesis: NBA Action '94, NBA Action '95, Shaq-Fu

Postby jon » March 14th, 2020, 4:11 pm

If you remember Michael Jordan wasn’t in basketball video games for a long time if not ever. He was sort of too cool for school and EA and others would have had to pay him a substantial sum. Of course now EA can afford anything now. Besides the games that Jordan’s name was the title of and perhaps those Bulls vs. Blazers type games he wasn’t anywhere to be found. I’m not sure if that changed by ‘97-‘98. He might have been in games in the early 2000’s when he was with the Wizards.

TheEagleXIII
Posts: 283
Joined: December 22nd, 2019, 9:33 am

Re: 2020/3/14: Genesis: NBA Action '94, NBA Action '95, Shaq-Fu

Postby TheEagleXIII » March 15th, 2020, 3:09 pm

Out of curiosity, did the so-bad-it's-good appeal of Shaq-Fu affect your grade, or is the D purely from a gameplay perspective?

jon wrote:If you remember Michael Jordan wasn’t in basketball video games for a long time if not ever.


IIRC, NBA Live 2000 was the first game that had a license to use Jordan. That was between his 2nd retirement from the Bulls and before his return with the Wizards, so he was promoted as the star for the 1-on-1 mode.

lynchie137
Posts: 539
Joined: November 15th, 2016, 6:46 pm

Re: 2020/3/14: Genesis: NBA Action '94, NBA Action '95, Shaq-Fu

Postby lynchie137 » March 28th, 2020, 11:33 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:First off, Michael Jordan temporarily retired from basketball at the time so he could try his hand at baseball - a move that never panned out. That's okay, he returned for three more championships. One does wonder if he missed two championships during the years he took off.

Second, I was not aware that I had reviewed the SNES version of Shaq-Fu! I didn't even know I owned it! I just checked out the review and it was dated 1999. I might have to give that one another look.


I think a better question to ask is, would the Bulls have won two more NBA championships if Michael Jordan hadn't retired from playing basketball? To me, the answer was and will always be a resounding YES!! The Bulls with Jordan in the lineup and in his prime were simply unbeatable. Without him, however, they were like a lot of NBA teams during the era. Good but nowhere near good enough.


Return to “Review Feedback”