Chris Buffa (Modojo): This week marked the release of ShaqDown, a surprisingly good video game featuring former NBA player Shaquille O'Neal that has little to do with basketball. The premise? The Big Aristotle beats up zombie mutants to save the world, or what's left of it.
Crazy plot? Sure, but we like ShaqDown. The games on this list, not so much. A handful of companies failed to capitalize on NBA stars, instead releasing atrocious and at times comical titles featuring some of the best players to hit the court. That said, try not to stumble out of bounds watching this hilariously “turrible” footage.
Shaquille O’Neal so immense in size and heart he couldn’t be constrained to the basketball court, and believe me, we tried. To truly understand Shaq, one must become Shaq. And what better way to do that than by playing every video game Shaq has lent his namesake to? God help me.
DG: Shaquille O’Neal, the 7ft-tall former NBA star’s prior foray into video games was Shaq Fu, a 2D fighting game in which Shaq must rescue a young child from an evil mummy, was never met with positive acclamation. In fact, you could say Shaq Fu transcended the “So good it’s bad” threshold into borderline-unplayable territory, and in no way could it have been deemed a good game.
STP: An endless runner with a good dose of humor and a big-name hero, held back by punishing difficulty and not quite enough replay value.
Just because Shaq has his own game doesn't make it a "basketball" game. Otherwise you'd have to say that UFC Undisputed and Ready to Rumble Round 2 are basketball games because Shaq is in those two.
Michael Jordan: Chaos In The Windy City (Super Nintendo)
That was a classic.
Guys, guys...NBA Elite 11, 12, and 13