Shaquille O'Neal Punches Zombies in 'ShaqDown' Trailer

Yep, you read that right. Shaquille O'Neal is going to be punching zombies in the face in a new mobile game. Unfortunately, it's not the Shaq Fu sequel we've been anticipating for almost twenty years now.

For some reason that I haven't been able to figure out (probably because I am not a comedy genius), basketball has proven to be a suprisingly malleable form of comedy in video games over the past few years. I'm not strictly talking about the sport itself here, but instead games such as Barkley, Shut up and Jam: Gaiden or Akimbe Mutombo's 4 1/2 Weeks to Save the World, where basketball superstars are placed in insane situations to hilarious effect. ShaqDown, a side-scrolling beat-em-up from Hiptic Games, looks to continue this awesome trend.

While the game looks to be a fairly standard iteration on Hiptic Games' own Go Ninja iOS title, the premise alone has me reaching for my wallet. Even better, Shaq himself has given the game his blessing, telling the developers to “have fun with it.”

ShaqDown is slated for release on January 8th for iOS and Android.