The greatest of all time can’t hide his excitement for a new mobile game, and he’s talking about it on social media — of course, it might have something to do with the fact that you can play as him to kill zombies.
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali is joining the roster of playable characters in the mobile zombie brawler ShaqDown 2. He teams up with martial-arts filmmaker Jet Li and retired NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, who is also the star of game. The celebrities make up a team of superpowered celebrities who fight off waves of the undead in Los Angeles. The free-to-play action app is available now on iOS and Android.
Goodbye Zombies – The Champ is Here! http://t.co/Juvxlq01pe pic.twitter.com/3XD0REKBrN
— Muhammad Ali (@MuhammadAli) May 30, 2014
ShaqDown 2 is, as you might expect, the sequel to the original ShaqDown, but developer One Spear Entertainment is boosting the star power of the game this time around.
As Muhammad Ali, for example, players will punch their way through scores of walking corpses. Naturally, the champ has special powers like rocket-powered boxing gloves that fly off his fists for a ranged attack — I’m pretty sure that’s how he beat George Foreman in “The Rumble in the Jungle.”
Players can also upgrade their characters with power-ups like “The Greatest” and “Butterfly Stings.” One Spear is also selling these items as in-game purchases, which is how it plans to generate revenue.
ShaqDown 2 is another entry in Shaq’s return to gaming. ShaqDown was his first starring role in a game since the 1994 Super Nintendo fighter Shaq Fu, which is well known for its terrible quality and for urging humanity to start questioning celebrity endorsements. But O’Neal’s return didn’t end with a mobile brawler. The former Los Angeles Lakers center is also attempting to reclaim the Shaq Fu name for good with a sequel. Along with indie studio Big Deez Productions, O’Neal raised $450,000 on the crowdfunding site IndieGogo to pay for Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn, and this time he promises the game won’t stink like his rap album.
As for Ali, ShaqDown 2 is the first time the pugilist has tweeted about a game — although he appears in boxing titles like Knockout Kings, Foes of Ali, and the Fight Night series. This is also the first time he is a main playable character in something that isn’t based on his sport.