Have you ever wanted to play a beautiful modern pixel art adaptation of some of Italy’s most recognizable comedy action movies? How about two of them? That’s the dream that’s fully realized by Bud Spencer and Terence Hill: Slaps and Beans and its sequel — and although these games have tons of heart and piles of gorgeous animation, they also have some of the most inconsistent execution I’ve ever seen in the indie space. I played through both of these games recently, and although I loved most of their visuals and some of their weird humor — the simple action, clumsy storytelling, and weird gameplay swerves of the sequel left me feeling pretty mixed.
Also, there’s some uncomfortable racial stereotype stuff here, thinly and poorly justified due to the dated nature of the source material. Super gross!
If you’ve never heard of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, they’re international action stars famous for making sort-of-wacky lower budget action films in which they both slap hundreds of guys and then eat a lot of beans. There’s an infectious and appealing weirdness to this team of dudes, and on the surface they seem like obvious stars for comedy brawler video games. You can learn more about them by diving into the…
