Review: Slaps & Beans 2 – Old Country Beat Em Up

There’s something charmingly funny to old-time country comedies with a goofy element of slapstick to them. Whether it’s the over-exaggeration of reactions or situations, you can’t help but chuckle a little bit at them. This is the case with Slaps & Beans 2 on PlayStation 5, a retro-styled brawler with many thematic elements that borrow from slapstick comedy. Although it can get repetitive to play through and have a few technical problems, Slaps & Beans 2 still has a strong personality that makes it stand out.

Slaps & Beans 2 follows two friends, Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, as they stumble across the African countryside. The two friends find themselves shipwrecked and forced into a conflict with thugs who are causing problems for a nearby village. Bud and Terence work together to beat down the villainous fools to help save the village and make their way home. But it’s not an easy journey for either of them, as there’s a lot of madness and hilarity that only the ionic comedy duo could provide.

As a brawler, Slaps & Beans 2 is a pretty straightforward experience that has some great pixel art visuals and simple gameplay. The sprites for both Bud and Terence look great with their many animations that play up their goofy personalities. But the two of them can throw hands with anyone as well. Besides punching and kicking every thug you encounter, there are a number of weapons and tools that you can find and use against them. Most weapons work very similar to how you can smack thugs around, but there are a few that mix things up lightly with their application, such as knocking a ball over to hit a target. Some items you find will recover health and then be used as a weapon after, which adds to the hilarity unfolding. If you wanted a good beat-em-up, Slaps & Beans 2 hits all the basic bullet points to provide that.

But the game is not without some problems that pop up the more you play through it. Hitting some enemies can be a little difficult when you can’t get the right position to land a punch or hit with a weapon. In addition, enemies can quickly gang up on you and deplete your health before you realize what is happening.

Luckily you can switch control between Bud and Terence if you’re playing alone, and there’s co-op play to bring a friend to help mitigate this. But some stages will have an overwhelming number of enemies that swarm you while you can’t deal enough damage quickly enough to get control of the crowd. There are also some areas where you need to achieve an objective before moving on and enemies continuously spawn. Moments like this can be challenging and borderline too difficult, mostly because you’ll need to be quick to the objective before you’re overwhelmed.

Other battles you can come across include boss battles with enemies that require a gimmick to deal damage. Sometimes the answers to these problems are not always clear, so you’re forced to experiment until something works, which isn’t always the case. Some battles will display a message for you to find a way to damage them but not include any other hint as to how. In some cases, it’s obvious what you need to do, in others, it’s not clear whatsoever. You might end up having to retry these battles a few times if you don’t find a solution fast enough.

In other parts of the stage, both Bud and Terence can work together to solve puzzles and get around obstacles as a pair. You might have to switch control between them a few times to navigate to a new section, or even fight separately while assisting the other through various means. It’s an interesting way to mix things up and add some extra challenge to the game.

Outside the main story, you can play through, Slaps & Beans 2 also has an assortment of eight mini-games in Party Mode. These are quick mini-games that you and up to three other players can enjoy together, but they’re over pretty fast. You might not spend a lot of time playing these in comparison to going through the campaign. They’re definitely silly and play up the goofiness of the story, such as eating more food than everyone. It’s not a deep feature, but a nice addition to accent the main game.

For those looking for a simple brawler to play through, Slaps & Beans 2 is a decent time. The pixel art still looks great and has a colorful presentation that matches up to the comedy tone the game is going for. If you want to have a laugh while beating up fools, you can still enjoy this game. If you’re not a fan of this style of humor or want something deeper than what’s being offered here, you won’t be missing anything big if you decide to skip it.

What are your thoughts about Slap & Beans 2? Do you like 70s-style slapstick humor? And are you a fan of pixel art? Share your thoughts about everything down below in the comment section!