Schiaffi&Fagioli Demo

Although Hollywood is the biggest player in the movie industry around the world, there are a couple of foreign films that are quite well-known everywhere else as well. Bollywood would be the logical leap, but countries like Japan, France and Italy have put out some amazing movies over the years. As an example, most people are probably aware of the western movies produced in Italy, starring Bud Spencer and Terence Hill.

Schiaffi&Fagioli is an arcade beat ‘em up game in which you get to live your own Bud Spencer and Terence Hill adventure, whether with a friend or a computer companion. The gameplay is not very complicated, and the story is mostly in Italian to stay true to the original. However, since you only need to punch a few guys and move around a two-dimensional world, it is not difficult at all to figure it out.

As mentioned above, you are allowed to share the screen with a friend in co-op, with each one of you using either one side of the keyboard, or even controllers. It is also possible to include a CPU player instead of another human, in case you just want to relax alone. As such, your main goal is to walk around and punch every bad guy that tries to stop you, using anything at your disposal to do so.

Just like in the movies, there are many objects you can use to inflict damage on the enemies, such as beer jugs and pans. Some of the foes even have special weapons they can use as well, including dynamite. While it is possible to lose all of your hitpoints, you can keep pressing a key until your character gets up, so your only concern is to keep moving forward at all times.

Visually, the game uses retro pixelated graphics, which is actually a very good choice in this case. The environments look great, and they are obviously inspired by the actual movies, such as saloons and various other dusty locations. There are a few bugs you might stumble into along the way, but it’s to be expected, considering the early state of the demo at this point.

In the end, Schiaffi&Fagioli is certainly not perfect, because it needs a lot more work to turn into something good. However, it certainly has potential, not to mention the fact that it gambles a lot on nostalgia.