Boet Fighter is a hammy 2D side-scrolling platformer action and fighting video game wherein you get to punch fellow macho fighters to save the day. Developed and published by Califourways, this quirky but loving homage to South African culture and its local slang is told through the eyes of Hard Eddy and his best friend Modise “Mod-C” Cwele, as they explore the city of Fourways to beat up bad guys and find Eddy’s missing lady love, who was spirited away some unknown usurper of Hard Eddy’s legendary reputation. It’s been influenced by a lot of old and classic 2D beat ‘em up games—such as Double Dragon, Golden Axe, and Street Fighter.

Be My Boet

Boet Fighter starts with a funny intro about Hard Eddy’s situation, and why he and his pal decided to go around and beat up other guys. The combat system is fairly familiar and pretty standard for most side-scroller fighting games. Players can move around and perform set basic attacks with the designated keys. Klap, which is South African slang for to strike, is your basic punch move, and you can accumulate more klap combo counts for as long as you keep hitting enemies. You can also run and block, but these actions will eat up your stamina. You can’t just use them willy-nilly if you’re hoping to chain combo attacks. However, you can combine jump and kick with other actions to create cool moves, like charge, super punch, and a flying kick. There’s also a chance to use a Special move, but you need a pick-up item to activate it. You’ll need to klap hard and be quick on your feet if you want to stay as a cool boet—which is slang for bro!  

The game has a great graphic style, with quirky cartoon sprites to complement its quirky story and dialogue delivered by great voice-acting. However, Boet Fighter is not for the casual player as this fighting game is difficult. Also, be prepared to parse through tons of accented English and South African slang in this game if you’re not familiar with South African culture.