Balacera Brothers

Balacera Brothers

Merso Entertainment · 2020 · Shooter, Action, Retro, Shoot 'Em Up, Pixel Graphics

PC
Positive94% · 34
Best price
$4.99
lowest tracked $1.49
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Standard Edition · Steam
$4.99
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About Balacera Brothers

Balacera Brothers is a run-and-gun action game set in a world plagued by crime and darkness. Join heroes Harold and Benny as they take a break from their ska band to battle the merciless Nugnur and his army of evil skeletons in this adventure inspired by classics like Sunset Riders and the original Contra.

Featuring:
  • Classic Run And Gun action that captures the spirit of run-and-gun classics of the 80's and 90's.
  • Four different weapon upgrades: Spread Shot, Flamethrower, Laser Gun, and Homing Gun.
  • Ability to hold up to two weapons simultaneously, and switch between them anytime.
  • 3 difficulty levels: easy, normal and hard.
  • 2-Player Local Co-op: Team up with a friend for double the fun and chaos!
  • Energetic Ska Soundtrack
  • Globally Inspired Stages: Explore levels inspired by real-world locations.
  • Variety of foes: Including Medusa (Athens), Rougarou (New Orleans), and the Wildmaa (Basel)
"Crime ran rampant through the streets, but Harold and Benny played every club and dive to spread that sweet sound of music to every ear that could hear.
However...
Crime breeds fear, and fear feeds the dark. The ghosts and ghasts reach out and eat more than the boys can beat! When music alone can't stop these bad bones, it's time for a little balacera!"

What Steam players say

Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.

Recommended Sep 28, 2024
Amateurish but competent side scrolling run 'n gun game in the style of Contra and Rush'n Attack. Some clever ideas for level design and bosses, I'd love to see what the developer could do with better artwork and animation. No achievements and I think there's at least local high score keeping, but presumably you only register a score if you beat all six levels in one go. I couldn't find out since the game froze on me after beating level 4, and yeah, that's annoying. 6/10
4 found this helpful
Recommended Jun 13, 2026
I played thru this game twice - once solo and once with a friend. It is a short yet enjoyable Contra-clone game. My only issue is that the final level and true end boss is locked in either normal or hard mode (which has limited lives and continues). Also it doe not have any achievements, which is really odd for a Steam game. Otherwise, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who likes Contra or other Run & Guns games.
Not recommended Feb 27, 2026
I was drawn to this game by how specific the setting of the first level is. While all other levels feature generic and bland backgrounds, the opening is in Basel, Switzerland, even riding on one of its trams and confronting the Basilisk the city uses as its symbol as a boss. I guess the developer hails from there? The pixel art of the player characters and their animations are really notable, as are the designs of a few bosses, complete with funny faces as they are defeated. If the game didn't make that so visible when launched, I wouldn't have guessed this was made with OpenBOR, an engine originally created for side-scrolling fighting games. Any creativity is, however, apparently exhausted after the first boss, and what is left is a very short and bland [b]Contra[/b] clone whose only appreciable feature is a command to shoot while standing still in place (and that, too, isn't really new in the genre). The final boss is very lame, so much that it should have rather been swapped with the penultimate one, which is spoiled by both the trailer and screenshots. Sometimes I've been killed by "posthumous" attacks of the bosses, following the moment of defeat, with no ability to prevent…
Recommended May 19, 2025
I've had this game in my library for quite some time, finally got a chance to play it. I must say, it is very fun. Love the retro style gameplay, bosses, and music. fun game from start to finish. Maybe we'll get another one. Hopefully. Big thumbs up from me. Cheers. https://youtu.be/fWJKPbC0ubk?si=cHf3TDoVVeKZc-ne
Recommended Mar 27, 2025
A cool little arcade platformer with an italo-disco/thriller theme (the devs pretend it's ska, but I'm not convinced). It really plays like an oldschool arcade game which means it has continues and sustained difficulty, but also, that the game is rather short, and the theme is superficial with silly enemies and stages. You can finish it in a couple days. Buy it on a sale, preferably no more than a couple dollhair. It's cool to note than the game runs on the 'beats of rage' engine, which ensure a flawless performance and increases the oldschool look and feel. [h1](follow my curator page [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33882793/]GenXPlayers[/url] for more retro and indie reviews)[/h1]
Recommended Dec 29, 2024
Good Contra-like action.

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