Tequila & Boom-Boom

 

Tequila & Boom-Boom

 

A 1995, Italian animated Cd Rom PC Windows game [Dynabyte

Director Alessandro Belli

Story: Paolo Costabel

Animation: Alessandro Barbucci, Paola Laterza, Vito Lo Russo

Music: Marco Caprelli

 

Cast: Ted Rusoff (voice of 'Tequila' & ‘Black Hats), Leslie La Penna (voice of John Good) & Marvin Drake (voice of Jonthan Adams), Teo Bellia (It voice of Tequila), Neri Marcorè (it voice of Boom-Boom/Mr. Vyle /Pianist), Pino Ferrara (It voice of Jack) &Ambrogio Colombo (it voices of Mr. Mole /Mr. Smith /Barber /Slimey)

Commentary: The article on Walter Williams at ‘westernsallitaliana.blogspot.com’ (05/02/2025) mentioned voice actor Marvin Drake. Mr. Drake had voiced a character for the ‘Tequila & Boom-Boom’ Italian designed console game, which also came with an English track

Take one look at any screenshot and you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a Don Bluth animated movie. The graphics are spectacular with lengthy cut-scenes. The animation is smooth, but they do repeat often. Perhaps as a budgetary constraint or as a means to reduce time sent in the translation, the dialogue scenes are animated in short cartoon loops. It can distract from the overall presentation, and it does draw attention to the unimaginative script and often bland voice acting, but I doubt many players will mind too much.

You begin as a lone bobcat named Tequila entering a small wild west town named Stinky Town, a once prosperous site that was betrayed by the false promise of gold in the nearby mountains. The first place you'll visit is the saloon occupied by a poker-playing gang. This is where shit will go down! Seriously, you've been playing the game for five minutes and you'll be the instigator of a deadly fight between two ne'er-do-well gamblers.

It transpires that Tequila is not a man of the law like his cowboy swagger may suggest, but an outlaw rogue. Thankfully he's the lovable kind. So lovable that the sheriff of this place is an old friend. If you're wondering who the Boom Boom of the title is, I can tell you it's not any dubious act he gets up to on the first floor of the saloon. Boom Boom is an old canine partner in crime who refuses to leave the stench of Stinky Town as he stubbornly believes that there's gold in them there hills.

There's not much of a story overall, just a collection of gorgeous looking connected scenes. It plays well for it's intended target audience of primary school children (5-11), but there's little more in this respect for discerning adults. The puzzles are fairly simple too, with the only real difficulty coming in the odd pixel hunts and unexpected QTE's. What kept me playing was the stunning way it looks.

 

Submitted by Michael Ferguson