Available on Steam and XBox One ($19.99 USD)
Developer: MDHR
From the hand painted backgrounds and character/boss models, the jazzy, upbeat music, to the tight controls and gameplay, Cuphead executes brilliantly. And thank goodness it’s a great game. I’ve been hearing about it for years now. It started as buzz from a blink and you’ll miss it clip from Microsoft’s sizzle reel and now it’s the real deal. After delays from studio MDHR, I honestly didn’t think we’d be getting it this year.
You play as the titular Cuphead, a good …kid?… who made a bad bet with his friend Mugman (2P) at the casino. You’ve wagered your soul for the chance to double up your money and the Devil has taken the deal. After losing the roll, another wager is struck. Cash in all of the soul debts from around Inkwell Island and the Devil will let it go. So you go, level to level, and take down some of Inkwell’s population for their soul. It’s a simple premise, but the story is kind of irrelevant.
What matters is the look and feel. After watching a GDC talk with one of the lead animators, I can understand the delays. The artists spent months animating unique frames for all of Cupheads 16+ boss fights and six Run & Gun levels. The game is animated like a classic 1930’s cartoon sans all the racism and it looks fantastic. The colors pop and the idle animation bopping just scream style. It is a gorgeous game.
The controls are really tight too. When you encounter one of the many boss fights, it is clear what you have to do; put bullets in big guy. You can do that with six different weapons (which all come with their own special move) and three different Super Moves that can be charged up with the game’s parry system, that also works well. If it’s pink and it’s in the foreground, jump off of it and the pink thing vanishes and you are rewarded with momentary safety and 20% of your meter. And other than jumping and avoiding danger, that’s all there is to it.
Some of the boss patterns get a little hairy, but that’s what they are: patterns. I never had a moment where I died (which happened a lot – 149 times to be exact) and the game was to blame because all the attacks are telegraphed by key frames. If Cagney Carnation is about to attack the topside of the platforms, he’ll reel back before lunging. If Beppi the Clown is going to charge in his bumper car, he and his ride will grin at you menacingly before rearing back to pursue. It is touches like these that make even the toughest bosses (looking at you Grim Matchstick) interesting. Play and lose to that irritating Dragon and you’ll learn the attacks eventually.
I will admit, sometimes the parry system can be a tad demanding. Miss the timing, even a little bit and you get punished. And the Run & Gun levels do leave a bit to be desired. I don’t hate them as much as some other people, but they seem half-baked and out of place. I would have loved if they would have spent the time on those levels to bring one or two more bosses.
All this being said, the game is hard. As of right now, on Steam, only 10.2% of players who bought the game have beaten it on the Normal difficulty mode. You get three hits, five total if you have one of the game’s five different abilities purchased. After that, start the fight over. Restart. Die. Restart. Get further. Die. Repeat until… Success. Now go start a new fight. A fight with a ghost train, why not? AND I know exactly how many times I died in pursuit of the Devil because a character you bump into lets you know. As if those 149 deaths weren’t enough, an NPC is here to rub your face in it.
Smooth controls, an undeniable aesthetic, and smart game design lead me to easily recommend Cuphead to Xbox One and Steam gamers. Although punishing, the high difficulty curve makes for rewarding gameplay. At 20 bucks for ~five-six hours (so far), Cuphead is a steal.
Is it “Play”list-worthy?: Absolutely!