Cuphead is the long anticipated run-and-gun platformer inspired by the classic cartoons of the 1930s.
Story:
The game follows on the titular character Cuphead and his brother, Mugman. One day they visit Devils casino and are on a winning streak and decide to try their luck against the devil, who offers them all of the money in the casino if they get another winning roll. However,if they lose he gets their souls. The tempting offers works on Cuphead, but he doesn’t get a winning roll and their souls now belong to the devil. He offers them a deal – if Cuphead and Mugman can collect the souls of other debtors, he will give them their souls back and so they set off on an adventure across the Inkwell Isles.
The story itself is of course not as important in an action game but it’s a nice addition and it does take a lot of influence from the old cartoons.
Graphics:
Anyone that has ever heard of Cuphead will know that the art style is nothing we have ever seen before in a video game. It took quite a long time to accomplish and I can safely say that the wait was worth it because everything in this game is hand drawn from the enemies to environments and bosses themselves.
Since the game is heavily focused on boss battles, I have to admit that every boss in this game has an incredibly unique look even though they are based off of common things like bees, cats, vegetables and all ofthe other stuff you’ve seen in the old 1930s cartoons.
The animation itself is well made and each character expresses a wide range of emotions which is absolutely awesome considering that everything in the game was hand drawn.
Audio:
The soundtrack to this game is absolutely phenomenal with each level having its own special theme and every track fits the stage perfectly. It’s not hard to play a single stage and tap your foot to the beat of the music, which happened to me quite a few times. Even after I was done with the game I came back and listened to quite a few tunes while doing my daily activities.
Gameplay:
Cuphead is at heart a Contra-esque platformer. There are run and gun levels in the game but in total there are only 6 of them and they are very short. Most of the game consists of you fighting bosses and there’s a lot of them. Each boss has multiple forms and it boils down to finishing off every form by shooting them enough times.
The game also has a feature which allows you to parry enemy attacks to build up your power meter which will let you use an incredibly powerful attack on the bosses and enemies.
Sometimes there are different mechanics that are introduced into the fights. For example, their weak points might be hidden and you have to expose it so you can fight the boss. There are also flying levels which feel like a bullet hell shooter.
Of course I have to talk a bit about the difficulty of the game. Everyone pretty much knows at this point that Cuphead is a very difficult game and my experience shows it’s not a walk in the park for sure. Each boss will put all your gaming skills to the ultimate test so if you aren’t well versed in run-and-gun platformers or you’re not that great at difficult games, Cuphead will definitely not be an easy time.
In general the gameplay is nothing new but what is there is a lot of fun so I don’t mind it that much.
Verdict:
So does Cuphead live up to the insane hype ? Well I have to absolutely say that it does. The game has a ton of love put into it which translates into an amazing game. So if you’re looking for a game to test your skills that is a ton of fun and looks good, look no further because Cuphead has you covered.
