Developer: StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc
Publisher: StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc
Rrp: £14.99 (Gog.com, Humblebundle and Steam)
Released: 29th September 2017
Available on: Gog.com, Humblebundle and Steam
Played Using: An Xbox 360 Control Pad
Approximate game length: 10 Hours
If the Devil offered you a deal would you take it? Probably not. What if that deal was in a Casino that the Devil owns? Definitely not, I mean… he’s the Devil and the house always wins. Apparently though, Cuphead and his buddy Mugman haven’t heard that particular saying, or know not to play games with the Devil. Now they have to go out and find all the people who have made deals with the Devil beat them to a pulp and get their contacts or else both Mugman’s and Cuphead’s souls are forfeit.
After many delays, the much anticipated Cuphead has finally arrived! And, oh my, what an arrival. It seems like the buzz surrounding this game appeared out of nowhere. I know its had its fans in the wings but it seems you can’t throw a stone without hitting someone whose heard of the thing.
So for the three of you who somehow haven’t heard, Cuphead is a retro styled boss rush game. Ordinarily the term ‘retro styled’ would mean 8 or 16 bit but in this case the game emulates something quite a bit older than that.
As I’m sure the video and pictures have shown Cuphead has quite the unique aesthetic. It’s beautifully animated using hand drawn characters and gorgeous watercolour backgrounds. The developers have really captured the feel of the old, Max Fleischer (who created Betty Boop and Popeye) style cartoons, from the way they bounce and stretch down to the artificial old film scratches. To go with this the developers have also nailed the music utilizing jazz for some boss fights, it increases in intensity as you progress through the various phases that each boss has.
It’s pretty common knowledge that this game is very difficult and I can confirm that it most certainly is. But that difficulty is mitigated by the fact that the bosses (and enemies in generally) are quite predictable and once you’ve seen a the wind-up for an attack you can anticipate it and react. That being said, the attacks may not always appear in the same order. Part of the games difficulty comes from the controls themselves attacks can only be performed in an eight directional axis, if the enemy is outside that area, you’ll either have to switch to a weapon that will hit them or re-position yourself.
While primarily a boss rush game there are other levels that include run and gun style platforming and side scrolling SHMUP sections. Once you’ve completed a level you are given a lettered grade based on your performance. The metrics involved are level completion speed, health remaining, parries performed, super moves used and finally coins collected (if applicable).
Along side attacking you can also parry objects and attacks that are pink. If you play with a second player (who takes on the role of Mugman) you can use the parry to bring them back in the game once they’ve died. You only have until their ghost leaves the screen to do so, and each time they die within the level the ghost will ascend faster.
Earlier I mentioned super moves in regard to being part of the scoring metric. Each weapon has its own power attack whose usefulness depends entirely on the situation. To use the super move first you have to accrue the power, this is done in one of two ways. The first method is by hitting enemies with your attacks fills a power bar (represented by playing cards next to your health). Once a card has appeared you can perform a special power attack. The second and most expedient way is to parry something, doing so automatically fills a full card.
Boss levels give you two difficulty options simple and regular. In simple the battles lose a stage, however you can only complete the game if you’ve beaten every boss in regular mode.
So after all of that question remains, was it worth the wait? In my opinion it definitely was, I’ve had a lot of fun playing through this game but I have to be honest I think that Cuphead’s main saving grace is the art style. Its this art style that kept me coming back again and again despite the fact that in most games of this type I likely would have quit long ago.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Rayman Origins
Dead Cells
Ruiner
