Cuphead

Casper

Jan 2

When it first released, Cuphead quickly became that game. The game that gets everyone and their mothers arguing over difficulty in video games again. It comes around every once in a while, whenever another From Software game comes out or something comparable to it. In Cuphead's case this eternal discussion was poisoned even further by outrage merchants trying to turn it into a screed against games journalists.

While the vitriol could not overshadow the game's acclaim, it did motivate me to put it off for a while. About... 7 years it turns out. Better late than never, I suppose.

Right from the get-go, Cuphead doesn't lend itself well to comparisons to any other game. It's a 2D boss rush game interspersed with run & gun platformer segments. Its story has you play as the titular Cuphead or his pal Mugman. Two youths who have carelessly gambled their souls away at the devil's casino. Their only hope for salvation now is to help the devil track down his other debtors and repossess their soul contracts.

To that end, you gain the power to shoot projectiles with your finger guns. Just hold down the button and lay down a barrage of fire upon your enemies. Doing so slowly builds up a meter (represented by cards) which can be used to fire powerful charged shots. There are also different projectile types that you can equip, such as homing projectiles or a short-ranged scattershot.

It somewhat resembles games like the old Megaman titles, but a key difference is that Cuphead cuts out all the chaff. You select a stage from the world map and it takes you straight to the boss battle. No platforming stages or other challenges that you first need to work through. Instead the platforming levels are entirely separate and optional to boot.

This is ideal, because boy these are some spicy boss battles. Each fight is a complex dance of learning the opponent's moves and how to counter or avoid them. Cuphead isn't afraid to get overwhelming. You'll have to dodge projectiles with strange patterns while also minding stage hazards and making sure not to bump into the boss itself. Multiple attacks could go off at once with conflicting patterns. You try to panic dodge away from it all, but that just crashes you into something else.

You only have 3HP to make it through any fight with no means of restoring health. Any little hit will inflict damage and in a game this hectic, that's almost inevitable. You should expect most early attempts at a boss to fail within seconds.

That may sound harsh, but Cuphead's greatest achievement is that never feels insurmountable to play. As overwhelming as the attacks may seem, a lot of them are actually quite slow. There's a lot happening at once, but dodging it all should be doable once you understand the patterns. Attacks and hazards are also signposted very well. They have obvious wind-up animations or recognizable sound-effects. One boss-fight takes place on a rollercoaster and you can actually see the carts drive by in the background shortly before they come back around to you.

After a few attempts, all that stress you felt starts to fades away. You ascend into a focused state where it's just you and this bastard of a boss. You hear a sound and already know what attack is about to come and how to work around it. You know all of its tricks. They defeated you dozens of times. Now you are in control of this fight.

Then you get caught out-of-position after a dodge and it's Game Over again. No matter how often it happens, you slam that Retry button right away without a shred of doubt.

I would be remiss not to also praise the game's phenomenal art. Cuphead is inspired by a wealth of cartoon history, which is reflected in every aspect of its presentation. The lanky animations and bizarre creatures you fight. Even the canned audio quality for the announcer. It's all wonderfully inspired and the results are gorgeous. You can truly see the developer's passion for animation history reflected in this game.

Beating the game ended up taking me just over 11 hours and I had a great time. Though Cuphead did leave me with some points of criticism. First and foremost, the platforming stages aren't very fun. The immediacy of the boss battles negates the frustration of dying on them, but these stages don't enjoy that luxury. It becomes very annoying having to go back to the start of a platforming level over and over and over again as you grind out attempts. Nor does it ever bring about that satisfying moment where you feel like you have it mastered.

I also felt that the Super Art was unsatisfying to use. Despite being your strongest attack, there really isn't much feedback to convey that. It also doesn't freeze the enemy's own attacks at all, which often results in you taking damage that feels unfair. 8 times out of 10 you finish the Super Art and instantly get hit by a projectile or hazard that made its way to you during the super art. And since the animation for it is so long, this could be an attack you had no way to predict before committing to the move.

That may sound nitpicky, but in a game characterized by its "tough but fair" design, this stood out as the one design choice that felt unfair to the player.

And look at it from the bright side. The fact that I need to laser in on something this specific to find problems worth mentioning is a testament to how solid Cuphead is. If you feel confident in your perseverance, then Cuphead is simply a must play title. Its a true one-of-a-kind experience in gaming. A unique gameplay concept and inspired theming, brought together with animation that is truly masterful. There's nothing else like it and there probably never will be.