I can barely boot up this game without getting goosebumps. Cuphead throws us into a early 30's cartoon TV-show in the likes of Betty Boop, Popeye and Disney's Silly Symphony. Even my Gamerpic looks to be 'Technicolor' so nothing sticks out and disturbs the illusion that this is an interactive old short TV-cartoon.
The Cuphead-developers take this game all the way, in every way. Each level I get to play is presented just like a cartoon from the 1930's, and they are so well designed that I constantly have to pick up my jaw from the floor. A typical level consists normally of just one boss-fight, that during the level's progression changes forms and attack patterns, while my role is to contentiously outsmart the boss and try to figure how to keep myself alive at the same time as I conquer my opponents.
And this game certainly looks easier then it is. Take for example the witch Hilda Berg who flies around on a broom in the air. To defeat her we need to jump into a small airplane and blast away as fast as our fingers permits us, but each time she takes enough damage to die, she figures out something new and completely changes her tactic and form. Hilda starts by laughing and sending her bird-minions towards me, while at the same time launching towards me with attacks of her own. When she figures out this doesn't work against us she instead transform herself into some kind of a mix between a sheep and a bull that starts making a flurry of unpredictable attacks. To finish me off Hilda takes the form of 2 dancing goddesses who puts out orbs that spew deadly fire. Once she sees that fire is no match for me, she turns into some sort of Cupido-looking creature that just throws out heat-seeking projectiles. And lastly Hilda tries to take me on in her own body again, but quickly everything takes a turn towards chaos again with a fight towards a moon looking-like-a witch while UFO's are blasting me left and right.
All the preview talk about this game has been about how hard the game is. And that certainly was no joke as this game delivers an immense challenge, but we are not talking Super Meat Boy-difficulty still. Take Hilda Berg for example, that are one of the earlier bosses in the game. None of her transformations are very difficult to defeat. The difficulty instead comes from the fact that you need to conquer all her transformations in the same level. And once you succeed for the first time there is a big risk your only reward will be a mediocre gamescore.
Cuphead's layout is designed in such a way that every level and each bossfight has an immense amount of replayability, where you can try to clear levels without using super-attacks, without losing any life or just try to finish the levels as quickly as possible. There is also a counter system that feels somewhat inspired by games like Ikaruga and Street Fighter III. By throwing yourself helplessly against all the different pink enemies or incoming projectiles and pressing the A-button, you can bounce on top of them, thus destroying them. There is a big risk with doing this though, and the simple reason being that mistakes means that you'll lose much needed life.
And you do not have a lot of life. You can get more, but then your weapons becomes weaker instead. There is always a fine balance between all the different weapons and abilities that Cuphead can use and you can only activate a few at any given time. In this way the challenge is kept intense while at the same time letting me tailor my experience after what fits my playstyle. If you think that the counter system is to hard to pull off with the need for good timing, you can instead make the counter activate by itself to counter enemies, but then you can't use the ability to be invincible at the same time as you 'dash' trough the level.
And this works absolutely excellent and Studio MDHR has done a fine job with creating a fun and varying game-system, somewhat free from frustration. Our protagonist has auto-fire so you don't have to frantically mash buttons, and besides that he can also dash and parry. He can take three hits in his most basic stance and loads up his super charge meter to use special attacks. Nothing is very unique, but rather chosen because these are mechanics that are proven to work. And most of all, the game mechanics are immensely fun when playing.
To be able to just hold in the fire button and let Cuphead spray his enemies while I can focus on advance platforming, counter incoming pink projectiles and with grace avoid anything that comes at me with my dash ability - is one hell of a fun experience. What I like the best in most games are just the bossfights, and to get a game that only focuses on just that with one of the most innovate graphical designs to date is almost like a small Christmas.
To get a sense in how the game mechanics works, I would describe them as a mix between Mega Man 3 and Super Probotector. It is instant and fast, and there are also fun special abilities to liven it all up, like if I push the RB button I can stand still and throw myself in any of eight different directions. The idea of unnecessary hard punishment when you fall into a chasm or land on sharp spikes has also gotten a more modern design. This time Cuphead just loses one of his three life's instead of immediately dying.
What I am not currently one hundred percent sold on regarding the game mechanics is the timing element of the counters. The developers has intentionally given us a very small window of opportunity too pull it off, and for the NES or Mega Drive this wouldn't have been a problem because the controls where connected directly with cables ,but this time I do notice some difficulties with getting the timing right as my new modern gear is mostly wireless and experiences some very small ping-problems. Very small as noted, but still crucial for this games counter system. It is a small thing, but I would have appreciated a bit more room in the milliseconds when using the counter.
There is also another small flaw that affects this, and that's the acclaimed graphics. The so called "hitboxes" are sometimes a bit 'open for interpretation' and does not always match the looks of characters. Sometimes it makes things easier, like if you stand inside a large boss without taking any damage, but it can also make it hard to calculate exactly where to land to pull off long jumps or now exactly when to counter incoming threats. The counter system with pink objects is also used to revitalize a companion if you are playing co-op, but also here the timing will mess things up more than once.
This most likely is the price to pay when we get this graphical design that Cuphead has, and if that is the case I am completely ready to pay that price. It can not be said enough how intensely beautiful this game really is. This is one of the titles where I very much advice people to really look at everything that is going on and just take in the game atmosphere. The levels are stuffed with details and during a battle with two mean frogs in a popular night club, I got killed multiple times before I even tried to defeat them just because I was taking in the environments so much. Everything just fits perfect, from the characters to environments, everything is filled with colors and clearly defined borders that moves in a way that reminds very much of hand-drawn animations.
But I think most of you already know this, all it takes is just looking at screenshots of the game to realize this is something out of the ordinary. Something I have not mentioned anything yet is the music and sound of the game. But this is not because that is a bad aspect of the game, in the contrary it fits the design just perfect. With a smooth, flowing jazz and good background orchestral music and with some awesome piano-solos the atmosphere becomes even more alive then the innovative graphics has already done. Even if the sound effects sound very over-the-top as they so often did in the 30's, this IMHO fits perfect also, even though I have read other reviewers who did not like aspect so it's very much about taste.
And this together with superb animations everything melts together into on overall awesome experience that is nothing like any other game in the market. Before every battle Cuphead stands cocky while pulling up his pants and all the game characters react with their whole body like in an old mute-film.
Cuphead has been in development for a very long time and it is not hard too see why when I am playing. Everything is so well though trough. Exactly what has been added and removed during development is hard to know, but the final product feels polished and very well-designed. But except for the graphical design, the other big aspect of this game are the boss fights. They will draw you in and keep you longing for more, I would even take it so far as to say this game is delivers one of the best boss experiences.
And for those who knows the world of 30's cartoon movies know that they just lasted about four or five minutes. One level in Cuphead often lands around one or two minutes. But thanks to the challenge and replayability of the game every level can take much longer to complete, and in general I probably put about half an hour into every level. But with that said, the challenge can always be controlled by lowering the difficulty level, but that also takes away somewhat from the experience and one of the most spectacular events in the end is even removed in the easier difficulties.
This is a game that will make you swear and throw controllers around the room, but it is also a game that's hard to get sick off. I find myself continuously booting up the game again and again and again. So has the long wait for Cuphead been worth it? While there are better and bigger games, this is one titles that you do not want to miss. If you love old cartoons and shoot 'em ups in a classical style, this is a game for you. This is also one of the more innovate games out there to date, and IMHO I think every games should give it a try.
