Game details Developer: Studio MDHR

Publisher: Microsoft

Platform: Xbox One (reviewed), Windows PC

Release Date: September 29, 2017

ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

Price: $20

Links: Steam | Official website Studio MDHR: Microsoft: Xbox One (reviewed), Windows PCSeptember 29, 2017E for Everyone: $20

When I was a young boy playing games on the NES, I dreamed of the day when 2D games would grow from the blocky, pixellated graphics of the time to controllable cartoons that resembled the detailed cartoons found in the instruction booklets . Perhaps more than any game that has come before, Cuphead is the realization of this dream; a fully controllable wonderland that plays like a controllable version of an early 20th century animated film short. It's also a throwback to those 8-bit days of "Nintendo hard" games that extended their limited content mainly by being controller-throwingly difficult.

Let's start with the look, which is the first thing that will attract anyone's potential interest in Cuphead. An in-game conceit puts a "1930" (sorry, "MCMXXX") trademark on the entire production, and the animation is an almost perfect throwback to that era's style of ultra-expressive, bouncy animated shorts. Characters, objects, and even pieces of background scenery wind up, squash, stretch, slide, and bounce with infectious energy.

Cuphead's cast is almost as ridiculous as it is diverse. Monstrous flowers, spear-wielding seeds, oversized bouncing candies, somersaulting frogs, and a woman who transforms into various Zodiac creatures are just some of the game's many wild characters. They already look detailed and lively in static screenshots, but that's only the beginning. Each character vibrates with a manic, animated energy driven by the game's peppy, big-band jazz soundtrack. Idle characters don't just flip through a couple of frames of placeholder animation, but, rather, they twist and coil with the hidden menace of potential energy waiting to be let out. Every screen is a riot of color and motion that I can say without hyperbole is like nothing I've ever seen in a game before.

The art even gets the little details of its throwback animation homage right, from slightly bleeding colors and film grain to wavy outlines that wiggle with imperfection from frame to frame. Even the map screen uses the classic animation "feature" of foreground elements drawn with an entirely different palette than the more muted, painterly backgrounds.

The hand-animated scenes are so compelling and full of life, in fact, that the game's few purely digital art elements stand out like sore thumbs. These usually come in the form of enemy projectiles, which are often drawn with the too-perfect vector lines and shapes more commonly seen in Flash animations. These projectiles often move in overly smooth curves or straight lines, too, making them stand out further from the more sinuous, free-form animation found in the rest of the scene.

In most games, this kind of overly precise, computer-generated art and animation style would barely be noticeable, much less worth noting. In the otherwise beautiful rendering of Cuphead, though, these elements stand out just enough to detract from any scene they're in.

And while the thick outlines and solid colors of Cuphead's art generally make it easy to quickly "read" and interpret a scene, the crowded frames sometimes get in their own way. In a few levels, foreground elements obstruct large parts of the bottoms and sides of the screen. It's a cool-looking effect that brings to mind classic multi-plane film animation, but it's not worth it when a blocked view of Cuphead or an enemy results in an untimely death.

Hard as a rock

Measured in a certain way, Cuphead is pretty short. The game's 18 required boss fights and six optional "run-and-gun" platforming stages can all be beaten in about two or three minutes each, even if you're not trying to set a new speedrun record. But that's assuming a perfect run without any deaths. Like so many classics of the 8-bit era before it, Cuphead extends its length via a brutal difficulty that will require hundreds of cumulative deaths for all but the preternaturally gifted.

















Better together I haven't tried the game's two-player cooperative mode, which gives Cuphead a blue, mug-shaped counterpart to fight with. Based on pre-release preview play, though, having a partner makes things somewhat easier by letting one player revive another after death with a quick jump-and-parry combo. If you have a friend around to fight with, this is probably the preferred way to play. (Just be warned: only the first player's performance will be measured for each end-of-level score.)

It's not that the bosses are unfair exactly. On the contrary, each one seems designed in the truest 8-bit throwback style, with repetitive patterns that are relatively easy to suss out as you dodge and shoot back with rapid-fire bullets. (Side note: this game really needs an "auto-fire" option for players who don't want to hold down the X button for hours on end.) Each boss telegraphs most of its dashes and attacks in order to give you a chance to find safety, with just enough randomness thrown in to prevent repeated attempts from feeling utterly rote. In great news, no two bosses play out even close to the same way in terms of movements or attacks (or visual design, for that matter).

But a combination of the speed, size, and sheer ferocity of the enemy and projectile movements makes each fight feel unforgiving. Even a slight mistake in positioning or an overly twitchy push of the jump button will cost you one of only three pieces of health you're given. There's no limit on lives, but there are also no checkpoints, meaning one false move in the last phase of a fight can erase the last two or three minutes of hard-fought damage.

Everyone's skill level will be different, but here's how the cycle of life-and-death went for my standard Cuphead boss attempt:

Attempt 1: Most of this quick death is spent just learning/admiring how the boss moves and figuring out which pieces of the riotous on-screen visual cacophony are safe and which are dangerous.

Most of this quick death is spent just learning/admiring how the boss moves and figuring out which pieces of the riotous on-screen visual cacophony are safe and which are dangerous. Attempts 2 to 5: I've figured out the basic pattern for the boss' first phase and can at least figure out what's expected of me, even if I can't execute it very well.

I've figured out the basic pattern for the boss' first phase and can at least figure out what's expected of me, even if I can't execute it very well. Attempts 6 to 8: I can get through the first phase without too much trouble, and I usually have a somewhat easier time learning the basics of the somewhat similar second phase.

I can get through the first phase without too much trouble, and I usually have a somewhat easier time learning the basics of the somewhat similar second phase. Attempts 9 to 12: I can defeat the very easiest bosses with a lucky run somewhere in this range. For many others, I usually start getting tripped up somewhere in or near the final phase, where the boss usually gives up all pretense of "going easy" for one final bout of quick, screen-filling attacks.

I can defeat the very easiest bosses with a lucky run somewhere in this range. For many others, I usually start getting tripped up somewhere in or near the final phase, where the boss usually gives up all pretense of "going easy" for one final bout of quick, screen-filling attacks. Attempts 12 to 20: Maybe half to two-thirds of the bosses get defeated in this range or smaller. For the rest, this range often includes a run where I get breathtakingly close to defeating the boss, only to die literally seconds before victory. Usually, those runs are followed by dozens of attempts that don't get anywhere near as close to success.

Maybe half to two-thirds of the bosses get defeated in this range or smaller. For the rest, this range often includes a run where I get breathtakingly close to defeating the boss, only to die literally seconds before victory. Usually, those runs are followed by dozens of attempts that don't get anywhere near as close to success. Attempts 20 to 40: The bosses that resist defeat into this range of attempts see me questioning whether the vibrant art and peppy music are really compelling enough to continue banging my head against the same repetitive wall for a half hour or more. Most of these involve some frustrating jumping on an ever-scrolling playfield or a bullet-hell-style zig-zag battle in Cuphead's biplane (shown in the above gallery).

The bosses that resist defeat into this range of attempts see me questioning whether the vibrant art and peppy music are really compelling enough to continue banging my head against the same repetitive wall for a half hour or more. Most of these involve some frustrating jumping on an ever-scrolling playfield or a bullet-hell-style zig-zag battle in Cuphead's biplane (shown in the above gallery). Attempts 40+: At this point, I usually need to take a break and come back to the fight later with fresh eyes. Often this results in a relatively quick win when I finally do come back for another attempt.

Cuphead does provide the option of a "Simple" difficulty mode, which reduces the speed and quantity of attacks from bosses and generally cuts things off before the most punishing, final phase of the "Regular" boss. Unfortunately, beating bosses in this mode doesn't let you proceed to the game's final battles, which somewhat limits its value for less reflex-inclined gamers.

Simple mode still isn't a cakewalk, but seasoned shooter fans should be able to get through most of the Simple fights in just a handful of tries. At the very least, many more players will be able to see most of the game's content by playing through on this heavily toned-down difficulty.

Worth the frustration?

A pointless volley By pressing the jump button on contact, you can "volley" occasional pink enemies and projectiles, destroying them in their tracks and giving a little bounce. It's a nice way to get a pseudo-double jump in certain situations, and it's used cleverly to activate key events during certain fights. By pressing the jump button on contact, you can "volley" occasional pink enemies and projectiles, destroying them in their tracks and giving a little bounce. It's a nice way to get a pseudo-double jump in certain situations, and it's used cleverly to activate key events during certain fights. Overall, though, I found the parry move too hard to time and mostly not useful enough to even consider the risk of taking a hit. The only real benefit for most volleys is a mark on the game's end-of-level scoring system, which hardly seems worth the effort when mere survival is victory enough.



While massive boss fights form the majority of the game, you can take on a few optional run-and-gun levels to earn coins that unlock new weaponry (like an extremely useful, short-range spread gun), new abilities (like an "invincible" dash out of danger), and new extra-damaging "special attacks." I gave up on most of these platforming levels relatively quickly, though, frustrated by the endless parade of repetitive enemies and unforgiving jumps.

Aside from these levels, though, Cuphead requires you to beat every single boss in each of its three sections to move on to the next selection. This is especially frustrating when a single difficult enemy prevents you from having the option to try out many more (though simple mode ameliorates this problem a bit).

As I write this on deadline, I'm currently stuck on one fight against a giant robot before I can move on to a final set of battles. I've probably put in 80 attempts at this boss and not even gotten all that close to beating his final phase of screen-filling bullets and electrified walls. I'm not sure I'll be going back to try that much more.

For gamers with tough reflexes forged in games like Super Meat Boy, Trials HD, or even the Contra series (or worse), the unforgiving run-and-gun boss fights of Cuphead will be a welcome challenge, leading to lots of satisfying, fist-pumping catharsis when a long string of attempts finally leads to success. For everyone else, Cuphead's awe-inspiringly detailed animation is best enjoyed in the more limited Simple mode or via the YouTube playthroughs that will surely flood the Internet in the days to come.

The Good

Ultra-vibrant, screen-filling animation is unlike anything I've ever seen in a game.

Game is extremely challenging but never feels unfair.

Peppy jazz soundtrack will stay in your head for hours.

Imaginative and highly varied character and fight design.

"Simple" difficulty offers a much easier path to see most of the game's content.

The Bad

Occasional obvious digital art elements can ruin the look of a scene.

Overall challenge level is unforgiving to the point of controller-throwing frustration.

No way to proceed to the ending if you get perpetually stuck on one particular boss.

Run-and-gun platforming levels largely aren't worth the frustration.

The Ugly

Dying within seconds of killing a boss, then suffering through 15 more minutes of failed attempts.

Verdict: Those with a high tolerance for repeating difficult 2D shooting challenges should buy it. Everyone else should try it in Simple mode or just by watching on YouTube.