angeldeb82:



Release Date: September 29, 2017 (WW)



As you may know, I've completed my Cuphead entry using research on Wikipedia and other websites. And now, it is here that I submit my entry to you as follows. I hope it's good enough, and I hope you will like it as well. ;) Here's the first half:



Many cartoons in the Golden Age of Animation (1928-1969) have gained their popularity through the years into modern times: the works of Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Hanna-Barbera, Tex Avery, and Fleischer Studios. Many have made their appearance in film (I'm looking at you, Who Framed Roger Rabbit); and some of them even made their appearance in video games... with the exception of the works of Max and Dave Fleischer, who hadn't even been honored in any game... until now. For no recent video game has paid homage to the Fleischers as artistically and beautifully as Cuphead in: "Don't Deal with the Devil". Begun in 2010, announced at E3 in early 2014, and finally released on September 29, 2017, Cuphead is the brainchild of brothers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer and their family at Canadian developer and publisher StudioMDHR. It tells the story of the protagonists Cuphead and Mugman, two little fun-loving brothers with cups-for-heads, who stumble upon the Devil's Casino that's run by King Dice. While the boys are playing a game of dice, the Devil gives them an offer that they will have his treasure on a wager for their souls. Mugman discovers that the wager is a trap and tries warning Cuphead not to gamble; but Cuphead is so overconfident that he ignores his brother's warnings and lets his greed get the better of him when he plays the dice game and loses. Just when the Devil is about to claim their souls, the siblings plead for their lives to be spared, and he agrees to spare them on one condition: they must collect the Soul Contracts of other inhabitants who have lost to him before midnight. And so the boys are sent on their way, unaware that their perilous journey would be King Dice's bet against their souls inside their cups-for-heads.



Cuphead borrows the hand-drawn/watercolor animation and art style of the Fleischer cartoons without any ties to racism or minstrel shows in them, while combining said animation with 1990s game genres and shoot-em-up and bullet hell games like Contra, Gradius, and Parodius. The game's music, composed by Kristofer Maddigan, borrows the 1930s jazz music, with piano pieces in between, a fast-paced Latin samba, a barbershop quartet (Shoptimus Prime) in some parts, and King Dice's creepy/charming Cab Calloway-like vocal performed by talented songstress Alana Bridgewater.



Of course, the game is not without its challenges, as boss fights and run-n-gun levels require a lot of trial and error, meaning that you could die a lot. Fortunately, you have the option to choose between Simple Mode (making boss fights easier, but without the Soul Contracts), Regular Mode, and Expert Mode (which you can unlock after beating the game), and you can get coins in run-n-gun levels to buy more weapons and powerups and charms. You also have the Parry move, where you can parry pink objects to increase your Super Meter which, when full, unleashes your superpowers that you find in mausoleums. Parrying also comes in handy in two-player co-op mode, as you can parry the flying ghost of your fallen partner to revive them and give them another shot. A later patch released for the game fixes a lot of bugs, glitches and issues that would have caused the game to crash, and makes the game easier in some parts and a bit more challenging in others. Within its first two weeks of release, the game sold over one million copies worldwide; it received "generally favorable reviews" that are close to universal acclaim according to Metacritic and GameRankings; and it also won some awards, including The Game Awards 2017's awards for Best Art Direction, Best Independent Game, and Best Debut Indie Game.



Overall, Cuphead is a pretty fun but challenging game for fans of 1930s cartoons and shoot-em-up games while teaching a lesson for kids, and kids-at-heart, that when you get yourself into trouble, it will be up to you to put in your blood, sweat and tears to get yourself out of trouble, and all your efforts will pay off in the end.