Review: Cuphead

Cuphead is a game that caught the attention of the public since its first appearance because of its “different” look. Its aesthetic replicates old animations, from the decades of 1940s and 1950s, in a creative and charming way. Undoubtedly, it is one of the most anticipated games that has just hit the Xbox one and also to Windows 10. The title developed by Studio MDHR it's fun, incredibly funny and challenging, an amazing experience. But can Cuphead really stand out? Check out!

Cuphead has gained a reputation for being a relatively difficult game, so let's get this straight: Cuphead isn't impossible; does not become one Dark Souls in 2D, it's not even the best-looking game in the bullet-hell world; it is not even punished. For a game that established an identity around a design “old“, Cuphead is unexpectedly awesome.

First announced in 2014, Cuphead has cultivated a great deal of curiosity around its art style due to its homage to 1990s cartoons. 1940 from the Disney and Fleischer Studios. The brothers chad and Jared Moldenhauer, together with the animator jake clark, meshed hand-drawn art with the run-and-gun genre popularized by pixelated games like Mega Man.

The result is a throwback within a throwback, an incredible nostalgia for the good old days of games and animations. Still, Cuphead teaches the player how to overcome each obstacle. Every boss fight has a strategy to identify through trial and error. And that's fantastic! To avoid stress, it's always good to think of failures as a bigger tool than the weapon itself.

Don't expect to find facilities in Cuphead or anything like that, because the game promises severely punish those who refuse to pay attention to the pattern of each other's movements of the bosses that will be presented throughout the journey.

These enemies, incidentally, feature styles and patterns very varied. One of them, for example, is a carrot that basically uses three moves: earth and worm fire in the first stage, lightning that comes out of its head and a kind of carrot rain in the second. And, I must confess, this was the easiest challenge, as I managed to defeat him alone.

One of the main aspects that literally jumps out at you is, of course, the art, which manages to be even more beautiful when you play it. It is impressive and almost magical to see the characters jumping and moving and to realize that we are controlling everything in an interactive cartoon. O visual can overcome even games like child of light and Rayman Legends.

The good thing about Cuphead is that not only are the visual aspects impressive, it quickly proves to be also a game that will guarantee several hours of fun to the player. The controls are simple, typical of shoot, and quick to be mastered, which makes all the difference in the gameplay. After all, the difficulty that the game delivers ends up becoming more of an attraction.

In addition, in the game it is possible to choose the stages in any order, just by exploring the large main map, in a half footprint. Commander Keen. Each stage is actually a boss fight. In addition to being varied, they are heavily inspired by classic video games. 8-bit and 16-bit, with attack patterns and even final forms. One, in particular, is clearly a tribute to mecha dragon in Mega Man 2. Another, with bees and beehives in the background, seems to have been taken directly from Donkey Kong Country 2.

Image: Xbox