Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Cuphead
Developer: StudioMDHR Entertainment
Publisher: StudioMDHR Entertainment
Genre: Run and Gun, Platformer
Number of Players: 1-2 players
Release Date: 29 September 2017
Platform: Microsoft Windows (also available on Xbox One)
Price: $19.99
Because of this, a recent development in the world of gaming is the rise of the number of indie games getting developed and published. Most of these games also go for the style of old, both in game design and gameplay. Retro is in, and most retro games are awesome.
Enter Cuphead, an indie game published by StudioMDHR Entertainment, quite impressively as it is their very first game that they also developed over a span of many years, is a classic run and gun game that looks like a 1930s cartoon. Now, THAT is something that I have not seen before! It’s so retro that it doesn’t look 8- or 16-bit, but it looks like it time traveled all the way back from 80 years ago!
I remember seeing old cartoons from that era when I was kid while growing up in the 90s, as they are sometimes shown in the afternoon or on weekends. When I saw that Cuphead is heavily inspired by those cartoons, I had to see and play it for myself.
And indeed, Cuphead really does look like it came straight from the 1930s. It is traditionally hand-drawn and cel-animated, and I can hardly see any hint of modernity in style and aesthetics in the game, aside from the gameplay, of course. And not only does it look like it is from 1930s, it also sounds like it. The soundtrack consists of original music, ranging from jazz to rag to big band, with lots of solo piano and sax sounds and the songs really sound impressive. They may not have any standout, memorable tracks like in Chrono Trigger, but the music complements what you see and play on screen very well.
In this game, you play either as the eponymous Cuphead or his brother, Mugman (in single or local co-op), and travel across Inkwell Isle and discover strange new worlds and bizarre enemies, as you fight against bosses to recover soul contracts that the Devil has tasked you to do to pay your debt to him. As you progress in the game, you will acquire new weapons, learn super moves, and discover hidden secrets. And probably test your vocabulary of expletives and anger management. The gameplay, while frustrating at times, is very fun and rewarding.
One sort of notoriety that this game is getting is the level of difficulty it has. I have heard people saying that this game is very hard and challenging, and I agree, with some levels really infuriatingly so. But, since I grew up in the 90s, I have had my fair share of hard to play games with mind-numbing difficulties, like the Contra and Megaman games. I would say this game is very challenging, but not impossible. The enemies on screen have very defined set of moves and attack patterns that can be memorized and anticipated. You just have to master the controls, equip the right weapons, and be constantly on the move. And prepare to die a lot. It may take you 5, 10, or even 30 deaths before beating a level, but that’s part of the fun.
To alleviate the chance of you dying in the game, you have the option to buy new weapons (like a spread shot or a homing projectiles), charms (like extra HP), and super moves (that can be performed once the special attack bar is filled up). You can equip 2 weapons, 1 charm, and 1 super per level. They don’t disappear when you die, and you have infinite lives, so don’t worry. Some of these weapons significantly make a particular level a bit easier to beat.
The levels in the game are divided into two different types: boss battles and run-and-gun levels. Boss battles are self-explanatory: you have to beat the boss, and try to do it right on the get go. These bosses look very absurd and funny, with a wide range of attacks to look out for. Beating them is easier said than done, though. On run-and-gun levels, you play through one long level and you have to continuously move as you dodge and parry against a great multitude of strange-looking enemies that comes at you in all direction. In these levels, you also get the chance to get coins, which you can then use to buy the aforementioned weapons and abilities. You can replay levels for better scores (levels are graded, depending on how you fare while playing them) and more coins. These boss battle and run-and-gun levels are scattered across a beautifully watercolor-illustrated world map that have areas closed or inaccessible until you beat certain bosses. Most levels also have 2 difficulty types: simple and regular. Simple is the easier of the two, and you can beat the level and progress through the game with that, but you can only win soul contracts if you beat the level in regular mode, and you need all the soul contracts to beat the final boss.
Cuphead is a wonderful game that looks and sounds like a 1930s cartoon. The difficulty is through the roof, but it’s not impossible to beat. Practice makes perfect, and playing a level over and over and over again in a game this good doesn’t seem much of a chore. It’s fun from beginning to end, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to try something that feels old but definitely very new and unique.
- Superb period-authentic visuals and sounds that make the game seem like it came straight from the 1930s. Even the game’s title screen states that it got published in 1930, so if you time traveled from that year to today and play the game, you might never know the difference, if you have played a video game in that era, that is
- The rubber hose animation style is very well executed
- Excellent original soundtrack, consisting of jazz, rag, and big band songs that complement well with the visuals
- Has very high difficulty but not impossible to beat
- The character and level designs are top-notch. They look bizarre and absurd but they all look colorful, funny, and fantastical
- The high difficulty forces the player to master the controls while anticipating the enemies’ moves and attack patterns, and thus making the levels feel such an accomplishment to beat
- The controls are easy to remember, and a tutorial level teaching the player the controls is provided at the start of the game. Mastering them while getting attacks from a barrage of enemies is another thing
CONS:
- The game is quite short, and can be beaten within 2 hours, given that you don’t die a lot… which is impossible, so on average, this game is about 5-10 hours long. It would have been better if there are more places to explore to help counter the difficulty and the high number of boss battles
RATING: 5/5 furious screams and broken controllers
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