Impressions: Cuphead

I think after a couple of hours of playing Cuphead, it becomes something that starts to haunt you. I see Cuphead in my dreams.  I see Cuphead in the mirror.  I see Cuphead in my alphabet soup.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because alphabet soup is an otherwise boring affair.  Cuphead is haunting in the best way possible.  I spent a rather intimate 4 hours with this game, and in that time, finished about 35% of the game on Normal.   In that short span of time, I learned exactly why this game has such a large following.

 

You can’t talk Cuphead without mentioning the art style.  The classic cartoon aesthetic is absolutely stunning.  The animation is so fluid that, at times, it becomes uncanny and a bit disturbing.  Such is the magic of Cuphead!  It doesn’t matter how frustrating this game becomes at times.  You really just HAVE to see what happens next.  I repeated the phrase “Am I really seeing this happen on the screen?” some sixteen times during my playtime.  At times, I really could not believe my eyes.  I was actually killed by mustard, ketchup, and what appeared to be relish (?), some twenty times.

Cuphead’s thrilling gameplay bolsters your drive to achieve excellence

 

The gameplay gives me that same good feel I get from carving up an army of reploids in the original Megaman Zero.  It’s a hard itch to scratch these days, so hats off to any developer that can scratch it.   Running and gunning is fluid and pleasing to watch, like everything else in this game. The controls, and the responsiveness of those controls in both of those games, are finely tuned to the point where you really don’t care if there’s no difference between finishing with a B- or a C.  Beating a boss on this game and coming out with an A rating….you just feel like a don.  A boss.  Like Geese Howard. You begin to develop your own standards for style in this game because the stakes are very low.  It’s a very liberating feeling, especially because unlike a lot of Megaman titles, you won’t miss out on anything for lack of style.  You can survive this game and love it; but it feels incredible to excel at it too.  Studio MDHR has done a wonderful job of making a game that is just a blast to play and experience.  and I look forward to some more time with it.