‘Cuphead’ is as wondrous as it is difficult

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Just take one look at Cuphead’s gorgeous hand-drawn art style and you’ll understand the hype. First-time indie developer Studio MDHR created a game that’s as detailed and fluid as classic Disney cartoons. And it has that hint of magic that you can only get from traditional, non-CG animation. It’s also a dream to play, with controls reminiscent of Contra and other extremely difficult 2D side scrollers. Simply running around and shooting enemies feels great — and that’s a good thing, since you’ll be doing a lot of it.

You’ve got a variety of weapons to choose from, a dash-move for getting out of danger quickly, and you can also parry any pink-colored object by jumping off of them at just the right time. The vast majority of Cuphead is made up of elaborate boss fights — and I really mean elaborate.

The bosses, and their accompanying stages, feature some of the most unique designs I’ve ever seen in a video game. But you won’t have much time to drink in the gorgeous visuals before the bosses start filling up the screen with deadly projectiles. While there are attack patterns you’ll have to learn, you’ll still have to keep your wits about you for some randomized changes. Cuphead is the sort of game where you should expect to die — a lot.

Thankfully, the game gives you a few different difficulty levels to help you get your bearings. A beautiful overworld map connects all of the different boss battles, and you can also interact with other characters there. Cuphead also features a handful of platforming stages, which should evoke plenty of classic gaming nostalgia.

In addition to playing through the game solo, you can also have a friend join you in co-op mode. That’s something we don’t typically see in games today, and it brought back memories of sitting on the couch for hours on end when I was a kid.

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