Video games are a great way to escape reality, to challenge yourself, or to relax from a hard day. Sometimes games can just look great for example; the scenery can look beautiful, or a cutscene looks incredible, and you might just want a game to admire it. Maybe the music is so good that you want to stay in the area where it’s being played just to hear it. Well there are games that are about these types of things and loved for just focusing on a specific thing, but today I will be talking about a specific one. One where it holds a special place in my heart and the game is called Cuphead.
Cuphead was directed by the brothers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer and created by Studio MDHR. The game at its core is a love letter to all the old cartoons and games. It is set during the 1930s and you can see that on the death screen when you die in a fight. The pre game is a picture book about 2 brothers who gamble their lives away and now are in debt with the Devil, and have to collect other peoples souls so that the brothers can get theirs back. The actual game is you traversing Inkwelisle and fighting a series of different boss battles against different characters, whom you can defeat with different weapons and charms. There’s also a DLC that gives more bosses, weapons, charms, and story.
This game is similar and distinct to various other video games. It is an extremely challenging game that frustrates the player with its many challenging boss fights, but always has a rewarding end to each of them. It has iconic characters that you may hate or love due to the difficulty of their fights. Incredible Jazzy music that mimics how music sounded during the area of the game created by Kristofer Maddigon that will just make you ask for more. Additionally, all of the games’ frames were made as animators did in the old cartoons, drawing each frame on paper and pencil, and using light to see the last pose of the character. The backgrounds were painted with watercolor paint.
In the end, Cuphead is such a unique game like no other and I feel that everyone should give this game a try. Though if you do want to play it after all I said, or do play but end up giving up because it’s too hard, it’s okay. It’s not going to please everyone and not everyone is up to the challenge, but if you do play it and enjoy it, then I’m happy that I was able to introduce this game to you.
Hugo Ciriaco – The Chicago Academy for the Arts – DMSF Class of 2029
Photo Credit: Kuenstlerboy – Adobe Stock