In a rare welcome surprise for 2020, Cuphead dropped onto the PS4 on the 28th of July. After launching on Xbox in 2017, and arriving on the Switch in 2019, this means that this beautiful but devastating run-and-gun boss rush is now on all the main platforms. This is only good news, meaning a wider range of players have a chance to play this charming, unique and hard-as-nails adventure from StudioMDHR.
As it is now nearly three years old, chances are you will be familiar with Cuphead. For the uninitiated you play as the titular Cuphead, collecting souls for the Devil who you are indebted to after an unfortunate night at the gaming table. Additionally you can choose to play as his brother Mugman, or can team up to take on the game in multiplayer mode (the second player can drop in and out at will). Each soul takes the form of a boss to be defeated, using your limited arsenal ranging from rapid-but-weak primary weapons to slow and devastating supers. These weapons, and other charms to help, are found in side levels or are purchased with coins found in run-and-gun sections. These RPG style upgrades and side-missions are mere distractions – really this is a game all about those bosses, moving from fight-to-fight, with each one unique and oh-so challenging.
There are no two ways about it, this is an incredibly hard game. This is the appeal in many ways, learning the patterns and attacks of a foe, and eventually triumphing over what once seemed insurmountable odds. The theory behind games of this ilk is that victory after numerous defeats is all the sweeter, while triumphing without a challenge is no triumph at all. Whether this is true for you is completely down to why you play games. If you are easily frustrated, or don’t enjoy repeating small segments of a game, then I cannot stress to you enough how Cuphead isn’t for you. However, if you enjoy mastering fights and slowly gaining confidence over intimidating bosses then there is a lot here to love. The difficulty is wondrously balanced, despite constantly failing I rarely felt that the game had let me down – rather my own skill had. And that feeling of victory did prove addictive, the “just one more go” loop meant the hours flew by.
While difficult games are nothing new, and that cycle of pattern learning and adrenaline fuelled triumph are potentially becoming a big ubiquitous, Cuphead still manages to set itself apart. It is a hand-drawn adventure, and all the more charming for it. It’s like playing the most difficult Saturday morning cartoon in history, with a colourful array of bizarre characters to boot. The hand-drawn nature is the foundation of some of the most expressive characters I’ve encountered in recent games, from upset onions to a seriously annoyed bee. The setting of a cartoon world also allows for this wide range of imaginative bosses – two early fights involve a giant blob and a pair of fighting frogs. Added to this style foundation are loving touches including grained film and barbershop narration. Then you have the soundtrack which just fits perfectly – as if lifted straight from the Looney Tunes of the 30s and 40s. All of this adds together to make a truly unique game, setting Cuphead apart from other punishing boss-rush platformers.
Moving onto the PS4 specifically, and unsurprisingly Cuphead runs very well. For a game that felt at home on the Switch this is no great surprise. Precise controls are a must from the get-go here, and the mapped controls on the DualShock worked well for me (though this is down to personal preference). There was no obvious slowdown or loading issues, and the frame-rate felt constant (though a juttering aesthetic would mask all but the most serious of drops). If you haven’t played it yet, and fancy dipping in for some Cuphead fun, then the PS4 is as good a choice as any.
Cuphead is a tricky game to recommend to everyone. Those who love it will absolutely adore it, but many will bounce straight off it due to the difficulty. My only real criticism of it is that it is incredibly one note – if you don’t enjoy tough boss battles then there really isn’t anything for you here (the other level types are relatively sporadic). There is an “easy” setting, but as you don’t earn souls by defeating a boss on this setting it really isn’t an option for those who want to make real progress in the game. This is a rare miss, as I struggle to see the point of this mode (if you want practice, it’s much better to just repeatedly fail on the standard difficulty). While I won’t launch into a debate on whether a game like this should have an “easy mode”, this seems like a half-way house that doesn’t seem to satisfy any party.
That being said Cuphead remains fun, infuriating, stylish, and focused. If difficulty is your thing, then you can’t go far wrong here. A classic has finally landed on the PS4 (after even Tesla got a level!), and sits right at home on Sony’s machine.
