Cuphead: Game Analysis
February 5, 2018
Cuphead. This game is one of the best of 2017, with an amazing soundtrack and graphics to put you right back in the good ole’ days of animation (Rubber hose style animation if you were curious).
The game is structured with three kinds of stages. “Run ‘n Gun”, which is a traditional style platformer level, full of enemies and parts that you literally can’t get past no matter how many times you try (I’m looking at you, Funhouse Frazzle), the bosses of the game, which are usually fair, and the mausoleum stages where you have to protect a vase from ghosts.
The game isn’t as hard as people say it is though. Maybe it’s just my just personal opinion but I think that almost every boss has patterns that are learnable. The game’s platforming is a callback to a time that was simpler, but with the elements of a modern bullet dodger, making the game a challenge, but not undoable. I will spend an hour on a boss and though that hour is painful, when I finally succeed and beat the boss, I feel amazing. It’s a rush of adrenaline that’s reminiscent of scoring a winning goal or getting that new rank in a game. You feel awesome.
And the accompanying soundtrack? Beautiful jazz and bop to get you in a 30’s mood. The soundtrack emphasizes gameplay and makes you less prone to frustration when confronted with difficult bosses like the one in “Fiery Frolic”. If it weren’t for the extremely encouraging and enjoyable soundtrack, this game wouldn’t be half as interesting, making the score a vital part of the quality of this video game.
While the game has its rougher moments (like the aforementioned dragon) this game is pretty fair and instead of becoming resentful, I actually find myself analyzing the boss’s fights, and after dying, saying things like “I could’ve avoided that” or “I need to position myself better” instead of “This game trash!” You know that it can be done, you just have to do it.
Overall, this is an amazing game that I’d recommend to anyone looking to get into a more difficult area of games, or platform area of games. This game is what I would call the ideal boss rush game, and is hands down one of the best games of 2017.
(Note: As of when I’m writing this it is available both on Steam and Xbox One)
