Elite_Magazine__Issue_94_2018

Cuphead
Cuphead and his pal Mugman, they like to roll
the dice. By chance they came on devil’s game
and gosh they paid the price. And now they’re
fighting for their lives, on a mission fraught
with dread. And if they proceed but don’t
succeed... Well... The Devil will take their heads!
Review by James Hall
Xbox One, PC
marvel at the technical feats of games like Doom
and Horizon, even they don’t inspire the same kind
of awe from passersby and onlookers that Cuphead
attracts. It’s not just the art style - and all the little
animation flourishes; the way Cuphead shoots by
clicking his fingers, the snide smiles and expressions
of rage bosses hurl your way between stages of their
encounters, the delicate background details that
almost get lost in the kinetic foreground action- but
rather it’s every aspect of the game’s presentation.
The score, with its heady mixture of jazz and blues.
The scratchy voiceovers and muffled dialogue.
The rasping voice of piggish shopkeeper Porkrind.
One listen to Cuphead’s wonderfully jazzy title track
tells you all you need to know about the plot of
Studio MDHR’s debut effort, and coupled with the
surreal, Fleischeresque animation it’s a hell of a way
to make a first impression. Its an impression that
never fades; even after hours and hours of running
and gunning and battling bosses, Cuphead still
finds new ways to delight and surprise you with its
visual design and style.
Honestly, there’s never been another game that
looks quite like this - and whilst you can gawp and
If it’s beauty were only skin deep, Cuphead would
be quite an achievement. But under the gorgeous
presentation beats the heart of a challenging old
school shoot-em-up, a mammoth boss rush granted
breathing space with the inclusion of Contra-
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