Originally published September 30, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
Kris Wall reports from EGX 2015…
Without doubt in my top 3 games on show at EGX 2015 and the one I couldn’t help but return to for ‘just one more go’, Cuphead was an utter delight from the moment I picked up the controller and made me instantly jealous that I don’t own an Xbox One.
Cuphead harks back to the days of the ultra tough side scrolling shooters like Contra and Gunstar Heroes. Where it differs though is in its gorgeously captivating presentation. Based on the look and style of cartoons from the 1930’s such as Steamboat Willie and Popeye, it’s quite simply a treat for the eyes and easily one of the most beautiful looking games I’ve seen in recent years. The animation and detail in the game had me swooning just as much as it had me gritting my teeth in sheer determination to survive.
During my short time with the game I went up against two giant boxing frog brothers who eventually combined into a slot machine of doom (But of course), a pirate captain that called upon his octopus and shark friends whilst also shooting at me with his squid rifle, a tag team of the worlds angriest mutant potato and psychic carrot and a gigantic flying bird that brought new meaning to the term ‘air rage’. The full game looks to have so many more of these weird, wonderful and difficult characters to go up against.
Don’t let its cutesy looks lure you into a false sense of security though as Cuphead is one devilishly tough game. Its focus is on multi-stage battles with gigantic boss characters and your reflexes and responses are going to be tested and stretched to the absolute limit in order to take each and every one of them down.There are times when the screen is full of threats from all sides of the screen and the slightest wrong move will be your death but no matter how difficult it all got, I just couldn’t resist the lure of one more go.
Cuphead is exclusive to Xbox One in 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=oIqao-7FJ_I
