cuphead game review
Cuphead, I want MickeyIt is sometimes surprising to see how great responsibilities can be attributed to people whom we would have sworn too frail to take up the challenge. Take the example of the two cup-headed brothers named Cuphead and Mugman, terrible children from the fairyland kingdom of Inkwell Isle. Following a game of dice that went wrong, they are tasked to harvest souls on behalf of the Devil. In another world, Microsoft signs the independent studio MDHR, mandated to color the catalog of exclusivities of the American firm. Great responsibilities, we said. But in the hell of this old school shoot, aren't our little schoolchildren likely to drink the cup?
TAKAHASHI’S CHALLENGE
Do we still need to present Cuphead, this arcade shooter which was to, when it was announced in 2014, only offer boss fights under an artistic direction to fall before being redesigned to integrate more diversity? Everything seems to have already been said about the title of Studio MDHR during its long gestation period. A graphic style that comes from Disney, Warner or Fleischer cartoons from the 1930s, a run-and-gun of prodigious difficulty. It is even rumored that the tutorial would house the lost souls of specialist journalists who had never managed to complete it.We were however not necessarily prepared to discover a title with as much variety in its playing phases. The world map, which is inspired by that of the great 8 and 16 bit classics, gives access to the levels that we will cut into 3 categories with boss fights on foot (the most frequent), shoot sequences on board an airplane and more platform passages soberly called run-and-gun. The latter remain the only ones not to offer the choice of difficulty mode, because yes, the offspring of Studio MDHR offers an easy mode in addition to normal during clashes against bosses. In easy, the adversaries have much less life points and attack with less vitality.
This difficulty mode, even if it ensures almost everyone can advance in the adventure without blocking on a duel, is not recommended for those who want to live the experience as the developers want it to be lived. Indeed, this mode prevents you from seeing all the attack patterns and completely ignores certain boss transformations, which is unfortunate for a game that bases its gameplay on their encounter. In order to punish the less courageous, the developers had the idea not to give a contract during the annihilation of a boss if the latter has been corrected otherwise than normal. Knowing that the fourth world opens only with all of these contracts in your pocket, the message could not be more clear: Cuphead deserves.
TWO CUPS, ONE GRILL
Since the best coffees are made in old cups, Cuphead's mechanisms borrow a lot from past glories, Super Probotector in mind. Like the heroes of yesteryear whom they were necessarily inspired by, Cuphead and Mugman can shoot in 8 directions. The first steps in the epic inevitably require some gymnastics to successfully destroy the enemies, sometimes flying too far to the right of the high shot and too far to the left of the right diagonal. Likewise, the height of the jump is not relative to the force exerted on the assigned key, which can be unsettling at first. As cute as they may seem, our little characters can buy upgrades to make it easier to fight with the enchanted scum. In exchange for a few pennies unearthed in the levels, it is then possible to change his primary shooting as secondary (which can be switched at any time with LB), his special power and his enchantment. What strategically equip the most suitable characteristics in order to spend less time on a recalcitrant monster. Please note, however, if you want to make the game easier to equip an additional life slot, then your attack power will be (slightly) reduced. Who do we say thank you?The execution of a super move (which only scratches the opponent a little more) must also be considered since it can block the character a few tenths of a second on the screen, which only makes it usable 'at strategic moments so as not to be punished in the second following. All that is pink being cute, an object of this color in Cuphead means that it can be destroyed and cause a double jump in case of good timing, whether it is an element of the decoration or projectile fired by a opponent. With squatting and then the dash which can be performed both on the ground and in the air, the Studio MDHR software gives the player a simple but complete palette of movements that must be mastered to collect contracts. In the area of regrets, we note that it is unfortunately not possible to change the difficulty mode or equipment on the fly between two attempts. If you want to rub yourself against less tough opponents or acquire other powers, you will have to return to the main map to restart the level.
WARNER BOSS
Even if it is more usual to add sugar to your cup, Cuphead salt comes from its big resistance dish: clashes against bosses. These battles represent both the skeleton and the heart of Cuphead, and they will fail the nervous system of the reckless player. To come out victorious, just remember the patterns that vary depending on the stage of the fight, and show dexterity. Because as in any good self-respecting drama, duels have an introduction, development, conclusion or even recall phase. Each of these parts brings its share of surprises and plays on this desire to see everything, to play everything, and to start all over again. In this regard, we must obviously emphasize that the title is difficult and that it has a die and retry side. With each new attempt, the order of the opponent's attacks changes, which means that you have to adapt perpetually rather than memorizing the battle. Following a defeat, a completion bar appears to indicate how far we were from wiping out the villain in his various transformations. Enough to give the desire to hand over a virtual coin to achieve its ends, or rather to its end.The levels which give pride of place to run-and-gun allow them to vary the pleasures. Rather rare on the whole adventure, they proved to be sufficiently well designed that we do not qualify them as filling even if they remain relatively classic. Fans of airplane shootings will be delighted to shoot anything that moves during successful aerial sequences that are even more difficult than the average of the game. We have fond memories of our confrontation against this cursed giant robot. In order to ensure a final touch of variety, Inkwell Isle hides within its universe 3 temples which challenge the player to protect an urn from the attack of pink ghosts which will have to be destroyed thanks to the special technique taught during tutorial.
THAT CARTOON
If the many fights of this Cuphead are made and redone in a good mood, it is also thanks to this superb artistic direction which makes the title recognizable in the midst of hundreds of others. The animations of both bosses and main characters are so neat that you have to force yourself not to admire them too much so as not to be distracted. The delightfully jazzy soundscape also fits perfectly with the adventure, which has fun parodying many elements of our more or less current popular culture. The flip side of the saucer is that the readability of the action is not always optimal (especially at 2 in local coop), the fault of very detailed graphic elements bathed in slightly overloaded tables. The graphic filter used to age the image also does not help to have an impression of precision at the top, while the elements in the foreground are too easily superimposed on the projectiles and various dangers. Likewise, platforms seen in slight isometry sometimes disturb the perception that one can have of what is a "hard" surface or just the decor with a 3D effect. On the other hand, the game is really beautiful to die for, we told you?The notes
+ Positive points
Amazing artistic direction
Mind-blowing bosses with multiple transformations
Varied for a shoot
Difficult, but not (too) unfair
Available for around twenty euros
-Negative points
Lack of readability in some chapters
No online coop mode (yet)
Don't be put off by the challenge and the die and retry
We are lucky, Cuphead is probably the most beautiful 2D arcade shoot available today. If the dish concocted by Studio MDHR is appetizing to the eye, its ingredients also give it variety and flavor. Despite his visible inspirations, Cuphead does not seem to pour the same soup into an old mug and reserves boss fights that will be remembered. Obviously, if the genre is not your cup of tea and you do not appreciate the spicy difficulty, the tasting gauged at around eight o'clock (game over included) may burn your taste buds. We are going to the rabe!
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