Cuphead is a truly unique game, combining amazing visuals with a high level of difficulty, the game conquered the hearts of many. Years after its initial release, it’s landing on Nintendo Switch, giving even more people the opportunity to discover it for the first time. I envy those people because they are about to discover one of the best games ever made.
Don’t deal with the devil
The story of Cuphead starts in the casino where Cuphead is rolling the dice together with his friend Mugman. Blinded by greed, Cuphead decided to roll the dice against the Devil. The stakes? Infinite wealth if they win, both their souls if they lose. Needless to say, they lose the bet against the Devil, meaning they’re no longer owners of their own souls. But, there must be another way, right? Bending their knees for the Devil, Cuphead and Mugman managed to get another deal out of their bet. Instead of losing their souls, they need to visit a couple of creatures who are in debt of the Devil and deliver him their souls. It’s a soul for a soul kind of deal but it’s never going to be easy. Those creatures aren’t going to give you their soul that easily, they’ll fight to the death, with everything they got.
Although the story itself is rather light, it does the trick rather well. It’s not the story that impresses, it’s the visual style of it all. Right of the bat, you’re sucked into the past. Cuphead is created to mimic the classic Silly Symphonies cartoons of the early 30ies, including the static of older televisions. The style is one of Cuphead’s biggest achievements and it’s truly amazing to see it in action. Everything about it takes you back to the early cartoons, from the animations of the characters to the environments, it all just fits. Fans of the game will be pleased to know that this Nintendo Switch version doesn’t compromise on the visuals. Both in Handheld and Television Mode, the game looks stellar. But, it’s not only the looks that count, Cuphead offers some unparalleled gameplay too.
Fight for their souls
The lion share of Cuphead consists of boss battles. Finding and recognizing the pattern is key to defeat each boss, but be warned, it’s never going to be easy. Right from the start, you’re up for some challenging combat since the very first boss won’t go down easily. At its core, all boss battles follow the same path. You fight them, you die, you fight them again, you die again; but eventually you’ll find the perfect way to take them down. Cuphead leans heavily on the trial-and-error mechanic, forcing you to enter the battle over and over again. Having patience while playing is your biggest weapon. Cuphead isn’t a game everybody will enjoy due to its high level of difficulty but if you’re willing to sacrifice some of your time in learning the pattern of each boss, you’ll be rewarded with sweet victory. Although it’s always hard to conquer a boss, the feeling you get when you finally achieve the near impossible is extremely rewarding.
As if fighting these bosses wasn’t hard enough already, you’ll also need to prepare for several transformations during the battle. These transformations vary from boss to boss but all will alter the course of the battle, forcing you to always prepare for the unexpected. If it’s all a bit too difficult, you can switch to an easier difficulty level before you start the battle, but to be honest, that’s not really the way Cuphead is meant to be played. Inviting over a friend to take on those enemies together might be a better approach.
Fight as one
Playing with a friend is a lot of fun in Cuphead since you can easily enter as the second player. Just by connecting a second controller and pushing the right buttons, a second player will enter the scene. Playing together boosts the level of difficulty a bit to keep things fair but in the end, it’s a challenge worth taking. Since it’s a local co-op game, having it on the Nintendo Switch makes a lot more sense. You can play co-op in both Handheld and Television Mode and thanks to the single Joy-Con action, your Switch system is ready for co-op straight out of the box. This is perhaps one of my favorite additions in the Switch version. Although co-op isn’t new in Cuphead, the ability to carry your game with you and invite a second player to join the madness is. This only elevates the overall experience for me. Cuphead might be the best co-op game currently on the system and thanks to the uniqueness of the hybrid console, the fun never stops.
I really advise everyone to play this with a friend. Discovering and conquering the bosses as a team of two is much more rewarding than trying it over and over again on your own. I played this a lot with my girlfriend, who doesn’t consider herself as a hardcore gamer. Yet, her dedication to the game even convinced me to continue playing until we both reached the end. It’s an impressive effect to achieve, but this game truly manages to motivate you to go beyond your own levels of patience. It’s always fun to play on your own but it’s so much better to expierence the struggle with another friend, motivating each other to give it one last push.
More than combat alone
The bosses are the beating heart of Cuphead but it’s not the only challenge you need to conquer. From time to time, you’re challenged to clear ‘Run and Gun’ levels. Crazy platformer inspired levels filled with a sickening amount of enemies. Just like the actual boss fights, these platforming segments are extremely hard to conquer, you’ll truly need all your skills to reach the end. Again, you can play with another player and this might give you a small advantage compared to a solo run. As a team, you can revive each other when all three lives get depleted. It’s a bit tricky but if you time your jump correctly, you can slap the ghost of your friend back on the field, granting an extra life and opportunity to reach the goal. I liked this approach most since I genuinely enjoyed playing as a duo.
How you decide to conquer these challenging platforming levels is entirely up to you of course and although they are challenging, they offer a lot of fun too. Thanks to the amazing visuals and the creativity of the levels, you’ll play something you’ve never witnessed before. Cuphead is unlike any other platforming game out there and it even dares to innovate classic formulas from time to time. Although the boss battles are the heart of the game, the Run and Gun levels shouldn’t be underestimated.
What’s new in this version?
At its core, this is a direct port of the Xbox One/PC version. Meaning Nintendo Switch fans don’t really get something new at first sight. MDHR Studio released a major update to their base game, however, an update that’s part of the Switch version right from the start. So, what’s new in this update?
- Character Selection! For the first time ever, select Mugman right from the start of your adventure in single player!
- Fully animated cinematics! Now, all of the game’s cutscenes play out in fabulous locomotion!
- Fully localized text in eleven additional languages! In addition to English, we’re thrilled to be able to offer Cuphead in French, Italian, German, European Spanish, Latin Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese. We know how long folks have been waiting for this, so we took special care in the quality of each translation, and curated fonts that felt just right for each audience. In fact, we even partnered with expert calligraphers to bring the Boss & Level title lettering to life in Korean, Chinese, and Japanese – drawing inspiration from the early cartoon works of each country!
- Oodles of brand new animation and art! Cuphead and Mugman have multiple fight intros! Legendary Chalice now grants Super Arts with a blast of magical energy! Mummies explode in a shower of confetti! Dozens of other dazzling additions and adjustments throughout the game!
- Bug fixes and tweaks!
- And more!
Those are small yet great improvements of the original, making this Switch version the best version playable right from the start. Also, keep in mind that the Nintendo Switch enables you to take the game with you everywhere you go and you’ll understand why this might be the ultimate version of Cuphead. Not only is it a great fit for the system, it feels like it was actually created for it in the first place.
Conclusion:
Cuphead is a true classic, having it on Nintendo Switch is like a dream come true. Thanks to the portability of the system, you can now enjoy one of the most difficult games ever created, anywhere you want to. Inviting over a friend to play in co-op was never this easy and I guarantee this one will potentially result in endless hours of fun. It’s not an easy game but everything about it is worth the struggle. From the stellar animations to the tight gameplay, Cuphead connected all the dots and is simply a must-have on any system, especially on Nintendo Switch.
