Cuphead Xbox One Review

Posted on: 2017-10-09

Our rating:

Cuphead is a joy to play with excellent cell animation graphics, tough as nails gameplay and a musical score that will have you snapping your fingers to the beat. Easily one of the best games I have played on the Xbox One.


Cuphead is a game that I have been following for about 4 years now and I started to lose hope as the game kept getting delay after delay - I can see why with the hand drawn animation. Now it finally sees the light of day, was it worth the wait? Absolutely! I have not played a game that has given me that childlike wonder for a long time due to the fact that games take themselves way too seriously these days.

Cuphead - Xbox One game review

You play as the titular Cuphead who ends up going to a casino where he is on a winning streak and is urged by the manager Mr Dice to keep on playing; however Cuphead loses and ends up being in debt with the owner who happens to also be the Devil. The Devil makes him an offer to get out of debt; all he has to do is harvest some souls for him. What I love about the story is that it is presented as a story book, which are short and sweet plus it helps that it is accompanied by a fantastic 1930’s jazz soundtrack which will have you dancing in your seat.

The gameplay is a boss rush game, what this entails is that you mainly battle bosses that slowly increase in difficulty. Each boss is unique and interesting with visual design and challenge. When I say challenge I mean it, this game does not mess around it assumes that you have played games from the 90’s as it is extremely punishing with some bosses, which may turn some people off. Like Dark Souls it’s not unfair with its difficulty because the controls are extremely tight and responsive, so if you die it’s generally your fault it’s all about analysing the patterns of each boss, which is very satisfying when you finally beat them.

Cuphead - Xbox One game review

You don’t only fight bosses you have levels called “Run and Gun” where you platform through a level shooting enemies and collecting coins. These coins are very important because you can buy charms which can increase the amount of hit points you have but your attacks do less damage which adds an extra layer of challenge. These are small but helpful abilities and powers to help you push through the 3 worlds and the finale.

The graphics are amazing, I can see why the game took so long to make as they have gone for a 1930’s cartoon aesthetic like Felix the Cat where they have hand drawn the characters using cell animation. It’s beautiful, each character has a unique look to them from the sinister Mr Dice to the sentient flowers and carrots that have evil grins and bulging eyes. The art style is the most unique aspect of this game and is possibly the most creative look I have seen in a game from the past 10 years.

Cuphead is a joy to play with excellent cell animation graphics, tough as nails gameplay and a musical score that will have you snapping your fingers to the beat. This is easily one of the best games I have played on the Xbox One from the past 4 years; download this game on your Xbox One now!  

5/5 

Cuphead - Xbox One game review



Article by:

Sam Coles - a.k.a. The Bristolian Gamer

Sam has lived in Bristol all his life. A keen cyclist he speeds around the city but video games are his bread and butter. Whether the old Nes and Snes games or the XBox One and Playstation releases he loves them all. Sam runs his own gaming blog called Bristolian Gamer where he had been reviewing indie games, doing retro reviews and venting his anger at the industry when it does wrong since 2010. Sam joined the 365Bristol team in December 2014.