Stylistically, Cuphead is an absolutely gorgeous game.
He offers the boys one last chance: serve as his debt collectors and collect the souls of everyone else that owes him on Inkwell Isle, and he’ll let them off the hook. While pleading for their very souls, the Devil sees potential in Cuphead and Mugman, and-more importantly to him-an opportunity. Cuphead can’t resist the temptation, and of course the roll comes up snake eyes. If Cuphead wins on the next roll, he and Mugman will get all the casino’s riches if he loses, however, their souls become the property of the Devil. In fact, they’re doing so well at Craps that the Devil himself comes down to watch the boys play-and then makes them an offer they can’t refuse. While exploring their home of Inkwell Isle, they stumble into the Devil’s Casino and are having the time of their young lives. Cuphead’s mix of brilliant presentation, easy to learn but hard to master gameplay, and ever-increasing difficulty has cemented it for me as a personal game of the year contender.Ĭuphead tells the tale of two plucky protagonists named Cuphead and Mugman.
I only wanted to dig my heels in deeper, and my addiction for the game only grew as each subsequent boss or level offered up an enticing new challenge. Never across any of those deaths, though, did I ever become frustrated or angry. 188 times I died while playing Cuphead across the game’s 19 bosses, six run ‘n’ gun stages, and three mausoleum trials before finally beating it on Normal.