To be honest, Cuphead is one of the most interesting Indie games i've ever played, and its reception shows how much the players enjoys the sense of individuality in the game.
The thing that makes Cuphead so interesting is its rarely seen sense of individuality and originality in it; the game is not "inspired" by any famous game or any successful model, which is something that is barely seen in the modern age of the gaming and entertainment industry in general - even the biggest and most successful projects inherit some ideas and traits from several other projects, either related or not.
Sure, cuphead is part of a genre that existed before it came out, the run-n-gun style, but even then, it still takes it own direction in terms of gameplay and design.
The game itself , rather than mainly focus on long, linear levels like in megaman or score-based story experience like Contra, Cuphead is a boss-based game, that has you fighting multiple, extremely hard and different boss fights in the format of run-n-gun. This is one of the downsides of the game, as if you are not fluent in the playstyle of the game (which i'm not, sincerely ;/), you are going to lose and restart bosses A LOT. This makes cuphead a very serious and unforgiving game at its core, despite its happy and cartoony design which may confuse and possibly ruin the experience for some naive, casual players of the game. However, even with such hard bosses, it is very clear that cuphead's boss designs are brilliant, each boss feels completely different and cooler than the one you thought beforehand.
Naturally, in such a challenging game, cuphead adopts the basic mechanic of "progress and experience". In the game, the mechanic appears in unlockable weapon-types and "perks" , using a coin currency unlocked through optional side levels that are a bit more similar to trad. run-n-gun games, only they rather serve as both good practice and a "pace-slower" level. This makes the game feel more like a fun and light gunning game, however it has one big flaw - getting enough coins to unlock multiple weapons and perks would usually require you to replay the levels again and again, which feels somewhat repetitive, especially considering that you must finish the level in order to inherit the coins you got during the run.
As much as the game's gameplay sparks charm, it does not end there: the game's visual, character, graphic designs and original soundtrack all follow the original theme and look of the 60's cartoons. For such an unusual design, the game follows the style with surprising success, and is just a pleasure to look at and listen to.
In conclusion, Cuphead is a great game, that deserves all the praise it gets: with an original and completely passionately-linear style, the game brings a refreshing game and overall experience for the entertaining and gaming market. Obviously, the game is far from perfect, yet with a well-deserved sequel, several gameplay improvements and a lot of motivation will guarantee in a most-needed masterpiece.
The thing that makes Cuphead so interesting is its rarely seen sense of individuality and originality in it; the game is not "inspired" by any famous game or any successful model, which is something that is barely seen in the modern age of the gaming and entertainment industry in general - even the biggest and most successful projects inherit some ideas and traits from several other projects, either related or not.
Sure, cuphead is part of a genre that existed before it came out, the run-n-gun style, but even then, it still takes it own direction in terms of gameplay and design.
The game itself , rather than mainly focus on long, linear levels like in megaman or score-based story experience like Contra, Cuphead is a boss-based game, that has you fighting multiple, extremely hard and different boss fights in the format of run-n-gun. This is one of the downsides of the game, as if you are not fluent in the playstyle of the game (which i'm not, sincerely ;/), you are going to lose and restart bosses A LOT. This makes cuphead a very serious and unforgiving game at its core, despite its happy and cartoony design which may confuse and possibly ruin the experience for some naive, casual players of the game. However, even with such hard bosses, it is very clear that cuphead's boss designs are brilliant, each boss feels completely different and cooler than the one you thought beforehand.
Naturally, in such a challenging game, cuphead adopts the basic mechanic of "progress and experience". In the game, the mechanic appears in unlockable weapon-types and "perks" , using a coin currency unlocked through optional side levels that are a bit more similar to trad. run-n-gun games, only they rather serve as both good practice and a "pace-slower" level. This makes the game feel more like a fun and light gunning game, however it has one big flaw - getting enough coins to unlock multiple weapons and perks would usually require you to replay the levels again and again, which feels somewhat repetitive, especially considering that you must finish the level in order to inherit the coins you got during the run.
As much as the game's gameplay sparks charm, it does not end there: the game's visual, character, graphic designs and original soundtrack all follow the original theme and look of the 60's cartoons. For such an unusual design, the game follows the style with surprising success, and is just a pleasure to look at and listen to.
In conclusion, Cuphead is a great game, that deserves all the praise it gets: with an original and completely passionately-linear style, the game brings a refreshing game and overall experience for the entertaining and gaming market. Obviously, the game is far from perfect, yet with a well-deserved sequel, several gameplay improvements and a lot of motivation will guarantee in a most-needed masterpiece.