Cuphead

I have sat on a couch with a friend at 11pm, controllers in hand, absolutely convinced we had the next phase of a giant frog boss figured out, and then died to a stray bubble for the thirtieth time in a row. That is Cuphead in a nutshell: a two-player local co-op run-and-gun built almost entirely around boss fights, wrapped in the most jaw-dropping hand-drawn animation you will ever see in a video game. The 1930s rubber-hose cartoon aesthetic is not just a skin slapped on top of a game, every frame is genuinely hand-drawn, the watercolor backgrounds are painterly and alive, and the big-band jazz soundtrack is recorded live to match the era. The production is staggering for any studio, let alone an indie one. Gameplay is stripped to its essentials: you run, you shoot in eight directions, you dash, and you parry pink objects to build your special meter. Controls click into place within the first few minutes. What takes hours, sometimes many, many hours, is learning each boss. The game is structured around a world map across Inkwell Isle, with multi-phase boss encounters as the main event and a handful of run-and-gun platforming stages sprinkled in for variety. Bosses shift through attack patterns across multiple phases, and the whole loop is trial, death, observation, repeat. Weapons like the close-range Spread shot and the auto-targeting Chaser give you some loadout flexibility, and Charms purchased from Porkrind's Emporium, things like extra health or the damage-immune dash, let you tune your approach per fight. The game grades you after every encounter, so perfectionists and score-chasers have plenty of rope to hang themselves with. For two players on the couch, the co-op is drop-in and drop-out, with Mugman slotting in as player two the moment a second controller presses a button. One clever mechanic: if your partner dies, you can parry their rising soul to bring them back into the fight, which turns every heated encounter into a frantic rescue mission on top of everything else already happening on screen. Fair warning, co-op is genuinely harder, since boss health scales up and the screen gets chaotic fast. The DLC expansion, The Delicious Last Course, adds a third playable character in Ms. Chalice, who brings a double jump, an invincible roll, and a parry dash that make her particularly useful when you are trying to keep a struggling partner alive. Casual players should go in with eyes open: the Simple difficulty mode is a real thing and it does reduce boss complexity, but it locks you out of the true ending. There is no hand-holding beyond a brief tutorial, and some bosses have randomized elements that can feel genuinely cruel. What keeps it from becoming a frustration sink is that the controls never lie to you, hitboxes are generous, loading times are nearly instant so retries feel painless, and boss attack patterns are telegraphed clearly enough through animation that every death teaches you something. The satisfaction of finally putting down a boss after twenty attempts is hard to replicate anywhere else. For the "is this fun for four drunk friends" crowd: no, it is strictly two-player local co-op, not four. But two players on the couch absolutely works, and Steam's Remote Play Together means a friend can join without being in the room. A gamepad is strongly recommended over keyboard and mouse, the eight-directional aiming and dash timing feel much more natural on a controller. Cuphead with a friend who matches your patience threshold is one of the best co-op experiences available on PC. With a friend who gives up easily, it is a spectacular evening of screaming at frogs together, which honestly has its own value.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

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