Cuphead Review: 6 Ups & 4 Downs

1. Painful Difficulty Means That Winning Feels INCREDIBLE

Right then, the game's difficulty will appear as an Up and a Down simply because it's so divisive, and there really are pros and cons to both sides.

First up, the positives to being constantly kicked in the teeth: It means that when you finally do surmount any given obstacle, there'll be this unique little 'David vs. Goliath' narrative you're then surmounting for the win. Like beating a Dark Souls boss after hours of agonising defeat, if you have the stomach for a game that's entirely reliant on trial and error, Cuphead has an immaculate set of animations to study and figure out.

Manage your screen space, take note of when you should've zigged last time you zagged, swap out some abilities and try again. The bosses are all meant to be intimidating, but not without weaknesses - not without specific 'paths' through phases that you'll lock-step with over time.

Each boss and level is only a couple of minutes once you actually get these paths figured out, and going from downtrodden, "*Sigh*... this is gonna take some time..." to projectile-dodging, "Yeah?! WHAT NOW?!?" is a sensation of pure, game mettle-testing elation.