The Best Xbox Game Every Year 2001 - 2024
8. 2017 - Cuphead
Few new IPs get quite as strong a reaction as Cuphead did in 2014 when it was shown - very briefly - at E3 that year as part of a sizzle reel. Over time, the run-and-gunner inspired by the golden age of animation grew a significant level of interest because there was nothing out there on the market like it.
As such, it made a splash when it landed (and in fact delivered), becoming the most enviable Xbox game that year and perhaps across the life-span of the Xbox One. In a time where hunger for challenging games was rising, Cuphead offered something different from the dark and brooding Soulsborne games (and their many copy-cats) by harkening back to games of the past. And, best of all, it did so in a beautiful, bizarre and consistent art style that only the current generation could handle.
Even when Cuphead was smashing players from pillar to post (which was all the time), it was a delight for the eyes.
Cuphead fever was truly massive, spawning a Netflix show, a table-top game and even getting some unexpected representation in the video game historical encyclopaedia that was Nintendo's Super Smash Brothers Ultimate.