A love letter to 1930s animation, with every boss a demanding living painting. The difficulty stays stiff but fair, two-player co-op multiplies the fun, and the Delicious Last Course DLC matches the base game's quality.
Your verdict
Category
Action2 players7+
Co-op
Description
Two cup-headed brothers must settle a debt with the devil by defeating boss after boss. Published by Studio MDHR, released worldwide in 2019. Run-and-gun against inventive bosses, steep difficulty, two-player play and a 1930s cartoon look.
Cuphead review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
3/5
Story
★★★★★
"Solid"
A flawless tribute to 1930s cartoons: rubber-hose motion, wobbling ink lines, hand-painted watercolours and film grain. Every boss looks like a resurrected animation cel, and that insane authenticity remains unrivalled to this day.
Kristofer Maddigan recorded nearly three hours of 1930s jazz with a live big band, and it shows: whirling clarinets, ragtime banjos and unhinged brass turn every boss fight into a frenzied cabaret number. The music mirrors the cartoon cadence and the danger, building a giddy tension. Few game scores hold up so well away from the screen, like a record straight out of the swing era.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Memorizing a boss's every pattern, dodging to the pixel then firing back in the same second: rigor and precision run through every fight. The difficulty stays steep yet fair, and downing a boss after ten tries delivers undimmed satisfaction. Two-player co-op multiplies the chaos. The hand-painted 1930s cartoon aesthetic will likely never age. A peak still firmly relevant today.
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Captivating"
Difficulty
"Punishing"
Built as a relentless run of boss fights with devious patterns, it demands you memorise every transition and react in a split second. The challenge lies in learning and reflexes, never in luck: each defeat reveals the counter. Brutal yet perfectly readable, its uncompromising spirit remains the stuff of legend.
Each encounter is a hand-drawn infernal choreography where bosses chain unpredictable transformations and patterns you must memorize to the pixel. Memorizing, dodging, parrying and striking on cue becomes a test of stamina and composure. The 1930s cartoon look and feverish jazz elevate a punishing yet impeccably fair challenge.
An underrated gem
Everyone has glimpsed its 1930s rubber-hose cartoon look, yet the craft that gets overlooked is the fully hand-painted, frame-by-frame animation, an almost unmatched feat of artisanship in games. Beneath its reputation for brutal difficulty lies a boss-rush of wild inventiveness, each fight built around a single bright idea. Worth revisiting in co-op, for players who love a challenge wrapped in genuine beauty.
Better with friends
Tackling Cuphead's deranged bosses as a duo is the tightest kind of teamwork: you dodge in rhythm, cover your partner and parry them back to life at just the right beat. The merciless difficulty turns every wipe into shared laughter and every felled boss into a joint triumph. You keep reloading just to crack that one phase still standing between you and victory.
A cult cover
Straight out of a 1930s cartoon, Cuphead appears in supple rubber-hose limbs, sepia tones and period grain. The homage is so faithful you'd swear it was a reel recovered from an attic. This vintage choice, mischievous and meticulous, seizes the eye and keeps a singularity all its own amid modern releases.
Is Cuphead still worth playing in 2026?
Cuphead has lost none of its daring. Its 1930s cartoon aesthetic, wholly hand-painted and hand-animated, stays unique in gaming and will likely never age. The structure, built almost entirely around inventive boss fights, demands precision and memorisation, and its difficulty remains a deliberate stance that will put off hurried players. But the satisfaction of felling a boss after ten tries is intact. Two-player mode adds joyful chaos. For fans of demanding action and bold art direction, it is a peak still entirely relevant, and a showcase no screenshot truly captures.
