Cute artstyle and inventive ideas... to a point. The old cartoon homage while derivative at moments (like the Tom & Jerry or the Brutus from Popeye inspired bosses) does bring some interesting ideas for the enemy design and sometimes some simple backstory and characterization in the attacks, and that's where the identity of the title really shines...

But as a piece in the videogame medium taking influence from a cinematographic art form, the countless references to classic run and gun and shoot em ups from which I can observe an inmense obsession to remember Treasure, Capcom and Konami games (and others) make me realize that as an experience it feels less willing to impress in a cinematographic and "narrative" way than those 80s and 90s titles.

Yeah, Grim Matchstick is better animated and has more complex attacks than the dragon from Megaman 2, but it's a sole boss fight dedicated to him, and as such losses the impact of the sudden memorable appearance it had at the end of a long level.

Yeah, the King Dice boss presents a nerve wrecking experience to beat at only three health points while presenting some memorable boss design. But Cuphead's hard as nails attitude while satistying to conquer sacrifices more variety to not be too much of a marathon in its three health points. Variety compared to what? To the Dice Maze level from Gunstar Heroes of course, from which one of the bosses found here also makes a reference to the "Melon Bread" enemy found in that level.

In the D(elicious)L(ast)C(ourse) there's a boss fight reminiscent of one of the alternative second stage minibosses of Contra the Hard Corps. There's no urgency in beating the boss other than getting rid of the dogs on airplanes as quick as possible to finish it and not slip up, while Contra had you battle it in a rush to reach an abandoned facility that continued the remaining of the level, an exhilarating experience one after the other.

My main problem with the title and the reason I consider it an involution to older games is its status as a glorified boss rush. Oh wait, Alien Soldier already was a boss rush, but there was connective tissue between them in the form of short level sections that set them up.

Yes, you can buy weapons outside of levels in the map (in a Wonder Boy-esque pig shop, wait, a Westone reference as well?) but the true content of the game being these boss fights while relegating actual platforming levels as a side glance just doesn't impress me, and the less it does as it continues to reference Gunstar Heroes green chaser shots, Truxton (oh Toaplan too?) bombs, Contra barricades, a cat-like machine in the background that attacks with its paws from either side of the screen (Clockwork Tortoise's Batman & Robin? Wow that's obscure), Dragon Quest slimes (ok, this is getting out of hand) and a Devil that feels like Lucifer from Ghouls and Ghosts in its first fase just to nod at gamers who played those things instead of coming up with something that overcomes them into an exciting presentation. The closest the game comes to this is in the eerie small introduction of the last boss in the DLC, setting up the reveal of the villain. Oh... It's superfluous you say? Well, just do as they did here and as long as you beat the section stablish a checkpoint for the boss if it's too tiresome to play a whole level and one of these challenging bosses.

So yeah, it's a decent cartoon, but as a game I'm not impressed by the spectacle and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be (my brother had abandoned it and an irl friend said he tried playing it with a friend of his and also had to give up).