CHALICE IN WONDERLAND

The story of Cuphead: how two brothers' love of antique animation and old-school arcade action created a modern phenomenon

- CHRIS SCHILLING

Ready? WALLOP! The first two words of a Cuphead battle say everything about the immediate and powerful impact of Studio MDHR's remarkable debut: a haymaker delivered through the combined force of its astonishing audiovisuals and equally eye-opening challenge. Here is a game that is old-fashioned in a very literal sense, its rubber-hose animation realised largely via traditional techniques, just as its run-and-gun mechanics lean on (and refine) ideas first introduced in the 8- and 16bit eras. The result is a captivatingly unlikely fusion of influences. Those vintage cartoons and video games may be writ large across it, but there was nothing else quite like Cuphead when it belatedly launched in 2017, and that's still the case as expansion The Delicious Last Course finally takes its bow five years on.

"A love letter to the early history of two mediums" is how we described it in E313's review: indeed, it's a letter that dates back to Chad and Jared Moldenhauer's childhood, and their shared formative experiences of the medium. "Chad and I grew up on a steady diet of retro games from the '80s and '90s," Jared says. "We probably lost the most hours to series like Gunstar Heroes, Mega Man, Street Fighter, Wonder Boy and Ninja Gaiden."