A tasty treat
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course
(PEGI 7) PS4, XBOX ONE, Switch, PC
HHHHH
THE extended adventures of Cuphead have been a very long time coming – nearly five years to be exact.
In that time the game’s titular hero and his sidekick Mugman have become cult figures, inspiring comic books, novels, action figures and even their own show on Netflix.
It’s not really surprising given the huge impact Cuphead made when the ‘run-n-gun’ actioner was unleashed in 2017.
With its beautifully surreal 1930s Max Fleischer-style animation, and gameplay focused mainly on boss battles, the game enthralled and frustrated in equal measure.
The Delicious Last Course, a DLC for the base game, was originally slated to be released in late 2019, but given the stunning attention to detail that’s gone into the title – plus the small matter of a global pandemic hitting – it’s not really surprising fans have had to wait a little bit longer.
But boy has it been worth it. This expansion consists of six new boss fights, each more compellingly challenging than the next. There’s
also an optional King of Games miniboss battle you can play through.
Having defeated the Devil, Cuphead and Mugman are summoned by their friend, Legendary Chalice, to DLC island – transported across the water by a Father Time-esque figure in a small boat.
Chalice is a ghost who has been trying for eons to escape the astral plane, but nothing has worked. Now Chef Saltbaker has found a way to permanently bring her down to earth, but his magic recipe requires some extra special ingredients which you’ll have to battle the island’s greatest foes to secure.
As it’s been a while since I last played this game, I went straight for simple mode. This might sound excessive, but I wanted to enjoy playing through a few levels and let my muscle memory for the game reset before dialing the action back up to insane.
It’s to be noted that while playing through on simple removes most of
the heavy attacks from bosses – and in some instances entire levels – it will not allow you to complete the game. You can only do that in regular mode.
There are not just new levels on offer here, there’s a whole new character to play as, Ms Chalice. The character is a bit of a game changer in that she comes ready equipped with handy skills like double jump, and dodge roll, both life-saving moves.
Don’t be fooled that she’s an easy option though, her single jump covers a much shorter distance than Cuphead’s, and you can’t equip her with charms.
Speaking of which, there are several new weapons and charms on offer to help you beat the island’s bosses. From weapons that fire homing bullets, and shots that arc, to charms that allow you to gain health back, the hardest decision becomes deciding which will give you the best chance of success.
The problem is you need to earn coins to buy these goodies, and that means successfully outwitting the bad guys.
The bosses are as wacky as you’d expect from a Cuphead game. There’s a mob boss snail that hides beneath the hat of a giant anteater, a giant troll with gnomes brewing a toxic potion in his mouth, and a snow monster throwing ice spears, who squeezes out its own eyeball to try and kill you.
Quick thinking and adaptability is the key to success, as bosses literally throw everything at you. Mortimer Freeze, for instance, changes from a magician, to an ice cube-throwing freezer, then into a vicious snowflake in quick succession, and each version has its own unique attacks.
Some may rattle their way through this game in just a few short hours, but the quality of the time and the fun you’ll have playing it should not be underestimated.
Developer Studiomdhr has managed the impossible, taken the perfect game and elevated it to something beyond that.
The Delicious Last Course is the icing on the Cuphead cake, the cherry atop the Mugman sundae. I really hope this isn’t the last we see of these porcelain pals.
Buy it: £6.79 at xbox.com, store. playstation.com, nintendo.co.uk or store.steampowered.com (please note you need to own the base game in order to play this DLC)