The 2017 release ofCupheadwas a much-welcomed breath of fresh air for the gaming landscape. Amid a changing gaming industry,Cupheadstood as a unique affirmation of the continued existence of creativity and innovation.
It is no secret then, given the acclaim and positive reception thatCupheadreceived, that further adaptations to different media would follow the game’s release. With Netflix releasingSeason One ofThe Cuphead Show!on February 18, the show has remained relatively faithful to its source material, while some aspects depart from it quite significantly.
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Gameplay aside, it is undoubtedly the whimsical and vintage art style ofCupheadthat set the game apart from competitors and provided it with such charm and character. The difficult Studio HDMR run-and-gun title was entirely inspired by the 1930s “rubber hose” animation style of cartoons from the golden age of American animation, providing an innate nostalgic juxtaposition to the fresh and unique elements of gameplaywhich inspired some of the games industry.
Perhaps the most impressive element in the choice to use this particular art style is the faithfulness in which it was adopted. Animators forCupheadillustrated every frame of gameplay by hand, in the same fashion that animators of the original style had to do all those years ago. This impressive aspect of art direction further compounds how all-in the development team was in adopting this specific style, and how integral it is to the theme and tone of the game’s entire ethos.
Being a faithful adaptation of the game,The Cuphead Show!retains the games setting, taking place in the Inkwell Isles, with a variety of settings for the games extensive boss battles returning for this TV adaptation.
Of course, the titular Cuphead returns for the show, along with a high-pitched swaggering voice that fans will be hearing for the first time. Cuphead stars alongside his more apprehensive and impressionable blue brother Mugman, a character that would appearin-game as Cuphead’s co-op counterpart.
The show depicts loosely related misadventures carried out by the duo in the familiar Inkwell Isles, with many boss characters from the game returning as mini-antagonists for specific episodes. Perhaps most notably, the show sees the return of the Devil and Mr King Dice, two fan-favorite main antagonists from the game. Additional returning characters include the wise patriarchal Elder Kettle, and even Ms. Chalice, who is the upcoming tritagonist of theupcoming Delicious Last Course DLC forCuphead.
Season One ofThe Cuphead Show!is 12 episodes long, with each episode averaging to be about fifteen minutes long, meaning fans will have a fair amount of fast-paced content to sink their teeth into.
One of the few major differences between the game and its television adaptation concerns the production of the show. As previously mentioned, the game was entirely animated by hand in the same fashion as its source material to provide lauded authenticity and tone, an aspect thatThe Cuphead Show!chose not to emulate.
Instead, the show uses a mixture of 2D and 3D animation in what is known as stereoscopic rotary animation, a much less time-consuming but still somewhat archaic form of animation production. While this may mean the show doesn’t look as intimately handcrafted as its source material, the show still remains an overall faithful adaptation of the game and its art style, having an inoffensive and large amount to offer to fansof the award-winning title.
The Cuphead Show!is available now on Netflix.
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