From an artistic standpoint, Cuphead may be one of Indie gaming’s finest pieces. Stylistically inspired by the 1930s cartoons by Walt Disney and Fleisher, Cuphead’s main attraction lies in its beautifully hand-drawn characters and environments. The game centers around very challenging boss fights, and great attention to detail in the drawings ensures that each of these encounters are memorable. While it’s easy to praise the visual aspects in games like Cuphead, I’d like to turn our attention to soundtracks. I often find that soundtracks leave the longest lasting impressions on me in gaming. Nintendo indisputably has put out the most classics over the years, and I think a large amount of their success comes from their endless array of quality soundtracks - the Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong Country, and Super Mario Bros 2 just to name a few. I’d extend my appreciation for soundtracks into modern gaming as well. When I think of Naughty Dog’s ambitious fourth installment of the Nathan Drake series, my mind turns towards the game’s main theme “A Thief's End,” as it musically reflects the themes of the lust of adventure that the game’s narrative explores. Cuphead’s soundtrack is pretty incredible. The music calls back to the 1930s through its jazz recordings. Most of the songs collectively involve saxophones, trumpets, flutes, piano, and xylophone, all of which trade between solos and leads. The style of music aesthetically ties the entire game together, and its influence on the tone of the story and characters is very evident. Take for example, the song “Botanic Panic.” The game has just launched the player into the narrative - Cuphead made a deal with the Devil, and to save his soul he must gather the souls of others. After a short tutorial on the gameplay controls, the game wastes no time before matching Cuphead up against the first boss. WALLOP! The woodwinds kick off with these villainous, twisting saxophone leads, quickly paced by a bumbling tuba. Simultaneously, a giant vegetable is spewing dirtballs at Cuphead. The song transitions into an intricate, speedy xylophone solo, of which brings way to the second stage of the boss fight - a crying onion. The woodwinds continue to build off of the twisting passages from the beginning of the fight as Cuphead dodges falling teardrops from the onion. When the boss fight converts to its third and final stage, a hypnotic carrot, the instrumentation steadily crescendos into an explosive blare of horns. The music is in its most frantic state while Cuphead dodges flying obstacles all over the screen. In its presentation, “Botanic Panic” considers the rhetorical situation of the player to quite literally send them into a frantic panic to survive the first fight. Cuphead also features run-and-gun sections of gameplay. These levels feature some of the most challenging moments in the game because enemies are constantly respawning. Keeping a steady running pace is vital in completing these levels. The swing piano is the perfect style for these levels, best executed on “Treetop Trouble” and “Forest Follies.” Listening to the soundtrack by itself is actually pretty fun because I can instantly pair the songs with the boss fights. The songs themselves don’t include the sounds from bosses when they attack you. However, I envision a lot of the bosses movements and attacks because the music perfectly reflects the soundplay of the instruments. Listening to “Threatenin’ Zeppelin,” I can’t help but hear Hilda Berg’s screechy “HaHa” right after the descending xylophone intro transitions into the haunting alto-saxophone lead. The bouncy piano leads on “Carnival Kerfuffle” musically reflect the shifting movements of Beppi the Clown’s bumper car. Cuphead, in my opinion, is a game that everyone should experience. The soundtrack is available on streaming services, and I’d recommend giving some of the songs a listen just for a taste of the game.
Favorite Tracks: “Clip Joint Calamity,” “Aviary Action,” “Pyramid Peril,” "Murine Corps"
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