It’s time for my top three games of 2017. For this one, we have a game that I’ve been waiting years for, and it certainly did not disappoint.
#3 — Cuphead
Cuphead was finally released this year, after years of teasers and being published by Microsoft. The game’s development was a story in of itself; with Studio MDHR putting everything on the line to make their dream game.
That level of passion definitely shows through the final product. The game is visual and audio masterpiece for me. As a lover of hand drawn animation, big bands, and barbershop quartets, the game was almost made entirely for me.
In terms of game design, Cuphead is very lean in that regard. The game consists of boss battles with a few run and gun stages. With that said, the quality was definitely there. Each boss fight took the form of a multi phase battle; requiring the player to learn all the ins and outs to succeed.
The game is such a great example of form and function. After some basic tweaking, the controls felt perfect in my hands. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a game be this creative with their boss designs.
Cuphead was also the first game that I attempted to speed run, and for a time I held the #2 world record for the game.
This is going to be a quick entry, because I’ve already said so much about the game in my review of it. As someone who loves games for their design and systems, Cuphead just fires on all cylinders with its design. While it may have taken a long time to come out, Studio MDHR is certainly off to an amazing start as an indie company.
For silver place tomorrow, we have an indie game that definitely deserved more praise than it has gotten.
