Cuphead is stupidly hard, stupidly beautiful, and I love it

COLOGNE, Germany—Cuphead is difficult. I mean, really, really difficult. If you don't die within the first few minutes of playing, you're either some kind of platforming genius or just damn lucky. But while that might sound unappealing to some, for those suckers for punishment—think fans of Super Meat Boy, Metal Slug, and Contra et al.—Cuphead is wonderful indeed.

Run-and-gun games like Cuphead grew out of the arcades and early consoles like the NES, where the ultimate aim was to squeeze more quarters out of you and quickly bring in the next sucker rather than push you through some long and convoluted narrative. Cuphead stays true to those ideals. There's a three-strikes-and-you're-out health system and some insanely tricky levels and bosses to play through.

The beauty of those original run-and-gun games, even if they often became frustrating, was that you could always find a way through if you were good enough. Skill and persistence were key; good level design and enemy attack patterns could be learnt and overcome. While it's too early to tell if Cuphead has managed to pull off the same trick, it's certainly off to a promising start.

The first boss level—we are told there's a record-breaking 30 boss levels—features a pissed off potato and a psychedelic carrot. The potato spits out clumps of dirt for the titular Cuphead to jump over while he attacks with his finger gun. Thankfully, you can just hold down the fire button while you frantically leap around rather than hammer the button repeatedly.

The carrot spices things up a bit, though: because he attacks from the top of the screen, you have to aim your shots up in order to hit him. Both aiming and jump direction are controlled with the same analogue stick, so naturally, this gets very tricky, very quickly. But it never feels unfair. As the carrot rains down smaller carrot-shaped projectiles and psychedelic circles from his frazzled brain, you get to learn how fast they move and where they'll land, and time your attacks and jumps accordingly.

This is well-worn territory, but it's executed with style and precision. Cuphead's movements are sharp enough to make it feel like you're really in control of the character without being so stiff as to lose that feeling of weight and motion as he leaps through the air. Even after just a few minutes of playing, I found controlling Cuphead intuitive and natural.

While I managed to defeat the carrot boss after a few attempts, I defy anyone to defeat the surly sea captain that came next without some serious practice. This time, instead of the just one thing to worry about, the sea captain boss gives you several concerns. It starts with the captain himself, who launches small projectiles at you, and a crate that moves across the top of the screen and periodically falls on top of you.

Then there's the hit box for the captain, which is selfishly small. In order to land a hit, you have to be high up in the air, down in the bottom right corner aiming up, leaving you vulnerable to attack. And then even if you manage to land a few hits, the captain starts calling out fish from the ocean, who crawl along the ground ready to take away one of your precious life points.

I managed to make it that far and was really quite pleased with myself... until a sodding great shark suddenly appeared from the side of the screen and killed me. Frustrating? Yes. But did I stop playing? Hell no. There's something about learning those patterns that makes this type of game difficult to put down. A later two-player level was even trickier, featuring not only small moving cloud platforms (with instadeath awaiting those who fell off), but a great big dragon that spat out fireballs and weird coloured bombs from his eyes at an alarming rate. Suffice to say, I didn't manage to complete that level.

I am a sucker for punishment, though, and Cuphead is exactly the sort of game that I adore. Those with less patience will likely find it too difficult, but I'd still urge them to give it a chance. The game is absolutely gorgeous, nailing that 1930s cartoon mise en scène with astonishing accuracy and feel. That's not to mention the killer soundtrack, which apes classic 1930s jazz and swing to great effect.

Unfortunately, Cuphead isn't due for release until 2016, but it will at least be launching on Windows 10 as well as Xbox One for those without Microsoft's console. That's an agonisingly long wait for a game that I'm dying to play again. But I suppose all that time in development will be worth it. If the final thing ends up anything like the short demo I played at Gamescom, retro fans are going to be in for a real treat.