Cuphead

It looks like a 1930s cartoon. Chad Moldenhauer drew the animation by hand and painted the backgrounds in watercolour. The animation runs at 24 frames per second, like American film.

The brothers Chad and Jared went through about 150 designs for the hero, from a kappa in a tiny hat to characters with a plate or a fork for a head. The cup came from a 1936 Japanese propaganda cartoon in which a man with a teacup for a head turns into a tank. To finish the game, the brothers remortgaged their house.

The 51-track score was recorded by jazz and big band musicians. In September 2019 its album became the first game soundtrack to top Billboard's jazz chart.

Several outlets pointed out the difficulty. Enemies have no health bars, which one reviewer called the game's most devilish idea, while two others found the final bosses a step too far. Critics give it 88 on Metacritic, players leave 96% positive out of 200,955 reviews. By our Recommended Score it is #65 of 4,736 games.

Liked it? Try Hollow Knight, about a nameless insect warrior in a fallen kingdom, and Rayman Legends, a platformer critics praised for its looks and music.