That said, it’s that very indie community that has proven time and time again that making a 2D game 100% literally look like you’re playing a cartoon is not only possible, but remarkably impressive. I couldn’t be happier that it’s still a thing these days, and so many indie games I know and love wouldn’t be the games they are if not for the return of pixels. I don't want to disparage pixel art here. Sprites and hand drawn animation were almost always brushed aside in favor of polygons, or in more recent years, old school pixel art. Unfortunately, very few games actually wound up taking this route. This was a cartoon I could control, and it once again got me so excited for where 2D video games could potentially be heading. The sprites were still a little pixelated, but I don’t think I had ever seen a game move like that before. It didn’t hurt that the game played like a dream too, but I could stand there and stare at it all day. Street Fighter III moved like a Disney movie, and I couldn’t look away. Once Street Fighter, and really just about all Capcom’s fighters, adopted the animated style popularized in Darkstalkers, I figured that was about as good as it was going to get. I think the next time I was good and truly floored by a game’s animation was Street Fighter III. Aladdin for Genesis showed that games were getting closer to being able to mimic actual animation, and that kept my mind aflutter for years. Video game sprites, animating like a video game. Meanwhile, Capcom just made a video game. Sega and Virgin Interactive worked with actual Disney animators to make the Genesis version look like you were playing the movie (as best as the technology of the time could do) and the result was captivating. While I was playing something that looked very much like a video game, my Sega-leaning friends were playing something that looked like this… Sure, this doesn’t look bad, not by any stretch. I got it as a gift, furiously ripped it open, and it looked like this… Super Nintendo games, to my eyes and ears, pretty much always looked and sounded better than their Sega Genesis counterparts, and I just so happened to also be a HUGE fan of the Aladdin movie. ![]() I was always a Nintendo guy through and through, and when I saw Aladdin running on Sega Genesis, I couldn’t wait to see what the SNES version was going to look like. ![]() Lemmings walking, SOPHIA III’s wheels turning, Earthworm Jim’s idle animations, smooth movements are just captivating, and really made certain games stand out, especially when compared to the averages of the time. Kirby’s Adventure for NES had some killer graphics, but it was the animation of him swinging his sword that really caught my attention. Particularly good animation has always been a big linchpin for me being impressed by a game’s visuals. Controlling a game that looks like Dragon’s Lair is finally a reality, so why is it so rare? Games have strived to perfect that look for a very long time, but in the past few years it’s become apparent that it’s now actually a very attainable goal. The game’s a blast to play, but everything about it is enhanced by its incredible sense of style and the fact that it quite literally looks like a cartoon. Cuphead has hit the Nintendo Switch, and as anticipated, I’m absolutely in love with it.
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