Cuphead

Cuphead launched September 29, 2017 from Studio MDHR, a run-and-gun boss rush that looked like a 1930s Fleischer Studios cartoon came to life and decided to murder you repeatedly. The hand-drawn animation, watercolor backgrounds, and authentic jazz soundtrack were stunning—this was playable art. The gameplay was brutally difficult, with tight platforming and memorization-heavy boss patterns that demanded perfection. Critics and players debated whether the difficulty was "challenging but fair" or "unforgiving to the point of frustration," but Studio MDHR had "been banging the 'this game will be hard' drum since day one." Reviews praised the aesthetics and varied boss design while noting the lack of easy mode locked out progression—Simple difficulty skipped boss phases and prevented you from fighting final bosses. StreamerHouse's 402-viewer peak across 2017-2018 came during Cuphead's cultural moment, when the game was everywhere and "git gud" discourse dominated social media. Players compared it to NES-era difficulty but noted Cuphead was more generous with checkpoints—attempts were minutes, not hours. The game sold millions, won awards, and proved that punishing difficulty + gorgeous art direction = mainstream success if executed perfectly. Cuphead's legacy is being the game that made "hard but beautiful" a viable indie formula, inspiring countless imitators who copied the difficulty without understanding the craft.