The 4 games mentioned in the title are some of the most highly rated and well known indie games ever. I haven't played any of them except Cuphead yet but I think this game deserves to be up there too. It's a bit disappointing that those games came out and made large impacts on the industry but this game that almost feels like a AAA title doesn't reach that level. Especially because it's a very high quality indie title like those games.
CrossCode IS a fairly popular indie game for sure but I just wish it made as much of an impact as those games did.
Cuphead as a game is pretty much a homage/recreation of the punishing difficult games of the NES and SNES era of the likes of Megaman, Contra, Ninja Gaiden, etc. with a bigger focus on being a boss rush rather than a typical platformer shooter (even though it does have traditional side scroller levels). If you're looking for a challenging game that requires skill to get through it's insane levels and/or want to have a good time with a friend, then it's definitely worth checking out.
However, I want to address the amazing art direction this game has. Inspired by the classic animated style of the 1920s and 30s, the entire game's art was hand drawn, and it goes to show over the decades we may have lost something valuable in the animation department when it mostly went digital. This isn't saying there hasn't been amazing stuff done with computers, but the fact that there still hasn't been something able to replace the same feel given from hand drawn cartoons really makes one think about how things have changed. And due to the insane amount of work the devs put into the game, it's unlikely we'll ever see something like this for the foreseeable future.
Also, the music deserves a shout out. The jazzy nature of it makes every encounter almost feel like a rhythm game as you dodge and shoot through each encounter, and listening to it on it's own is also very enjoyable.
Cuphead may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like the art style, hard game's with a coop feature, and a great ost, then you can't miss out on this dandy title.
