Cuphead on Switch is a stunning conversion Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Cuphead on Switch is a stunning conversion Flawless victory. Face-off by John Linneman Senior Staff Writer, Digital Foundry Published on 18 Apr 2019 95 comments Previously a console exclusive for Xbox One, Studio MDHR's Cuphead is now available on Switch and speaking as a big fan of the game, I highly recommend it! In fact, the port to Nintendo's hybrid is nigh-on flawless - indistinguishable from Xbox on a living room display and with the added bonus of portable play that holds up beautifully for gaming on the go. Put simply, it's a lovingly crafted, zero compromise port that exceeds expectations. And it's worth remembering what makes Cuphead so special in the first place. It combines classic retro-style shooting gameplay with an absolutely unique 30s cartoon aesthetic. Traditionally drawn and animated characters mix it up with water-coloured painted backdrops that scroll independently for a cool parallax look. Studio MDHR adds an extra layer of authenticity to the visuals by using a distinct range of post-processing effects that help to sell the impression of the action taking place on aged film stock, displayed through the lens of an old projector. Taken as a whole, Cuphead is the closest we've seen to an interactive cartoon in this generation. Back in the day, the developers started out by using the now-obsolete XNA framework, before taking the decision to move onto Unity as the engine of choice. It's a technology that's delivered uneven results - even in predominantly 2D-based games - but polish and performance on the original Xbox One and PC versions was second to none. We even managed to play the game smoothly on an old Dell XPS 13 with integrated graphics. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that the Switch conversion is just as good. The 2D art certainly helps in the sense that Cuphead is essentially 'resolution proof'. Scale up the Switch's mobile 720p output to match docked mode's full HD presentation in a side-by-side comparison and the results are indistinguishable from one another, and in turn, identical to the PC version running at 1440p or Xbox One X outputting in its 4K display mode. The way the artwork was crafted means that there are no harsh pixel edges to give away a 'native resolution' as such. The Cuphead Switch port in action - everything you need to know about Studio MDHR's uncanny conversion. Interestingly, the Switch download weighs in at just 3.3GB - around a quarter of the size of the Xbox version. However, the graphics are identical to the Xbox game and animate in exactly the same way, while audio quality is a complete match. Cuphead is receiving a physical release, so reducing the file size footprint means that Studio MDHR can ship the game on a smaller, cheaper cartridge. Perhaps this explains the game's radical shrinkage in the move to Switch, but thankfully this does not seem to come with any kind of noticeable compromise. Whatever compression system the developer uses does not seem to cause issues with loading times either. Cuphead on Switch actually loads its levels faster than the launch code on Xbox One, and initially, I wondered whether the move to NAND may give the Nintendo handheld an edge over the Xbox's mechanical HDD. Well, excessive loading times were one of my very few complaints about the original release but on revisiting the game, it's clear that Studio MDHR took the criticism onboard and drastically reduced loading times on the Microsoft console, which is now faster than Switch. Incidentally, the stutter I noticed in the Windows Store PC release back in the day has also been fixed. Performance-wise, it's business as usual for the new port. Cuphead delivers a locked 60 frames per second on both docked and mobile Switch configurations, meaning that it's absolutely on par with the Xbox One version in terms of fluidity and consistency - a boon for a sideways shooter like this one. Some early reports have flagged slowdown on super moves and parries, but this was always there - the game emphasises these moves with split-second freezes in a similar way to weapon impacts in The Legend of Zelda. We can tell it's not game slowdown as such as the post-process pipeline continues on regardless, subtly altering each and every frame. In fact, the only issue I found was a slight animation stutter in one round that I never noticed again. The bottom line is that beyond the technical minutiae, the takeaway here is simple: Cuphead on Switch is a complete match to Xbox and PC in terms of both visuals and performance. I played and completed Cuphead when it was first launched and now that it's available on Switch, I'm likely to do so again. This new release adds a new dimension to the game in that I can play it in handheld form, without any compromises whatsoever. Meanwhile, in the home and docked to a TV, Cuphead remains just as good as it always was - it's one of the few Switch console ports that is absolutely identical to the other current-gen versions. The icing on the cake? Cuphead is indeed getting a physical release. This may not matter to many in the digital age, but the demise of the Wii eShop demonstrates the importance of preservation and I'll definitely be adding this brilliant game to my physical games collection. Will you support the Digital Foundry team? Digital Foundry specialises in technical analysis of gaming hardware and software, using state-of-the-art capture systems and bespoke software to show you how well games and hardware run, visualising precisely what they're capable of. In order to show you what 4K gaming actually looks like we needed to build our own platform to supply high quality 4K video for offline viewing. So we did. Our videos are multi-gigabyte files and we've chosen a high quality provider to ensure fast downloads. However, that bandwidth isn't free and so we charge a small monthly subscription fee of £4.50. We think it's a small price to pay for unlimited access to top-tier quality encodes of our content. Thank you. Support Digital Foundry Find out more about the benefits of our Patreon More Face-offs Digital Foundry Nier Automata's Switch port is very impressive - but not quite perfect A game that struggled on PS4 and Xbox One transitions well to the Nintendo hybrid. 17 Digital Foundry Deathloop comes to Xbox Series X - and not much has changed from its PS5 debut But what about Series S? 74 Digital Foundry Intel's XeSS tested in depth vs DLSS - the Digital Foundry technology review A strong start for a new, more open AI upscaler. 6 Digital Foundry Soul Hackers 2: Atlus' new Persona-lite has major tech problems An intriguing game marred by primitive visuals and baffling performance. 18 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Sennheiser's legendary HD 599 open-back headphones are just £70 at Amazon in the Prime Early Access Sale Comfortable with neutral sound and a wide sound stage. Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. 1 Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store