Cuphead, Ruiner, and the joy of really hard games

It took me 14 tries before I reached the psychic carrot. First, I had to get past an incredibly angry potato, who hurled giant balls of dirt and worms my way at irregular intervals. When I finally defeated the spud, I moved on to an onion who cried a storm’s worth of damaging tears. But the carrot was the real challenge. Possessing the ability to both fire homing missiles (in the form of tiny carrots, of course) and shoot out laser beams from its third eye, I struggled to avoid its deadly onslaught. Eventually, through a combination of luck and persistence, I avoided the carrot’s attacks long enough to get in the last, devastating blow and finish the level. It took me well over 25 attempts.

And that was only Cuphead’s first level.

Many...

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