Cuphead vs Enchanted Portals — Is It a Copy or Just Inspired?
Quick Answer
Cuphead is the better game by a wide margin. Enchanted Portals copies Cuphead’s 1930s cartoon art style and boss-based gameplay but fails to match its tight controls, fair difficulty, and hand-crafted level design. The developers admitted Cuphead was their direct inspiration, and critics largely called it a poor imitation. If you want the real experience, play Cuphead. Enchanted Portals is only worth trying if you have already finished Cuphead and want more of the same feeling even if the quality is much lower.
When the Enchanted Portals trailer dropped in 2019, the gaming community went wild. Not because it looked amazing but because it looked almost exactly like Cuphead. Boss fights, cartoon art style, two playable characters, run and gun stages. The similarities were hard to ignore.
But is Enchanted Portals actually a ripoff? Or did Xixo Games just take inspiration and build something of their own? I played both. Below is the honest comparison.
Cuphead vs Enchanted Portals
| Factors | Cuphead | Enchanted Portals |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Studio MDHR | Xixo Games Studio |
| Released | 2017 | September 2023 |
| Players | 1–2 co-op | 1–2 co-op |
| Style | 1930s rubber hose cartoon | Old-timey cartoon |
| Main characters | Cuphead & Mugman | Bobby & Penny |
| Platform | PC, Console, APK | PC, Console |
| Metacritic Score | 88 (PC) | Mixed / Negative |
The Controversy
When the Enchanted Portals trailer first went live in 2019, viewers immediately called out the similarities to Cuphead in both animation and gameplay. The backlash was fast and loud.
The developers at Xixo Games responded by admitting that Cuphead was a huge inspiration. Their exact words: “Yes, of course Cuphead was a huge inspiration for Enchanted Portals. We’re both avid fans and we wanted to make something similar, but always from a place of respect and admiration for the original.”
Some people accepted that. Most did not. The debate never really went away and when the game finally released in 2023, the reviews made things worse.
Art Style
Cuphead has one of the most unique art styles in gaming history. Studio MDHR hand-drew every single frame on actual paper using real ink. The 1930s rubber hose animation looks and feels like you are playing a real old cartoon. Every boss, every background, every small detail was crafted with care over several years.
Enchanted Portals goes for a very similar old-school cartoon look. And to be fair, the animation is not bad. The game does achieve the 1930s cartoon aesthetic and some of the boss designs are charming.
But side by side, the difference shows. Cuphead’s art feels hand-crafted and alive. Enchanted Portals feels like a digital imitation of the same idea.
Gameplay and Controls
This is where the gap becomes very clear.
Cuphead’s controls are tight. Every jump, every dodge, every parry feels precise. When you die in Cuphead, it feels like your fault. You learn the pattern, you adjust, and eventually you get it right. That feeling is what made the game legendary.
Enchanted Portals copies almost everything about Cuphead except the precision of its mechanics, the tightness of its design, and the enjoyment of mastering it.
One major complaint is the lack of invincibility frames after getting hit. In Cuphead, you get a brief moment of safety when you take damage. In Enchanted Portals, you can get hit multiple times in a chain before you can even react. That does not feel like difficulty — it just feels unfair.
Run ‘n Gun Levels
Cuphead has six run and gun levels spread across three isles. They are challenging, varied, and each one feels different. The level design keeps you on your toes slopes, ceilings, moving platforms, enemy patterns that change constantly.
Enchanted Portals focuses much more on the run and gun part, with a couple of levels leading up to each boss fight. The problem is that these levels are randomly generated — stage elements are swapped around each time you play. The random generation leads to repetitive cycles of spammed enemies and mediocre platforming, with no indication of how close you are to the end after you die.
This is one of the biggest flaws in Enchanted Portals. Random generation might sound fun in theory but in a precision platformer it just feels cheap and lazy.
Boss Fights
Enchanted Portals gets some credit.
The bosses are the highlight of Enchanted Portals. They keep things fresh throughout and do not outstay their welcome like the run and gun sections do. Some of the boss designs are genuinely creative and fun to fight.
Cuphead’s bosses are still on another level though. Every single one has multiple phases, memorable designs, and patterns that reward memorization. Bosses like King Dice, Dr. Kahl’s Robot, and Grim Matchstick are genuinely iconic.
Enchanted Portals has some fun boss ideas but the execution is rougher and the transitions between boss phases feel clunky.
Difficulty
Both games are hard. But the type of hard is very different.
Cuphead is hard in a fair way. You die, you learn, you improve. Every death teaches you something. The difficulty is intentional and rewarding.
Enchanted Portals has controls that are not tight enough for a precision-based shooter. The game features difficulty spikes, disjointed boss transitions, and frustrating enemy placement that leads to deaths that do not feel like your fault.
Dying in Cuphead makes you want to try again. Dying in Enchanted Portals can make you want to quit not because it is too hard, but because the death felt cheap.
Story
Cuphead: Cuphead and Mugman gamble with the Devil at his casino, lose, and must collect the soul contracts of other debtors to pay off their debt. Simple but fun, and it gives the whole game a clear purpose.
Enchanted Portals: Bobby and Penny are rookie wizards stuck between dimensions after an accident involving a magic book. They must fight their way back to their own dimension.
Both stories are thin, which is fine for this type of game. But Cuphead’s story fits the 1930s theme perfectly. The Devil-and-a-deal setup feels like it belongs in a real old cartoon. Enchanted Portals’ story feels more generic.
Co-op Mode
Both games support two-player local co-op. This is one area where Enchanted Portals keeps up. Playing with a friend makes the experience noticeably more enjoyable and covers up a lot of the game’s rough edges.
Cuphead’s co-op is also great Cuphead and Mugman play identically so there is no imbalance between players.
Critical Reception
Upon release, Enchanted Portals received largely negative reviews. One reviewer called it an “Aldi-style mimicry of Cuphead.” Another said it “feels so very Cuphead that it almost borders on plagiarism.” On OpenCritic, less than 20% of critics recommended it.
Cuphead sits at an 88 on Metacritic for PC and is widely regarded as one of the best indie games ever made.
Is Enchanted Portals Worth Playing?
Honestly? Only if you have already finished Cuphead and are desperate for more of the same feeling.
Enchanted Portals is pretty much the definition of a mid-tier indie game. It showcases impressive animation and fun boss fights, but its randomly generated run and gun sections and rough mechanics drag the whole experience down.
If someone put it to you straight: Cuphead is a masterpiece. Enchanted Portals is a decent imitation that copies the look but misses what made the original great tight controls, fair difficulty, and levels that feel hand-crafted.
