Enchanted Portals

Enchanted Portals is a fantasy action platform shooter set in a whimsical 1930s cartoon-inspired world, where players control Bobby and Penny, two enchanted characters who embark on a run-and-gun adventure through side-scrolling levels filled with magical portals, enemies, and challenging bosses. Drawing heavy inspiration from classics like Cuphead, the game features tight direct controls, co-op gameplay, and a vibrant 2D visual style that captures the charm of vintage animation in an enchanted realm teeming with fantastical creatures and obstacles.

Enchanted Portals: Review

Introduction

Imagine tumbling through a swirling vortex of ink and color, emerging into worlds where haunted hotels loom under moonlit skies and cyborg cows command interstellar fleets—a whimsical fever dream that channels the rubber-hose anarchy of 1930s cartoons. Enchanted Portals, the 2023 debut from Spain’s Xixo Games Studio, promises exactly that: a co-op run-and-gun platformer where rookie wizards Bobby and Penny chase a mischievous magic book across interdimensional realms. Heavily inspired by the acclaimed Cuphead (2017), it arrives in an era where indie developers continue to mine retro aesthetics for modern audiences, building on the success of titles like Shovel Knight and Hollow Knight. Yet, for all its nostalgic allure and evident passion, Enchanted Portals stumbles under the weight of its ambitions. This review argues that while the game’s hand-drawn visuals and boss creativity offer fleeting sparks of delight, its clunky mechanics, repetitive design, and unpolished execution mark it as a flawed homage rather than a triumphant revival of the genre.

Development History & Context

Xixo Games Studio, a diminutive two-person outfit from Spain comprising game director and programmer Daniel Jiménez and multi-talented artist/composer Gemma Torrellas, entered the spotlight in October 2019 with an announcement that sparked both intrigue and controversy. The studio planned a Kickstarter campaign to fund Enchanted Portals, a self-financed passion project built in Unreal Engine 4. However, initial pre-Kickstarter hype—fueled by trailers showcasing fluid, Cuphead-esque animations—drew immediate backlash. Online communities on platforms like Twitter and YouTube lambasted the game for its overt similarities to Studio MDHR’s Cuphead, from the bouncy character designs to the side-scrolling bullet-hell boss fights. Critics accused it of being a “clone” or “ripoff,” leading Xixo to cancel the initial campaign amid negotiations with a prospective publisher.

Undeterred, the team relaunched on Kickstarter in April 2020, aiming for €120,000 to polish the game. The effort fell short, forcing Xixo to self-publish digitally while securing console partnerships with Perpetual Europe Ltd. for physical releases. Development spanned over four years in a post-Cuphead landscape, where indie platformers like Celeste (2018) emphasized tight controls and emotional depth, and Dead Cells (2018) innovated with roguelite progression. Technological constraints were minimal thanks to Unreal Engine 4’s accessibility, but the small team’s limited resources—evident in the sparse credits (just two core members)—highlighted the challenges of solo indie creation. By 2023, the gaming industry was saturated with retro revivals, from TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge to River City Girls, making Enchanted Portals a risky bet. Released on September 5 for Windows (via Steam and Epic Games Store) at $19.99, it expanded to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on September 8, with later ports to PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on November 1. A physical “Tales Edition” for PS5 followed on September 29. This context underscores a valiant but under-resourced effort: Xixo aimed to capture Cuphead‘s magic on a shoestring budget, only to expose the gulf between inspiration and execution in an unforgiving indie market.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

At its core, Enchanted Portals weaves a simple yet charming tale of youthful curiosity gone awry, framed as an “excuse plot” that prioritizes action over depth—a common trope in run-and-gun platformers like Contra or Cuphead itself. The story opens with protagonists Bobby and Penny, two apprentice wizards (portrayed as wide-eyed, floppy-limbed cartoon kids), performing mundane housework in what appears to be a cozy, book-lined wizard’s tower. Bobby’s accidental knock sends a dusty tome tumbling, revealing portal-crafting instructions. Eagerly following the spell, they summon a vortex that engulfs them, their pet cat, and the book itself—which animates into a cheeky, flying antagonist with googly eyes and a penchant for evasion.

What follows is a linear odyssey across six surreal worlds, each a portal-hopping vignette: World 1’s Big Boo’s Haunt-inspired spooky forest with bats, ghosts, and a haunted hotel; World 2’s Space Zone aboard a UFO piloted by a cyborg cow (inverting Aliens Steal Cattle tropes); World 3’s Jungle Japes and Under the Sea temple guarded by a giant crab; World 4’s frog-infested castle; World 5’s rooster-populated Western town; and World 6’s wormhole finale. Bobby and Penny battle quirky inhabitants— from three-headed hellhounds (Cerberus, with a Doge-meme Shiba Inu head) to narcissistic boxers like Rocky—while pursuing the sentient Magic Book. The plot culminates in a boss bonanza where the book reveals itself as the Big Bad, transforming through phases (a giant tree in Scaredy Squirrel-style art, then an animesque wizard) before defeat. They return home just as an elder wizard arrives, with a sequel hook: the book tattles to its “father” tome, implying future retribution.

Thematically, the game explores consequences of unchecked curiosity and the blurred line between magic as wonder and peril, echoing fairy tales like Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz. Bobby and Penny embody innocence—expressive health bars shift from cheerful grins to weary frowns as they take damage—while the book’s sentience humanizes everyday objects, touching on themes of abandonment and rebellion. Dialogue is sparse, limited to bubbly text bubbles and silent animations, with cutscenes using static, slideshow-style images that feel amateurish compared to Cuphead‘s hand-animated flair. Characters lack depth: Bobby and Penny are interchangeable (co-op swaps control seamlessly), bosses like the monocle-wearing octopus or cigar-chomping buffalo are visual gags without backstory, and the cat serves as a passive midway marker. This minimalism suits the genre’s fast pace but misses opportunities for thematic richness—worlds like the rooster town (a visual pun on “fowl play”) or digital virus stage hint at satire on interdimensional chaos, yet remain underdeveloped. The narrative’s brevity (3-5 hours) and non-stop comedy (slapstick deaths, whimsical transformations) prioritize whimsy over emotional investment, resulting in an engaging but superficial dive that feels like a loving nod to cartoon shorts rather than a profound saga.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

Enchanted Portals adheres to the run-and-gun blueprint established by Cuphead: side-scrolling levels blend platforming, shooting, and survival against enemy waves, punctuated by multi-phase boss battles. Players control Bobby or Penny (or both in co-op) with direct controls—analog movement, jump (double-jump for air control), and a held fire button for wand blasts. Innovation lies in magical systems: three elemental spells (fireballs for red enemies, ice shards for blue, wind bursts for green) swapped via D-pad, a bubble shield for blocking attacks, a wand swipe for melee or obstacle-clearing, and situational abilities like broom flight or underwater swimming. Status effects (e.g., jump restriction, attack disable) add roguelite spice, while co-op encourages tag-team strategy, with one player shielding as the other shoots.

The core loop—traverse linear stages, dispatch randomized foes, reach a boss—is straightforward but flawed. Platforming feels floaty and imprecise, with jumps prone to overshooting and dashes delayed by cooldowns that disrupt momentum. Shooting halts entirely when swapping spells, turning elemental matching into a clunky interruption amid bullet-hell chaos. UI is minimalist: a expressive health bar (hearts deplete cartoonishly), spell indicators, and a score counter, but lacks polish—no parry feedback, no clear boss weak points beyond color-coding. Levels generate enemies randomly, leading to unfair spikes (e.g., off-screen ghosts or invincible maids) and artificial difficulty from repetition rather than skill tests. Bosses shine sporadically: the Meowitch’s wake-up call shifts from inkblot to Tim Burton goth art; Haarmit’s crab phases include ghostly resurrections; the finale mirrors player spells in a One-Winged Angel sequence. Yet transitions jar (e.g., phase shifts halt action), and fights drag (5+ minutes of looped patterns) without the rhythmic precision of Cuphead.

Co-op mitigates solo frustrations but introduces sync issues, like mismatched invincibility. Progression is linear with three difficulties (Easy, Normal, Insane), but no unlocks or new game+ dilute replayability. Innovative touches—like vine-swinging scrapped in final builds or mirror boss mechanics—hint at ambition, but execution falters: no ducking/prone, silent projectiles, and Kaizo traps (simultaneous boss/player death still progresses). Overall, the systems evoke 1930s Mickey Mousing (attempted but desynced in piano boss fights) yet crumble under imprecise controls and repetition, transforming potential mastery into rote endurance.

World-Building, Art & Sound

Enchanted Portals excels in evoking a multiverse of cartoonish wonder, with world-building that transforms mundane tropes into interdimensional playgrounds. Settings draw from fantasy archetypes reimagined through portals: the haunted forest’s Big Boo’s Haunt vibe builds eerie tension with glowing eyes and cobwebbed mansions; the UFO’s Space Zone buzzes with laser cages and Little Green Men; the temple island flips to Under the Sea merfolk battles; the frog castle drips medieval whimsy; the rooster town parodies Westerns with tommy-gun poultry; and the wormhole finale warps reality itself. Atmosphere thrives on variety—creepy nights to bubbly oceans—fostering a sense of endless discovery, though randomized levels undermine cohesion, feeling like procedural slogs over handcrafted dioramas.

Art direction is the game’s crown jewel, nailing a 1930s rubber-hose aesthetic with hand-drawn vibrancy. Characters bounce with expressive squash-and-stretch animation: Bobby and Penny’s floppy limbs and elastic jumps recall Fleischer Studios’ Betty Boop era. Enemies pop—Trojan horse viruses in digital stages, a top-hat octopus juggling items—while bosses evolve via art shifts (e.g., 2000s cartoon tree form). Backgrounds layer detail: gravestones in forests, starry UFO interiors. Fluid 60fps animation holds amid chaos, but inconsistencies mar it—amateur cutscenes, reused assets (endless spiders/bats), and scale issues (tiny enemies on HD resolutions). Visual puns abound (Monkey Morality Pose hazards, pizza-roofed houses), contributing to a playful immersion that masks gameplay woes.

Sound design, however, underwhelms. Gemma Torrellas’ jaunty soundtrack—jazzy flutes for whimsy, ominous strings for bosses—mirrors old-timey cartoons, shifting tones per world (regal slowdowns for princess fights create ironic dissonance). Yet effects are sparse: silent shots, muted jumps, no hit feedback, turning combat visceral but unsatisfying. Boss themes sync poorly (piano attacks miss musical beats), and absent cues for threats exacerbate frustration. Overall, art and music craft a nostalgic haze, enhancing exploration’s joy while sound’s minimalism drains combat’s punch—elements that together build a stylish facade over mechanical cracks.

Reception & Legacy

Upon launch, Enchanted Portals faced a critical mauling, with aggregate scores reflecting its execution pitfalls: Metacritic’s 42/100 for PS5 (“generally unfavorable”), OpenCritic’s 41% (only 14% recommend), and MobyGames’ 4.8/10 (42% critics, 2.3/5 players). Early backlash echoed 2019’s trailer controversy, with reviewers decrying it as a “soulless Cuphead clone” (Nexus Hub) or “bargain bin Super NES game” (Video Chums). Common gripes: clunky controls frustrating precision play (COGconnected: “not tight enough”), repetitive run ‘n’ gun stages (GameSpew: “tad too repetitive”), artificial difficulty spikes (Hardcore Gamer: “unbelievably cheap”), and disjointed bosses (WellPlayed: “Aldi-style mimicry”). Sound omissions drew ire (PlayStation Universe: “irritated far more than hoped”), though art received consistent praise—Cultured Vultures lauded “delightful 2D animation,” and KeenGamer noted boss fights “capture the essence.”

Commercially, it underperformed, with low collection counts (1 on MobyGames) and sales likely hampered by the $19.99 price and poor word-of-mouth. Player reviews mirrored critics (71% negative on Metacritic), citing bugs, sluggish movement, and “cancer” music, though some defended its roguelike hardness post-updates (e.g., GG-LucasPrada: “many things improve a lot”). Reputation has evolved modestly; patches addressed controls and loading (e.g., Switch version’s slow times), but core flaws persist, positioning it as a cautionary tale for indie clones. Influence is negligible—no direct successors cited, unlike Cuphead‘s spawn of rubber-hose inspired works (Dandy Ace). In industry terms, it highlights risks of imitation without innovation: a 2023 release amid Hollow Knight: Silksong hype and AAA blockbusters, it serves as a footnote in indie platformer history, reminding developers that homage demands mastery.

Conclusion

Enchanted Portals is a bittersweet artifact: a two-person labor of love that conjures the spirit of 1930s cartoons through vibrant worlds, creative bosses, and a breezy magical romp, yet crumbles under imprecise controls, endless repetition, and unrefined systems that betray its Cuphead roots. From development hurdles and Kickstarter woes to a narrative of whimsical peril and art that dazzles amid sound’s silence, the game overflows with heart but lacks the polish to endure. Its poor reception cements it not as a genre innovator but a niche curio—a flawed nostalgic callback for diehard retro fans willing to overlook frustration. In video game history, it occupies a humble spot: a testament to indie ambition’s highs and lows, urging future creators to transcend inspiration with originality. Verdict: Skip unless you’re charmed by the visuals alone; for tight run-and-gun mastery, stick to the originals. Score: 4.5/10