Mouse: P.I. For Hire

Mouse: P.I. For Hire is not like Cuphead. It comes from an entirely different developer and is a first-person shooter, whereas Cuphead is a 2D platformer. But my reaction to seeing Mouse: P.I. For Hire the first time was similar to the emotions I felt when I initially saw Cuphead. Both games are animated in rubber-hose style, popularized by the earliest eras of animation, and both are nostalgic for the character designs of the time.

In Mouse: P.I. For Hire, you are 1930s noir mouse detective Jack Pepper, who must make their way through 20 levels in and around Mouseburg to solve various mysteries and shoot lots of guns. Troy Baker (Joel in The Last of Us and nearly every other video game) is lending his voice to Pepper. By genre, the game is a boomer shooter with fast-paced first-person shooting action, power-ups, and abilities like wall-running. Pepper can even consume spinach for a boost like Popeye, another cartoon serving as obvious inspiration for Mouse’s visual aesthetic.