Artist Daniel Cortes has been redrawing the cast of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in the art style of Cuphead. Although Cuphead hasn't been added as an official fighter in Smash Bros., he's still available as a Mii Costume, and "Floral Fury" was also added to the game as a DLC track. Cuphead was originally a PC and Microsoft exclusive in 2017, but it's had a healthy life on the Nintendo Switch since it was added in April 2019.
Cuphead may not be a fighter in Smash Bros., but many other third-party characters have joined the fray in the game's two DLC packs, such as Banjo-Kazooie, Joker, and Dragon Quest's Hero. Most recently, Sephiroth, the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VII, was added to the roster last month. His announcement kicked off The Game Awards, but that hasn't stopped fans from already speculating who the next fighters will be.
As a daily challenge to himself, Daniel Cortes has been drawing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate characters reimagined in Cuphead's art style. So far, he's illustrated fighters such as Mario, Pit, Simon, Peach, Piranha Plant, Samus, and Ridley. He started this series by drawing the oldest fighter in Smash Bros., Mr. Game & Watch. Although he's not finished quite yet, more illustrations are on the way, as he's currently on day 18. In the meantime, take a look at a few of Cortes' drawings below.
It goes without saying that these are delightfully charming and fun to look at. The attention to detail is remarkable. It's difficult to imagine how some of these characters would look in a 1930s cartoon, such as the colossal dragon Ridley, for instance. Being able to actually see Samus' face in her helmet is a nice touch, as well. That's something that not even Nintendo has always committed to. Also, cartoon R.O.B. is just adorable.
What's also impressive is that Cortes has made this a daily challenge. Simply doing one of these drawings must take an incredible amount of work and time to fully create. How he's able to come up with such intricate illustrations in less than 24 hours is quite the feat. It begs the question of what a full-fledged Nintendo game, or Smash Bros. title, would look like with this art style. It would certainly bring an idiosyncratic perspective to the game. If anything, this just serves as further proof that Cuphead deserves to be a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Source: Daniel Cortes