2022 is set to be a big year for Cuphead. The hand-drawn cartoon-inspired indie game from Studio MDHR has a lot of releases coming up. First, on February 18th, The Cuphead Show releases on Netflix, bringing the characters to television animation. And this summer, the game is set to receive additional content in its Delicious Last Course DLC package.
With all of this hype around the game's universe, it is time to remember the game itself. Cuphead was an extremely difficult run-and-gun platformer in the style of classic arcade shooters. It was also known for its boss battles, which took up most of the game's content. These fights were tough as nails and made for some incredibly unforgettable moments.
One of the bosses in the first world of Cuphead is Cagney Carnation. Cagney is pretty synonymous with the game. He is one of the oldest bosses, appearing in the game since its earliest builds. His soundtrack, "Floral Fury," is also one of the game's most popular tunes.
He is a great boss too, having multiple distinct phases. The first phase is tough enough, with him firing seeds and petals, but he drastically transforms in his last phases. He grows larger and covers the floor with vines, creating a great mix-up for a boss so early in the game.
The killer clown archetype is very well-worn in movies, television, and even video games at this point, but Beppi the Clown from Cuphead's World 2 brings some fun twists to it. This clown is balloon-themed and, as such, contorts and transforms throughout his fight. His arena, a theme park, also plays a big part.
A rollercoaster screams by and Beppi himself turns into a swing ride and a carousel for maximum carnival energy. Balloons, confetti, and ducks from a shooting range all play parts. The fight is the full fair-going experience, but it is safe to say it is a bit more difficult to survive this circus than one's local fair.
Cuphead has plenty of fights that are just fun because of the vibes. Captain Brineybeard, a remnant from a water-level that was cut from the game, is one such fight. The Captain is one of the bosses most prominent in the marketing for the game before its release, and it makes sense why; this pirate captain gives pure Fleischer Popeye cartoon vibes.
Captain Brineybeard fights from atop his pirate ship while Cuphead sits on the deck below. While his attacks are initially quite slow, little by little, more is added to the fight. Octopuses, barrels, cannonballs, and much more are added to the fray. The fight is a slow build if nothing else, but it crescendos into something more than the sum of its parts.
Cala Maria may sound like the name of a character from Splatoon, but she is a fan-favorite boss from Cuphead as well. This cross between Medusa and a mermaid is one of the airborne fights in the game. Cuphead and Mugman must take to the skies in little airplanes. These bullet hell segments are as tough as any other part of the game.
Cala Maria leans into her aquatic theme pretty significantly. Electric eels will be thrown at the brothers, and various fish will flop their way to protect her. However, a turn comes in the second half of her fight where she reveals her Gorgon nature. Players should watch out for her stone vision, which can leave players open to projectiles and contributes to Cuphead being considered one of the hardest platformer video games of all time.
Another of the aerial fights is against Dr. Kahl's robot. Dr. Kahl and his robot often rank among the toughest bosses in the game for some players, but difficulty brings its own reward: the satisfaction of completing a difficult task. The robot's many lasers, modes, and weapons are certainly a challenge.
Dr. Kahl's Robot is only weak in a few special areas, and it seems to have a deceptively small amount of health and phases. However, the phases are extremely complex. The first phase can easily overwhelm players if they are not careful, and the second phase against the doctor himself has tons of attacks that take up the whole screen.
Some video games have extremely strange final boss fights. Cuphead's final boss fight against The Devil himself is also quite strange. Despite being the final, he is not the toughest fight in the game, but he is quite tricky. His shapeshifting, stretching, and squashing could easily blindside some players.
The Devil spends most of the fight sitting in his chair, evoking the energy that he is not quite serious about fighting yet. He will transform into various forms, throwing long limbs and gigantic hands at the Cups. In his second phase, though, he gets serious, moving the fight to the bowels of hell. In this phase, he summons so many wonderfully animated minions that it can be easy to get overwhelmed.
Sally Stageplay is one of the fights in the game with the most homages. As Cuphead is based on golden-age animation, Sally's fight has plenty of references to classic Hollywood movies and theatre. This actress starts the fight in a wedding gown but abandons it for other props and outfits for the fight. Considering how good the animation is, the fight feels like a performance itself.
The fight itself references properties in other ways, though. Her movement patterns throughout her first phases are a dead ringer for fighting games from the mid-'90s. The extras throughout the fight carry projectiles that reference classic theater props. Even her final form makes her look straight out of a classic opera.
Even when a fight is incredibly difficult, Cuphead still delights with exceptional animation. Grim Matchstick is a particularly annoying fight on paper. Cuphead must keep up with a scrolling screen while jumping on floating clouds, and these cloud platforms can be destroyed by the dragon's fire, sending Cuphead falling to the ground.
Even still, the fight remains one of the better in the game because of its great animation. The landscape of the fight changes many times as the delightfully happy cartoon dragon lobs fire at the player. The fire takes all kinds of forms, as well, not just fireballs. Despite the frustrating mechanics, it is one of the most memorable because of the great character given to Grim.
Trains are popular settings for horror, whether they are haunted or not. The cramped space of transportation and the accidents that occur there would suggest they are breeding grounds for ghosts, and Cuphead's Phantom Express is a light-hearted take on that idea. This express ferrying the souls of the dead is full of fun and spooky specters that love popping out for a scare.
The Phantom Express is a boss fight with several different entities. The first phase is against a spooky ghost with eyes popping out of its hands. It is followed by a massive skeleton and two giant ogre-like paddles. The final phase of the fight is against the train itself, popping up on its wheels.
What is better than one boss fight? The answer is definitely ten boss fights, each with their own unique art and no reused assets shared between them. For a game like Cuphead, which was so labor-intensive in the creation of its graphics, that might sound impossible, but the penultimate fight in the game, King Dice, is actually several excellent fights taking place in the Devil's Casino.
The gimmick of the fight is that Cuphead must slap dice to progress through King Dice's gauntlet of possible encounters. Each fight offers something different and exciting, like fighting a cigar, a roulette, a pile of poker chips, or other gambling fare. The final fight against King Dice is comparatively short but is also very exciting given his massive collection of deadly playing cards. The dice mechanic means that with good luck or timing, experts can skip the fights they want to.
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