‘Cuphead’ and Expert Boss Design
Cuphead is one of those games that seemed to thrive on pure aesthetic alone. The classic cartoon art-style instantly captivated audiences of all ages, while the big band orchestra perfectly encapsulated the bygone era. While I love every ounce of charm Cuphead brings to the table, I’d like to take a look at the gameplay itself and how the bosses seamlessly introduce new mechanics, build up on them, and surpass the player’s expectations. There are other “Run ‘n Gun” levels, but they are entirely optional and the meat of the game takes place in those boss stages. Before going further, it is worth noting that every attack on every boss in the game is telegraphed – there is almost always a telltale sign of what the boss is going to do next, giving the player ample time to prepare a response. This is a perfect way to balance difficulty with fairness.
While Cuphead does supply a tutorial, it truly tests the player on the different techniques in all of the bosses in the game’s first isle. There is also an easy mode, though it simply removes phases. The player might not then receive all the teachings the game expects when reaching the later bosses. Cuphead also locks you out of the final 2 bosses if you play on this mode, thus it is recommended to just dive into the standard difficulty.
There are two options for the first boss, but the intended first one is The Root Pack, a series of three vegetables that each apply a different strategy to overcome. The first vegetable, the potato Moe Tato, spits out a set of rocks. Cuphead (the player’s character) can jump and shoot. These two simple acts allow him to jump over the rocks and shoot back, taking down Moe. The second phase introduces a crying onion, Weepy, who rains down projectiles from the sky. Thus is introduced the ability to move, since jumping will not avoid these droplets on its own. Finally, a carrot named Psycarrot pops out of the ground, with a target that is simply too high off the ground to shoot normally while Cuphead has to dodge homing carrot missiles. This teaches the player about aiming and, since some shots are bound to run into the missiles, that some enemy objects aside from the boss can actually be destroyed by your shots. Psycarrot also attacks with lasers, introducing the concept of a boss having multiple different attacks. This set of three bosses is a learning experience; by the time you overcome this challenge, you can run, jump, and gun with no difficulty.
The second boss, Goopy Le Grande, is a bouncing blob of a creature that is deceptively simple in nature. While Cuphead can simply run under its bounces, it becomes much easier with the dash maneuver – something that the player might not have even known existed aside from the tutorial. In addition, Goopy will stop momentarily every few bounces to throw out a punch. Sometimes you can be trapped in a corner, but fret not! Cuphead has the ability to duck, which avoids these attacks! After taking enough damage, he becomes bigger in size – your same tactics of dashing and ducking still work, though his sheer size makes any other strategy less useful, encouraging the player to learn new tricks. His final phase is a moving gravestone, which like the carrot, motivates you to aim upward. Its slam attacks are also very difficult to simply run away from; thus, the dash technique is once again employed to avoid these attacks. Goopy Le Grande lays defeated; thus the dash and the duck have been added to your arsenal of tricks.
This educational trend continues for the rest of the first isle. Ribby and Croaks, the third boss, re-introduces the concept of a boss having multiple attacks in its first phase. When they go to different sides of the screen, you suddenly have two different things to contend with at once – projectiles from the left, and a wind fan from the right. At this point, the frogs do something completely unexpected: they turn into a slot machine! The fight can then no longer progress until the player parries the slot machine handle, while simple coin projectiles are fired to encourage experimentation. The result from that parry also teaches another lesson, in that sometimes there are random elements, and sometimes you may need persistence to get the result you want. But the most important lesson comes from that handle – pink objects can be parried. That is an invaluable tool that can make many encounters later in the game much more manageable. Whenever these parries destroy an object, they also give an additional ‘card’ which allows Cuphead to fire special attacks. While not required and never really incorporated into the boss fights, the game gives you the opportunity to learn about them – most notably in the Mausoleum bonus stages.
Continuing on is Hilda Berg. Before you can even challenge this blimp, you are forced to undergo another tutorial – this one on how to use the airplane, a separate type of boss fight that removes the ability to jump, but allows free form movement instead. In addition, dashes are replaced with a shrink mode, which increases speed substantially but also decreases your damage output and range. Her attacks promote usage of your newfound abilities. At certain points in the fight, she’ll assume a Taurus form and either a Gemini or a Sagittarius form. The Taurus form forces vertical evasive action, while the others encourage moving in a circle to avoid taking damage. The tornadoes she throws out during other phases are also easily dodged while in the shrunken form. Hilda is quite a jump in difficulty, but with proper play, she too can be conquered with your new tools.
The final test comes in the first isle’s final boss – Cagney Carnation. Everything you have learned will make this fight easier, yet it is not impossible to overcome without. There’s also a new movement option introduced – the ability to drop through floating platforms. Cagney starts off with *three* different attacks. The most potent are seeds that rain from the sky, sprouting minions that either chase you down or stay in place, creating more obstacles to deal with. Most significantly, though, is a pink seed that creates a (temporarily) unkillable flying menace that spits even more projectiles at you. Parrying this pink seed is invaluable to your success. In addition, Cagney can cover either the top or the bottom of the screen to keep you on your toes, and send out projectiles that operate in a more complex pattern. Even his positioning makes it difficult to hit him normally, relying on either your jumps or aiming to hit. This climaxes in Cagney ripping the floor out from under you, forcing you to take cover on the above platforms, carefully moving between them as he proceeds to temporarily take away each one. This segment only relies on the same run, jump, and gun, as the Root Pack fight – however, this is the true test of your readiness. Once Cagney goes down, you are able to handle whatever the game throws at you.
Now that the player knows everything there is to know about actually playing the game, complications can be added in. Isle Two is a perfect change – increasing difficulty simply by adding more things to deal with at once. Baroness Von Bon Bon starts by choosing from a random assortment of confectionary minions, but it builds in each phase by introducing a new obstacle to simultaneously contend with – phase two includes walking jelly beans (some of which can be parried), and phase three has Bon Bon herself shooting a cotton candy gun at you. This ends with a chase sequence that includes dodging giant peppermint wheels and her head while the screen is scrolling. This is a lot to deal with at once, but the player is prepared based on Isle One’s bosses.
This gradual addition of more to deal with is genius design, letting the player get a grasp on things initially before increasing the challenge throughout the fight. That’s the theme with Isle Two – two (or more) things to deal with at once. Djimmi the Great creates obstacles that shoot even more projectiles, forcing your attention on all sides. Beppi the Clown has a roller coaster that constantly gets in the way. Wally Warbles has minions and eventually deploys rotating eggs. All of these create some intense situations, yet simple when broken down into its components. Even Grim Matchstick, one of the hardest bosses in the game for some people, has simple attacks only made difficult by the moving floor. Grim in particular is interesting to note in that he is the only boss in the game that actively *punishes* the player for constantly shooting, with projectiles that split into more if shot at – a lesson in being too careless, perhaps?
Isle Three, contrary to expectations of increasing the challenge even further, decided to experiment a bit more with boss design. This complicates the bosses in a different way rather than simply throwing out more at you. An interesting design choice, yet one I think benefited the game overall (though the difficulty took a hit here). The first boss presented here is Rumor Honeybottoms, who presents a unique challenge by being the only boss with a vertically scrolling stage. Dr. Kahl’s Robot’s sub-phases reveal new attacks when each section is destroyed. Cala Maria has a petrifying gaze that freezes Cuphead in place, forcing you to plan out your movements to be in safe zones in advance. Sally Stageplay is a more aesthetic experimentation, with the whole battle mimicking a play, scene by scene. Most unique is the Phantom Express, which gives the player some control over the platform you stand on by parrying the levers on a mine cart. This is further complicated by the pink bricks that flying enemies drop on it, moving the cart against your will. The attacks the boss throws at you aim at different areas of the arena, thus careful manipulation of the cart is key to getting out of that fight alive.
Finally, after an arduous journey, Cuphead reaches its climax. But first, there is a showdown with King Dice, yet another boss who changes up the rules of the game. In a homage to Gunstar Heroes, before facing him outright, King Dice has you roll a die and face a series of mini-bosses depending on what you roll. All of this must be done in a single life as well, testing your endurance. What may initially seem like a daunting task is actually very simple at its core. Each of these mini-bosses has very few attacks and only a single phase, letting you learn the patterns quickly. In addition, with careful parry of the dice, you can manipulate it into giving you the easiest options available for your playstyle. You end this gauntlet with a bout with the King himself; a showing of your mastery of the parry. Any player that has not perfected this skill will find themselves having a difficult time with this last phase in particular.
The true finale can now begin – a showdown with the Devil. There are no surprises here; just a final confrontation, combining a variety of threats made easier with all of the skills you have learned throughout the game. The first phase brings out minions and a randomly chosen barrage of projectiles, while forcing you to aim upward at him the entire time. As the fight progresses, you enter another arena where platforms slowly are removed, limiting the amount of space you have to continue the onslaught, all the while he sends out spinning axes, parriable bombs, and large flying minions. You have to constantly be moving to make it through these last few sections. The climax occurs when you’re left with one platform left, and you have to perform a complicated jump to even dodge while staying on the one life support he left you. This section is designed specifically to make the player panic, and thus choke at the last possible second. But that’s all that’s left; the Devil is defeated, and Cuphead can finally relax!
And thus, Cuphead comes to a close. The difficulty ramped up in a slow but fair fashion, while teaching the player all of the necessary moves before it got too complicated. Expert mode exists, though it is content simply to up the ante – more things on screen at once to deal with, or faster attacks so quicker reaction times are necessary. At this point, all that’s left is a mastery of the game – going for higher ranks, speedruns, and whatever else the player can think of. That is, until DLC arrives…
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