Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
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EmperorIng
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by EmperorIng »

Although the game is rough around the edges, I had a pretty enjoyable time tackling the "regular" difficulty set of bosses. I think my biggest complaint is that the game is largely pattern-heavy, so once you learn the pattern it can be a little easy. Funnily enough, some of the RNG elements when present can be really screwy and force you to take a hit (though maybe not, as the no-damage vid above implies!). I think all in all it's a pretty solid effort from a mechanical perspective. Some weapons work better than others in some situations, but you usually have enough leniency to use a variety of different combos to similar effect. The charge shot though is extremely strong, maybe too much so, though I am conflicted on whether or not it should be nerfed. All told, I don't think I can rag too much on a popular game that gets gamers excited about running and gunning, especially when the last time anyone talked seriously about that was... what, Shattered Spirits? Folks on this forum should welcome genre olive-branch titles. :wink:

I think where the game shines is variety. It's pretty endearing to have so many multi-phase boss fights with different attacks, different shapes, and interesting situations thrown at you: like the frogs turning into a slot machine, or an auto-scrolling fight against a bee that transforms itself into a fighter plane, or other weird occurrences. In that sense it takes the setting and theme of 30s cartoons and utilizes it very well - there's no reason for any of the transformations, other than for imagination's sake. While you do have fun with the shooting, it's clear that the real draw to the game is to enjoy all of the nods and references to classic cartoons and the animation on display. It combines that easy-on-the-eyes appeal with a more forgiving take on a difficult run-n-gun (you can always retry a boss; no credits), which I think is one of the driving factors in its success.
TransatlanticFoe wrote:It's a bit disappointing to learn there are so few stages and it's almost entirely boss fights. I watched a video for the first run and gun stage - looked mundane and didn't end with a boss. Are they all like that?

Also do I spy regenerating health? Is there at least an arcade mode where you get a classic stage/boss cycle and no health regen?
The game was designed as a boss rush in mind; however, fan reaction was not too keen on the idea, so 6 run-n-gun stages were added later into development. They do have the smack of filler and are kinda nondescript, although they are entirely optional. Some of them are RNG hell, especially if you try to get the "pacifist" achievement. Only one or two end with a "midboss" IIRC, with fairly simple attacks.

There is no health regen. There is a special you can use that auto-fills your special attack meter, but that fills slowly. Your super also fills as you hit enemies or parry pink bullets. There are also upgrades that increase your base 3-hit lifebar, at the expense of your firepower. Your health is replenished once outside of the map, so you always have the three hitpoints with which to fight a boss.
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Immryr
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by Immryr »

There is no regenerating health. Yeah, the run n gun stages are a bit underwhelming and don't finish with a boss fight. There are waaay more bosses than stages, so a classic stage then boss set up wouldn't really work.
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by Inglorious_B »

Being so genre-anal that you can't put the biggest 2d shooting game released this year (or since DDP Resurrection) in the main Shmups Chat = peak Shmups Forum.

It even has shmup stages!

Stay relevant.
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by Inglorious_B »

Inglorious_B wrote:Being so genre-anal that you can't put the biggest 2d shooting game released this year (or since DDP Resurrection) in the main Shmups Chat = peak Shmups Forum.

It even has shmup stages!

Stay relevant.
Even PewDiePie classifies it as a 2D shooter.
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by Durandal »

You're trying too hard to look like a Cuphead fanboy
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by opt2not »

fuck PewDiePie. The guy is in his 20's and doesn't know shit about classic gaming
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by Austin »

Inglorious_B wrote:Being so genre-anal that you can't put the biggest 2d shooting game released this year (or since DDP Resurrection) in the main Shmups Chat = peak Shmups Forum.

It even has shmup stages!

Stay relevant.
The majority of the game is a run-and-gun, not a shmup.

Please do the rest of us a favor and stop posting.
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by spmbx »

Wow, even pewdiepie? :roll: :?
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by soprano1 »

opt2not wrote:fuck PewDiePie. The guy doesn't know shit about nothing.
Fixed it for you. :wink:
ChurchOfSolipsism wrote:I'll make sure I'll download it illegally one day...
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by EmperorIng »

Hey now, let's leave in some hope that Inglorious can come around to our way of thinking without dogpiling. There's still time! :wink:

I'm trying expert mode now, and having a much rougher go. The attack speeds are all faster, and some are now combined in previously unseen and unpracticed ways (e.g. the frog brothers second phase also mixing in attacks from the first). It makes for a welcome boost in difficulty once you have been accustomed to the beating the later bosses on normal difficulty. I still wonder about that alleged weapon rebalance... I hope that doesn't mess things up.
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by Sumez »

Inglorious_B wrote: Stay relevant.
How about you start discussing the game instead of continously ranting about people not calling it a shmup (despite it obviously not being one)?

You're the only one here who's not being "relevant".
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by opt2not »

Oh hey guys, Super Mario Land has shmup levels, it should be listed in the main forum as a shmup:
https://youtu.be/Os_ixE4nF7E

:lol:

No but seriously, can Inglorious get banned already for spamming the forum with this?
The last dozen or so posts are him going on about this, ad nauseum.
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by Specineff »

Is it just me, or is the battle with King Dice a nod to Gunstar Heroes? (Also, 8-ball Melon Bread?)
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by EmperorIng »

Specineff wrote:Is it just me, or is the battle with King Dice a nod to Gunstar Heroes? (Also, 8-ball Melon Bread?)
I think there are a few specific nods to run-n-guns in the game. You're right to point out the 8-ball is an analog to Melon Bread - the boss's name is "Mangosteen", which is more or less a callback. The constellations that Hilda Berg transforms into are also the same constellations as that one cyberpunk boss in Contra: Hard Corps. There are probably others, but I am less familiar with the run-n-gun genre.
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by yupee »

As they say, "Old but gold". Graphics like Cuphead's remind me of my childhood, especially Mickey Mouse in his early days! :D
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by BIL »

HydrogLox wrote:FYI:
Jim Sterling: The Cuphead Elitists Episode (Commentocracy)
Oh cool, Jim's wife is starring in his videos too.

I don't blame him for stepping back tbh. Games are fun, but any responsible adult knows insulin and gallstones have to take priority. I wonder what MovieBob thought, assuming he still has hands? With just a glance, I know these are the peeps to trust for a healthy appreciation of recreational challenge.
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by BIL »

PAGING INGLORIOUS_B
THE EAGLE HAS LANDED ON THE ROOF

BIG SALES VENTURE GET
RELEVANCE ACHIEVE


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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by Skykid »

BIL wrote:
HydrogLox wrote:FYI:
Jim Sterling: The Cuphead Elitists Episode (Commentocracy)
Oh cool, Jim's wife is starring in his videos too.

I don't blame him for stepping back tbh. Games are fun, but any responsible adult knows insulin and gallstones have to take priority. I wonder what MovieBob thought, assuming he still has hands? With just a glance, I know these are the peeps to trust for a healthy appreciation of recreational challenge.
Jim had always been a little averse to challenge I've noticed.
Always outnumbered, never outgunned - No zuo no die

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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by Squire Grooktook »

For a brief moment I got sterling mixed up with total biscuit, which is about how much I value their opinions. These people are worth about a grain of salt at most.
RegalSin wrote:Japan an almost perfect society always threatened by outsiders....................

Instead I am stuck in the America's where women rule with an iron crotch, and a man could get arrested for sitting behind a computer too long.
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by BIL »

tbh, Jim was obliged to whine in order to maintain ideological purity with his good pal Laura Kate Dale, who penned one of the more querulous Cuphead sob stories (I PLAY "CONTRA" AND "MEGA MAN"), and is better known for quality articles like Best Gaming Vaginas.

(NWS)

Ha! She's hilarious.

Some call modern games journalism a bunch of screeching, perving, Depression Quest-shilling pseuds. I agree. But it is also a high-grade schadenfreude breeding facility. Image
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

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Skykid wrote:Jim had always been a little averse to challenge I've noticed.
From what I've seen of his stuff he's not so much down on challenging games as poking fun at players who insist that anyone who doesn't always play everything the "hardcore way" or whatever is worthy of open derision.
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by Skykid »

BulletMagnet wrote:
Skykid wrote:Jim had always been a little averse to challenge I've noticed.
From what I've seen of his stuff he's not so much down on challenging games as poking fun at players who insist that anyone who doesn't always play everything the "hardcore way" or whatever is worthy of open derision.
He isn't vocally down on challenging games, I just noticed he can't handle them very well going back a long way. The first time I twigged was with his Kid Icarus: Uprising review. It's a really impressive game, although admittedly flawed - but not for the reasons he cited in his almost completely negative take on it. I could be wrong, but there seems to be a pattern with Jim that if the game doesn't have handholding affects or a cushion for failure, he tends to find the game unenjoyable, usually resulting in a semi-controversial review.

It seems like he doesn't want to spend time getting good if repetition is a requirement; he just wants to feel as though he's doing well in a game off the bat with negligible effort.

I think this Cuphead business and that insane, possible danger to society video linked above is part of that, and partly because of his possible sexual affiliation with Laura Kate.

Either way he's not doing game journalism any positives with this.
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by Zen »

Skykid wrote:Either way he's not doing game journalism any positives with this.
I dunno man. Depends on whether you think there is anything redeemable left under that title.

This entire fiasco its certainly getting clicks. Its also being used by some "game journalists" as an attempt to springboard, with social justice fist held high, right back into the circus.
I mean, as soon as Dean Takahashi started to create a social/political commentary to seemingly deflect from making a fool of himself, a caravan of the usual suspects instantly began to align, defend and launch attacks.
Almost seemed coordinated :wink:

Certainly the venom of what was being committed to print was reminiscent of the "Gamers are dead" taunt.
For example;

Image - John Walker. Senior editor Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

Thats some stinky fucking bait right there.

In the same way you chaps have deconstructed Sterling above, I would say that this latest play by game journalists does not pass the smell test.
Certainly, more money has been made by various parties because of this kerfuffle. Cui bono?
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by MommysBestGames »

evil_ash_xero wrote: I'm not that into this game. I like it...but where it's a bossfest, is where it loses me some. I wish it had like double the run n' gun stages.
This doesn't have the mechanics of something like Alien Soldier, where it can get away with being a bossfest.
Obviously, it is gorgeous. The mechanics and control are sound too.
True the mechanics aren't super deep, but I've still been really enjoying it. Being able to save right at the boss, and having the bosses with many, diverse form changes is a lot of fun. For me a big pleasure is seeing the next new form and slowly learning it. So that's spaced out obviously.. you get to a new boss, and get to about the 3rd or 4th form but then get stuck for a bit. But then winning finally feels great, and it's on to the next.
I'm about 3/4 of the way through. Haven't run into any terribly unfair fights *yet*. I do hate that the environment and fx are constantly obscuring my player.. it's ridiculous. I do wish they'd fix that.
As far as mechanics the risk and reward of the parry is pretty good. Not the deepest thing ever, but still satisfying to hit, and rewarding to the get the super shots from and plan out when to use them.
Made a giant arcade-adventure: Pig Eat Ball. Also made shmup with multi-ships: Shoot 1UP DX, Gunstacking game: Serious Sam Double D XXL, and more shooters.
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by Durandal »

Why doesn't the bomb weapon for the airplane generate any super? Does the bomb weapon also deal more damage than missiles?
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by MommysBestGames »

Durandal wrote:Why doesn't the bomb weapon for the airplane generate any super? Does the bomb weapon also deal more damage than missiles?
If it's not fully charged, the bomb sends out a missile, straight-shot. It's got to be better than regular shots.
If it is fully charged, the 'super' is the big bomb, that you have to ram into enemies before you get hit, or it explodes. It's got do some comparable damage to the usual super, but I don't know by how much.

In the flying sequences, for me, changing to the small plane is terrible. All the inertia, and the extra smoke effects that get in the way, I never use it now. Drives me crazy.
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by Rue »

Durandal wrote:Why doesn't the bomb weapon for the airplane generate any super? Does the bomb weapon also deal more damage than missiles?
It does generate super but very slowly. It also deals noticeably higher damage, usually ending phases in about 10 or so shots.
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Re: Cuphead, new run'n'gun with old-timey art

Post by MommysBestGames »

I'm not a great shmup player, definitely not by these boards standards, but I'm happy to have been able to blow through all shmup-boss levels so far (near end of third island). The levels are fun, I like the change of pace for sure, and the boss forms are really interesting on the shmup levels (well, all of the levels really), but it's surprising how much tougher the non-shmup bosses have been. I'm decent at run-n-guns, but I feel like those levels are much tougher.
Made a giant arcade-adventure: Pig Eat Ball. Also made shmup with multi-ships: Shoot 1UP DX, Gunstacking game: Serious Sam Double D XXL, and more shooters.
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