How Cuphead's Bosses (Try to) Kill You

[@CPTHAP]

"You don't have to parry to win" Mr. King Dice would like a word with you.

[@Czesnek]

You don't have to. You can just hide behind his hand and not getting hitted.

[@qqng8840]

*H I T T E D*

[@sasdagr8]

Parrying, along with that Coffee perk, makes bosses much easier, though.

[@AlexRiversMusic]

CPTHAP You don't have to parry king dice to win though

[@trondordoesstuff]

@@AlexRiversMusic The dice.

[@NathanScott]

I also love the voice acting in Cuphead. It's sparse, but stuff like the "Knockout!" when you defeat a boss is so satisfying.

[@Index154]

This match will get red hot! A brawl is surely brewing! You're up!

[@mandyg4144]

A good day for a swell battle! Now go!

[@dalemonshateu6948]

Nathan Scott And when you clear a level the satisfying voice clip that sounds like it says cuphead and mugman at the same time

[@jjrambles683]

The weird gibberish the bosses say sometimes is also really fun for some reason but I don't know why

[@superdoofus]

a great slam and then some! it's on!

[@MuriloMatos95]

"Just giving the boss a million health points is rarely that fun" I want this in my gravestone

[@Roxor128]

I expect this would cover most of the examples on the "Marathon Boss" page at TV Tropes.

[@asperRader]

square enix

[@MuriloMatos95]

exactly, destiny and the division instantly came to my mind

[@grodon909]

CoughMidirCough

[@sandwich1601]

Gravestone? You mean like for when you die? Git gud.

[@lizard81288]

You mean, I could have parried the giant peppermint?!

[@DIRTY-MERLIN]

same yo

[@bratsampson]

[Guybrush]It's... pink![/Guybrush]

[@DandaMan2022]

I know I luckily accidentally did when I fought her

[@ericoliver1603]

Learning this literally right now. Its very frustrating

[@boxfox4879]

this information has allowed me to finally beat Baroness Von Bon Bon

[@Balomis]

Cuphead has got to have one of the most beautifully unique aesthetics I've ever seen in a game. They absolutely nailed the look and feel of the reference material! And Mark, your thoughts, editing, and flair are top notch as always!

[@retrogamerdad9621]

I've heard they nailed it by using the exact same materials and techniques as period artists. There really is no way to fake it.

[@VideoGameAnimationStudy]

Yeah, this was really well made. Love the pencil tests you pulled from the background in the editing. Great points, too.

[@Josh-vw9jo]

I follow you on instagram lol

[@tasoganedude]

Hey! You're here too, Dan Root!

[@Fireafyanimations299]

Dan Root m

[@Krong]

I'm ROOTing for you, DAN. Edit: sorry ill leave

[@brobro9069]

lol, what points? all he did was say "The enemies in Cuphead shoot you" there was absolutely no thought that went into this video, it just states stuff that everybody already knows

[@0turi]

tHaT FRoG jUSt TurNeD iNtO a sLot maCHiNe. *W H A T*

[@JediEdi]

tAkE a lOok aT tHiS *M 0 O N*

[@scoredfranklive337]

Look at T H I S G U Y

[@lepeselo8949]

Read this comment with pewdiepie's voice

[@Hangingchadreal]

*gulp*

[@saturnsandjupiters358]

chills

[@chilliicecream5456]

As angry as Cuphead can make me, I feel like it’s unfair for me to be angry at the game because it’s both firm and fair. Yes the bosses are very tricky to beat, but they almost always follow the same patterns, so I often just get angry at my inability to see through what the boss throws at me.

[@Stinkoman87]

Unlike other games, like I Wanna Be the Guy, Cuphead never feels unfair. Every attack is telegraphed, and each telegraph only means one thing. It never tries to trick you.

[@Pixelation_9008]

The only boss that is not fair and firm is that bitch the green dragon

[@11clocky]

@@Stinkoman87 Actually I Wanna Be the Guy’s bosses are quite fair in design. It’s the level design itself that’s… well the opposite of that.

[@elliottpak]

⁠@@11clockyDracula is a HUGE exception. While most bosses in the game tend to take me around 20 minutes, Dracula took me almost a WHOLE WEEK. Actually one of the most bullshit parts of the whole game (although I do admit it still was kinda fun when it wasn’t pissing me off). Because like, with the traps in the levels, at least you know to avoid and easily predict them after the first time encountering them. With Dracula? Due to his completely randomized teleportation and attacks, he just keeps throwing you off guard, continuously pulling out new devious combinations out of his ass, and you will almost NEVER predict what attack he’s gonna use, since aside from the spiral fruit attack, he does ABSOLUTELY ZERO TELEGRAPHING. And a few more things too: - If you get really unlucky, he will corner you against the side of the area, _and use an attack that is impossible to dodge when you are cornered against a wall._ - The attack where he fires two white orbs that travel in a DNA spiral-like pattern (I play the remastered version FYI) is arguably his most frustrating attack in my opinion, as it moves far quicker compared to the other attacks and has really erratic movement. - In order to hurt Dracula, you have to get to the top of the stairs that are in the middle of the arena (really just a set of semisolids designed to look like stairs). Then, point towards Dracula, double jump, and mash that z button at the peak of your jump’s height to blast that fucker’s face. Not only does repeatedly double jumping and a button mashing kinda get tiring, but Dracula more than often teleports to a location that makes it _impossible to access the top of the stairs._ - Dracula’s voice lines, while amusing, can become REALLY irritating after dying to him enough times. - Just to makes everything 20% worse, When he loses enough HP, Dracula summons 2 floating balls of ectoplasm that _never_ stop homing in on and moving towards you, and make dodging all of his attacks even harder because you have to contend with them constantly. With how you need to shoot them to push them back, the chances of you damaging Dracula can decrease a LOT if you’re not careful. And they GET FASTER AS DRACULA FURTHER LOSES HP-

[@maytegonzalez1778]

rumor honeybottoms.

[@CAyou]

Ok man, I've been following you for quite a long time now, and you should know that my company is working on Cuphead (iLLOGIKA), helping them finishing the game and now fixing bugs. This is one of the best video you made, I love how you analyzed these boss fights and the conclusion is.... Perfect. Thanks for making us proud of creating games.

[@GMTK]

Congrats on the launch!

[@JonnyBeoulve]

Super cool guy over here!

[@youreallinsane]

Awesome! Can I ask what causes the freezing? Is it an elusive memory spike?

[@toinedonders3203]

Explain to me what is so special about this video. He just brings up things you should know if you have played any videogame.

[@otakamerd1220]

@@toinedonders3203 Evidently not otherwise every game would have perfect design

[@theimitators1507]

“It’s not that hard to kill a lot of these guys” Me: (laughs in every goddam boss)

[@sirlambchops.]

robot

[@kingdice6023]

Rumor honey bottom

[@subprogram32]

I really loved the visual design you did on this video, with all the pattern lines and the like, and *especially* the editing done to isolate the bosses from the level background.

[@moses3167]

Agreed with everything in this comment! The visual presentation of this series is fantastic as always. I'm looking forward to future boss fight videos as boss fights are far and away my favorite parts of video games. P.S: Furi is one of my favorite games of all time. Liked it so much I bought it on Steam even though I'd already gotten it for free on PS+

[@bobbarker8405]

I agree that this video was well done but he didn't actually isolate the bosses themselves or do any of that graphic design. He just pulled clips from the developer's behind the scenes videos.

[@subprogram32]

Ah I was wondering where it came from! Still, it really made the video look nice. :D

[@edwardnewtonLA]

Thank goodness. I was having a mild panic attack thinking about rotoscoping all those characters.

[@TheMoi]

Hahaha same, PS+ then Steam and then I got the Limited Run version. Incredible game!

[@hemangchauhan2864]

I highly recommend checking out the 16 bit run-n-gun games that Mark presented at the start. Why? So that you can see how these design philosophies were 20 years back. These run-n-guns were top of their line back in the day, and are still classics.

[@Gilman93]

it surprised me he didn't show sunset riders at the start, my childhood game and it was coop too, when i saw cuphead the first time it instantly reminded me of that beautifull game

[@xdjrunner]

they're arguably the best in the genre still.

[@White_Tiger93]

people said this game, Cuphead really does com-par to Megaman 1 NES.

[@felipe.arenas]

im surprised that no one compares cuphead With alien soldier. damn, that game is a freaking boss Rush in old sega style. from treasure, creators of gunstar heroes

[@hassanihsan6863]

I encourage people to also check out some danmaku games like Touhou and the like. I found the boss fights between Cuphead and them pretty similar.

[@13mungoman13]

Alright, if you'll allow me to be an absolutely obnoxious person for a second: 2:41 They're just smaller cats, modeled after scarabs. 4:39 They're not sea urchins, they're pufferfish. 4:52 It's a barrel, not a treasure chest. 6:28 okay you noticed that one yourself, good on ya I apologize in advance for how annoying these kinda corrections are, your main point is still well-presented and nicely worded.

[@GMTK]

Thanks. Pinning this so there’s only one comment with all the mistakes :P

[@GMTK]

I mean “hearting” this. Add that to the list of mistakes

[@gir2195]

And isn't the chocolate in Baroness' fight a waffle?

[@13mungoman13]

No worries man, we're all just human ain't we ... a-ain't we

[@13mungoman13]

Robert, if you click read more on my comment you might see something you haven't noticed before

[@lucasgreer1736]

"predict and outsmart the boss" ah, that reminds me of when I was camping without internet and I memorized hoy quarlow's boss pattern in super punch out

[@Lukeormaybenath]

In animation, this is called antecipation :) and this is actually what I like the most about any boss fight in any game. It feels fair when you get a glimpse of what's coming towards you.

[@zjacob60]

Great breakdown of the baroness von bon bon fight.

[@zSTALKn]

**inhale** *OH MY GOD THE FUC- THE FUCKING JELLYBEAN!!!*

[@ItsKevin183]

zSTALKn Gaming wasn't that a streamer xD

[@BigBossD4wg]

I just discovered your channel yesterday, had to binge them all :D You're a great KZbinr Mark, keep up the quality, keep up the good work.

[@charliefazzari6389]

Knives&Snipes I've never seen a more respectful comment section 😂

[@peppy619]

Welcome to the group of followers!

[@LyssTheCorgi]

D4wg? You're here? Hello! Love ur channel!

[@RriityGaming47]

9:38 "Don't be suprised if you die a few times when your'e looking at them" yeah...a few, totally

[@christophergyamfi7550]

Now this is why I love this game, the bosses test you on your memory, reactions, and skills in order to overcome them, they last long enough to leave an impact on you, they keep you on your toes in different ways, and the game gives you infinite chances to come back to what to do better when restarting the level.

[@crab-dogjones4659]

I think Gunstar Heroes is the most obvious influence, what with emphasis on weapon switching, the rng depended board game stage, and the whole boss rush formula to begin with. Alien Soldier, also by Treasure, is another clear touch-point. Great video, btw.

[@josiuwu]

I love how when he mentioned the music near the end of the video, he showed a clip of Mettaton. his boss song is literally my favorite song in the Undertale soundtrack.

[@EVacStation]

I've been enjoying the deep looks in Zelda games, but after seeing this I'd love to see a deep look into various game bosses to see what works and what doesn't and why.

[@chamwow168]

“Your current position is about to become, deadly,” great line

[@RucaDoo]

Ik I’m late, but that sounds like something GLaDOS would say before dropping a ton of turrets on top of you.

[@BoHorror]

Don't forget the metal slug bossfights

[@projectkepleren]

Yep

[@boxfox4879]

I hated those

[@ashisheady8841]

they aren't even that difficult.

[@danielbuch1301]

just bought cuphead today and played it with my roommate for 4 hours straight. we noticed the same things as mark in this video (just not as elaborate of course ;) the fights are hard, but it always feels like you made the mistake and not the game screw you over. afterwards you think to yourself: that was wrong but next time i'm gonna do it better. and once you beat the level, it feels earned and deserved

[@sgetti845]

No need for “try to” they were pretty successful

[@dragonispurple6075]

Yep I've died like over 600 times(i checked by interacting with the well person (or whatever they are)

[@brettd2308]

The visual design on this video is mindblowing. Keep up the great work, Mark!

[@drpancake4103]

I had not heard of this game until I recently saw this video. So I decided to give it a go. Its now one of my favourite games of all time. It feels like an actual accomplishment to complete it.

[@MrPhish21]

just wanted to say that you were a huge inspiration for me in realizing that i wanted to get into game design. Applied for a game design college at the beginning of this month, now im just hoping to get accepted! So thank you for making me realize that this is exactly what ive always loved, keep up the fantastic work.

[@GMTK]

Good luck!

[@ronen6206]

Mark: "Will be back in the future to talk about bosses" Me: "But 4 years have passed..."

[@ianflint2010]

Did you know that whenever the candy corn opens its mouth in the Baroness von Bon Bon boss battle, a mini candycorn pops out?

[@twistedbiscuit69]

I would say in response to that last point that over the course of the game the location of the bosses hit boxes gradually moves to more difficult places to aim at and hit. This is especially apparent in Isle 3, with diagonal aiming for the pirate and cat, downwards aiming for the bee, and almost completely upwards aiming for the train boss at the very end, just to make some examples. Aiming in any direction other than horizontal makes it significantly more difficult to move, which adds to the challenge

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

I love how the other games at the beginning fit the music so well, especially that skeleton boss.

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

I think the narration of this video was probably my favorite, i loved the "character break", your honesty, and how you appeared to be really having fun.

[@Phantom_Kraken]

It’s nice to see someone else who appreciates the boss design

[@LinkEX]

This was a great analysis. As Mark presented the many aspects of creating engaging boss fights by example of Cuphead, I could immediately recognize and agree upon his arguments. It's the kind of things many people subconsciously already noticed, but won't quite appreciate until the various intricacies are identified by analysis.

[@LinkEX]

Now that I think about it, it's more obvious to me why so many people found Super Meat Boy's Little Horn boss so boring, but not say Lil' Slugger for example. That one provided more of an obstacle course that also demanded some skill (like timing some [wall] jumps), while Littlehorn just involved simple movements. It was basically just a predetermined "round 10 of Simon Says".

[@TheVacras]

The amount of high quality content you keep putting out is crazy! Keep it up Mark :)

[@Joshua.Rogers]

Mark, really liked how you do the graphics to show what you are referring to like the directions of attacks in this video. You are getting really good at that and it’s really appreciated and helpful! Thanks!

[@dgdgdgdgcooh]

"actually that's probably a waffle" damn it mark of course it's a waffle. how did you get chocolate from that?

[@coastersplus]

If you ignore the butter, it makes sense that it would be candy like everything else.

[@ethgru]

It kind of looks like a Hershey’s bar

[@GetiniYT]

Well since it has brown like shade on it it’s hard to tell if it’s a waffle without the butter

[@marhola100]

I think I have eaten waffles only once in my life. In my country they are not common. I thought it was chocolate, too, until now.

[@sylver546]

I thought it was a chocolate bar almost until now :p(I love chocolate btw)

[@honeytsubame]

Lovely video, Mark! Super happy to have been newly able to support you on Patreon.

[@GMTK]

Thank you!

[@VulgoPJ]

As a game design teacher, i find this video amazingly helpful! Thank you so much, and I can't wait for the next one!

[@tubaina021]

That was very well done mate! Never played the game, but you gave me knowledge on things I did not know how to explain to other people. Keep up the good work!

[@tylersmith2121]

I always look forward to your content and my day is just a bit better whenever I see you've made something new. Keep up the good work!

[@TheMightySilverback_]

This may be my favourite video of yours yet, honestly Mark you're a great creator.

[@PewPew_McPewster]

That last point you made was very interesting. I've been trying to categorize boss fights so far. I had "puzzle-oriented" and "combat-oriented" down pat, but "endurance-oriented" seems to be a category of it's own that I've failed to identify. And indeed Cuphead's bosses all lean heavily into the "endurance-oriented" style of bosses intrinsically, where it's more about surviving long enough than it is seizing the offensive windows. Another thing I want to sort of raise up is the metric "relative hitbox occupancy": what % of the screen is your hurtbox, and what % of the screen is Enemy hitboxes. In an easy game, you would have minimal hurtbox occupancy and minimal Enemy hitbox occu. Cuphead must have a high hitbox occupancy as far as this metric goes.

[@Changetheling]

Your analysis is great as always, but I honestly cannot believe how incredibly well done the animations are. God. Outstanding every time I watch it.

[@nonlegend]

Guessing Mark was a graphic designer before he started GMTK.

[@youreallinsane]

uh, what? What makes you guess that?

[@doom5895]

I've been waiting for you starfox

[@highestsettings]

youreallinsane The fact that this is all presented like a really well done infographic is probably why. It's very clean and well designed. All the information is presented in an extremely readable and appealing way. But I'm pretty sure Mark was a games journalist before this, I could be wrong though. I'm guessing graphic design was a hobby of his.

[@KyleHarmieson]

+youreallinsane Probably the cool effects, like singling out the bosses on a white background, "drawing" on the screen, and so on.

[@cupriferouscatalyst3708]

i love when there are small elements of randomness in otherwise very linear games. pools of alternate mini-bosses to draw from, random orders of scripted attack patterns, and stuff like weather affecting stage hazards etc. can make a game last for countless hours for me.

[@eastcoasteric]

Another fantastic video that reminds me how much ingenuity, complexity and creatively is used when making (good) games. It also fuels my rage with these ‘copy and paste’ games out there, that have barely any coding experience, and rely solely on the game engine they’re using to make their game, while rarely going beyond the limits of the engines front facing utilities.

[@samuelstephens6904]

I actually much prefer games that are built around a consistent design space with a set of gameplay elements and rules rather than games like _Cuphead_ which are pretty much 'whatever' moment-to-moment. It's why the _Halo_ games are such good FPSs. You've got your your weapons and grenades, your Elites and Grunts, your vehicles, and all these cool dynamics and interplay between them (e.g. hijacking), and then you build interesting set-pieces just by mixing and matching these things in various ways. _Cuphead_ doesn't really have any depth like that. The bosses do their own thing, unique as they may look and act from each other, and the player just avoids their attacks. No dynamics. No interplay. No reactivity. Just hold the fire button and avoid. The bosses look great, but man, if only the actual challange on display was as expressive as their animations.

[@Verhosander]

Great video! It actually made me realise how much I enjoyed the fight with von Bonbon (which to my shame took me a lot longer than it should have)! Thanks for the sensible ideas =)

[@reggiemass909]

Wish this was on Nintendo Switch. Would love to play it on the plane. Also, your videos are really good...I learn something new every time and they make my gaming experiences better...as well as my game purchase choices!

[@CaptainBagman]

Rejean Masciangelo I bet it would be great for a plane ride when you can focus on perfecting the bosses.

[@reggiemass909]

Jugal With my family + my company; the best place for me for perfect these bosses is either on the plane or on the toilet....either or. Lol!

[@OgreJoe]

Happy your wish came true?

[@sphixy8577]

ITS IS

[@juanacevedo9592]

Man just one video and you convince me to subscribe. This analysis is so well done as maybe future game-designer I have the feeling you have a lot to teach me

[@jimmykeffer7401]

The most poorly designed boss in this game has to go to the bee queen. This fight has the opposite problem compared to the meatboy fight. Multiple elements in this fight are random and unreactable, making for a frustrating and luck based fight. The worst of these is the randomly missing platforms. These platforms are often missing in large chunks, meaning the area you're supposed to use to dodge a screen sized attack could be gone, putting you in a terrible position. The worker bees that come out of the sides have no warning, so they can kill you before you can react if a massive attack lines up with a lack of platforms. In the queen's second phase, she can either pop out of one side with a finger as a tell, or pop down to the middle with no warning. If you jump near the top of the screen (very necessary in some sections) you could land on an offscreen platform, or try to land on a platform that should appear, only for it to be a missing one. All of these elements overlap and make for an unenjoyable, random, and generally bad boss fight. I think if they got rid of the random platforms being gone it would make the fight ten times better.

[@vexjlproductions9444]

I'm probably going to disagree with removing the randomly missing platforms. I just think that it adds that extra bit of depth that makes the boss fight better. Being able to jump to and from platforms without thinking removes a whole lot of difficulty especially since the honey at the bottom is supposed to be a part of the boss fight. Besides, cuphead's movement options are so varied that it isn't hard to platform (one jump can get you to jump 3 platforms and you have the dash for horizontal movement). As for the queen's second phase, her dropping down straight down the middle should give enough time to react to and dash out of the way if you are in the middle. It doesn't work for if you're at the very top of the screen, but there really aren't many chances you would jump to *and predict* a platform at the very top (being at the top where you can barely even see cuphead is obviously not a good idea). Besides, she always goes from her spell phase to her bullet phase interchangeably in a consistent fashion. Worker bees are pretty easy to dodge especially since you would be in the middle for most of phase 1 since being on the edges would mean you'll get cornered and have no movement options if the platforms would disappear or if the police bee travels right towards you. Neither of these is unfair because the game gives incentives to *not* be exactly where they spawn. You're pretty much complaining that you're bad at platforming. Luck has nothing to do with the ultimate difficulty of Rumor Honeybottom's fight.

[@ujangprakoso2925]

Maybe you meant Rumor Honeybottoms. Okay, this might be frustrating. Freaking platform boss fight as you said, plus her unpredictable behavior that makes battle unfunny become the factor. Since the dangers appear from any side of the screen, my suggestion is to remain on the middle of the battlefield. Keep your eyes on the upcoming dangers, and you're good to go.

[@DaStrangeWeasel]

All the points you stated here explain why I hated Rumor the most out of every boss in the game. She was one of the only ones that I didn't feel victorious after defeating, just very relieved it was over.

[@sharif47]

I'd like to say that the worst bosses are Cala Maria (so dependent on RNG mechanics that sometimes you might not even have enough space to move (or stay); and King Dice since... if you can't master the timing of parry, you're doomed in that fight. Also, it since they are RNG heavy, it's possible that your friend may have beaten these bosses faster simply because they were lucky.

[@TheBlueStarGal2]

Everyone is saying how hard Rumor Honeybottoms was, but I actually had a easier time with her than literally any boss in world 2. She wasn't easy per say, I just somehow spend a lot less time defeating her in comparison. In my opinion, almost all her attacks are super predictable, with exception of that pink ball thing that always got me cause of its weird pattern. The platforms could cause problems, but I never had too much trouble with them, and had much more trouble with that darn Dragon's platforms. Everyone has something different to say on what they found to be hard in this game, I wouldn't just write off one boss as poorly designed just cause you had more trouble on certain aspects than others (especially since that IS a late game boss). I find Grim and Cala Maria to be some of the hardest, other have found them super easy but hated many of the ones I found super easy. I think its more of a matter of who can adapt to what better.... Granted, maybe I just got super lucky.....¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@pedroscoponi4905]

Oh, man, the rest of these videos on boss fights can't come soon enough. This was so good.

[@naonna1]

after your xcom discussion, I'd advise looking at Atlas Reactor's game mechanics. It's multiplayer turn-based, but all moves resolve at the same time, in stages.

[@HayTatsuko]

This is a brilliant dissection of another element -- besides the artwork, humor, and great music -- that makes Cuphead an awesome game. Thanks!

[@myellumayog1977]

"And can't recover any hitpoints during the fight." Super II and King Dice: *That's where you're wrong, buddy.*

[@myellumayog1977]

@@Heckkin it revives you

[@sindle36]

This is easily the best video essay channel about games. Great work!

[@MrSynesthesia]

"There's this *hateful* pattern." You said it, MB, you said it... That goddamn fishboat...

[@EnerieEffex]

Brilliant video. I think it's also worth mentioning how the bosses offer pink assets for you to parry in order to charge your special. Those who can pull off such parry's in the heat of the action are rewarded with a shorter battle (so long as they effectively use specials). Especially useful if you've learnt an early phase, but find a later phase particularly difficult.

[@darksaiyan2006]

I would add to that the fact that even though many of the patterns are randomized, even the parameters of the moves within those patterns are slightly randomized as well - the blob boss never jumps the same distance twice (nor height, nor do you ever know exactly if once he reaches the wall he'll reflect or go straight down). It makes it so it's all down to the execution, like any other good boss.

[@notoriouswhitemoth]

I've wanted something like this for a long time! Videos like this are why I love this series.

[@matty6866]

Always have to have that obligatory Hollow Knight clip! ;) just a mastaapieceeee

[@cogigo]

Hollow Knight clips have to be in every video. Gosh I´m so excited for the Grim Troupe DLC next week. YES!

[@matty6866]

Me too, I can't wait!

[@PaddyMcMe]

1:55 Those yellow circles that surround the boss' attacks are a brilliant way of understanding the game's attack systems. I wish that was included as a training feature or something. For a lot of us with only a low amount of skill in these kinds of games understanding even just understanding a few of the boss' attacks would be an immense help.

[@alexrushdy2751]

I would be interested in seeing these bosses contrasted with Treasure's best. Because some Treasure battles aren't just about surviving, but actually finding the "Sweet spot" or correct spacing/timing to attack. Like Black in Gunstar Super Heroes, or some of the various bosses in Alien Soldier. I think Alien Soldier has some of the most exciting 2D run n gun boss battles, thanks to a mix of classic pattern recognition, weak-point exploitation, and the game's parry/health-regen attack mixed with the invincible super dash that can almost one-shot kill a boss. It's a beautiful game to watch speedrun and allows for more flexibility of approach than other games of its ilk.

[@otooandoh9556]

alien soldier is insane! I definitely got vibes of that game and other classic treasure run and gun games when watching cuphead

[@johnleecooper8520]

great video, and I'm excited for more boss related content in the future

[@ArceusDX]

No mention of Alien Soldier? That was the game they were trying to beat in the number of boss battles in a run n gun :P

[@gir2195]

ArceusDX mentioning Gunstar is pretty much taking you there.

[@retrosoul8770]

Genesis masterpiece, arguably best game in library and Top 3 16-bit title but no US physical release because Sega= incredibly stupid during 90s

[@shards-of-glass-man]

VISUALSHOCK! SPEEDSHOCK! SOUNDSHOCK! NOW IS TIME TO THE 68000 HEART ON FIRE!

[@saynotop2w]

AS has different gameplay because of ammo management.

[@mr.budders8740]

This video is so helpful, I just recently finished "Hollow Knight" and was wondering what the fights were missing. The fights were good but some of them felt tedious and this video helped me figure out why, there are a lot of bosses in that game that do the same attacks over and over with a ton of hit-points or just add more of the same attack. Some of them still do this well but, there are quite a few that don't the same thing over and over with tons of hit points. But I was trying to figure out why the other fights weren't fun. This helped me figure out what was wrong, thx for the awesome video.

[@fryingpanda9103]

I get ptsd every time you show that dragon on screen

[@themoviereviewwarriors939]

I loved fighting that dragon. One of my favorite boss in the game

[@PROShineKITO]

The environment boss rush they create is really creative, you past the time repeating same action (defeat bosses) and you never get tired. Incredible game that other games should learn, from indie to most complicated sandbox. Thanks markbrow so detailed with not spoiled information. Regards

[@firstnamelastname9550]

9:18 dang it you were so close to not bringing that up

[@Holographiq]

"the boss won't die unless you get in there and kill it" Instantly brought me a memory of me looking down at the electric eel boss from the top of the tower. I felt shivers down my spine as the next frame was SoTC...

[@chrisj403]

I love when Werner werman pivots 180°, it's the smoothest animation I've ever seen.

[@zzcorrode]

I think that Little Horn in Super Meat Boy was designed intentionally to be the same every time because it fits the rest of Super Meat Boy. Every level in the game plays out exactly the same way every time, to the point where you could probably beat the whole game blindfolded. It's purely an exercise in execution, as opposed to this which requires reacting to telegraphs and randomness.

[@TheLanCave]

I love the artwork that you can't even notice while you're playing (cause if you get distracted, you die).

[@GameScoreFanfare]

Was that... a Madeline reference at the end?

[@MacZephyrZ]

Game Score Fanfare Oh dang I completely forgot that show existed. My little sister loved it to bits. Thanks for the unexpected nostalgia trip.

[@gab_gallard]

+Game Score Fanfare I love your channel dude :)

[@AtomicToucan]

So I'm not the only one who was thinking that!?

[@frozenaorta]

This game was hella fun. Not just for its awesome art style and colorful, creative enemies either. It knows exactly what it is. No frustrating "game over" like in the 90's. You are _expected_ to get your ass handed to you a dozen times before you even start to compete with a new boss. You will not defeat foes the first time you first time you face them. You have to learn all the patterns for each phase of the boss, which takes time. You really get to _know_ these enemies, and all that work makes it so damn satisfying when you finally beat a stage. Fantastic game. Fantastic video.

[@cogigo]

So when are we getting a video about "Why is Hollow Knight so damn amazing? Go play it now!"?

[@yogissjkaio]

The way you make video content and the details.. superbly amazing !! This cuphead video my fav+ :)

[@sundrythis]

THEY ARE PUFFERFISH, MARK.

[@Artsificial]

It's hard to put into words how much I love this game.

[@James.Stark.Ben.Edition]

"... Amazing knowledge of the game's mechanics." *shows bell gargoyles* Lol, every newbie died there quite a lot.

[@DubCrime]

Holy shit, you blew up... I remember when you had just a couple of thousand subscribers. Much deserved, though and the quality of the content hasn't fallen as it usually does, so congrats and keep it up! Thank you for all the priceless information you share with us.

[@BlueBoy0]

Awesome video, as always. Forgive my nitpick, but I can't help myself: pretty sure those are kittens and not mice. Also: blowfish, not sea urchins.

[@GMTK]

I've gotta start checking my script against the footage and now just relying on my (terrible) memory :P

[@xefillion]

Also waffle not chocolate?

[@hrothgarnogar]

xefillion He corrected that already in the video though

[@BlueBoy0]

Yeah, but I ignored chocolate/waffle because I made the same mistake. :)

[@diamonddetectorturnabout4470]

It's crazy how fast you can make amazingly high quality videos.

[@joshuacurrey4722]

My big question concerning boss fights is, what are some design principles to put into a boss fight in an FPS? There have been many attempts, but they don't usually feel as good. Hitscan weapons hurt gameplay flow against a super tough enemy. When tough enemies occur in other points of FPS games that is an enemy which generally demands the player use special weapons or valuable resources to kill the tough enemy as fast as possible. This is because with hitscan weapons you make your character vulnerable for as short at time to deal as much damage to the enemy. Commonly this involves getting a good spray of damage to kill a smaller enemy, thus weakening the enemy in a significant way. So it is important to weaken the enemy using as little time in the line of enemies. So when a heavy armored enemy in Wolfenstien comes out you pull out the dual grenade launchers to unload on them, but that isn't always rewarding. Now how can boss fights in FPS games feel fun? Personally I love agility that allows me to feel as aggressive as possible as long as I can avoid attacks. The new DOOM boss fights were all about evasion and I felt that the they were more fun than the tentacles in Half-Life's blast pit, which applied the idea of pulling the focus away from the boss and on to smaller tasks. This was rather mindless of a post but I felt inspired by the video to ask this question. I love your channel! Your analysis videos are very well informed and thought out with a constant stream of interesting and applicable ideas. You deserve more publicity for the AMAZINGLY high quality you consistently put into your videos. I watched an episode of the H3H3 podcast and on it videogamedunkey made the point that people who like a video will not often do more than like the video, but people who hate the video can easily write a quick hurtful comment with no effort. Because of this I want to put in some work to consistently show how much I love your channel to give you a better understanding of your videos from the majority of people who watch the video, and move on. Your videos are great! Love Ya!

[@Cptn_Fabulous]

Ideally, a boss fight is a test of all the skills you've been learning. Since Cuphead is about dodging attacks while pouring fire into the enemy in order to outlast them, the challenge of the boss fights is reflected by throwing large amounts of attacks that you need to avoid simultaneously. So making an FPS boss fight good would depend on the core skills being trained. DOOM 2016 is also a game about running around dodging attacks, so boss fights like the Cyberdemon and Hell Guards are set in large open arenas and primarily make use of big area attacks with obvious telegraphs and attack zones so you know how to move out of the way. So in a FPS centered around a different kind of gameplay, you'd tweak the attacks and abilities to challenge those specific skills, in a way that the player has to constantly analyse and adapt to an ever changing situation. In an FPS with hitscan enemies and reliance on cover, you'd probably want something where you're continuously keeping track of the enemy position and firing lines as well as a shifting level layout to ensure you can always find cover from the boss' attacks while still being able to deal damage to them.

[@robinsintherain3419]

Great video my friend, i can see the effort you put in every second. cant wait to see more!

[@remem95]

I'd argue that “Memory, reaction and skill“ is a bit misleading, wording wise. Memory and reaction are also skills (if they weren't, there wouldn't be a challenge to master these aspects of the game) I guess what would describe the last point better is “control“ or “dexterity“.

[@Jolgeable]

I didn't know the word dexterity (still learning english, I had to search for it hahaha). Thanks! =)

[@otooandoh9556]

Thanks for mentioning the gunstar heroes influence. I was beginning to think I was the only one who saw it

[@boltblackjoker]

Gunstar Heroes is the game this one is most like to me.

[@AdvancePlays]

Anyone who enjoyed Cuphead is guaranteed to enjoy something like Contra, Alien Soldier, Gunstar Heroes and so on. They play pretty much identically, besides getting used to the slight differences in jump arc and bullet speed and so on. To be brutally honest, this is somewhat of a detriment to Cuphead, which really does nothing new or exceptional in this regard. If it was presented without its gorgeous art, I doubt it would have had anywhere near the fanfare it's gotten.

[@MrSkinnyWhale]

Pretty much the only thing that got me through ~70% of the game is the visual style, animation, music and general presentation. Honestly can't be bothered completing it now.

[@Katana314]

Classic games like that relied very heavily on the lives system, which utterly ruined their fun levels for people like me. Being given a game over was never, ever, ever a motivating point that made me ready to gear up another 20 minutes of game time to getting back to where I was. 100% of the time, it was a de-motivator that made me stop for the night, and likely never want to come back to the game.

[@AdvancePlays]

Back in the day I'd have totally agreed with you. Not because there weren't solutions, plenty in the form of cheat codes for extra lives or level selects, but because access to them was more limited than today with the internet. Just a quick google and you're good to go, and that's even if you're not gonna use save states to completely cut out the middle man - which is all that eliminating the life system really does.

[@theSato]

You are 100% right. Cuphead deserves the praise for its visual style, but *not* for its difficulty (its just trial and error, its not that hard) and not for its originality (there is almost none)

[@Katana314]

@Sato Obvious troll is obvious.

[@JimmyGoodYT]

Such a good game! You make a great point about the game being focused on the concept of dodging. Good video!

[@Cursingbow]

How Cuphead's bosses -try to- do kill you

[@Sedmc4]

You know you are a successful youtuber just by seeing how friendly and nice the people in the comments section are i feel so lucky for watching the dan reccommends video by extra credits and getting introduced to your channel keep up the good work :D

[@lucasdelvallet]

Talking about Cuphead and how to beat bosses, a thing I don't like is the fact that there is upgrades. I think it's breaking the "Empowering the player" design by "Empowering the character" one. Well, upgrade are not like in a RPG or else that get you a billion times stronger, but still, making the player acquiring new skills that were usable from the beginning of the game would have been great. Like the parry slap could have been taught by a boss during the game instead of being in the tutorial. Like, in Furi, they never tells you that you can send back some ennemy bullets by parrying them. But it's kind of taught to you during the game, but not in a tutorial (If I recall correctly, I may be mistaken and Excluding those silly tips during loadings, I hate those.) Anyway. It's a cool video as always Mark. Keep up the good work !

[@AcrylicBook]

I actually really like the “upgrades” in Cuphead. I thinks it adds a layer of strategy, and I always loved trying out different weapons to find the most effective way to kill the boss. I would agree with you if the weapons were just better versions of the standard shot, but every weapon has you sacrificing some aspect of your attack (like range, power, speed, etc.), so I wouldn’t call them upgrades per se. I will admit that the charge shot is OP tho, it just kills bosses way too fast, so I rarely ended up using it. Either way, they are completely optional, so if you want to beat the game with just the standard then that’s fine.

[@christopheleblond5722]

It's more about fitting your playstyle to the weapon, risky like the shotgun, or safer like the homing missile

[@nephyf.3211]

Not sure what you mean about the upgrades being bad. For one, all upgrades are technically optional, as you can beat every single boss with even the most basic gun, no super, and no charm. Having the different items you can buy allows the player to diversify gameplay and gives them one more thing to figure out, so that the game is extended by not just being a game of memorizing bosses but also optimizing your combination of items for maximum effectiveness. As for the parry slap, it's such an integral mechanic to the game that it would be weird to not have it introduced from the beginning tutorial. And even then, one thing is telling the player they can parry and another is letting them figure out when and where to do it. It's not a mindless thing to figure out in each boss what can be parried and what shouldn't be parried. In fact, it adds to the layers of learning a boss, particularly since it's one of the ratings you need for S rank.

[@shards-of-glass-man]

Well... Can you imagine playing Contra without any winged icons? Going through the entire game with only a standard peashooter and never see even a glimpse of a spread gun, or rapid fire? I mean, those were a vital part of the experience, and added a level of strategy.

[@Aidan8N]

the spread gun causes a problem in contra, the same problem that certain cuphead power-ups (charge shot especially) cause there's very clearly a best answer, so rather than letting the player choose weapons they find interesting, they're just making the game harder by not picking the best one. ultimately it has negligible impact on strategy and minimizes the player skill component compare that with something like devil may cry 3. each weapon has a specific purpose, but it's not like one weapon will absolutely destroy a certain enemy type. you can give yourself any load-out without feeling like you're nerfing your character. that encourages players to go back and try new load-outs rather than determining the best one and using it all the time

[@Gamer-GuyGG64]

One thing you didnt mention is how the bosses take into account the rock-paper-scissors idea with the differnt weopons and charms you get 2 weopon slots meaning you can choose to prepare for the different phases.

[@dankwojak3689]

Mark, how do you feel about Dr. Kahl's robot? I hated that boss. On regular and expert his final stage is so long and tedious.

[@hostiusasinhostilityhostil7853]

I still haven't beaten Dr. Kahl's Robot on Regular. I put the game down months ago and haven't picked it up since. To put things into perspective, I somehow beat Cala Maria on my third try - all her phases, and I got hit only once.

[@bl4ccj4cc4]

Don't kill the head part with the laser first, go gut-head-heart because the bombs and the blasting screws after you beat up the head and gut is much easier to avoid while still having the pink laser disposer from the heart active instead of the magnet or the extending arm. Also, save up your super for the heart when it pops out

[@Crystal_959]

I really appreciate how every boss in Cuphead feels unique

[@policesquad]

This video is terrible. Well done, you figured out the basics of side-scrolling shooters. How insightful.

[@leonhartdragomir8948]

I know, right? You just summarized my multi-paragraph rant in three sentences. I don't regret the rant, though. It was therapeutic.

[@IllinoisTrafficAttorney]

Love the shoutout to Gunstar heroes. Definitely one of my favorite games for bosses and Seven force is probably the best boss fight I've ever had =D

[@VILK1N]

I like this channel, because of content and have subtitles in videos! Great Job!! I'm from Brazil.

[@spoongebubbles9380]

4:37 Pretty sure that's a dolphin