Cuphead gets new animations, character select option, and maybe some new secrets

Cuphead, the platformer with a visual style modeled after cartoons from the 1930s and 40s, got surprise free update today that adds fully animated cinematics, new animations and art, a character select option, and more. Developer Studio MDHR said that the patch, which takes the game to version 1.2, is the biggest update yet.

Following the update, players will have the option of selecting and playing through the single-player campaign as Cuphead's brother Mugman, who was previously available as the second character in the two-player co-op mode. Support for 11 more languages has been added, with "expert calligraphers" brought in "to bring the Boss & Level title lettering to life in Korean, Chinese, and Japanese—drawing inspiration from the early cartoon works of each country!"

Cuphead and Mugman now have multiple "fight intros" thanks to the addition of new animation and art, which also enables "dozens of other dazzling additions and adjustments throughout the game." There's also the usual array of bug fixes and tweaks that you'd expect from a major update.

It's not uncommon for promotional feature lists to end with "and more!" as this one does, but there might actually be more to the "more" here than is first apparent. It's not mentioned in the announcement but a Redditor by the name of Electoon claimed that the update also added "new secret boss routes" to the game.

"All I've heard so far is that the vegetable patch boss, the Dimji [Djimmi] boss fight, and the theater lady fight (I forget her name) all have routes you can take that includes new assets and boss patterns," they wrote. "More content in this update than we've been lead to believe!"

I've emailed Studio MDHR to inquire about the claim, but it looks legit: YouTuber Juan Velasco posted a video of a "secret radish boss" that the Cuphead Wiki says wasn't used in the game, but that now appears to be active—if you know how to get to it. That lines up with Electoons claim about the vegetable patch boss fight, and makes me think that maybe there really is more going on here than first meets the eye.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.