History Awesome / Cuphead

* Beating all of Isle IV's bosses with the Cursed Relic, which sets your HP to 1 and randomly swaps between all of your weapons and charms each fight, upgrades it into the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Divine Relic]], which grants you simultaneous access to ''all of your weapons and charms'' (save for the Astral Cookie), letting you unload your full arsenal on every single boss in the game, no matter the difficulty. Have fun breaking everything -- with how challenging the upgrade process is, ''you've certainly earned it''.

* Esther Winchester honestly puts the likes of Wally, Goopy, and Cala Maria to shame when it comes to being a {{Determinator}}. How so? Why, during her fight, her vacuum cannon malfunctions, sucks her in, and ''processes her into sausage links!'' And she just keeps going. Then, when you defeat her, she gets put into a can of sausages, and she's ''still going!'' It's only once you finally manage to beat that phase that she fully and truly {{Pun kicks the can.}}

*** The other is Sally Stageplay, who's "Third Act" is a cardboard cutout. You can see strings attached to the hands and legs of the cutout, making her and Werner both bosses who fight on their merits for the most part — but only Sally fights without any massive upgrades to herself like Werner's Tank, Cap Buzzsaws, or Katzenwagen, albeit recieving a bit more outside assistance than he does.

* Taking on the Howling Aces. Instead of using their own planes in a typical dogfight, the cups hitch a ride on Canteen’s plane while they try to shoot down the enemy aircraft. During the final phase, the saluki's dachshund-shaped airship pulls a particularly shocking move by ''[[InterfaceScrew grabbing the game's camera and turning it 90 degrees counter-clockwise each attack phase]]''. It has to be seen to be believed!
* Esther Wichester honestly puts the likes of Wally, Goopy and Cala Maria to shame when it comes to being a {{Determinator}}. How so? Why, during her fight, her vacuum cannon malfunctions, sucks her in, and ''processes her into sausage links!'' And she just keeps going. Then, when you defeat her, she gets put into a can of sausages, and she's ''still going!'' It's only once you finally manage to beat that phase that she fully and truly {{Pun kicks the can.}}

** All throughout the DLC the Cups and Mrs. Chalice have been gathering ingredients for the Wondertart, in what they ''thought'' was a plan to resurrect her for good. Returning to the bakery, they discover Saltbaker has not only been planning to take the power for himself, but never told them the secret ingredient: a living soul. ''One of the Cups’ living souls''. The presentation cutscene of Saltbaker as a villain is accompanied by an unnerving theme and some magnificent visuals.

* For the finale, as two streams of salt storm down with Saltbaker's laughing face forming in them, the Cups are forced to stand on ''falling pieces of Saltbaker's original glass body'' while his still-beating heart tries to kill them. They pull it off, free whomever's spirit he had trapped (depending on whether you picked Cuphead or Mugman ''and'' if you did the fight as Chalice), and escape the bakery before it comes crashing down.

* The sheer spectacle that is the final boss of the Delicious Last Course. All through the DLC the Cups and Mrs. Chalice have been gathering ingredients for the Wondertart in what they thought was a plan to resurrect her for good. Returning to the bakery, they discover Saltbaker has not only been planning to take the power for himself, but never told them the secret ingredient: a living soul. ''One of the Cups’ living souls''. And so begins a final battle worthy of capping off the new adventure, involving the "good" chef sending ingredients after you, using a mushroom to grow giant-size and hold you in his palm, before you shatter him and fall into what can only be described as '''a bonafide hellscape''' made up of Saltbaker's broken body, the collapsing bakery, and a veritable ''desert's worth of salt'', which comes alive and attacks you. Ultimately, the Cups defeat Saltbaker's still-beating heart, free whomever's spirit he had trapped (depending on whether you picked Cuphead or Mugman ''and'' if you did the fight as Chalice), and escape the bakery before it comes crashing down.

* Taking on the Howling Aces. Instead of using their own planes in a typical dogfight, the cups hitch a ride on Canteen’s plane while they try to shoot down the enemy aircraft. It has to be seen to be believed!
* The sheer spectacle that is the final boss of the Delicious Last Course. All through the DLC the Cups and Mrs. chalice have been gathering ingredients for the Wondertart in what they thought was a plan to resurrect her for good. Returning to the bakery, they discover Saltbaker has not only been planning to take the power for himself, but never told them the secret ingredient, a living soul. One of the Cups’ living souls. And so begins a final battle worthy of capping off the new adventure.

!! Meta
* The fact that the game went from a small-time indie project to such an anticipated phenomenon right on par with AAA games. Not many indie games can say that, especially to one starting out. Even better with Microsoft recognizing the team's talent and giving them more backing to make the game even better. Indeed, the 3 years were worth the wait. You could say they took a gamble with Microsoft and it paid off!
* Even better: Not only has Studio MDHR successfully released the game to great success and acclaim, but also got an official endorsement from ''Creator/KingFeaturesSyndicate'' themselves! If that's not proof of love for vintage art, nothing is.
* And in case that wasn't convincing enough, the game won Best Art Direction at the 2017 Game Awards! [--Best Independent Game and Best Debut Indie Game, too, but that's not as important...--]
** Then they got [[https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/939212959812907008 a congratulatory tweet]] from none other than [[JustForFun/OneOfUs Prime Minister Justin Trudeau]] himself.
** The game also won two UsefulNotes/{{Annie Award}}s: the Special Achievement Award, and a competitive award for Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Video Game.
** Of the six NAVGTR Award nominations that the game received, [[http://navgtr.org/archives/3365/ it took home the awards for all six of them in a rare, astonishing feat]]. What a surprise.
* On October 13, 2017, it was announced that the game went '''[[http://studiomdhr.com/cuphead-goes-platinum/ platinum]]'''. In just two weeks, it sold over one million copies, making it an absolute success for the company.
** Over two months after its platinum status, it was announced that ''Cuphead'' had now gone '''[[http://studiomdhr.com/cuphead-goes-double-platinum/ double-platinum]]''', with over two million copies sold, to date.
** And on August 10, 2018, it had now gone '''[[https://www.siliconera.com/2018/08/10/cuphead-goes-triple-platinum-with-3-million-copies-sold/ triple-platinum]]''', selling over three million copies.
* The simple fact that everything in the game was painstakingly ''hand-drawn'' for the sole purpose of [[DoingItForTheArt staying true to the style of the era]].
* To show how determined the devs were to make the game they wanted a reality, not only did the devs rebuild the game on a grander scale after an E3 2015 showing, but they also ''[[https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/06/30/cuphead-devs-entirely-rebuilt-the-game-after-e3-2015/ remortgaged their homes]]'' to fund the rest of development. And with how successful the game has been, odds are they should be able to pay it back without issue. Now ''that's'' commitment.
** Are you talking about Cuphead or Snow White and the Seven Dwarves? Yup - the story of how MDHR Studios made their groundbreaking run & gun is astonishingly similar - if not downright equal - to the story of how Walt Disney made his first feature length animation film - go figure!
* A few months after the game's release, Alana Bridgewater uploaded [[https://youtu.be/_NOYYoxdnLs a video]] on her Website/YouTube channel promising that, if the channel reached 1,000 subscribers, she would upload a video of her singing "Die House" live. She got the subscribers she asked for, and about a week later, [[https://youtu.be/d2xBBDfhWfY she delivered on her promise]]. The best part is that she and the band are clearly having a great time playing.
* Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Cuphead will be heading to ''the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch.'' Even the [[https://mynintendonews.com/2019/03/22/studio-mdhr-on-cuphead-coming-to-the-switch-its-a-surprise-to-us-too/ creators themselves]] were surprised by this move.
** Furthermore, the Switch port [[https://gonintendo.com/stories/331929-japanese-eshop-charts-march-21st-to-27th-2019 has gotten onto Japanese Top 10 eShop charts]] before the game is even out.
** Speaking of the Switch, there's now a Cuphead Mii costume in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', becoming the first fully Canadian character to be more-or-less playable in Smash, and only the second indie costume behind ''the'' face of the indie scene at the time, ''[[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} Sans]]''. The Cup really knows how to get around.
* The game was already great enough, but then along came the 1.2 patch. Now we have fully animated mid-game cutscenes and some extra bits of difficulty for The Root Pack, Djmmji and Sally Stageplay if you do certain actions.
* Two words: '''animated series.''' Yes, Cuphead and Mugman will have a brand new show on Netflix called ''The Cuphead Show!''
** And here's the [[https://youtu.be/Sel3fjl6uyo trailer!]]
* On July 28, 2020, the game surprise-launched on the '''UsefulNotes/PlayStation4'''. This way, everyone can enjoy the game on the big three major consoles.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cuphead_good_ending.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Devil is [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu beaten.]]]]

----
!! Main Game

** Speaking of the Switch, there's now a Cuphead Mii costume in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', becoming the first fully Canadian character to be more-or-less playable in Smash. The Cup really knows how to get around.

*** Sally Stageplay's "Third Act" is a cardboard cutout, not a transformation. You can see strings attached to the hands and legs of the cutout, making her and Werner both bosses who fight on their merits for the most part — but only Sally fights without any massive upgrades to herself like Werner's Tank, Cap Buzzsaws, or Catbot.

* The simple fact that everything in the game was painstakingly ''drawn by hand'' for the sole purpose of [[DoingItForTheArt staying true to the style of the era]].

* On July 28, 2020, the game surprise-launched on the '''UsefulNotes/Playstation4'''. This way, everyone can enjoy the game on the big three major consoles.

** Then they got [[https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/939212959812907008 a congratulatory tweet]] from [[JustForFun/OneOfUs Prime Minister Justin Trudeau]] himself.

* To show how determined the devs were to make the game they wanted a reality, not only did the devs rebuild the game on a grander scale after an E3 2015 showing, but they also ''[[https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/06/30/cuphead-devs-entirely-rebuilt-the-game-after-e3-2015/ remortgaged their homes]]'' to fund the remainder of development. And with how successful the game has been, odds are they should be able to pay it back without issue. Now ''that's'' commitment.

* Two more words: '''Mii Costume'''. That's right, Cuphead is a Gunner Costume for VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate just like Sans before him. Cuphead's accomplishments, in it's relatively short span, were enough to warrant an appearance in what could be the biggest celebration of gaming.

* Two more words: '''Mii Costume'''. That's right, Cuphead is a Gunner Costume for VideoGame/SuperSmashBros.Ultimate just like Sans before him. Cuphead's accomplishments, in it's relatively short span, were enough to warrant an appearance in what could be the biggest celebration of gaming.

* Two more words: '''Mii Costume'''. That's right, Cuphead is a Gunner Costume for Smash Bros. Ultimate just like Sans before him.

** Speaking of the Switch, there's now a Cuphead Mii costume in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''. The Cup really knows how to get around.

** Then they got [[https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/939212959812907008 a congratulatory tweet]] from [[JustForFun/OneOfUs Prime Minister Justin Trudeau]].

* The game was already great enough but then along came the 1.2 patch. Now we have fully animated mid-game cutscenes and some extra bits of difficulty for The Root Pack, Djmmji and Sally Stageplay if you do certain actions.