History WhatCouldHaveBeen / Cuphead

* Early previews for the game had different {{Heads Up Display}}s: originally, [[http://cdn3-www.gamerevolution.com/assets/uploads/gallery/cuphead/file_32097_cuphead_001.jpg it]] resembles Videogame/MetalSlug, with a visible boss health counter at the top of the screen. Later previews had the health meters and super meters designed like a face (with hearts being the eyes and nose and the super being the mouth), which would go into a frowny face the more damage you took. Eventually it was settled to use small and simple HUD at the bottom of the screen. Those was likely changed (and finalized to the current form) because of the additional hearts you could gain and to free up more space for the visuals.

** The Deluxe+ artbook that came with the Superdeluxe First Release physical edition in Japan reveals more details about Pachi-Pachi; firstly, that Pachi-Pachi was gonna be a secret phase to the King Dice fight, only accessible through fighting and defeating all 9 bosses of the King's Court, and that the name 'Pachi-Pachi' is only one of several names they had considered for the boss, alongside 'Churippu'[[labelnote:*]]a direct transliteration of what 'tulip' would be rendered in Katakana, referring to the fact that the boss is a 'tulip catcher'[[/labelnote]], 'Jara-Jara'[[labelnote:*]]the onomatopoeia for a pachinko machine[[/labelnote]], and 'Koatari'[[labelnote:*]]literally 'small jackpot', a term for an intermittent period in pachinko games for a minor prize or a boost in probability[[/labelnote]]. Ultimately, the fight was cut because the gameplay flow of the fight was deemed too similar to Pirouletta, with the devs ultimately deciding in favor of Pirouletta to keep in the game.

* Concept art for Cala Maria shows she went through a number of alternate designs (including versions of her with hair, fin-like ears and/or a crown, and with a BreastPlate made from a clam shell rather than a SeashellBra) and alternate attacks (including having her wield a cutlass or an anchor). An early trailer had her start her boss battle by making a MightyRoar (the animation of which is used for the final version when she spits the ghost sailors), but was changed to making a flirting pose in the final version of the game.

** The developers tossed around the idea of putting in some way of making Elder Kettle a secret boss fight back when developing the main game, such as some kind of cursed artifact, but ultimately scrapped the idea as they could not find a way to satisfactorily tie it in thematically to the game's plot. The King of Games' boss fight (which was partially coded in) was scrapped for a similar reason.

** A scrapped idea for the base game that was scrapped was a 'Grim Reaper' that would appear in any boss fight [[StalkedByTheBell if you take too long to beat a boss]] resulting in a new secret fight. The developers would repurpose the intended pattern for this secret boss hazard for the Bishop fight.

** A [[https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1531840367 Squad Stream hosted by Rogersbase]] featuring the Moldenhauer brothers elucidates more about The Airship. Rather than one level, it was a series of levels that would pop up throughout the Inkwell Isles, with the brothers citing Cid's airship from the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series as inspiration, and the idea was that the bosses would be small parry challenges that the players would have to complete to earn coins; the first coin collection system made for the game. The concept was ultimately scrapped, with only Jelly and possibly two more bosses designed by Jake Clark having been designed and only Jelly having been animated, simply because having to animate upwards of ''twenty bosses'' just for coin collection seemed unfeasible at the time, and the idea was split into the Run n' Guns (coin collection) and the Mausoleums (parry challenges). Inkwell Isle Four's smaller scale allowed the team to revisit the idea fully, leading to The King's Leap.

* The DLC's code refers to Glumstone's final phase as "Gnomeleader", seemingly indicating that the original idea for the final phase was that you would fight the leader of the gnome colony that resides in/on Glumstone. A scrapped mechanic for said phase was a 'parry thermometer', which may have been simplified into/replaced with the dinner bell prompt by the skulls.

* Early previews for the game had different {{Heads Up Display}}s: originally, [[http://cdn3-www.gamerevolution.com/assets/uploads/gallery/cuphead/file_32097_cuphead_001.jpg it]] resembles Videogame/MetalSlug, with a visible timer at the top of the screen. Later previews had the health meters and super meters designed like a face (with hearts being the eyes and nose and the super being the mouth), which would go into a frowny face the more damage you took. Eventually it was settled to use small and simple HUD at the bottom of the screen. Those was likely changed (and finalized to the current form) because of the additional hearts you could gain and to free up more space for the visuals.

* [[http://www.vgmonline.net/kristofer-maddigan-interview/ According to the game's composer, Kris Maddigan,]] there was originally going to be a water-themed world. Going off of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', he created a waltz tune for its music, but the world was cut, so its music became the Elder Kettle's theme. This would also explain why Inkwell Isle Three has two more bosses than the preceding worlds; the water-themed bosses, Captain Brineybeard and Cala Maria, were likely moved here after their world was cut.

** The Devil's aforementioned unused phase is more clearly visible; it was intended to take place between first two phases in the final version.

** The Devil's unused phase is more clearly visible; it was intended to be in between phase 1 and phase 2.

** [[https://imgur.com/a/gLNRa 2.]] Sally would be able to levitate using her umbrella, the giant in Rugged Ridge would be able to throw boulders at you from the background, Cala Maria would have a third, blue held fish, Djimmi's final-phase rings would be parryable and his puppet would have a golden "invulnerable" form, Rumor Honeybottoms would have had a third magic projectile (in the form of a cube), The Devil's final phase would be fought atop his hands instead of on platforms (which was eventually repurposed for [[spoiler:the Dream Devil fight]] in ''The Delicious Last Course''), Cagney would have a blue alternate to his orange floating flower, and Wally would have had another, more colorful type of bullet.

* An entire level, The Airship, was cut out of the game. An early demo of the game featured a jellyfish-like boss with a pink orb on its head, likely to teach the player about parrying. Additionally, [[https://studiomdhr.bandcamp.com/track/the-airship the level's theme]] can be heard on the official soundtrack. A comment by Jake Clark also implies that the level would have featured multiple minibosses (including the aforementioned jellyfish), which is supported by strings of code left in the game that refer to a stork boss, a crab boss, and a clam boss. It's likely that this concept was reworked into The King's Leap for ''The Delicious Last Course''.

* Kristofer Maddigan wanted [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y1WNV1yrs8 a ragtime piano version]] of "Clip Joint Calamity" to play on the world map as you approached the stage, which would transition into the proper song. This didn't end up happening, but the piano recording is also included on the Japanese soundtrack.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCZDpt7hsG4 A somber remix of "Admission to Perdition",]] titled "The Bitter End", was considered for the cutscene where Cuphead and Mugman join the Devil's side. A recording of the band warming up was used instead. The unused song is, again, included on the Japanese soundtrack.

* The 2014 build saw bosses that didn't make it into the main game, including a bat creature (likely an early version of the Devil) and a spider one (later reworked as part of the Moonshine Mob in the Delicious Last Course). Likewise, enemy placement was different for a few of them (Cagney was on the left rather than on the right in the main game).
* An entire level, The Airship, was cut out of the game. An early demo of the game featured a jellyfish-like boss with a pink orb on its head, likely to teach the player about parrying. Additionally, [[https://studiomdhr.bandcamp.com/track/the-airship the level's theme]] can be heard on the official soundtrack. A comment by Jake Clark also implies that the level would have featured multiple minibosses (including the aforementioned jellyfish), which is supported by strings of code left in the game that refer to a stork boss, a crab boss, and a clam boss.