cuphead, by itself, is a really complete feeling game. nearly 20 bosses filled with beautiful animation, booming big band music, and tough as nails attacks to dodge. whether you’re in the air or on the ground, you’re fighting some extremely creative enemies. the classic run and gun stages are great as well, with the same hand-drawn backgrounds and obstacles, just with a different objective. there’s nothing like cuphead, not to the same amount of attention to detail and dedication to perfection.

and because there’s nothing like it, you’re out of luck to find anything else to full the cuphead-shaped hole once you’re done. so, the geniuses at MDHR decided to make some extra content, and it absolutely lives up to the quality of the base game.

once again, the animation and music are both top-of-the-line. the character themes are still silly, drawn to perfection in the classic 30’s style. every animation is beautifully hand-crafted, drawn absolutely stunningly. the bosses are fluid and unique, with absolutely gorgeous backgrounds. the music only adds to this, with the big band returning for one last show. the final boss theme in specific is absolutely amazing this time around, but every theme is excellent once again.

the game’s biggest draw is the addition of ms. chalice as a playable character! she played a small role in the base game, as her mausoleums were the home of the super abilities, but now she’s back, as a slightly unbalanced playable character. she’s really damn good, with an invincible roll, an extra heart, a parrying dash, and a double jump. her abilities take up your charm slot, but she’s so good that it’s worth it. messing around with her kit is an absolute treat. she works nicely as this game’s natural easy mode if you get too stuck, but don’t want to dip down to simple mode.

aside from the obvious new bosses, there’s also 3 new shots to play around with. crackshot, converge, and twist-up. in all honesty, they’re absolutely broken, but in the fun way. going back and absolutely rocking bosses with crackshot or converge is a blast, and the new bosses are designed more around their extra damage or new attack patterns. pairing mrs. chalice and crackshot is a combination that every boss dreads.

i’m a big fan of the new bosses here. they continue that insane, phase-shifting creativity that cuphead bosses are known for, while expanding on new themes that the original game didn’t delve into. there’s a massive gnome-controlling yeti that swallows you up, a wizard that turns into a living snowflake, a cow that turns from a corrupt sheriff to a fucking hot dog, some dogfighters turned pilots, and a group of some speakeasy attending bugs. they’re just as wacky as the base game’s bosses, and their phase changes are an absolute blast. they’re a little bit more challenging than the initial set of bosses, but mrs. chalice’s bonus abilities help even everything out a bit.

there’s also the king of games minibosses, which are basically a group of parry challenges. they’re nothing crazy, but it’s kind of cool to see what MDHR did with a group of consistently themed minibosses. it’s similar to the king dice fight, just themed around chess instead of the casino. they’re fun little bonus challenges, at the very least.

since mrs. chalice is still technically a ghost, just taking over mugman’s body and sending him to the astral plane, the goal of the story is to help one chef saltbaker get ingredients to make a wondertart, a magical tart that would give mrs. chalice a body. unfortunately, saltbaker is a complete sociopath who lied to the trio to get access to the ingredients himself. his boss fight is absolutely stunning, with a haunting orchestral background song. it’s a genuinely unnerving finale; it’s strikingly difficult, with the consistently fun animation taking a slightly darker turn. saltbaker is a scary presence, and while it’s still all played for laughs at the end of the day, it’s still cool to see some new creative decisions while the tension is high.

all in all, it’s just more cuphead. that’s all it’s trying to be at the end of the day, and it does it well. it’s pretty neat to see the passion behind cuphead stayed so strong for so long, and i respect the developers for their continued interest in the game. MDHR’s level of quality is frankly unmatched, and the delicious last course is just another point in their favor.