Prerelease:Cuphead

To do: More differences, E3 gameplay, photos, and perhaps validation on any info that may seem incorrect. Everything of worth-note featured in the "Bonus" menu selection.

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Cuphead.

Being an indie game, Cuphead and its DLC both took a long while to release, between the uploading of their first trailers, up to their eventual releases.

Teaser Trailer

The first trailer was posted on Studio MDHR's YouTube channel on October 25th, 2013; By this point in development, virtually nothing resembles the final game, other than Cuphead himself, and Goopy Le Grande.

• Studio MDHR's logo played smoother.
  • No extra visual effects appear to be present yet.
• An early iteration of The Die House plays throughout the trailer.
• Cuphead's idle animation was much faster.
• The tutorial area was just a single room inside an actual training room.
  • Artwork of an Xbox 360 controller can also be seen on the board, along with keyboard mappings.
• There appears to be no camera movement during gameplay.
• Goopy's boss area was just a flat watercolor painting.
• The HUD was vastly different, displaying some meters at the top-left, the names of Cuphead's equipped weapons (instead of icons), and there's a timer visible denoting that Cuphead has 100 seconds to beat Goopy.
• Cuphead appears to only have two weapons available; Exploder and Wide Shot. Exploder remained in the final game (albeit unused), though Wide Shot seems to've been cut early on.
  • When changing direction, Cuphead's running animation just flips; In the final game, an extra bit of animation is used that shows Cuphead changing direction visually.
• The pre-fight text is animated differently, lacking the reminiscent vibe of old movie trailers.
  • It also said "Fight! or Flight" instead of "Wallop!"
• The overworld is in a very preliminary state, with only the aforementioned training house, Goopy, and some foreground clouds visible.
  • Cuphead's overworld sprite was also slightly different, more reflecting of his main appearance instead of the miniature pie-eyed look in the final.
• The trailer ends with gameplay showing Cuphead using the Wide Shot against two Goopy Le Grandes, with the second one being slightly darker blue.
  • Neither Goopys appear to be using their secondary attack. It's currently unknown whether or not the presence of a second Goopy was the original plan for the boss's 2nd phase, or if this was an early version of the expert difficulty.

Captain Silver: Boss Teaser

The second time Cuphead was shown off on MDHR's channel was on December 20th of the same year, with a short clip of an early version of the boss fight against Captain Brineybeard.

• Captain Brineybeard was originally called Captain Silver.
• The HUD remains untouched from the previous trailer.
• Cuphead's idle animation has been made slower.
• Beyond the overhead barrel, it appears that none of Brineybeard's attacks were implemented yet.

E3 2014 Trailer

The game was later shown off at E3 2014 on June 9th, 2014, where by this point the game was starting to much more resemble the final product, even if it still had a ways to go.

• The Studio MDHR logo remains untouched from the first trailer.
• An early iteration of Junkyard Jive plays throughout the trailer.
  • The extra visual effects from the final game have now been implemented.
• The Devil has a slightly different design in the beginning portion, notably appearing darker and having longer fingers, but that may just be because this art was made just for the trailer.
• The HUD has been disabled, probably just for the sake of gameplay footage for the trailer.
• A scrapped boss fight against this bat thing can be seen.
  • The camera now moves around when Cuphead/Mugman move around the arena, though the related velocity isn't smooth yet.
• Cuphead is still seen using the Wide Shot weapon, untouched from the first teaser.
• Goopy Le Grande now has his other phases implemented.
• The Foreground for Goopy scrolls faster than the final game.
  • Goopy has extra frames of animation for when his 2nd phase has been defeated, which for whatever reason were cut from later builds.
  • The sun rays in the background of his arena were less noticeable. It also had a castle in the background, and a path leading to it.
• The Foreground looks to be less detailed than in the final.
• In Cagney's boss fight, it appears the only seeds that he drops are parryable ones.
• An unused weapon is seen with black dots with little range.
• The very first frame of gameplay that feature Cagney appears to showcase an unused Cuphead frame.
• When Cupheads jumps and turns when he lands on the ground, two more unused frames are visible.
  • The artwork of his arena was also different from the final.

E3 2015

At E3 2015, not only was there another trailer, but the game was also playable at the event. The trailer was uploaded to MDHR's channel on June 15th.

Trailer E3 2015

• The Studio MDHR logo has now been finalized.
• Much like the previous trailer, the HUD has been disabled.
• The foreground elements in The Root Pack's boss area were placed slightly higher up, leaving a notable seam at the bottom of the screen.
• Cuphead/Mugman's weapons now have their final textures and appearances.
• Bosses and enemies flash pink/red when attacked. This was most likely changed to a white color for epilepsy concerns.
• Captain Brineybeard's area visually appears mostly unchanged from his initial teaser.
• Cala Maria's siren attack doesn't yet send out any pirate ghosts.

Gameplay at E3 & Gamescom 2015

As aforementioned, the game was playable at the event.

• The animations on the title screen were different, and less on model to their gameplay drawings. Interestingly, a picture of this animation is used in YouTube's auto-recognition system.
• The overworld map is different, possibly made just for the showfloor.
  • An early version of Inkwell Isle One's theme plays in this area.
  • Most music tracks in this demo are early versions in of themselves.
  • Cuphead's overworld sprites remain as they were in the first teaser.
• The tutorial area, though it resembles the final in aesthetics and music, still has a different level layout.
  • Its housing area was also designed differently, shaped rather like a cup than a kettle. This design was also leftover unused in the final game.
• Some of the boss music was swapped around during development.
• The announcer voice clips are clean and unfiltered.
• Most sound effects are temporary, and acapellic in nature.
• The HUD has changed again, though still remaining in the upper corners of the screen.
  • The HUD resembles a smiling face when Cuphead/Mugman's health is full, with the grin being the parry meter/card charge. It changes to a neutral expression at 2 hearts, and frowns at 1.
• Some bosses at the showfloor appear to be fixed so they aren't beatable, being gifted infinite health on their 2nd/3rd phases.
• Cuphead/Mugman's death animations are different.
  • Cuphead/Mugman lack death animations in plane levels.
• The "You died!" screen doesn't show the player's progress yet.
• There's an octopus boss on an airship that has to be parried to defeat, which would later be scrapped in the final game. The concept of defeating a boss by parrying them would later be revisited in The Delicious Last Course.

To do: More differences.

E3 2016

Although no new trailers were shown off at this E3, the game was still again playable at the event.

• The HUD has now been finalized, although it doesn't flash red when Cuphead/Mugman's health is at 1.
• Some sounds have been finalized, though others are still in their temp state.
• The iconic "You died!" screen now matches the final, though clearly the lose quotes are an earlier draft.
• The hourglass doesn't do a backflip when all the sand goes down.
• The layout of Inkwell Isle One, as well as its music, has been finalized.
• The pre-fight difficulty selection is still as it was in E3 2015.
• The Root Pack's boss fight uses the music for Clip Joint Calamity.
• The screen doesn't darken behind the "Ready?/Wallop!" text.
• Bosses now flash a stronger red color, though again, this was changed to white for the final.
• The announcer doesn't say "Knockout!" when defeating a boss.
• When a boss is defeated, the screen irises in, instead of fading out.
• No small fanfare is yet played either.

Announcement Trailer

To do: Find differences.

The last of the base game's prerelease trailers, posted on June 11th, 2017, with minimal differences left.

The Delicious Last Course Prerelease Stuff

Much like the base game itself, players had to wait roughly 4 years before they could play the DLC.

DLC Announcement Trailer

The first trailer was posted to MDHR's channel on June 10th, 2018. Although no gameplay was shown, there were still some elements of early content seen within.

• Chef Saltbaker had smaller eyes, his glass body looked less blue-tinted, his nose was a bit smaller, and his salt appeared opaque within.
• Ms. Chalice's double-jump could reach higher up than in the final release.

DLC Teaser Trailer

The second trailer released in July 2nd, 2019, showing some glimpses of the fight against Glumstone the Giant, and Mortimer Freeze.

• Chef Saltbaker's eyes are now bigger, and properly pie-eyed.
• The arena for the 1st phase of Gnome Way Out lacks gnome spikes below the protruding platforms.
• There are not yet any audience members witnessing the fight against Mortimer Freeze's snowman, and the background was also slightly more blue-ish.

Release Date Announcement Trailer

To do: Find other differences.

This was the trailer seen at The Game Awards 2021, posted to the MDHR channel on December 9th, 2021. again with minimal differences left.

• Glumstone now has gnome spikes in his beard, in the 1st phase.