Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course is delicious because Studio MDHR has the resources
Cuphead is an indie founded by brothers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer and then developed as a new studio MDHR. After an incredible success story that started in 2017, on June 30, 2022 the DLC “The Delicious Last Course”. The new entry not only provided the game with a new chapter on Inkfall Island or even more difficult opponents. No, the new protagonist Fräulein Kelch mixes up the game again. She’s playable not only in the DLC, but in the rest of the game as well, and brings with her some twists that “make the game a new experience,” as Chad would say.
Art director Chad Moldenhauer and Lead Game Designer Jared Moldenhauer have agreed to talk to me about the current DLC and beyond that about Cuphead’s success story. The brothers reveal how the Netflix series came about and how Cuphead’s outfit ended up on Smash Brothers. You can find out which collaborations particularly impressed them and in which franchise they would also like to see their characters in the following video:
For those who prefer to read, we have of course also put together the most interesting questions:
Eurogamer.de: Cuphead was released five years ago and in that time you’ve had a lot of positive feedback. Looking back, do you think the idea and the drawing style was the only component to the success of the game? Or was it maybe the demanding gameplay – because the game isn’t exactly easy?
Chad Moldenhauer: It’s probably both. Luckily in the pre-pandemic times, we were still able to take Cuphead to events and events. Various people were able to touch and play with it themselves. A lot of people came up to us and said, “Oh, that looks really cool, but I don’t usually play that genre!” And then they just start playing because they liked the drawing style so much. Very often our game was the first thing people touched: like a 90s arcade classic that already has a decent level of difficulty. Many became fans straight away. So a big part of the success is that the style attracts people who would otherwise never venture into the genre. On the other hand, for those who like games like this anyway, the drawing style is just the icing on the cake.
Jared Moldenhauer: That’s true and I would add that there’s no harm in having an outstanding soundtrack! The music supports the visual and the gameplay.
Chad: Yes. I think that all gets mixed up. We say ‘visual’ so often, but we actually mean the whole package.
Eurogamer.de: Staying with the soundtrack for a moment: I believe that video game music contributes a lot to the feel and atmosphere of a game. How did your soundtrack manage to achieve that? Was it originally just meant to help bring players back to that era, or was there much more that you considered with the music?
Chad: We played the game in the beginning and put different pieces of music under each section. First of all, we wanted to see what kind of feeling this creates in us. We quickly realized that when the music is calm and serene, even the most exciting boss fight will be missing something. You don’t feel as driven as with something that sounds faster or crazier. With that we could Kristofer Maddigan already show a direction. The tempo should always be fast, the music brisk. He took that as a central theme and was able to craft his own version of it for a 1930s sound.
Jared: This also holds our ‘cartoon universe’ together. Additionally, as we tested various soundtracks, we noticed that while some tracks ran at the intended speed and were good gaming music, they didn’t match what we were seeing on the screen in front of us. It wasn’t until we listened to upbeat jazz and swing music to accompany the videos that we got into the mood we wanted to create. Kris Maddigan is a talented musician who was able to interpret that sound throughout the composition for us. He then mixed it up with the speed we needed. This gave us the best of both worlds: music that excites players, encourages them to fight, and keeps them engaged in the flow of battle.
Jared: Sometimes with our finished sections we’ve also thought, “Is this an animated short that I’m playing?”
Chad: (laughs) Yes, that’s right! It’s also really weird when you mute the game. Something doesn’t feel right then. If you just leave the sound effects on and then turn off the music, it somehow works better. But it’s only when all the pieces are together that this game really unfolds.
Eurogamer.de: Cuphead is also in other franchises, such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Are there any other series you would like to see your Cuphead characters in? If all the big publishers were listening to you right now, who would you appeal to right now?
Jared: I honestly think Smash Bros. would still be on the top list. Maybe an extended Cuphead version, where the character isn’t just a (Mii) skin, but a legitimate, real character.
Chad: A “sinister and greedy” cuphead in Street Fighter V would definitely be cool too!! However, we haven’t played around enough with this idea of which IPs still fit Cuphead. For us, it’s always nice to see when the characters show up somewhere.
Eurogamer.de: Is there anything you are particularly looking forward to when the DLC comes out?
Chad: There are a few things we’re excited about that we haven’t shown in the trailers yet. We haven’t presented some bosses and scenes yet, so we’re looking forward to the reactions of the players! I firmly believe that when people play Fräulein Kelch for the first time – if they feel anything like I do – it will feel like a new game. Their movement sequences are structured in such a way that everything feels brand new, even when replaying old bosses. This should surprise our fans in a particularly positive way!
Eurogamer.de: In other interviews you have often emphasized that quality was particularly important to you during development. Your team has often mentioned that you put quality before deadlines or budget. If I were a developer from the indie scene, how would you explain to me that something like this is possible and how could I achieve these ambitions?
Chad: I’m afraid part of the decision to do so [die Qualität zu bevorzugen] was that the original was so successful. We couldn’t afford to prioritize one area of the game early on – lengthen it or anything. Because we only had limited time and limited money. So it wouldn’t be the best idea to take our DLC as an example of how to make indie games. It would be better to look at how we originally developed Cuphead and what we learned from it. Back then it was a game with eight bosses that you can still see on one screen like at Street Fighter had to choose. That’s it. No world map. Nothing more. Only then could we begin to scale up the game and take it to our dream destination. And that’s only because we noticed the support of the fans and we received feedback from trade fairs.
There was no “Let’s start from the bottom and make our biggest dream game straight away!” because that would be doomed to failure.
Chad: So we saw that there was enough interest in our game. There was no “Let’s start from the bottom and make our biggest dream game straight away!” because that would be doomed to failure. In a way we made a lot of little games and then built them on top of each other in a series. With that, we have arrived at Cuphead as it is now. Maybe not the best answer to the question, but this is how it works. I would definitely say it’s time and money.
Jared: We are totally grateful that we were able to really take the time with the support of the fans. With a completely new title, I wouldn’t be sure if you always have this freedom. However, you should never rush the release! If you know your game needs three more months to refine or level it up, it’s always better to push the game back that much time. If it’s really about making it even better, you should definitely take the time. but when it comes to just expanding, increasing the volume of work in the sense of: “Why don’t we do three times as many drawings for this one scene?” Then you should leave it alone!
Chad: Despite everything, a lot of the original Cuphead was extremely risky for us. There was always a gamble. There was never a guarantee that we would expand the game and it would sell accordingly. However, we felt better about taking that risk after seeing the support and enthusiasm from the fans. At the end of the day, as Jared says, it’s probably about the percentage of time you still have to put into the game. Whether you really just tweak the game a bit or whether you have to double the time until completion.
Eurogamer.de: I think this answer might be helpful for some developers out there. Thank you for taking the time for us today.
If you’re particularly interested in Cuphead, or indie games in general, you can look forward to another interview I’ll be sharing with Chris Charlathe founder of ID@Xbox.
What do you find most fascinating about Cuphead? Would you like to know more about indie games? Let us know in the comments below – maybe your questions will make it into the next interview!
Reference-www.eurogamer.de