Day 18: Cagney Carnation
Well it's about time we got to the game that's known for the most wacky and, for lack of a better term, cartoony bosses known to gaming.
The boss roster for Cuphead has been talked about to death and for very good reason. These bosses are some of the most uniquely designed and most fun and challenging bosses you can find in any game. And keep in mind, I'm referring to Vanilla Cuphead. I'm not even talking about the bosses from the Delicious Last Course, which we'll get to later on in this marathon.
Hell these bosses are so good, I can make my own Top 10 describing my favorites…
In fact!
Countdown Quickie: WildCard0531's Top 10 Vanila Cuphead Bosses (Not counting Root Pack, King Dice, or The Devil)
#10: Cala Maria - Tied with Dr. Kahl for being the most frantic air battle. Unlike Dr. Kahl, however, dodging these attacks feels fair…with the exception of her eye beams in the second phase, that is.
#9: Ribby and Croaks - A well paced battle where despite fighting two foes, it never feels overwhelming, and on top of that these two are another great Street Fighter reference.
#8: Wally Warbles - A fair air battle with an easy first and third phase, tough second phase, and challenging fourth phase that actually makes good use of the bombs.
#7: Werner Werman - An easy boss fight, but that's not a bad thing especially if you're fresh from Dr. Kahl's excruciating boss fight, and the final phase is neat.
#6: The Phantom Express - This fight really keeps you on your toes because of the small platform you're on and the fact that the boss will try and move the platform on you with the intent of putting you in harm's way, and that gives the fight a frantic nature that I love.
#5: Captain Brineybeard - A fight that just escalates and gets more insane the longer it goes. It goes from Brineybeard just shooting projectiles at you, to him summoning more sea creatures to fight you, to having his literal living boat shoot cannonballs, and then said boat tosses the captain aside so it can take you on himself.
#4: Sally Stageplay - The great thing about this fight is how it feels like an actual play, from props being thrown at you, to roses from the audience being seen as projectiles in the final phase, to fighting a cardboard cutout of Sally in Phase 3. This fight also gets bonus points for having an alternate take that is absolutely morbid! Her husband straight up dies…yikes!
#3: Djimmi the Great - Another great air battle that really tests your reflexes and ability to dodge while shooting. Final Phase is a little underwhelming though.
#2: Hilda Berg - Awesome way to introduce flying to the game. Like Djimmi, Hilda tests your multitasking abilities, I'd say she's the first real challenging boss in Cuphead, and her final phase is freaking insane…but in the best possible way mind you.
Which brings us to my favorite Cupheads boss: Cagney Carnation.
Now in all fairness, Cagney isn't the most challenging boss, nor is he the one with the craziest design. In terms of the latter, he's basically a more psychopathic version of Flowey from Undertale. But, simply put, I just prefer Cagney as I have the most fun fighting him. And whenever I think about bosses from Cuphead, my mind immediately thinks about Cagney and his magical jazz hands.
Lyra: Oh, you think about him now do you?
Me: Shut up! Not like that!
Lyra: (Sing-songy) WildCard and Cagney, sitting in a tree!
Me: (Sing-songy) You're annoying as a flea!
The fight against Cagney Carnation is divided into two phases. In phase one, he'll attack with homing acorns, boomerang seeds that'll first fly over the flying platforms and then come back on ground level, stretching his own face at you, and on the subject of his face, he can turn it into a Gatling gun and spray out three different colored seeds.
Pink, which can be parried, will grow into Toothy Terror Floaters that'll float above the arena and shoot seeds at you. And unlike the other Toothy Terrors, these ones linger into Phase 2.
Blue will grow into Toothy Terror Chasers that'll follow you to no end until you destroy them
And Purple will grow into Baby Toothy Terrors that'll stay on the ground
With everything going on, especially when the Toothy Terrors show up, the first phase can get very hectic and it can really keep you on your toes at all times. I find it best to have Chaser equipped.
After taking enough damage, Cagney will go into his second phase where he'll somehow look even more demented, as he covers the ground with his vines, forcing you to use the three platforms to fight him.
In this phase, Cagney will have only two attacks.
The first being these dandelions that are easy to dodge, but if they hit you the screen will get distorted for a brief minute.
The second attack involves his vines reaching up to the three platforms, forcing you to jump to a different platform on a dime.
The second phase, while not as frantic as the first one, is still fun in its own way.
After taking enough damage, you'll have successfully wilted this flower, and his soul contract is yours.
The last thing I want to talk about with this boss before I end things is his battle theme, which is easily the best song in the game. How good is it? Well, instead of me telling you to listen for yourself, I'm just going to say that it got into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. I think that alone should tell you how much of a banger that song is.