Jab and Side-tilt: Cuphead fires his equipped weapon in the direction he’s facing. Similarly to Mega Man, he can fire while moving. The weapon equipped gives Cuphead different advantages and disadvantages.
U-tilt: Cuphead fires upwards with his weapon. The weapon equipped gives Cuphead different advantages and disadvantages.
D-tilt: Cuphead crouches down and fires his equipped weapon. The weapon equipped gives Cuphead different advantages and disadvantages.
Pummel: Cuphead stuffs the opponent’s head into the straw in his head. He then punches the opponent.
F-throw: Cuphead strains his head for a moment before launching the opponent from his straw in front of him.
D-throw: Cuphead lifts the opponent upwards with his straw then smashes them into the ground.
B-throw: Cuphead whips the straw in his head in such a way that it releases the opponent, launching them.
U-throw: Cuphead dunks the opponent into his head, drowning them for a bit before throwing them out via straw.
N-air: Cuphead performs a rolling attack, a glowing pink hand poking out of his straw. This can parry projectiles, boosting the power of the next weapon he uses by 1.5x.
F-air: Cuphead fires his weapon while in mid-air. The weapon equipped gives Cuphead different advantages and disadvantages.
D-air: Cuphead fires his weapon diagonally downwards. The weapon equipped gives Cuphead different advantages and disadvantages.
B-air: Cuphead takes out his airplane, which drops a bomb downwards. This functions similarly to Mr. Game and Watch’s F-air, except this arcs downwards.
U-air: Cuphead fires his weapon diagonally upwards. The weapon equipped gives Cuphead different advantages and disadvantages.
Side Smash: Cuphead aims his finger gun in front of himself before he releases a large blue fireball that travels for a bit before disappearing. This is similar to Mega Man’s Side Smash.
Up Smash: Cuphead’s body grows big muscles, then after charging a bit, jumps upwards, spinning with his arms outstretched. This deals multiple hits.
Down Smash: Cuphead crosses his arms, both his hands making finger guns, then he uncrosses them, creating four orbiting projectiles that spin for a bit before disappearing.
Neutral B: Charge Shot: Cuphead charges a large projectile before releasing a large fireball from his finger gun. This is way to kill opponents, but Cuphead can be interrupted while charging. The projectile isn’t as strong if it isn’t charged enough, but said level can be spammed.
Side B: Lobber: Cuphead fires a high-damage projectile that bounces twice on the ground before popping the moment it hits the ground a third time. This is great for forcing the opponent to think of what action to make. The Lobber has a low rate of fire, and it can be reflected.
Up B: Aeroplane: Cuphead boards a plane and flies in a route in a similar fashion to PAC-MAN’s Power Pellet. However, this goes a much longer distance and Cuphead can fire a bunch of bullets throughout if the player mashes A.
Down B: Weapon Swap: Cuphead swaps his weapon for a different weapon. The weapon cycles between the following in the following order.
- Peashooter: A simple weapon similar to Bullet Climax. The attack can be fired at a high rate that can rack up the damage easily.
- Spreadshot: A shorter-range weapon that shoots in three simultaneous directions like a shotgun. This weapon also has a high fire rate and is used to rack up damage up close.
- Chaser: A weapon that travels slowly, but tracks the opponents’ positions individually. The attack does less damage than the peashooter, but it tracks the opponent much easier.
- Roundabout: A weapon that goes outwards, then goes back. The move does more damage when it’s going backwards and is great for covering ground. Think of it as Cuphead’s version of the Cross.
Final Smash: Aeroplane Bomb: Cuphead shoots a beam of milk out of his head that hits any opponent caught in the line of fire once. Anyone caught gets sent to a cutscene: the opponents are soaring over a watery landscape from the attack before Cuphead flies towards the opponents at high speeds before shooting a large barrage of bullets at them before transforming into a bomb that collides with the opponents and explodes with a red ‘BOOM!’ expanding out towards the screen. The blast then launches the opponents as the cutscene ends.