In the world of speedrunning, players will do anything to earn a faster time. Glitches and exploits are extremely common, which is why many speedrunning communities neglect to update their games. If a glitch they like is patched out, speedrunners will often keep playing the outdated version so they can still abuse it. This is why the Cuphead speedrunning community still frequently plays on the game's original patch, even over three years later.
For the most part, Cuphead is a fairly straight-forward game to speedrun. The game is designed as a gauntlet of primarily bosses to begin with, so all Cuphead speedrunners really do is master the patterns of each boss in the game. The process itself is more about improving the player's fundamental skills than learning many progression skips or a ton of exploits. However, there is one glitch that the community uses that has kept them playing the game's initial version even after the game has turned three years old. It's also a rather simple glitch, but it makes all the difference.
The most important Cuphead glitch is a damage-boosting exploit. It turns the game's bosses from fair bouts of a healthy size and timespan to one-sided slugfests that end in mere moments. The glitch is actually fairly simple compared to many other speedrunning exploits, as it only requires the player to mash a button while they attack. To execute the glitch, the player simply continually taps the weapon swap button. This makes both of the player's weapons fire simultaneously at their normal rate, greatly increasing their damage per second. Speedrunners in particular use a combination of the lobber and roundabout weapons, because they have high damage with projectiles that tend to linger for longer on the screen.
Cuphead's Game-Changing Glitch Explained
Doing this exploit allows players to absolutely melt boss health bars. Both early and late game bosses get completely eliminated in less that a few minutes, allowing speedrunners to completely a game that typically takes hours to beat in under 30 minutes of playtime. Even runs with extra requirements like "All Bosses" are often completed in under an hour. The only downside is that this glitch often does not work as well during the game's flying missions. Cuphead's plane is limited to just two weapons, so players can't expect the same kind of damage output when they aren't using roundabout and lobber.
In the years since Cuphead's release, the developers have patched out this glitch, leading to a division in the Cuphead speedrunning community. Two major categories now exist for the game. The category which uses the original patch of the game, and therefore the weapon swap glitch, is called "Legacy." Meanwhile, players who use the most recent version label their speedruns "Glitchless" or "1.1+," and play primarily using the charge-shot weapon instead of the roundabout/lobber combo. Oddly enough, the glitchless version of getting to the end of Cuphead is actually only about five minutes longer on average, but that's still a long time when the record-holding runs are well under 30 minutes. This is due to the extra time spent charging the charge-shot's powerful blasts. It's the highest damage option in the game without using the weapon swap glitch, but it still can't compare in sheer damage-per-second.
Dividing a game into multiple speedrun categories for different glitches, patches, and goals is nothing strange in the wider speedrunning community. Cuphead is special, however, because the glitch that divides the community likely could've been looked over by the developers. It's a simple glitch, sure, but most players didn't actually discover it in their first playthrough. It's also not necessarily an ability that bypasses skill. Avoiding damage and learning boss behavior is still an incredibly important aspect of the Cuphead speedrun. Regardless, the developers decided that their ideal version of the game does not include the weapon-swap glitch. This includes the upcoming Delicious Last Course DLC, so if any players are running an older patch of the game on their PC then they'll have to update it if they want to play what Cuphead has in store for fans next.