Super Meter

Lore & Background

The Super Meter is a core resource in Cuphead, built around a row of five playing cards. Players can charge it by attacking enemies, using a slapping parry attack on pink-marked objects, or through Charm effects. Spending one card allows an enhanced attack, the form of which depends on the weapon currently equipped. The most powerful moves, Super Arts, require the full five-card meter and drain it completely upon use. Three distinct Super Arts are hidden across the first three worlds, each earned by entering a mausoleum and parrying ghosts away from a central urn.

In Their Own Story

Cuphead and Mugman, having lost their souls to the Devil in a craps game, must collect soul contracts from runaway debtors. As they fight through Inkwell Isle, they discover mausoleums containing ghost hordes. By parrying these ghosts away from an urn at the center of the screen, they earn Super Arts—devastating moves that require a fully charged Super Meter. The meter itself is represented by five playing cards, filling as they attack and parry. Once full, a Super Art can be unleashed, completely draining the meter but turning the tide in battle.

Reader's Guide

The Super Meter is a row of five playing cards that fills through attacking enemies, parrying pink objects, or using Charm effects. Each card spent allows an enhanced attack, the type of which depends on your equipped weapon. To use a Super Art, you must fully charge all five cards; the move then drains the entire meter. Three Super Arts are available, one in each of the first three worlds. To earn them, enter a mausoleum and parry a horde of ghosts to stop them from reaching an urn at the center of the screen. The meter carries over between deaths, as player characters have infinite lives and maintain all equipment.

Did You Know?

• The Super Meter is represented by a row of five playing cards, not a circular gauge.
• Three Super Arts are available, one in each of the first three worlds, earned by parrying ghosts in a mausoleum.
• An enhanced attack can be executed at the cost of one card, with its form determined by the currently equipped weapon.
• The Super Meter can also be charged through Charm effects, not just attacking or parrying.
• Player characters have infinite lives and maintain all equipment between deaths, including the Super Meter charge.