Doggone Dogfight
This fight features mechanics never seen before in a Cuphead fight and requires careful maneuvering from start to finish. Bring your Crackshot (in case you haven’t noticed the theme here, this new weapon is great and can easily carry you through all the fights in the game), and equip your Heart Ring (same for this charm).
Throughout each phase of this fight, you will be standing on top of an airplane. You can move the plane by tilting it to either side, but most of the time you’ll want to stay in the center of the screen. The first phase pits you against the Fighter Pilot Bulldog. On his first attack, he will flex his muscles and fire three bone tattoo projectiles at you, one or two of which can be parried each time. Jump over the third and lowest, or parry your way throughout the move. His second attack is to shoot balls of yarn at you with his cat. Simply duck to avoid damage. There will also be tennis balls and homing fire hydrants raining down on you throughout the phase. Get between the tennis balls and shoot the fire hydrant from the sky before it can reach you.
In phase two, you’ll be pitted against four jetpack-powered puppies that will shoot B-, O-, and W-shaped projectiles at you (get it?). Parry the ones you can and take out the puppies one by one to progress to phase three.
Then the endgame begins with the Dog Chinook firing laser cannons at you. Position yourself out of beam range. When the two bottom lasers fire together, you can still parry the explosion. After that, you will be switched to the right side of the screen, where you have to avoid the red and yellow dog bowls. Jump over the reds, and stay planted on the ground to avoid the yellows. You’ll then move upside down to the top of the screen, where you’ll face the lasers again, and then to the left side of the screen where you’ll have to dodge the dog bowls again.
Note: There is a secret alternate third phase in this fight! When you shoot the phase two puppies, you’ll notice the smoke from their jetpack turn from gray to black just before they explode. If you manage to get all the smoke in their jetpack to change without killing any of them, you’ll encounter a much easier, albeit much longer, third phase. Simply shoot the hydrants and pineapples in the air, and spread the rest of your shots at the Dog Chinook to finish the fight.