The King's Leap challenges in Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course offer challenges unique to the DLC's otherwise typical boss fights. The second one that pits you against an armor-clad horse knight can be confounding, but if you know what to do and get the timing down it becomes a cinch.

Being that this is a King's Leap challenge, you don't have access to your weapons or charms. Instead you have to figure out how to complete the challenge using only your wits and reflexes.

Lanky, awkward, and cocky, the horse knight will shuffle back and forth before taunting, and eventually charging at you with varying delays in animation — if you play it safe and give him room. Occasionally, he will also do a brief stab upward.

This is a challenge where you'll want to use Ms. Chalice, as you'll need her invincibility roll to survive the horse knight's charges and mid-air dash parry to hit his pink mane. I am unsure if it is possible to clear this King's Leap with Cuphead or Mugman because of the height of the horse knight's hitbox during charge attacks. Maybe there's something I missed, but after several attempts, it seems like it is probably impossible.

Using Ms. Chalice, you'll want to stay close to the horse knight in a sort of risky dance. You don't want to be too close, but you do want to be close enough that he'll use his two slashing attacks instead of endlessly taunting and charging.

The two slashing attacks the horse knight uses when you're near him briefly cause him to tire out, which is your cue to do a mid-air dash parry into his mane.

The first, smaller slashing attack doesn't require you to give him much room, but the second one does. The horse knight's secondary slashing attack is indicated by him showing his crazed face, before launching into a wide-arching slash. The end is the same as the first attack, though: he slumps, panting and exhausted.

He'll still charge at you when you must stick close as well, where you must use Ms. Chalice's invincibility roll to bypass the attack. Unlike when you're hanging out further away from him, his charge attack animation is a more stable speed when you stick close. It's easier to dodge because it's the intended method, with the longer or shorter durations of animation being punishment for staying far away.

You will also have an opportunity to do a mid-air dash parry into his mane after he charges. Don't worry if it seems you're a half-second too late on these ones; you'll still get the hit in and come away free of damage even if he resumes standing as you parry.

Once you figure out how you're meant to take on this challenge, it becomes a war of attrition. It takes several hits to take down the horse knight, more than you'll probably expect. Luckily, the tells for all three attacks he'll be doling out are easy to read, and there's more than enough time to both dodge and hit using Ms. Chalice's unique moveset.

With this information in mind, you should be able to take down the horse knight and complete the second King's Leap challenge. Once you know what to do, the technique to take him down is far more simple than any of the actual boss fights found in Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course. Check out our review of The Delicious Last Course if you haven't already.

Cuphead has a reputation for more than just its style. It's also a quite difficult run and gun platformer with a host of memorably devious bosses. Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course DLC further expands on the formula in the base game, but with even more dynamic and wacky bosses and the new adorable Ms. Chalice as a playable character.

After completing the first Mausoleum and freeing Ms. Chalice, you can embark to the fourth Inkwell Isle to take on a special task: freeing her from the astral plane, provided you can get the ingredients for the Wondertart. The Wondertart, of course, is made of the finest ingredients held by the island's most fearsome foes. Though what's to come after, you'll have to see for yourself.

Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course Review — An Outstanding Meal

Taking on the new bosses in The Delicious Last Course is no laughing matter. Each is hectic,  arguably even more than the base game, and it's not possible to complete the DLC by clearing them on Simple mode. As with the base game, full progression only comes with Regular mode clears — as it should, being that Simple mode omits phases and grants bosses laughably low HP compared to their Regular forms.

One could refer to the host of bosses found in the original Cuphead as a feast for run and gun/platformer fans, while The Delicious Last Course is that final sweet dessert. Isle IV is strangely geographically diverse, with caves, a desert, a snowy region, and mountains, and each area has its own devious opponent to best.

The sheer variety gives it a distinct feeling, and the challenges that await only solidify that impression. From a multi-tiered fight with a bootlegging spider and his cohorts to a mountain giant with a gnome infestation, there's no lack of thematic fights or mechanical variety.

Felling each of The Delicious Last Course's bosses is an absolute treat, in no small part due to the animations and music. The entirety of the DLC is animated just as beautifully as the base game, and the music tracks it brings with each new fight are as catchy and well-suited as can be.

On top of being the cutest of the bunch, Ms. Chalice as a new character brings base gameplay changes from Cuphead and Mugman. Instead of parrying mid-jump, Ms. Chalice parries with her dash. She can also double jump and has an invincible ground roll in her moveset.

Realistically, these new abilities make Ms. Chalice easier to play, but swapping to her takes up your Charm slot. Any boons you may have enjoyed from your favorite Charms are unavailable when playing as her, though the benefits far outweigh the downsides in most cases.

That said, Ms. Chalice does take some getting used to. Her invincibility roll can only be used while crouching, and the parrying dash requires some extra finesse; it doesn't grant any invincibility frames itself. The double jump serves as the icing on top, however; as it allows for some extra maneuvering wriggle room when things get hectic.

Ms. Chalice shines pretty much anywhere, but especially so in the new Kings Leap challenges found on Isle IV. The Kings Leap challenges bar you from attacking and nullify the effects of your Charms — except the one that swaps you to Ms. Chalice.

Some of these, particularly the second one with the horse knight, seem to be developed with her in mind, and they really put you to work even with her enhanced moveset. Though you can certainly complete the primary stages of The Delicious Last Course using good ol' Cuphead and Mugman.

Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course — The Bottom Line

Pros

• The animation, music, and boss designs are impeccable.
• Expanded gameplay options thanks to the addition of Ms. Chalice.
• Still a challenge, albeit less so when playing Ms. Chalice.
• New charms and weapons to play with.

Cons

• It ends.

The Delicious Last Course is just about everything a fan of Cuphead could have asked for, with bosses just as and even more zany than those found in the base game. Impeccably presented, amazing to play, and even more flexible with the introduction of the ambitious Ms. Chalice, there is little reason to skip out on this expansion to what was already a stellar action platformer.

If you enjoyed and finished Cuphead, even as a less confident player, there's so much to love in The Delicious Last Course that it is impossible to not recommend. Its hardest segments are thrilling to push through and complete, and the surprises around every boss bend are consistently charming. It's not the longest DLC out there, but it's just right. 

[Note: Studio MDHR provided the copy of Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course used for this review.]