Who's the Boss?

[Zank_Tripper]

So I was thinking today over some of my most memorable experiences in video games when I noticed that the majority of them involved me fighting bosses that were spectacular, enthralling, deep, epic, and/or just plain difficult. I went on to wonder if maybe the reason that they were memorable was because of the bosses themselves, and what that had to say about making good video games.

For example, one of my favorite moments in a video game was when I had to fight a guy called 'The End' in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The guy was this 100-year-old Russian sniper who was really freaking hard to kill and even harder to beat without killing (non-lethal using tranquilizer darts). The first time through the game that particular boss fight took me over 2 hours. The thing that made it all interesting was the fact that I couldn't just run and gun, I actually had to have a decent strategy. I could hardly ever get close to the guy, and if I did he'd start shooting at me, so that wasn't a good option. He could also run faster than me and dropped flashbangs. It took some real strategy and patience to track him down without him seeing me, to shoot him, then to go find him and do it again.

Another example, one of my favorite games (although I have a ton of them) is Shadow of the Colossus for PS2. This game is nothing but boss fights and my particular favorite was the gargantuan flying sand-worm thing that you have to kill with just a bow and arrow, a horse, and a sword. It took a while for me to figure out what to do, but in the end I had to shoot these airsacs underneath the thing with the bow, jump on it's back from the galloping horse, and then stab it in particular spots before it dove into the sand and threw me off. The whole process of defeating that particular boss was epic in the extreme for me, and is one of my favorite gaming memories.

Other bosses that I really liked and remember well:

Master Hand and Crazy Hand from event match 51 in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Gilgamesh and Enkidu from Final Fantasy XII
Diablo from Diablo 2
GlaDos from Portal
A bunch of others I can't remember right now.

So in an effort to better understand this, I wanted to ask you guys what your favorite bosses were and what you thought about their roles in video games.

[Russ]

Favorite bosses?

Vaati (Zelda: Minish Cap)
He was one of the best Zelda bosses of all time, and fun to play against,.

Gygas (Earthbound)
There's nothing like fighting a boss that has been so corruoted by evil that it can't even think rationally. The monologue throughout the battle was very good too.

Boswer (Super Mario Galaxy)
That battle was just epic. A three part battle, going back and forth between planets, and eventually into the center of the sun, was just awesome.

Master Hand (Super Smash Bros [The Original One])
The Master Hand was the final challenge in the original smash bros, and boy was he fun. Although they ruined him in future version.

Duon (Smash Bros. Brawl)
When Mr. game and Watch gets thrown down to you, I thought, "You've got to be kidding". Then, when the creepy organ music started playing and he transformed into a giant robot, I felt quite startled.

Tabuu (Smash Bros. Brawl)
Not only was he the most unexpected plot twist in the game, he was the hardest. Truly a good final boss, he never runs out of new attacks. It was amazing.

Those are all I can think if now, but I'll probably think of more later.

[The_Amaster]

Hmm, top bosses?

-Any of the enormous-as-hell Robotnik Robots at the end of most Sonic games- Just the feeling that your up against this absolutly monstrous behemoth and all you can do is gradually chip away and damage what you can and take it down slowly.

-The Colossi from Shadow of the Colossus- Same reason.

-Tabuu, from Brawl- Hard as hell. Thats all there is to it.

-Minish Cap Vaati- In my opinion, the coolest Zelda Boss Battle ever.

-The weird Time Stopper guy from Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow- This one is interesting, because there are no gimmicks, no weak points, no special manuevers. It's just you and him, and you've got to dodge his attacks and strike back as best as you can.

Maybe more later...

As to what they mean, well, I think they represent an investment. Each one is a test, asking you weather you've mastered the game and it's character well enough to survive this epic battle. They also serve as humblers, reminding you that no matter how many faceless Crewman No.6s you've killed, theres still some guy who can take you out.

[Zank_Tripper]

Yeah, good point about the test. That makes a lot of sense.

Also, I want to mention that Boss Battles mode in Brawl is way too difficult for its own good. I somehow managed to beat it on Very Hard, but I can't for the life of me beat Intense. Tabuu has that one move that you have to doge like 4 times or it instantly kills you and it gets me every time.

[Beldaran]

I'll go ahead and be the first to mention the CyberDemon from DOOM II. That scared the farts out of me when I was a kid. I didn't know the game was capable of those kinds of graphics. When I first saw him, I was horrified and stunned, and then he creamed me with his missile launcher. It turned out he wasn't that hard to beat, but there was a lot of adrenaline flowing. (give me a break, I was like 13 years old =) ).

Mike Tyson (or Mr. Dream) from [Mike Tyson's] Punchout. I actually never beat him. However, I have fond memories of how hard it was to just to get to him.

Lavos. More need not be said.

I agree about Diablo from Diablo II. Very challenging and exciting the first time I fought him. Fortunately, it was in multiplayer so I had help. However, as you may know, the enemies in Diablo II become much more difficult if there are multiple people playing together. It was part of the gameplay balance.

I may think of some more later, but this is it for now.

[ZTC]

Master Hand and Crazy Hand from the event mode on SSBM. Took one hell of a long time trying to defeat them, but I managed to do it...with Jigglypuff. lmao

Sonic 3 & Knuckles leading to, and through Doomsday Zone with Hyper Sonic. It's essentially a 6-part final battle that starts with the boss of Death Egg Zone Act 2. Starts off with a remote-controlled robot that you have to use the grav fields and the spike bots to damage it. After that's destroyed, Eggman goes inside his mech and attacks with it's fingers. Once those are destroyed, he'll chase you until you manage to destroy that. Eggman will fly up and try to escape with the Master Emerald, but his carrier gets destroyed. Since the station is pretty much destroyed, Eggman escapes in a spacecraft with it inside. Sonic goes into hyper form and gives chase. After that is destroyed, Eggman tries to escape again, but when that carrier is defeated, the game has been won.
Good times.(edit) That also has some of the best boss music I've ever heard

[Russ]

Tabuu has that one move that you have to doge like 4 times or it instantly kills you and it gets me every time.
Ah, the good ole Red Ring of Death. Well, technically they're called Off Waves. They're easy to dodge. Just hold down Z and tap down right before each one hits you. Simple as could be. I actually can beat him in adventure mode on normal without dying soometimes. :)

[The_Amaster]

After that's destroyed, Eggman goes inside his mech and attacks with it's fingers. Once those are destroyed, he'll chase you until you manage to destroy that.
Heh, yeah, that was the main one I was thinking of. I mean, that thing was freakin' massive. That one and the one from Sonic Rush primarily.

EDIT: Okay, seriously, if you haven't seen it before, check this out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHSHBe7HPs0&feature=related).

[ZTC]

It also took quite a while for me to get the time down to where I didn't lose a life while fighting the mech.

From Sonic CD, it's the battle with Metal Sonic on Stardust Speedway Act III. Well, much less a battle that a race. Nothin like getting past that trap and seeing Metal Sonic crushed to pieces, only to see him come back in Knuckle's Chaotix. Been a long time since I played it, but at the end of the game, you fight Metal Sonic, and when he's defeated, Eggman uses a big ring to power him up into this red monstrocity, which has to be broken apart. Not as good as S3&K's final, though.

Yoshi's Island for the SNES had some pretty good bosses (if not outright huge bosses :p ). I'd say that my favorite was the first one on world 6. Don't remember the name, but all you had to do is play keep-away and destroy the floor below to get him to sink into the lava.

[Russ]

Which reminds me of another favorite.

Raphael the Raven (Yoshi's Island)
When I first layed this, I was surprised. A planet floating above Earth for a battlefield!? But it was fun!

[ShadowTiger]

Both Lavos and Kefka, the final bosses of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6, respectively, made me quake and shiver a bit just before I went in there. That means, yeah, they did it right. Both end-game boss themes were truly epic specimens as well. What more can I say.

Oh. Serious Sam 1's final boss was literally epic. You've got a monster chasing you through a mile-long journey down a single path to a pyramid, shooting all the way up at the sky just so you can hit his shoelaces, (The monster makes the freaking titans look like gnomes from WoW.) and then you get to run around the top of the pyramid while shooting transporter beams at him just to kill him. Good god, it shoots adrenaline right at you through the monitor. Couldn't get any sweeter than that.

[Archibaldo]

I don't remember much of the bosses I fought when I was a kid. But here goes my list.

Gary the Pokemon League Champion from Pokemon Red and Blue. I must have tried to beat him like 50 times before I actually beat him. But I was like 11 so it was a big accomplishment for me.

The Final Boss (I can't remember the name) from the first Golden Sun. I think it's the duo or something. It's the first time I realized that strategy is everything. I had to have one character constantly healing my party every turn and one who would cast buffing spells on the fighters and then 2 fighters to dish out the damage.

The Priest from Devil May Cry 4. It was an easy battle but just kinda fun.

The Statue form DMC4. That was long fucking fight. But it was fun running all over him.

Lou from GH3. I've never been so mad at a game before I played this guy. On Hard its a real bitch. I haven't tried it on Expert yet. But I'm not looking forward to it.It pretty much winds down to luck. Hopefully the first battle item isn't the lefty flip.

Pegorino from GTA4. That last fight is epic. Chasing him to Happiness Island and everything is just awesome.

[mrz84]

The Xemnas battle at the end of KH2. A segmented fight that is fun to do over and over again IMHO.

Kefka from FF6. Mainly I just like the music that plays when you fight him at the end.

Axel from KH2 when you fight him as Roxas the 2nd time. The scene that takes place before it is one of my fav KH2 scenes.

I-no form GGX2. I have to admit that anybody who can hand you your ass with a guitar has to be kickass in some way.

Meta-Ridley from MP. Challenging a bit and fun ta boot. :kitty:

[MasterSwordUltima]

Cubia from .hack//G.U. - absolutely brilliantly done. I especially like the music when the core is on its final chunk of health, and everything slows down and gets dramatic.

Greiver from FF8 - not because it was difficult or anything, but just how bam, the best GF. And then Ultimecia goes and junctions with it, and time kompression and all that.

Rex Vs Ray from MGS4 - just because Rex was stinger missile'd over a few dozen times does not make it inferrior to a completely brand new Ray. Not by a long shot.

Zoda Z from Star Tropics 2 -for doing a good job on the black and white on the gauntlet [this is a NES game btw] and then just being crazy tough himself. Hell, I had problems with Zoda X.

Moritsune from Shinobi [PS2] - not the first time you fight him, the fight before the final boss. What a pain in the ass. Atleast you can play as him though.