Best Boss Battle In A Game

[OrenA]

Gladus+Portal+Rocket Launcher= GOOD TIMES

 

[Apone]

wow can't believe i didn't think of MGS best boss battles ever. It is also good if you suck at sniping you can skip the end but if you do you feel accomplished. I did it all by creeping up behind him though. I held him up and didn't get Armour though

Yeah The End is fantastic. Love the sniper war idea. And likewise did the tranquilizer version of defeating him and held him up to get the camo and the mosin nagant. It feels worth it for the rewards rather than just doing it for the sake of an extra challenge.

 

[windfish]

Easy - anything from Zelda: Link's Awakening

Boss 1: "Buzz Buzz! OutZZider!"
The Master steals the hookshot
Boss 5: "Keeeheehee! Ssssso, it is the Outssssider, come to wake the Wind Fissssh...Keeeheheee! I shall eat you!"
Boss 7: GIANT EAGLE
The Nightmares: "We are born of nightmares..."

And those creepy eyes. Damn, what an awesome fight. What's great is at this point, the nightmares draw on the fears of bother the Wind Fish and Link, taking the forms of Aghanim, Ganon, and whatever the heck makes the Wind Fish afraid.

 

[Owensir]

I'd have to say the Bird Colossus from Shadow of the Colossus. Stabbing the wing tips and hanging on for dear life as it barrel rolls...awesome. I do have to throw out an honorable mention though for Kingdom Hearts II. The very last battle is fantastic, mainly for it's cinematic style when going into the action sequences.

I actually really loved fighting the initial Xemnas battle, it felt as close to those epic, completely-impossible-physics style swordfights as we are going to get for a while, while the final battle had sooooooo many reaction commands that it felt like I wasn't really doing much. But then I might be forgetting parts of it.

 

[Katana314]

In terms of presentation, definitely Ganon from OOT. I'm probably the most notorious disliker of that game, and hate anyone who gave it a full "10" but still, the feeling you get staring up at him is just tremendous. It's too bad the fight itself wasn't so challenging.

The Megaman series has had some pretty intense fights. They're utterly frustrating the first time you play them, but become a really sweet game of reflexes once you understand their moves.

 

[LOOY]

The Gman, whenever I catch up with him.

 

[aussiesniper]

the fight with diablo from diablo 2 was pretty damn hard, especially in single-player. the "jet of pwnage" (I forget the actual name, but that's the effect it has) that he can spray at you at will for no apparent reason is what really makes it difficult.

 

[ReepNeep]

the fight with diablo from diablo 2 was pretty damn hard, especially in single-player. the "jet of pwnage" (I forget the actual name, but that's the effect it has) that he can spray at you at will for no apparent reason is what really makes it difficult.

I actually think Diablo was one of the WORST boss battles I've ever suffered through. If you aren't using magic (i.e.: you have to make an attack roll to damage him) you are basically screwed. Huge HP, a 90% dodge chance, and damn near instagib damage is just a formula for frustration. That fight alone cemented decision that the sorceress was the best class in that game.

My favorite would probably be the three times you fought Virgil in Devil May Cry 3. Always very difficult, but never did it get to the point to where I would just ragequit. It was fun throughout even though he wiped the floor with my face. That really makes it special.

 

[Conqueror Kenny]

In DM3 Beowulf the big wolf/yeti type thing. It was just huge and for some reson fun. i cant explan why. Dont ask. Seriously dont.

 

[nightmare_gorilla]

diablo from diablo 1, that was a real nail bitter and the ending cinematic was one of those, oh that sucks, moments in a game

i would say the last boss fight in enchanted arms except having a follow up mini fight kinda killed the mood.

the final boss in conan was one of the hardest boss fights i've ever endured, it literally took me about 3 hours in the chair fighting to wreck this guy.

 

[ThaBenMan]

In DM3 Beowulf the big wolf/yeti type thing. It was just huge and for some reson fun. i cant explan why. Dont ask. Seriously dont.

Why?

 

[teh_gunslinger]

The boss fight in Psychonauts where you are in Lungfishdopolis or what it's called is great. I find it awesome to destroy buildings while blasting this way and that. Actually a lot of the bosses in that game were cool. In fact the whole game is pure win.

But the all time winner is, hands down, The End. And it seems I'm not alone here. I think I could play an entire game just crawling around in intense sniper battles. Awesomeness squared!

In general the MGS series has given me a lot of great boss fights.
The Fatman should have been lame, but something about a fat dude on roller blades who run around setting bombs while drinking red wine is just irresistible to me. He did drink wine, did he not? Or am I making that up? Now I don't know. What is real?!

 

[josh797]

You know what. I can't think of any specific bosses, but my brain is shouting 'Zelda! It's gotta be something from Zelda!', which I agree with! The TLOZ games have had some fantastic boss battles. Really fun and interesting.

durrr, gannon/dorf from twilight princess. that was an amazing boss battle, so long and incredibley epic. i mean every part, from the mimicry of other boss battles, to the control zelda part, to the pig part, to the sword to the arrows, that was so fucking epic! long and beautiful and incredibly fun

 

[StevieC]

Oh...This is impossible to choose one so I'll list several of my faves.

1: Eboshidori (Game: Ikaruga. Level: 1)
2: Chaos in his many iterations (Game: Sonic Adventure. Level: Multiple)
3: Andross (Game: StarFox 64. Level: Venom)
4: Eden (Game: Rez. Level: 5)
5: Red Fatty (Game: Descent ][. Level: 4)
6: Yourself (Game: Tetris. Level: Variable)
7: Barabas (Game: Oni)
8: Durandal (Games: Marathon Trilogy)
9: SHODAN (Game: System Shock 1)

 

[Kikyoo]

My favorite boss battle is probably the in Megaman Legends vs Bruno. The giant robot, the little robot, and an empty part of the city too completely level in your fight. It was just a lot of fun.

 

[Crazyshak48]

After thinking about this for a bit, I think I have three. The first would be Abyssion from Tales of Symphonia. My cousin and I managed to beat him on the first try, but only after twenty minutes, all of our items, a lot of swearing, and me somehow managing to pull of my character's epic move to put the last nail in his coffin (it's my cousin's game, so he plays a lot more than I do, so I'm not very good). Number two takes me back to the N64 era, to Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, and dealing with the Gladiator droid in the last FPS level. If you're out of disruptors, he takes bloody forever to kill, and is extraordinarily difficult. For my all time best boss fight, however, I'm going to reach WAY back into the nostalgia bin and nominate the Megahulk from the original Descent. Even on the easiest skill level, I could not beat him without cheats. Lets face it: Five mega missile launchers, so much health it isn't even funny, and the ability to cloak, teleport AND summon endless armies of robots to help it typically equals instadeath for the player. If someone claims they beat him on Insane skill level without cheating, I call shenanigans.

Oh and before I get guff for not talking about Zelda, MGS, or DMC, I've never played any of them

 

[Melaisis]

Yes, I'll admit that Boss X is simple to beat when the hammer is used, but to me that wasn't the point of the thread. I thought this was a discussion about which boss battles we thought were the best. Best doesn't necessarily mean most difficult IMO. I always thought he was an awesome boss because he threw you off balance; you've gone through the other dungeons, fighting through massive bosses, only to come face-to-face and blade-to-blade with yourself. That battle always stuck out for me because it was different.

Also, he's easy to beat if you spam Din's Fire.

I think you've subtly raised a very good point here. I mean, the very presence of Dark Link is enough to throw people off balance. I mean, I've written whole articles [http://3scapism.blogspot.com/2008/02/haha-now-i-shall-reveal-my-true-form.html] before on how the difficulty and presentation of bosses can effect a player's experience. Now, what about when it comes to the very placement of these enemies? You say the mini-boss in question shocks the player because of its design - a literal 'shadow' of yourself and own playing tactics. However, I pointed out that he can beaten fairly easily if you know the right strategy. Still, according to yourself, this fails to make any real difference to the true, epic atmosphere of the clash? I concur; it is the location of Dark Link which is important here. The player has spent the last few hours going against the complicated, claustrophobic puzzles of the Water Temple. Suddenly, they are thrown out into a surreal, wide-open shallow, subterranean lake in the middle of no-where. The exit seems simple: Just run to the other side of the room. Then, suddenly, a boss appears and attacks you in this otherwise strangely picturesque environment. Now, I could analyse how the room is reflected in the water you battle in, and how this is imagery for the fact you're battling your 'alter-image' or whatever, but I just think its fascinating how the location can really change the pace of gameplay. Would it have had the same effect if there was a huge build-up to that moment, as there was in, say, the Forest or Shadow Temples? No, of course not. The encounter (literally) forces the player off-guard and breaks up the constant bloody tedious task-work which that damn dungeon composed of.

Of course other games have made the environment itself a key factor in fighting bosses (Shadow of the Colossus is one such example), but nothing like in OoT, where the very scene and the simple aesthetics of such make it memorable.

Yeah. Heh.

EDIT: I was just in the bath, thinking about other instances where this sort of level design has just been kept to presenting the player with gorgeous scenery to look out whilst partaking in a battle. The final confrontation with The Boss in Metal Gear Solid 3 sprang to mind; but even then you have to use the environment in order to survive.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Legion in Shadowman. In fact all of the bosses in that were cool.

 

[stompy]

<quote=Seldon2639>I really figured I'd cheated myself out of a boss battle. It was great that they went to check that he was dead, which is something most video-game protagonists fail to do 99% of the time[/quote]

No, but the funny thing is he comes back to life. Though, the cinemetics(sp?) during the fight was pretty cool.

Anyway, I reckon the best boss fight would have to either be the Metal Head Leader form Jak 2, or the final boss from Jak 1.

Gal and Mia's demise was a really interesting foreshadow of Jak 3's new eco type, and Kor's betrayal made the end all the more rewarding (not to mention he was hard as hell for me).

 

[boyitsme95]

I haven't played aganist Psyco Mantis yet, so I'm gonna have to say the battle aganist Dark Link was awsome. Also the battle aganist GLaDoS was one of the funnist things I've ever heard. It was so much fun and I laughed when I picked up the piece of GLaDoS and it started listing off the ingredents of chocolete cake.