Topic: boss fights

[crisis]

What in your opinion are some of the best/exciting/difficult/easiest/lamest boss fights you've ever encountered in a video game?

I like the Hades battle in GoWIII, it really keeps you on your toes & the accompanying music is perfect for the setting. Hades is no push-over and he makes you work for your victory.

I also like the Cronos battle, mainly for it's sheer epicness. It was a battle that's never been done in a video game before (to my knowledge), and it was executed near-flawlessly. You're literally an ant fighting an elephant.

Gate from MegaMan X6 is a real pain in the ass; he's not necessarily difficult per se, but the disappearing platforms & the way he's always moving makes for a really frustrating battle. You're gonna die multiple times & just get more pissed off each time.

The battle with Mundus in the first Devil May Cry is pretty epic, due to the chaotic nature of his/your movements. I really enjoyed it and thought it was a unique approach. To this day I still feel that no other boss battle from the DMC games have topped it.


i will add more later on

[shelverton.]

Super Metroid has some of my favourite boss battles ever. Perfect, perfect game.

Another boss battle that is really stuck in my head after all these years is the battle against the Phantom Train in Final Fantasy VI. I have no idea why - it's nothing special when I think about it - but anytime I hear the (excellent) boss music from that game, I immediately think about the Phantom Train. It's the defining JRPG boss for me.

[JR]

I remember most of the boss fights from Contra: Shattered Soldier really standing out for me. And Contra 4, for that matter. I've always loved boss fights where you have to destroy parts of the boss before it dies completely.

I liked fighting Flamelurker in Demon's Souls. Beating this boss felt the most rewarding out of all of them, and may have been the most frustrating for me outside of Maneater. There was always a lot of fun in the frustrating parts of that game...the sense of accomplishment was awesome. I liked how it was kind of a battle of reflexes for me.

For the same reasons, I liked the Velgauder/Sigma fight at the end of the first Mega Man X game. First time playing, I never even thought to see which weapons the bosses were weak against, so I used the Mega Buster throughout the entire game (I know, I'm an idiot). Took me forever to beat it, but I finally did. And the fact that the game had a pretty decent ending for its time only added to the satisfaction.




 

[Phoenix7786]

My love for the Julius battle in AoS has been documented in the past
Mother 3 had an extremely interesting (and deeply moving) boss battle. I can't really describe it without serious spoilers. But I can give it a shot with semi-spoilers.

(click to show/hide)

Your main character (Lucas of Super Smash Brothers Brawl fame) is forced into a boss battle he doesn't want to be in. He literally cannot bring himself to attack the boss, so in between dialogue he's just taking shot after shot after shot after shot. Your life meter is like a odometer, so even if you take fatal damage you're not actually dead until your life runs down to 0. So while this boss is beating the shit out of Lucas you're trying to fight back but he literally REFUSES to. And all the while you're taking hundreds of damage in excess (and for Mother 3 that's a lot) of your hp and desperately healing against your odometer. I am not kidding when my brother was actually sobbing at the end of the fight.

[Successor The Cruel]

Some of my favorites are:

The first battle with Magus in Chrono Trigger is something I'll hold close to my heart for the rest of my days. The buildup, the dialogue, the environment, the music theme, and the battle.

"Magus risks casting a spell"

Omega Pirate in Metroid Prime really got my blood pumping. I was seriously into that.

The Werewolf in Castlevania Chronicles. Some people hate that fight, but I think it is intense and awesome. I also don't think it's cheap. You just have to know how to win, but it can be very difficult.

I also really like the Dracula fight in Dracula XX.

There are many others, and I'm not even sure if the above are my favorites.

EDIT:
Oh, I know another one. The battle with Wiegraf/Velius in Final Fantasy Tactics. Classic moment. Chapter 3 of that game was loaded with awesomeness. I actually like the Orbonne Monastery battles with Izlude and Wiegraf more, but I'm not sure if those would be classified as boss fights.

[Claimh Solais]

My favorite boss battle of all time would have to be the final battle against Liquid Ocelot in Metal Gear Solid 4. That shit was epic, powerful, and tear-jerking.

Lamest boss fight? It would have to be Ratash from Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, when you first fight him in the throne room. He had two moves and shared a moveset with generic titans.

Hardest boss fight? Alpha from Dead or Alive 4. That shit was serious.

Easiest? Again, Ratash, but this time the final battle against him, simply because you decimate him with your brand new sword. It's like... three basic combos and he's out.

[Flame]

Crocomire in Super Metroid. Watching him fall into the lava and desperately try to get back up while his skin melts off his bones is some disturbing shit. Then he goes to the other side of the room and busts down the wall as a skeleton when you try to continue on your way.

Copy Sigma in Mega Man X8. (X1 Sigma, is that you?) He's arguably far more interesting to fight than the real Sigma.

The Adult super Sheegoth in Metroid Prime. That thing is kinda scary actually.

Oh, and the final form Emperor Ing. Fuck him so much with his core's shitty hit box. I can't count how many times an attack should have hit, but didn't.

[VladCT]

Hardest boss fight? Alpha from Dead or Alive 4. That shit was serious.

I raise you Omega Rugal from KoF 2002: Unlimited Match. You lose, and you instantly get a game over and screwed out of any team ending pic you were trying to go for. I pretty much decided "screw it," slapped infinite meter on myself, and made him eat Nameless' GIGA DRILL BREAKER over and over again after trying and losing to him so many times, even with AI exploits that worked on other bosses (including Nightmare Geese).

[Claimh Solais]

I raise you Omega Rugal from KoF 2002: Unlimited Match. You lose, and you instantly get a game over and screwed out of any team ending pic you were trying to go for. I pretty much decided "screw it," slapped infinite meter on myself, and made him eat Nameless' GIGA DRILL BREAKER over and over again after trying and losing to him so many times, even with AI exploits that worked on other bosses (including Nightmare Geese).

Can't say I've ever played that KoF. Haven't been playing them recently and am reluctant to return after the travesty that was KoFXII. However, I have noticed this particular one is on the Xbox Live Arcade, so if I have a few bucks to spare...

[X]

For the same reasons, I liked the Velgauder/Sigma fight at the end of the first Mega Man X game. First time playing, I never even thought to see which weapons the bosses were weak against, so I used the Mega Buster throughout the entire game (I know, I'm an idiot). Took me forever to beat it, but I finally did. And the fact that the game had a pretty decent ending for its time only added to the satisfaction.

I normally use Armored Armadillo's weapon against sigma's final form. It kills him quicker.

My favorite boss battle of all time would have to be the final battle against Liquid Ocelot in Metal Gear Solid 4. That shit was epic, powerful, and tear-jerking.

I also enjoyed this fight. A mix of story and combat that puts the final end on the Metal Gear Solid saga. But my personal fave is when you take control of Metal Gear Rex and go head-to-head against Metal Gear Ray. It is the first and only time you can take control of a Metal Gear mecha and do some serious ass-kicking! And if you managed to hit the QTE button fast enough before it disappears then you are treated to a humorous and over-the-top Rex VS Ray beat-down.

In Super Metroid it's against the Mother Brain. After you chew her out for a few rounds she suddenly grows a body and then pummels you till your health is three quarters down. Then she hits you with it; The Hyperbeam attack. That brutal rainbow of lethal energy that saps your life till you're near death, then the Metroid you saved in Metroid II comes into the fight and just sucks the life out of Mother Brain. I was not expecting that. Then after it heals you to full power Mother Brain kills it and it leaves you with a little something extra. Mother Brain's Hyperbeam. It's on b***h!! Although it's a shame this fantastically powerful weapon didn't keep with the newer games and it was only mentioned briefly in Other M.

In Contra: Shattered Soldier it is against the Red Falcon alien inside Lance's body. You have to fight a gauntlet of lesser alien bosses in order to challenge that all-too familiar alien brood we've seen so much of in previous games. Of course in a twist of game design you don't fight it from underneath like in previous titles, but directly over it while hanging on what appears to be lance's collarbone. For me that alien boss is the final fight in the game. Not the Men of influence nor the Relic. Just Red Falcon.

Zeromus; the final boss in Final Fantasy IV. An epic final fight in an epic game.

In Final Fantasy VI it is the tower made of monsters that you fight prior to Kefka. Whenever you finished a segment of the tower you move up a level and the music changes slightly with it. Rather seamlessly too I might add.

Super Castlevania IV. The three fiends and the wicked-sounding music that plays as you battle them. A Series first.

Again Super Castlevania IV. Count Dracula. Once you get his health down low enough the theme of Simon starts up and Dracula brings out his big guns for the final struggle.

[Weiss Belmont]

I raise you Omega Rugal from KoF 2002: Unlimited Match. You lose, and you instantly get a game over and screwed out of any team ending pic you were trying to go for. I pretty much decided "screw it," slapped infinite meter on myself, and made him eat Nameless' GIGA DRILL BREAKER over and over again after trying and losing to him so many times, even with AI exploits that worked on other bosses (including Nightmare Geese).

I'll second that. I thought Igniz was a cheating bastard but yeah, Omega Rugal is a dick.

[PFG9000]

Gergoth from Dawn of Sorrow ranks up there for me.  It's one of the most epic boss fights in the series.  Not that I need to describe it to anyone here, but you climb to the top of his tower, cutting back and forth across the tower and the ramparts on the sides.  You get to the top to find this big decaying zombie dinosaur thing stuck in this tiny room, and halfway through the battle he breaks through the floor, crashes through all the floors below that you already crossed, and all the way back down to the base of the tower.  And then his shackles come off and you have to fight him again, only he's slightly faster now.

I always leave a save file just before that tower.  It's one of my favorite moments in gaming.

[Phoenix7786]

Yeah that was an amazing fight. And God knows I had fun ramming Crosses up his ass while his head was stuck in the ground. Although I can't decide if a well-placed lightning spell from Yoko does more DPS.

[GuyStarwind]

I agree with Mundus from DMC
Also Magus from Chrono Trigger
Ornstein and Smough from Dark Souls
I love the Maiden Astraea in Demon's Souls. It's fairly easy but the atmosphere is incredible and the music is wonderful.
Julius Belmont in AoS
Psycho Mantis from MGS is exciting

I'm sure I'll think of more later

[son_the_vampire]

most memorable... Omega Weapon {FFVIII}
Lamest.... Dracula Wraith {Harmony Of Dissonance}- really Juste, can't fight real drac??? WEAK!!!
Hardest....Ruby Weapon {FFVII}- i hated those tentacles... took me forever to kill that bastard
funnest.... Dr Eggman {Genesis Sonic Games} so many failed attempts with cheap ass machines, u gotta love it!