Support NeoGAF

mrmickfran · Apr 12, 2016

I'll start with a few of mine:

Gunstar Heroes - Seven Force:

A 7 fight gauntlet. All of them using gravity-defying mechanics, and a kickass soundtrack to go along with the fight. It's amazing that this was done on a Genesis. Absolute adrenaline rush. Here's a video

Devil May Cry 3 - Final Vergil:

Without a doubt, one of the hardest bosses that I've ever faced, and one of the best. The soundtrack is fantastic, Vergil's more relentless than ever, adding an entirely new repertoire of attacks, but so do you, so it never feels like an unfair fight. You both have the same amount of tools at your disposal, but it's up to you to surpass Vergil using those tools.Here's a video.

God Hand - Devil Hand:

Doppleganger fights are the greatest. Kickass soundtrack here too. Here's a video.

Bayonetta - Umbra Witch Jeanne:

It was at this point, that you knew that the game wasn't fucking around with you anymore. The fight takes place across an entire island jumping missles, running across the sides of buildings. And even playing hot potato with missiles. It makes about as much sense in context. Here's a video.

Vanquish - Bogey Alpha and Bogey Bravo

Best fight in any shooter. You are outnumbered, but not unmatched. God help you if you're playing on God Hard, in that case, you're definitely outmatched. Here's a video.

Asura's Wrath - Augus:

Manliest boss fight ever. You're fighting on the Goddamn moon, with two men yelling at each other to die, with Jojo references up the wazoo. I don't even wanna describe it anymore, It has to be seen firsthand.

All right, that's enough from me. I'd be here all day. What about you guys?

Warxard · Apr 12, 2016

I'm pretty fond of Dante vs Lady in DMC3.

antitrop · Apr 12, 2016

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Senator Armstrong

Bayonetta - Jubileus

Bayonetta 2 - Masked Lumen

Final Fantasy VII - Sephiroth

Chrono Trigger - Magus

EarthBound - Giygas

Kyne · Apr 12, 2016

bjork · Apr 12, 2016

The guy in SotN that's a big ball of bodies. Looks so cool.

NipplesAndToes23 · Apr 12, 2016

So I might have something to look forward to in Gunstar Heroes.

Um, there really isn't many bosses I like in general in gaming, but here are the two.

Mr. Freeze (Hard) - Batman Arkham City
The Fury and The Boss - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

DNAbro · Apr 12, 2016

Koloktos from Skyward Sword

Going to spoiler a bit more recent games
Bloodborne -

Gehrman

Undertale

Sans

momshotdad · Apr 12, 2016

The Cleric Beast- Bloodborne

I got up off the couch and cheered when I beat him.

Edit: shout out to Posiden from GOW 3

PSqueak · Apr 12, 2016

Splatoon - DJ Octavio
Banjo-Kazooie - Gruntilda
Megaman X - Ragna Bagna
Yoshi's Island - Raphael the Raven
Undertale -

Asriel

just on the top of my head right now.

Sir_Crocodile · Apr 12, 2016

Demon's Crest : Dark Demon (True final boss fight)
- super difficult & satisfying conclusion to the game

Castlevania 3 : Dracula
- my first ever three stage boss fight (drac had three life bars and a different form for each bar). So cool.

Castlevania - Portrait of Ruin : Dracula/Death
- The two strongest 'vanaia enemies fight you at the same time. And after that they fuse together.

Metal Gear Solid : Psycho Mantis
- YOU'VE BEEN PLAYING VANDAL HEARTS HAVEN'T YOU?

Greg_le_Casual · Apr 12, 2016

The first boss of R-Type.

As a kid, I felt super clever each time I throw my module in is belly head.
And of course, THE MUSIC.

Memories...

adamantypants · Apr 12, 2016

The End in MGS3

The amount of ways to interact with him astound me still

Spoony Bob · Apr 12, 2016

Artorias from Dark Souls is a personal favorite.

For something a bit different from the rest of the ones mentioned here, I always loved the fight against the four elemental fiends in FFIV.

Great boss theme, and fighting them back to back in the giant was crazy exciting when I was a kid.

DustyVonEric · Apr 12, 2016

Tower Knight from Demon's Souls
Kalameet from Dark Souls
That evil game show host from Smash TV
Dude from Beach Head 2 on C64, because him yelling "You can't hurt me!" during the fight used to crack us up. Memories

The GOAT's are Kefka and Ganon from OoT though

Edit: Damn, down below. I totally forgot The Boss from MGS3 (and the The End). I also love the Beauty and the Beasts and Act 4's boss battles from MGS4.

BossDarkseid · Apr 12, 2016

Ornstein & Smough from Dark Souls. Only completed the game for the first time about 10 days ago but they were arguably the high point and encapsulated why i fell in love with the game and am already on my 3rd character

Jenova ABSOLUTE from Final Fantasy VII. Safer Sephiroth may have had the cooler ultimate move, with Supernova to Jenova's Ultima, but I liked Jenova's theme and it was nice to fight the ultimate version of something we'd fought throughout the game.

The Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Probably the best character in the series, but regardless it was a battle that really asked if you'd actually been paying attention to the games systems along the way or had relied on one or two tricks to overcome things. Took place in a lovely arena too.

Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising Revengeance. In a series filled with the ludicrous, Rising took that and ran with it, having an absolutely insane final boss that had an awesome theme and provided an intense fight...i also learnt you could move in Blade Mode for the first time...

ViolentP · Apr 12, 2016

The Hydra from the first God of War. Way to start off with a bang.

JD_Lars · Apr 12, 2016

"Bird" fight from Shadow of the Colossus. It wasn't hard, but the music and the spectacle made the tension amazingly strong.

Kinsei · Apr 12, 2016

You already mentioned Jeanne and Vergil OP so these aren't my favorite fights but they're tied for a close second.

Prince Vorkken - The Wonderful 101

This guy is your rival that you fight many times throughout the game just like Virgil and Jeanne. He has all of your abilities as well as some of his own so when he shows up you know you're in for a difficult and fun fight.

Lingering Will - Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix

cdda3aaac031d3dbe3372482ed015b815c46f48b

This is the first time in the series you see what a true keyblade master is capable of and it does not disappoint. This guy is incredibly difficult (he can kill you in seconds even at level 99) and has abilities you probably never even dreamed of while playing through the game. He can transform his keyblades into so many things that it's basically Pandora from DMC4. There's a flying motorcycle (in the second gif above), a gauntlet, a bow, a whip, and a circle of blades spinning around him that look like Pandora's final transformation. Oh and you see those green pips underneath his health bar in the second gif? Those are more health bars. The best part of all this? Despite all of the things the boss has at his disposal it's still a fair fight. It's totally doable at level one, and it's still fun instead of a boring slog due to the way KH2 is set up.

Pinky · Apr 12, 2016

Stallord - Zelda: TP

Mother Brain - Super Metroid

Stalblind - Zelda: ALBW

bizzarewars · Apr 12, 2016

My favorite in recent memory;

Undertale:

Muffet

Straight up just a really fun fight. Also, the boss theme is one of my favorite tracks in the game. Avoiding the smaller spiders and the big giant one is pretty challenging. Also love the way the spider that holds the sign telegraphs the attack in between turns. Definitely makes me want to support small businesses, not skipping out on a bake sale ever again.

iconoclast · Apr 12, 2016

Fiend Genshin from Ninja Gaiden II (360 ver only) is the GOAT.

nbnt · Apr 12, 2016

Gaius, Avion, and Phalanx from SotC.

Neiteio · Apr 12, 2016

Defiled Watchdog from Bloodborne and Fume Knight from the underrated Dark Souls 2 both left me legit shook.

The final Laura encounter in The Evil Within is the most fucking terrifying thing ever. The game is so pretty, though.

Resident Evil 4 is full of wonderful boss battles, with Chief Mendez being perhaps my favorite.

Of course, Sen. Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising is master-class boss design. Ticks all the boxes: Skill checks, overwhelming power, tons of style, endlessly quotable.

Really, the entire rogue's gallery in Metal Gear Rising is classic.

Oh, and DJ Octavio from the end of Splatoon. One of the best bosses ever. A challenging boss with many, many phases that test everything you've learned. Everything. Flashy and funny, too!

NipplesAndToes23 · Apr 12, 2016

Kinsei said:
You already mentioned Jeanne and Vergil OP so these aren't my favorite fights but they're tied for a close second.

Prince Vorkken - The Wonderful 101

This guy is your rival that you fight many times throughout the game just like Virgil and Jeanne. He has all of your abilities as well as some of his own so when he shows up you know you're in for a difficult and fun fight.

Lingering Will - Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix

This is the first time in the series you see what a true keyblade master is capable of and it does not disappoint. This guy is incredibly difficult (he can kill you in seconds even at level 99) and has abilities you probably never even dreamed of while playing through the game. He can transform his keyblades into so many things that it's basically Pandora from DMC4. There's a flying motorcycle (in the second gif above), a gauntlet, a bow, a whip, and a circle of blades spinning around him that look like Pandora's final transformation. Oh and you see those green pips underneath his health bar in the second gif? Those are more health bars. The best part of all this? Despite all of the things the boss has at his disposal it's still a fair fight. It's totally doable at level one, and it's still fun instead of a boring slog due to the way KH2 is set up.

I noticed Donald and Goofy are in that gif. Do they actually help during the battle or is it like they're pretty much not there?

bbkkristian · Apr 12, 2016

This was the first to pop to my mind.

zswordsman · Apr 12, 2016

The SotC bosses are amazing especially if you played the game back on ps2, I remember playing it for the first time and just being in awe on how this could be a game.

Also KH has a bunch of epic bosses, Axl in KH2 was always memorable because of the music and fire surrounding everything.

Regiruler · Apr 12, 2016

It's a shame none of the other bosses in Gunstar Heroes are remotely as good as seven force. The game climaxes really early.

So many to pick from...

Diejah from W101, Thanatos from Kid Icarus Uprising, Monsoon from MGR, and Ghost Pendulum from Sonic Rush Adventure are definitely up there.
EDIT: Agnus from DMC4 (the chamber encounter not his Angelo form) and Bongo Bongo from OoT are also really good. Bah, so many to pick from...

Mr. Poolman · Apr 12, 2016

Easy as pie!

Seven For... oh... good call OP.

mrmickfran said:
I'll start with a few of mine:

Gunstar Heroes - Seven Force:

A 7 fight gauntlet. All of them using gravity-defying mechanics, and a kickass soundtrack to go along with the fight. It's amazing that this was done on a Genesis. Absolute adrenaline rush. Here's a video

So, my nom goes to...

Ace Combat Zero's

Pixy... your buddy

Hey buddy... still alive?

KRaZyAmmo · Apr 12, 2016

Bloodborne

first hunter Gerhman

,

Lady Maria of the astral clock tower

, and

Ludwig the accursed and holy blade

Also Augus from Atsura's wrath

Onemic · Apr 12, 2016

The boss in SotC where you have to jump on it as it swoops down to hit you and then you battle the thing in the sky.

Lights and Waves · Apr 12, 2016

The Lightning haters are missing out on the coolest part of the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy...

"Bhunivelze!"

Funyarinpa · Apr 12, 2016

Persona 3's

_______________Nyx.

The music. The finale. The soundtrack(s).

"The arcana is the means by which all is revealed..."

So fucking epic. Opened the BGM and almost teared up.

Persona 4 Golden

______________Marie

. So great, mostly thanks to the OST.

Mechanically, (two bosses)

Medusa and Minotaur.

from Shin Megami Tensei IV. They were tough, and I had to alter my mindset and how I thought of the game's mechanics to beat them. Had to grind a bit for the former, but it was still a legitimately great experience.

zephervack · Apr 12, 2016

Mechanics/Looks:

Artorias

Gaping dragon

Wabba · Apr 12, 2016

The Boss in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

TheSpaceBetween · Apr 12, 2016

Gandrayda and Rundas from Metroid Prime 3
Quadraxis and Spider Ball Guardian from Metroid Prime 2
Hades, Hercules, and Chronos from God of War III
The Keeper and Laura (2) from The Evil Within
Every end of mission boss from The Wonderful 101 except the Vorkken battle
Crying Wolf from Metal Gear Solid IV

mstevens · Apr 12, 2016

Maneater from Demon's Souls
O&S from Dark Souls
Demon of Song from Dark Souls 2 just because of his design, even though he's easy.
Fume Knight from Dark Souls 2
Father G from Bloodborne. This was my first real "souls" moment and what hooked me on the series.

I have souls on the brain... I'll think of some other series examples soon.

Cert.in.Death · Apr 12, 2016

Dark Souls
Artorias, Kalameet, Manus

Bloodborne
Ludwig, Gehrman, Maria

Kingdom Hearts 2
Organization XIII data battles, KH2 final boss encounter (beginning to end)

The Last of Us
David

Shadow of the Colossus
Gaius (3), Avion (5), Kuromori (8), Phalanx (13), Cenobia (14)

Final Fantasy IX
Beatrix (all encounters), Garland, Trance Kuja

Final Fantasy VII
Sephiroth (1-v-1)

Legend of Legaia
Cort (fortress), Songi (final), Gaza (1st fight), Delilas siblings, Caruban

I could go on for a while, but I'll leave it at that....

Cert.in.Death · Apr 12, 2016

Onemic said:
The boss in SotC where you have to jump on it as it swoops down to hit you and then you battle the thing in the sky.

Avion, Colossi 5

He/She's on my list too

¡HarlequinPanic! · Apr 12, 2016

Del Lago, El Gigante, Mendez from RE4.

Most bosses from MGS1-3.

souffe · Apr 12, 2016

Dark Souls: Sif the great grey wolf

Not because he was hard to fight, or that I liked the mechanics of the fight, but because it broke my heart to finish him of.

Kingdom hearts: Sepiroth (that music)

wamberz1 · Apr 12, 2016

Sir alonne from dark souls 2. Best boss ost the series bar none imo. Also all the "final" bosses from each undertale route. Each amazing in its own way.

jacksepticeye · Apr 12, 2016

Kyne said:

My man!
Also:

Sephzilla · Apr 12, 2016

Vergil in Devil May Cry 3

Lemonte · Apr 12, 2016

Every boss fight in MGS2.

stuminus3 · Apr 12, 2016

hans_castorp · Apr 12, 2016

Best Boss from last generation. No contest here
I still hear kuroi hanaaaa in my nightmares

True Fire · Apr 12, 2016

This person

NinjamicWZ · Apr 12, 2016

Lunar in Mischief Makers

Missile catching, gun shaking, multi-phase goodness.

Maiden Astrea from Demon's Souls

Minimal challenge relative to the games, but conceptually amazing. Everyone's favorite episode of Who's The Boss...

it's actually you, not Tony Danza.

I used to have more picks, but they don't do as much for me as they used to. Even Lunar is just a great memory from when I first started realizing I had favorite boss fights.

Kinsei · Apr 12, 2016

Blasian Persuasion said:
I noticed Donald and Goofy are in that gif. Do they actually help during the battle or is it like they're pretty much not there?

They die just as quickly as you do so it's like they are not there for most of the fight, however since they revive they can heal you at clutch moments. During my first victory against him the only reason I won is because Donald revived and healed me right before the boss landed a killing blow.

ApharmdX · Apr 12, 2016

From recent games, the Orphan of KOS fight:

Also, the Shiva fight from Final Fantasy XIV.

From older stuff, FFVII's Sephiroth fight was great. Not the hardest but it had tremendous build-up and that music... I also loved the Crimson King fight from Otogi 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf3MtT1p1r4

Support NeoGAF

What are your favorite boss fights of all time?

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Banned

Banned

Member

is responsible for the well-being of this island.

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Neo Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Banned

Banned

Similar threads