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[smurfx]

 

[danmaku]

Weird, never noticed he has a face

loool can't unsee it

Also, I loved the Shodan fight in System Shock. It's not very difficult, but I thought it was a great idea to force you to log into the cyberspace and fight him there, were he's godlike. It made me feel like I was stepping into the lion's den, much more than any other game.

 

[Shaneus]

Every single one in Gunstar Heroes.

 

[PushingButtons]

Demon's Souls 3-3 immediatly comes to mind. It's probably the most incredible boss battle I've ever lived:

Spoiler

as you go up a huge staircase, the game starts a cutscene where you see the boss room you're headed to. It's a big room, filled with chairs stacked on top of each other, creating some sort of giant throne on which sits an extremely old character, wrapped in a huge yellow robe. He suddenly wakes up, starts hissing something and a dark red silhouette begins to emerge from the ground below him.
The yellow robe then flies away from the old man, and wraps itself on top of the dark silhouette while the Old Monk finally crumbles and dies.

The game cuts back to you, still going up the stairs. At some point, in classic DeS fashion, you see a message saying "(PLAYERNAME) HAS INVADED". So you hurry, and when you finally reach the top, you enter the fog to the boss room and of course, the dark silhouette is waiting.

Now, most bosses in Demon's Souls are HUGE. Or at least, they're big. This one, not so much. He looks almost the same size as you, and seems to have the same set of movements and attack. So you go for it and you very quickly realize that there's a reason why he dodges most of your attacks and rolls all the time to get an opening: the dark silhouette the Old Monk summoned and you are now fighting is another player.

This is the most unexpected boss battle I've ever had to face, and also one of the best.

TLRD: you fight another player and it's awesome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HB4RuWpONY

This. Definitely my favorite boss fight of the last couple years

 

[Dyno]

I mention the Firelurker from Demon's Souls because he was always such a menace! Very intimidating boss, kind of hard to get to if you die, and he didn't get much easier in NG+. I got very demoralized trying to get by this boss.

Adjudicator was a great boss. Strange, grotesque, and you had to fight him in a small room where he was the biggest light source. Just a very quentessential DS boss.

The last boss of Dead Space was quite memorable. A scripted fight and brief but it was a very high fidelity experience over all. The graphics kicked into top gear and it was a very rewarding visual for getting through the game.

 

[Sadist]

Curtis Blackburn from Killer 7. It's a shootout, but man the tension is great during that fight.

Verdugo from RE 4. The first time around, this battle freaked me out. He seemed to be EVERYWHERE and the only way you could beat him was by engulfing him in nitrogin. And I didn't have enough bullets to shoot him down while covered in nitrogin. So it was a deadly game of cat and mouse. Leon being the mouse

Speedbuster has a big ass cannon which she uses to overwhelm Travis, but you need to cross the line of fire to disable it. Sounds easy, it's not.

Quadraxis, Sniper Wolf are pretty good picks as well.

 

[fluffydelusions]

Dark Souls - Ornstein and Smough was pretty sweet.

Took me about 20 tries or so to get pass those guys

 

[RawPower]

Verdugo from RE 4. The first time around, this battle freaked me out. He seemed to be EVERYWHERE and the only way you could beat him was by engulfing him in nitrogin. And I didn't have enough bullets to shoot him down while covered in nitrogin. So it was a deadly game of cat and mouse. Leon being the mouse

I always just take a rocket launcher and nuke his ass to oblivion after freezing him in place.

 

[mysticwhip]

Man, some of SotC's boss fights were really creative. In fact, they were so creative that I had to read a FAQ on how to beat them!

 

[Sadist]

Yeah, but I didn't know that the first time when I faced him. Didn't have a rocketlauncher as well.

 

[FootballFan]

Wow some awesome picks in this thread.

Mine would be:
MGS and God of War series, they are just amazing when it comes to boss battles.
Fighting the last trainer in Pokemon was also fantastic. Gunstar heroes had its share of great battles too.

Though I never finished Outland(due to just no getting around to it), I thoroughly enjoyed its style and bosses as well.

I am sure I am forgetting a lot.

 

[gogojira]

Scared to look at this thread because of spoilers, but too intrigued to look away. I love a good boss battle.

The most memorable battle for me was Mother Brain in Super Metroid. The whole thing is memorable but the magic kicks in when the Baby Metroid comes in to save your life.

 

[Dreweyes]

Spoiler

Giygas from Earthbound

Yup.

 

[JaseMath]

Every boss in Mischief Makers.

Also, when I was a kid, the stone golem in Super Castlevania IV blew me away.

 

[Ultratech]

Ilene in Tales of Destiny: Remake has an interesting mechanic not used by any other boss in the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsx9...DvjVQa1PpcFPm5RxFlk3OjvoWbzJ2bNshjytYO4Ol32s=

Basically, she puts herself in some barrier, reducing your attacks to single/double-digit damage. The only way to actually kill her is to kill these little satellite bits that she summons. (Basically, she sacrifices her health to summon more of these things.) Not a tremendously hard fight, but it can be annoying since the bits shoot lasers that can put you to Sleep and Ilene is casting spells the entire time such as Thunder Blade, Tidal Wave, and some other stuff.

 

[smurfx]

Yeah, but I didn't know that the first time when I faced him. Didn't have a rocketlauncher as well.

i totally ruined the game for myself once i found out the rocket launcher could 1 shot kill all the bosses. i found out pretty early on too so i didn't even have the fun of fighting most of the bosses the normal way.

 

[Sheppard]

In recent memory, I really enjoyed fighting

Spoiler

Mr. Freeze

in Arkham City.

Came to post this. thank you.

 

[JumpingTheGun]

1st Krauser battle in RE4

I hadn't seen anything like it back in 2004. Had anyone?

 

[Myriadis]

Mingy Jingo in Banjo-Tooie.
You find this house and except Mumbo Jumbo to help you again like in every previous level. You notice that he is sleeping, which is kinda off, since he normally stays awake after the first level. He also doesn't ask for a Glowbo as normal.
He then stands right before you, whips you his stave like always and suddenly - BLAM - hits you with some spell. Turns out he's a robot and the real Mumbo Jumbo is at a different place.
The fight is now one of the most fun and exciting fights in this game, as you have to reach him while he shots some power spells at you and teleports around. After you knock out his last life point, his head explodes and green blood spills out. In a children's game.



Turtle Rock in Links Awakening.
He is the entrance to the eight level in LA and I thought that he was just another "stylized" entrance in this game. Boy, was I wrong. He is a boss. And although the fight itself isn't too orginal, it is a great moment.

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

Conker's Bad Fur Day: The Great Mighty Poo
A giant pice of shit that sings opera while fighting, enough said. The song is fucking amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w5neFPat1w

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure: Lance Banson
This one also sings opera, but there are multiple different attacks, and even a puzzle in the mix. The Gaston of videogame villians.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRyIvHKGOWU

As you see, I adore bosses that sing while fighting. I think that it would be cool for Punch-Out!! to have one like this. Its basically a rythm game, so a boxer that seems like Pavaroti and sings opera with the punches synch to the music would be amazing and feel right at home. Next Level games, plese make Punch-Out!! WiiU with a character like this.

Then theres also another boss that I really liked, too bad that being the first one of the game is the best one, because is the only one that truly understands Spectors vision that he described in the making off videos of Epic Mickey.
Epic Mickey: "it's a small world" Clock Tower
The tower clock of "its a small world" goes mad (the creepy Mary Blair facade is awesome) because of listening the catchy song 24/7. The premise is amazing, the execution not so much. The first vision was having the lyrics distorted to sound creepy, but the hack Jim Dooley, decided not to put them and gave us this inferior version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz8vxbiYT9s
Someone (thank god internet) added the disorted lyrics making it the superior version. The stuff of nightmares:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2zwo2Vjr1s
Too bad, because its the only boss that really feels like if Mickey was in a creepy Disneyland.

Also this stands out as a memorable fight.

Yep, one of my favourite. Dat Koopacopter
Godzilla Bowser from NSMB Wii is also amazing.

 

[Mdk7]

Conker's Bad Fur Day: The Great Mighty Poo
A giant pice of shit that sings opera while fighting, enough said. The song is fucking amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w5neFPat1w

AHAHAH, so true.

deserves a special mention IMHO... such an amazing combat, i loved every second of it.
Motion control at its best, bitches!

 

[Gentleman Jack]

original, because you can

Spoiler

convince him to blow his own brains out

Not the first time you could

Spoiler

talk a boss to death

.

Spoiler

The Master from Fallout 1 could be convinced to self-destruct

. There may be even earlier examples of this in an RPG, but

Spoiler

The Master

offered tons of ways to get past him. I do love

Spoiler

non-combat options during bosses

 

[neeksleep]

Not original, per se, but definitely my favourite from the game:

Ganondorf fight from Wind Waker

But for original and great, I'd say the twin owls from Okami:

Loved loved loved that fight.

 

[Rikkun]

Segagaga R720. It is very amusing.

Where is my translation, you really had to remember me

 

[zlatko]

I don't know if it's original like the title suggest, but the final boss for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was fanfuckingtastic.

Having to swap the light and dark powers to protect yourself, and harm him, and then the near perfect timing you need to walk across the multi colored light/dark ring he tries to make as a last ditch effort to prevent you from reaching him to do damage.

Plus, knowing who the boss is and the music playing, etc just built up to a great fight after a fantastic journey in a game.

 

[injurai]

The End = /thread

 

[Shaffield]

pretty much all the bosses in Vanquish, but this one was the most memorable.

 

[Natetan]

You LIKED the okami owl battle? To me it was the most tacked on random battle. So bad. I'm also not aware of robotic owls being anywhere in Japanese folklore. Most of the other bosses were at least somewhat related.

Oh and guys how about Wiegraf/Velius (FFT)? Just kidding

 

[papersleeves]

Matador from Shin Megami Tensei - Nocturne

This motherfucker here causes more people to quit Nocturne than anything else. The boss is not weak to any elemental attacks, has high health, has two moves that can instantly wipe out an unsuspecting party, and can really only be reliably defeated if you specifically built a party to nullify or absorb one of his elemental attacks.

Ok. This boss wasn't great, nor was he original. He's just a mean person and oh I hate him so much. Even after all these years, when I think about cheap, disgusting boss, this one pops in my mind in no time. And I did quit Nocturne because of this fucker. I nearly beat him once, but then he went plothax on my ass.

 

[DJIzana]

Dark Falz... all forms. ;D

 

[lowhighkang_LHK]

 

[Nocturnowl]

You LIKED the okami owl battle? To me it was the most tacked on random battle. So bad. I'm also not aware of robotic owls being anywhere in Japanese folklore. Most of the other bosses were at least somewhat related.

Set aside Japanese folklore for the moment and consider the following, Robotic Owls with canes and top hats, it's like the greatest thing in the game!
Yes i'm biased.

 

[Gsak]

Dagon was also a memorable encounter:

And every single fight in SoTC.

 

[RawPower]

Dagon was also a memorable encounter:

And every single fight in SoTC.

What game is Dagon from?

 

[Yoshichan]

From SD3... king of all bosses!

 

[Gabriel_Logan]

God Damn Maneaters

 

[zkylon]

Basically almost every boss in Contra: Hard Corps on the SEGA Genesis (one of my favorite action games of all times).

This guy, in particular, is my favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsBuEB2hxqc

Basically he's a mad doctor that mixes up the DNA of a bunch of random enemies you've fought over the game. It's so fucking cool, it blew my mind when I was 10.

 

[prodystopian]

Beowulf from DMC3 because of how quickly you could destroy him if you played him correctly with Royal Guard. Also, Vergil 3 but he's been mentioned.

Most of the ones mentioned from Dark/Demon Souls I would agree with, but I'd also like to add Satsuki. I would love to fight him over and over, but the conditions to get to him are just a hassle.

From Mass Effect 2, I really enjoyed both of the bosses from Shadow Broker.

 

[iamblades]

One of my personal favorite boss fights ever was Tarasque from Anarchy Online. Not really because of the mechanics of the boss fight itself, but more just because it is one of the purest examples of high level game theory ever in a videogame.

Basically you have a boss that drops some of the best items in the game, in the middle of a faction pvp zone. So you need your faction to come to win the pvp battle, but you want the loot for yourself. It was fairly simple for someone to just send in a single high damage team and win the loot without even contributing to the pvp defense, but then people would stop showing up to the raids, so then there were all kinds of alliances and backstabbing built up around that encounter.

Other than that I really like non standard boss fights in MMOs. Twin Emperors in WoW was amazing especially..

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

I really think action games in general have the most amazing boss fights.

DMC series: Vergil, nightmare, nelo angelo, the demonic chess pieces, Cerberus, berial
GOW series: Posiden,Chronos, Hermes, Zeus, Aries
Bayonetta: EVERY SINGLE ONE
Lords of shadow: The first collossus, devil
Ninja gaiden series: Genshin, Fiend ryu, alma


But in recent memory, while the underlying game is garbage, Asuras wrath has some of most amazing boss fights.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Lords of shadow: The first collossus

:/

 

[Allonym]

Every boss fight in Devil May Cry 1, every boss fight in the Onimusha series, every boss fight in the Souls games, DMC4 boss battles and a few from Bayonetta were great

 

[Allonym]

Has everyone neglected to mention Viewtiful Joe

 

[The Wheel of Fortune]

But for original and great, I'd say the twin owls from Okami:

Loved loved loved that fight.

Lechku & Nechku! I also loved that fight (and the game).

Also, as someone else already said, that opening fight with Poseidon at the beginning of God of War 3 was amazing! It was definitely a great way to introduce the game. I was left in awe by the mechanics, graphics, and animations.

I loved fighting these guys in No More Heroes 2:

The setting and the battle itself was boss. It's not that original but it definitely was really fun to play it. Matt Helms, btw.

Fighting Captain Vladimir was really fun! I was definitely not expecting that fight to be that great...

 

[The One and Done™]

Man what a good question. So many awesome games to choose from. I guess I'll just list my most favorite boss fights ever.

The Hydra (God of War)

Vergil - All three battles (Devil may Cry 3)

Poseidon (God of War 3)

Cronos (God of War 3)

The End (Metal Gear Solid 3)

Metal Gear Ray (Metal Gear Solid 4)

ALL Colossi (Shadow of the Colossus)

Shao Kahn (Mortal Kombat)

Dr Eggman (Sonic 2)

Phantom (Devil May Cry)

M. Bison (Super Street Fighter)

Man I'm sure there are a ton more to list but that will do for now.

 

[Natetan]

Set aside Japanese folklore for the moment and consider the following, Robotic Owls with canes and top hats, it's like the greatest thing in the game!
Yes i'm biased.

clearly yes.

It just felt so incongruous to me. The game has major pacing problems with the whole kamui section, and the random owl fight didnt help. The oni island bit and orochi had so much built up to it it made sense. Why were you even fighting those owls i dont even remember. Plus I'm sure they could have come up with some Ezo/Ainu themed boss that was way cooler.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Just because how personal it felt.

ACE COMBAT 4's

 

[trw]

Credo in DmC4 was a really great boss, even better than Dante2 imo. Although I'm not good enough for the higher difficulties so that might be why I prefer it.
Bayonetta really has great boss battles. The final Jean battle is great.

 

[Lamiafusion]

How has no one mentioned this guy yet....

Switching out your controller and putting it in P2. Reading your memory card. Seriously, God-tier Boss.

 

[ShipTheCheese]

SotC

That SotC pic is fantastic where did ya get that from?