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Lazy Game Design 101?: The boss montage before the final encounter.

Scopebob Sniperpants said:
- Streets of Rage Series
SOR1 is the first game I thought of when I saw the title of the thread. :lol But more on that in a sec...

It seems like countless games always seem to incorporate a boss montage as you near the home stretch. Is this a welcomed game formula? Or is it annoying and lazy? Is it good? or bad?
Annoying, lazy, and bad.

Though, if I recall correctly, the repeated bosses at the end of SOR1 were at least easier there than they were initially. That is kinda okay, but I still could've done without it.
 
Ravidrath said:
I usually like Boss Rushes before the end.

In most cases, I feel like it makes the build-up at the end more epic because you're reliving some of the more dramatic moments of the game that preceded. Also, usually the bosses are a lot easier because you're stronger in some way, and that feels pretty cool, I think, to handily defeat something that was challenging before.

There are definitely exceptions, though. Wind Waker stands out in my mind because being stronger really just means more health, so it doesn't do a great job of demonstrating how far you've come, etc.

Might be time for a new sort of boss rush, though. For example, a next-to-last boss that summons the other bosses and you have to fight both at the same time. I already really liked the dinotank boss in Bonk's Adventure, which had attacks that emulated all of the previous bosses...
I'd love to see boss fights evolve further. If I think back throughout my life, most of my favorite boss fights are actually from 3D games where devs got a lot more creative and I think it could be pushed much further. Boss fights when done properly are an excellent addition but there's been many times where it didn't work right and some devs just put it in since everyone else does. It does add much needed structure though and I remember at the end of Splinter Cell, the end is very anti-climactic as there's no big enemy at the end and it was a letdown.

Boss gauntlets are pretty stupid though IMO. I hated in in DMC3 as many of those bosses I just barely got by without properly learning their patterns and didn't want to fight them again.
 
REZ from SEGA is another example. and i hate that, its just a lazy design decission to strecht the games lenght.
 
I know I hated the one in Viewtiful Joe. Still haven't beaten that game.

First time through, couldn't get through the gauntlet, and I just stopped playing.
Second time through, beat the gauntlet, but stopped playing when I got to the giant robot scene.
 
Would the second last boss from Zelda TP be considered a boss gauntlet?

It's pretty good way of doing one; he takes the form of all the various bosses but each with the crazed Zant twist on it.
 
Crayon Shinchan said:
Would the second last boss from Zelda TP be considered a boss gauntlet?

It's pretty good way of doing one; he takes the form of all the various bosses but each with the crazed Zant twist on it.
I actually thought it was kind of neat. Didn't seem like I was fighting old bosses all over again. Of course I really enjoyed TP, so I guess perhaps I'm a bit more forgiving than most. :)
 
Just finished playing NFS: Carbon and you had to beat all 3 of the other bosses in 2 races before you could be entered into a final duel with the last boss, if you failed in one of the races you had to start again.
 
mclem said:
I'm sure I'll be able to come up with more given time, but right now Actraiser springs to mind.

I came in here to post that. They just put all of the bosses there for you to fight again, one after the other, except they're faster. I quit playing because of that.
 
I was playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance last night and beat it for the first time. Iwas thinking of this thread the entire time playing the ending sequence. Holy crap before fighting Dr. Doom, fighting the
evil Fantastic 4
over and over again. And if you mess up with one of the button punching sequences fighting Doom it is like you lost 30 minutes fighting them.
 
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