30 Days of Video Games - BONUS: Why Do You Play Games Pg. 142

[anna]

Day 9: Favorite Boss

 

This...is a hard one. But I think I have to go with...

 

 

Baby Bowser, from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

 

 

Yoshi's Island will always be a favorite of mine. It was the first SNES game I ever played, and I remember how much I begged my mom when I saw a used GBA cartridge in GameStop. It was so much fun! As a young gamer, I was challenged, but then I got to the true final boss...

 

I love the level, and I loved how it looked, and his kind of uniqueness that I hadn't seen before. Kamek turning him into a giant and the lava and jumping...it was so much fun! His GIANT tantrum was really silly, and I really loved it. Still do! It was so obvious that he was spoilt, and I felt kind of embarrassingly proud to have understood that. Also, the fact that he's...a baby, is really interesting. 

 

Also, I really liked fighting this one so I'll mention him- 

 

 

Twilit Igniter Fyrus.

 

I had a lot of fun fighting him, (literally) yanking his chains, and shooting him. I got really frustrated, but I felt so great when I beat him. His boss music is still one of my favorite tracks. I loved Twilight Princess as a whole, but this battle was memorable and I also really liked the mechanics and stuff.

[Endy]

Day 9: Favourite Bosses

 

I was gonna do Metal Gear Rising's bosses but those guys have already been mentioned enough.

 

So, you scoured all of Tallon IV to collect those STUPID 12 Chozo Artifacts. You're gonna go break the seal on the Impact Crater and take out the Metroid Prime! But then you get there AND THEN SUDDENLY

 

ROWUIGFBHDJWEKHFHUEWLRDUPBFGBFSD

 

Meta Ridley - Metroid Prime

 

Meta Ridley was built up throughout the entire game. You see him at many different points in the game, leading up to this confrontation between Samus and her arch nemesis. Ridley flies around, bombarding you with everything he can. And once again Metroid Prime manages to create the perfect atmosphere for a fight like this, as it gives off a feeling of distress and tension. You have to be cautious with your every step to avoid Ridley's stealthy sneak attacks.

 

But even after you shoot him out of the sky he still poses a massive threat, and that just makes the entire fight seem more epic.  

 

And you can't forget about the music. Its the classic Ridley theme everyone loves but remixed to fit the mechanical menace. 

 

It does everything right, including just simply playing well.

[Nix]

Day 9

Favorite Boss

 

 

The Wonderful 101

Operation: 006-C - Prince Vorkken's Last Stand

 

The Wonderful 101 is filled to the brim with amazing boss fights.  Every single one has its own unique twist that makes them unlike anything you've ever seen before.

 

The final fight with Vorkken isn't the craziest of the bunch, hell, I'd even argue that it isn't the best designed in some aspects, but it's definitely the one that sticks out to me the most.  Platinum Games has a thing for their rival characters; characters that are almost equal to the main protagonist but are antagonistic towards them for some reason or another.  The rival to TW101's main protagonist, Wonder Red, is of course Vorkken, and I feel their rivalry had one of the most fitting conclusions while at the same time being the biggest turning point in TW101's story.

 

After learning of Vorkken's back story and how his home was destroyed by GEATHJERK, and of his secret that lead him to victory, you come face to face with him one last time.  The GEARTHJERK general that was supposed to greet you took a premature nap thanks to Vorkken and his men.  Vorkken then summons his ship, The Meizzer, to fight against the Wonderful One-Double-Oh one last time.

 

The first part plays one just like every other time you fight him, aboard the Meizzer.  This is how he wins, because the Meizzer is designed to given Vorkken energy when he's on it.  The plan is to separate him from his ship.

 

Once that is accomplished, Vorkken simply jumps on your ship, The Virgin Victory, for a bit and just turns up the heat.

 

Teio Form Activate!  why can't I get a better gif of this

 

 

To which Wonder Red promptly replies...

 

Engaging Unlimited Form!

 

 

And the true fight begins.  No tricks, simply two opposing ideals fighting against each other with all of their strength.  Who's the stronger leader?  The one that leads with courage and compassion or the one that leads through fear and intimidation?  Does the truly strong lend their hand to the weak?  Or do they simply watch the weak crumble?  Fighting aboard the Virgin Victory is simply madness, a literal mess of 200 individuals fighting each other, and I loved every goddamn minute of it.

 

The state Vorkken is in after the fight is pitiful, as he still grasps onto those ideals.  To be the strongest ever, no matter what the cost.  Those who refuse to join him, will have to join him by force.  After a long talk, and a quick escape from a crumbling cavern, it is revealed that Vorkken was simply a pawn in GEATHJERK's twisted game, and that he was to be offed soon anyways.  All those ideals he held on to never had meaning to begin with; if Vorkken could function properly at the moment he'd be a broken man.  And this clears the way to the final stretch of the game.  To succeed where Vorkken once failed, and to avenge those who have fallen in his stead.

 

It's not the craziest fight, but it's simply so well done in many other ways that I have to give credit where credit is due.

[-blank-]

Hmm, let me try to think of something that isn't Sonic-related for this question....

 

 

 

I've got it;

 

 

'Blue', Championship Battle - Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow/FireRed/LeafGreen

 

Remember this guy? Remember how he was always one step ahead of you? And remember how he would always rub that fact in your face with that smug little attitude of his?

 

Fast forward to the Elite Four. You've just defeated Lance and all your Pokemon are in the red. You'd think that this was the end and you can go back to Pallet Town and have your Charizard help you cook a celebratory barbeque. But it doesn't work that way, as Lance tells you there's someone who got to him before you - that's right, your rival.

 

So, you use the last of your Full Restores, Revives, and Hyper Potions to get your team back in battle ready mode, go through those final doors and you come face to face with your rival. What do you do then?

 

You and your team of Pokemon collectively rip that Championship title away from him in what is an extremely satisfying battle. The game's been building up to this point ever since you two picked out your starter at Oak's lab and it all pays off right here. It gives one a feeling of accomplishment that no battle with the other rivals in the series has even come close to meeting.

 

Take that, you smug bastard.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Day 9: Favourite Boss

 

Yakuza 3 ---- Yoshitaka Mine

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ti8tKjuByo

 

The final boss of Yakuza 3 is one hell of an experience. You fight your way up a huge skyscraper called Millennium Tower, at the very top of it you face... this guy. 

 

There's a really epic cut scene of your character and Mine charging at each other, then the cut scene ends and the fight begins. Then that's where it starts, the main theme from the game starts and gets more intense as the fight goes on. It feels like that piece of music was written just for this fight.

 

And it's one hell of a fight, you'd better not rely on those cheap easy combos, you'll need to know the game in order to beat this guy.

 

Shadow of the Colossus - The Colossi

 

Ok if I really have to narrow it down, the third one, and the bird one. 

 

The third one is a huge giant with a giant sword he looks like this.

 

 

How do you climb him? You have to let him swing his sword at you, then you run up it in order to reach his body where you can then damage him. Yes it is as hard as it sounds!

 

The bird one is a bird, you have to jump and hang onto it as it swoops down, it then flies around the arena as you try to work your way over it. 

 

No really, you are holding on for dear life as this bird flies around trying to shake you off. Look!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8jvfLblfEQ

 

Though all the colossi, every one of them are so unique yet equally compelling, it's hard to pick, but those two are the stand outs for me. 

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

Day 9: Favorite Zelda yada yada you get the picture

 

 

Ganondorf, from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

 

It's rare to have a final boss in Zelda that I actually care to fight, which is a weird thing to say about my favorite series. For every Majora or Valadi I'm gearing up to face against, there's at least two Demises or 'Ha, it was Ganon all along!'s that just take the wind out of my sails, pun unintended. It's not that there are great tests of skill to be had; indeed, some of those bosses I've just slandered are the toughest I've come across. Beyond all the mastery of controls or weapons, though, there needs to be a character I care about fighting. Ganondorf's appearance in Wind Waker not only is an exciting challenge of skill, but one that extends beyond the arbitrary nature of good v. evil fights the series has been host to. I don't know that I should spoil it any more than I have (and really, everyone knew you were going to fight Ganon), but I will say that the fight and what leads to and from it make up some of my favorite moments in a Zelda game, bar none.

 

"The wind... is blowing...."

[Kaabiitorori]

Day 9: Favourite Boss

 

Just like in any form of fiction featured in the media, video games need the role of an antagonist to fulfill any story and its development. Villains in video games, however, not only have to accomplish the task of serving as a major threat to the hero/es but also a challenge for the player once they have to engage them in the form of a boss fight. Boss fights have served as a key component in the climax of a stage or even the entire game depending on whether it's a specific stage boss or a final boss fight respectively, and much like the previously discussed stages, boss fights are another ingredient to take in mind in order to impact the player's perspective and impressions towards the game throughout his or her playthrough.

 

This time, once again, gotta pull the Kirby trump card. Sorry guys! XD Before I go into detail, I have a good amount of boss fights that I quite enjoy to play, from Bowser in Super Mario 64, Galaxy, 3D Land & 3D World, Meta Ridley, Kraid and Mother Brain from the classic side-scroller Metroid series, Ganon & Ganondorf from Zelda A Link To The Past, Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker, or Big Arms, Perfect Chaos, Biolizard/The Finalhazard, or Nega-Wisp Armor just to name a few from the Sonic The Hedgehog series. But with all that said, I have got a Kirby boss fight for this question, and boy is it a really good one! So my favourite boss fight is...

 

Massive spoilers for Kirby Return To Dream Land!

Behind the spoiler tag contains info about the final boss fight. Proceed with caution if you want to play the game first!

 

Magolor

 

This peculiar character featured in Kirby Return To Dream Land was an important piece in the story of the game. It all started when Magolor, on board of his ship the Lor Starcutter, appears from Another Dimension and crashes into Dream Land; with the Lor Starcutter damaged and all its pieces scattered around the land, Kirby and his buddies decide to help him recover all the bits and pieces and fix the ship. Once the Lor is back on line, Magolor rewards the heroes a trip to his homeland from Another Dimension, Halcandra, but the ship is attacked by the ruler of the land Landia and is taken down once again; Magolor asks Kirby to defeat Landia, which accomplishes to do. In that instant, Magolor presents himself at the scene and tells Kirby that his ultimate plan all time along was to defeat Landia so he could get the Master Crown all for himself, which he effectively does, granting him incredible powers and transforming himself into this:

 

 

In other words, Magolor has been manipulating you throughout the entire game! A surprising move for what seems at first like a very likeable character, yet dubious at the same time. The funniest thing about this though? The resolution of this plot is awfully familiar; somebody already tricked Kirby in the past just so he could get what he wanted.

 

 

Oh Kirby, you're so gullible...

 

With his all new powers he sets to conquer the universe, starting with Pop Star (Kirby's home world). Now it's up to the heroes to defeat Magolor and stop his evil scheme. There are several reasons attributed as to why I chose Magolor as my favourite against any other boss in the entire franchise. For starters, the battle is split into three different parts, making it the longest final boss fight in the series; and as you will see throughout this post, these battles are one of the most challenging as well. Let's get started, shall we?

 

The first battle against Magolor is done in a 2D shoot 'em up style (a format that has been featured in almost every main Kirby game to date). On board of one of the little Landias, you will traverse through Another Dimension in a short level while shooting down all the enemies that Magolor sends you. When you reach the end of the stage, he will summon his Lor Starcutter and start shooting loads and loads of star bullets at you, trap you into a tornado and even fling straight into you. Just like any game in the sh'ump genre speed and accuracy is crucial to beat the boss as well as dodging and predicting his moves; the battle itself is quite fun as you defeat his ship all in glorious Gradius-style. After this, the real battle begins.

 

The second part takes place on land somewhere in Another Dimension after Kirby and his friends are taken down by Magolor. Now, hear me out when I say this, but Magolor is probably one of the most difficult final bosses if not THE most difficult of any Kirby game. His repertoire of attacks is extremely varied as he can go from teleporting, summoning time portals and black holes, shoot dark spheres as well as a huge SHOOP DA WOOP beam, spring out dangerous energy needles from the ground... and all his attacks are ridiculously powerful as they can drain even a quarter of your health if you don't watch out. Once you have depleted his health completely, he will shield himself up; the only way to defeat him is by using Ultra Abilities five times, the last one being the Ultra Sword. The way you defeat him with the Ultra Sword is intense as he will attempt to block and repel your attack, but once you manage to deliver the final slash... man, so epic!

 

But wait! I mentioned this was a three-way boss fight, right? Indeed. After you finish him off, the power of the Master Crown brings him back to life, showing his final yet grotesque form, Magolor Soul:

 

 

If his original form was tough, Magolor Soul will make you embrace into an incredibly difficult battle of grandious proportions. Some of his past attacks are present but strengthen as well as expanded into bigger magnitudes, and yet he's got even more tricks up his sleeve! Most of his attacks are focused on casting portals; for example, he can shoot out a beam into a portal and cast a hell of a lot of beams throughout the field, fly into a portal and ram himself at you, cast energy needles across every corner of the stage, invert the screen and create a dark star and spread it across the screen. Not only that, but he can literally create his own Ultra Abilities and use them against you too! Talk about a really nasty bugger! Magolor Soul is a powerful threat which will surely give you more than just a headache due to its his very chaotic fight, but to tell you the truth, this is precisely why I love this boss fight! Magolor Soul is possibly the strongest opponent in the franchise as well as his fight being the most challenging one, and rightfully so! And on top of that, the final boss fight theme is an incredible orchestrated version of Return To Dream Land's theme, so incredible that John Williams would be so proud.

 

In conclusion, Magolor's three-way boss fight is something very unusual for the standards of the Kirby franchise, but is certainly something that will please any veteran Kirby fan and even any enthusiastic video gamer. Lengthy, challenging, intense and epic: the perfect ingredients blended altogether to bring you possibly the best Kirby boss fight ever. =) Oh, and to make the challenge even greater than what it already is, Extra Mode is the answer.

 

 

There is, however, one boss fight in the Kirby franchise that deserves to have a few paragraphs worth mentioning. My honourable mention goes to...

Masked Dedede

 

King Dedede has been Kirby's arch nemesis since the very beginning of the franchise. While he's not my top favourite boss fight of the franchise, he used to be in that spot back when Super Star Ultra came out back in 2008. Being a close second, I will list why Masked Dedede deserves its attention here.

 

First of all, among all the battles between Kirby and Dedede, this one is held up as the most intense one in their history as big rivals. Unlike any other classic Kirby vs Dedede fight, this one takes its setting into a whole new level; after being defeated so many times, King Dedede is very determinant to defeat Kirby once and for good as we can see in Revenge of The King (Super Star Ultra), so determinant that he really will mean serious business once you battle against him. Remember how their very first battle took place like? In the first picture, they were battling each other in a fair ring at Mt Dedede's castle with a huge crowd supporting Dedede. What's the scenario like in Masked Dedede? As seen in the picture on the right, this time the battle is taken into a one-on-one deathmatch with no audience watching (except Bandanna Dee) in a very enclosed ring. That's when you notice things are getting really personal!

 

   

 

Gameplay-wise, Masked Dedede is very heavily based on elements found in previous fights with Dedede, so you can expect him using most of his standard attacks such as jumping, inhaling and smashing with his giant hammer. However, notice his hammer is entirely different from his usual one: his new toy is pretty much what spices things up a lot in this fight. He can spin around fast while his attack range covers up a good chunk of the battle ring, shoot missiles and throw fire as well as create massive shockwaves. Also, as you can see in both pictures, another element introduced in this fight is an electrifying cage that will limit your space to float around the stage. Makes the battle a little bit tougher indeed!

 

All in all, this honourable mention goes to the fact this boss fight contains all the classic Kirby vs Dedede rivalry charm with a more intense setting and atmosphere than in any of their past conflicts in the series. It's also a pretty damn thrilling boss fight and one to be aware of if you rush through The True Arena.

[Blue Swallow]

Day 9 - Favorite Boss

I've been using this series the whole time, but I have to go with,

Devil from TEKKEN 2

One of the most memorable bosses of the series, we finally see just what Kazuya's deal with the devil was, and just how evil he is. He's not one of the hardest bosses in the series, but that's mostly because he doesn't have a bunch of cheap moves, except maybe his laser, but it's not too hard to dodge. He actually sets himself up for a damaging back throw if you run under him while he performs his flying laser attack.

I especially love him when playing as Jun, because in the story she defeats him (for the time being).

But it's not just the boss himself, it's also the stage and music. Besides the floor, the stage is completely dark, except for a giant mirror, which would reflect your battle. While that may seem like nothing now, it was really cool for its time.

http://youtu.be/yWlTZPQnQgk"]

(Skip to 3:20)

I think the big reason why I like him more than other bosses in the series is rather than being an ancient monster, or just a regular human (albeit an insanely strong human), he was a person transformed into a monster, which started when his father threw him off a cliff, and after doing so much evil he just couldn't stop himself or his wrongdoings, and was consumed by Devil.

[Jimbo]

Day 9: Favorite Boss

 

I'm kind of drawing a blank here, so I'm going to have to pull my Sonic card here.

 

The second boss of Death Egg 2, or the final boss of the regular game. I have a few reasons for liking this boss as much as I do. It was the first final boss I had ever reached in any game. I owned many games before owning Sonic 3 and Knuckles, but I was never any good at them. Hearing this track for the first time, I knew that I was close to the ending.

 

 

Of course, I did not actually beat the boss on the first try. I remember destroying all of the fingers and thinking that the boss was easy, then reaching the second part and having absolutely no idea how to beat the second part. I finally figured it out in that same playthrough, but I ended up dying anyway when trying to land a double hit.

 

I don't really know why this one was the first one that came to mind. I guess I had to put an obligatory Sonic 3 and Knuckles reference somewhere in these 30 days. Regardless, this boss is still one of my favorites of all time.

[Mania Pipe]

Day 9 - Favorite Boss: 

 

Master Hand (Super Smash Bros.)

 

I know he's I love the final fight with Master Hand in the Final Destination stage in 1P Game. I love his animations where he's just a giant white glove beating the shit out of you. There are several attacks of his where you need to be careful of and dodge them, like when he's doing a rocket punch coming at you from the far background, or his finger gun and good ole bitch slap. It was tough fight for me for the first time when I got to him, but that was more than a decade ago, but yet I still remember that fight. Once you've beaten him by knocking his HP from 300 to 0, he then blows up as he fades away into the background. I thought that was really cool back then and still do to this day. I had a wonderful time fighting this guy.

[Strickerx5]

*Looks back a page* Aw damn, ninja'd by a Greninja...

 

Day 9: Favorite (super epic HD remix .5 punching bag) Boss

 

 

 

While not the most challenging of boss fights, Master Hand is a perfect final boss for a crazy series like Smash Brothers. There are so many back stories behind this thing but if one thing is for sure, it's that it's very fun to fight. The wacky hand animations and random attack sequences makes every encounter a sight to behold. Not to mention how satisfying it's death sequence is. It's really a shame how little it was represented in the Subspace Emissary.

 

Now for some honorable mentions:

Batman Arkham City: Mr.Freeze- Definitely one of the smarter bosses ever made. His ability to learn from your attacks and deflect them from happening again is an ability not yet matched by another game.

 

Batman Arkham Origins: Firefly- I... just really love explosions. XD Not to mention the track that plays during this. It's truly just a spectacle to behold. To be perfectly honest here ( I know I may piss someone off for saying this), but if there's one thing Origins did better than City it's was the way it presented each boss encounter and this is a perfect example of just that.

 

Mario Galaxy: Final Bowser Fight- Again, I just have to say I love the way Galaxy presented itself. It's such a cinematic and deeper departure from the usual Mario game. This boss was just the icing on the cake as you can promptly hand Bowser his own behind while listening to some very engaging music.

 

Metal Gear Rising: First Boss- Talk about action and scale. This was truly a fight to remember. Not to mention the ending animation with "Rules of Nature!" going into it's vocals.

 

Portal 2: Wheatley- Combined with the growing sense of urgency and amazing lines, it makes a perfect boss to finish an amazing game like this one.

 

Sonic Unleashed: Perfect Dark Gaia- I love this boss to death. The scale, music, setting... everything about it just screams finale! It's too bad the colossal sections are so hard to control or this probably would of been my favorite.

 

Uncharted 2: Final Boss- I don't know why but I just really found this one enjoyable. Especially since half the time you can't really gauge how close the guy is two you before he turns a corner screaming "DRAAAAKE!" and charging right at you.

 

So yeah, just thought I'd give those a mention since I had some time. Though, I really chose Master Hand because of the significant I have for it. It's one of the first bosses I remember beating. Not to mention being able to scale the difficulty on it from 1 to 9 (a feature I wish more games would implement). I mean put that thing on 9 and it becomes quite the hand full...

 

...I'll leave now.

[Echidna Adventurer CC14]

Favorite boss...favorite boss...this one was a toughie, so I'll go for something a bit more unique:



Croco (2nd Fight) (Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars)

This fight isn't cool for being epic or mind-blowing or anything, as you've fought this guy before near the start of the game. However, for this particular battle, not only is he packing an arsenal of powerful "Chomp" moves, but also...your items. That's right! After wearing him down a little, this crooked croc will steal ALL of your items, leaving you to finish him without much life insurance. That makes this fight really unique, as you have to keep on your toes and learn to use your special moves to your advantage. When I was an "avoid all the enemies" kinda kid back in the day, I got stuck on this boss for quite a while as I hadn't leveled up enough to stand much of a chance against him without items. It really taught me that maybe just having a lot of Pick-Me-Ups wasn't enough to be good at an RPG and it helped me up my game in the long run. That makes this the perfect kind of battle for what can be considered a beginner's RPG.

Honorable Mentions:

Bowser and Baby Bowser (Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time)

This boss is a lot of fun for giving us twice the Bowser for the price of one. They have a lot of neat team attacks, the fight isn't too incredibly difficult, and their dialogue after it just kills me. "Little dude." XD

Slash (TMNT: Turtles in Time SNES)

If you know me, you know that I'm a bit of a Slash fanatic, but despite that, he's actually one of the cooler bosses in the SNES version of Turtles in Time because he can actually block your frontal attacks and roll around like a psychotic dodge ball. Those two abilities also make him one of the more challenging bosses, so you really have to think about how you approach him every time. Also, he's just plain better than Cement Man from the arcade and Re-Shelled versions since he's actually an established TMNT character who appeared in more than a few things and had a toy rather than appearing in just ONE episode of the old cartoon.

[turbojet]

Favorite Boss

It's a tie really.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3WXV3bzR4s

JetSream Sam is an amazing boss. Like traditional Platinum Bosses he is fun and challenging and is mechanics are something to appreciate as he does not have any temporary weaknesses. You just have to beat him with your own skill and feels damn satisfying when you do beat.

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

Deathstroke was the one boss that made me appreciate the team who made Arkham Origins. I always hated that in the Arkham games that you never fight someone who is on Batman's skill level. It was always the traditional go through a procedure and hit the weakspot business with the exception of Mr. Freeze or the boss would turn the battle into a mook swarm. Deathstroke, on the otherhand, just said "fuck it, I can take Batman by myself." And he was right and it was awesome. 

[Sean]

 

The final fight against Ganondorf was such a huge highlight for me in Wind Waker that if I had any doubts that this was one of my favorite Nintendo games, then this battle shot them to the far reaches of space. What makes this stand out to me isn't just that it's really fun and has a really cool setting, but also that it's jarring to see Link hopelessly outmatched, and Ganondorf picks up your tactics swiftly and learns to block them with little effort. It takes some trickery with Zelda's arrows to pull the rug underneath his feet, and the whole sequence is very cinematic without taking total control away from you.

 

Beyond the fight itself, it's the aftermath that makes it truly memorable to me. You defeat Ganondorf, presumably for good, and with his lifeless body you leave the Master Sword in its final resting place, but Hyrule isn't saved this time. I believe someone (I forgot who, Diogenes maybe?) in the last 30 days topic said it best: you aren't fighting Ganondorf for the sake of Hyrule, but rather you're fighting for your right to live. It's a powerful, bittersweet duel, and despite emerging victorious, you realize that there is no happy ending except one that these characters pave for themselves. Hyrule is gone, but now they finally have the chance to rebuild the world.

[Gregzilla]

Day 9 - Favorite Boss

 

Alright, onto one of my favorite topics.  My choice already got picked without spoiler tags, but I'm still gonna spoiler tag it because I don't wanna ruin it for anyone who hasn't played it.

 

Wonderful 101 Spoilers Incoming

 

 

Jergingha - Planet Destruction Form

 

Oh my good great god.  I don't know how Platinum does it, but every time I think a game is over, they one-up themselves with something more extreme, and this is probably the best example of it.  Let me just break it down real simple: you go into a huge-ass space station, fight a robot inside it, escape, and then fight the fucking space station.  In terms of gameplay it's actually probably not the most interesting fight in the game, nor is it the most fast-paced or intense Platinum has done, but it wins for me because of the setting and for just how friggin' grand they made it feel.  The colors are amazing, you use gigantic weapons, the music cheers you on, and it all ends with probably the best quick time event in the history of video games.  It is absolute bliss for a fan of crazy action.

 

So many games fail to satisfy with a grandiose ending, but W101.....y'know what, as crass as it may sound, this ending is pretty much, for me, the video game equivalent of an orgasm.  With that huge buildup with all the lasers and the world spinning out of control and all the crazy colors and ooooohhhmygosh it's so gooooood.

 

Runners Up

 

-Any other boss from any Platinum Game - From Jubileus to Armstrong, Platinum always delivers only the best in over the top action.

 

-Ganon from Ocarina of Time - Absolutely classic.  The atmosphere is some of the best I've seen from Nintendo, or any game, with the incredibly dark colors and flashes of lightning and fire in addition to awe-inspiring music all coming together to make an extremely intense, and legendary, climax.  One of the few moments in games I would consider 100% perfect.

 

-Big Bad Baby Bowser from Yoshi's Island - Much darker and more intense than anyone would have expected from a Yoshi game, and that's why it's so memorable.  That awesome 16 bit rock guitar, the dark tone, and the new spin on egg throwing make this an absolute blast.  But don't get me started on the shit rehash of it in Yoshi's Poo Island for 3DS.

[Sonictrainer]

 

Day 9 - Favorite Boss

 

Kirby Triple Deluxe: Special Bosses

 

Shadow King Dedede and Dark Meta Knight

 

 

So after you face Sectonia Deluxe in Dedede Tour!, a mirror will appear. 

 

Inside Shadow Dedede will appear and attack. In his First Phase, he attacks like King Dedede did in Kirby Super Star. He'll run and slide, he'll jump up and slam down onto the ground, he'll fire projectiles from his hammer, and use his own version of Kirby's Inhale Ability. He also has a hammer attack that will automatically smack King Dedede into the ground if he makes contact.

 

However, you knock his health down halfway, he changes his attack methods and forms a Axe to replace his Hammer.

 

Now, he starts doing a slashing combos, his jump and smash attack sends out shockwaves, and he has a explosion attack. Shadow Dedede will also start going into the background and his stomach will turn into a giant mouth that shoots shadow balls at you from the background and from the foreground. His last attack is a spiral energy ball attack comes down vertically around him.

 

After you defeat Shadow Dedede, the mirror will return and you enter inside it.

 

Once inside you will be in a wasteland, where the mirror appears and reveals the Final Boss: Dark Meta Knight.

 

 

Dark Meta Knight will try to slice and fly into you, split into mirrors to confuse you, make giant swords pop out of the ground and sky, throw tornados at you, or become a tornado himself and fly in from the foreground and background.

 

After beating Dark Meta Knight, he becomes trapped in the Mirror World and King Dedede smashes the mirror ending Dedede Tour!

 

[Soniman]

Eh ill give this one to Koloktos from Skyward Sword

 

 

To me, this is a battle that simply does everything right and hits all the right notes for me. Great design, amazing fight, and excellent musical score to match.

 

 

First off, the boss is delightfully creepy and fits with the buddhist theme the entire temple has going on, a Shiva styled abomination with a INCREDIBLY creepy child-like voice. Every time he attacks you he make this otherworldy noise like he's not of this world

 

The fight itself is very interesting, the name of the game is dismemberment, constantly whipping off all of Koloktos' arms and opening up his heart for attacking. I like how it's more then just waiting around for an opening and rather has you attacking the enemy TO damage it

 

The second phase is where things gets serious as Koloktos becomes bipedal and starts hunting you down. His form may have changed but the tactic is still the same, de-arm the fucker when he starts raining sword strikes down on you. And in an excellent callback to Wind Waker, you're given the opportunity to pick up it's big ass swords and absolutely WAIL on the fucker. Chopping off all of his limbs, exposing his weak point and just fucking slicing the shit out of him, it just feels SO SATISFYING to attack him like this, especially when it's such a big opposing enemy. Dismemberment baby!

 

Oh man and the music, I love how it starts out rather standard with somewhat dire music, but when he shifts into his second form the music just explodes into a full blown, bombastic production fitting given how real it's gotten, its so good.

 

Not much else to say, just an excellent fight all around.

[Shane]

I'd probably say something from a Donkey Kong Country game, or Perfect Chaos from Sonic Generations, but I'm not doing Sonic and I'm trying to not do as much Donkey Kong.

 

So my favourite boss is definitely something from Zelda. They're always fun to fight, they always have you do something tactical followed by a satisfying blow to a weak spot. They're all fun.

 

I'll choose Ganondorf from Wind Waker. Not only is the gameplay awesome, but the atmosphere, the place in the story, the music that calls back to Ocarina of Time, that shocking finishing blow to the face... It was an awesome boss fight and I can't wait to make it there in the HD version.

[Jeffhog]

OVER NINE STOREYS TALL

~ Dreams DO Come True! ~

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team spoilers inbound!

 

Day 9/30: Favourite Boss

 

Boss Selected: Giant Bowser

Appearance:

-Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Nintendo 3DS (2013)

 

"I'll do my best... with my big bro!"

~Luigi

 

The Year of Luigi. What a celebration that was. After ages of living in his brother's shadow, the lean and mean man in green was the centre of attention for all of 2013 -- and about damn time, too!

 

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon was super fun, New Super Luigi U was challenging, and the Luigi-themed reiterations of 8bit Mario games are a fun distraction, but the highlight was this gem of an RPG for the 3DS, being Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (or Dream Team Bros. in PAL regions).

 

And from that gem, I'll be talking about the clash of the titans, Giant Dreamy Luigi vs. Giant Dreamy Bowser.

 

To provide context, Dream Team sees the Mario Bros. exploring Pi'illo Island on vacation with Princess Peach, only for her to, surprise surprise, get kidnapped by game-exclusive bad guy Antasma (later with Bowser at his side). To save her, it's up to the Mario Bros., Starlow (returning from Bowser's Inside Story), and Prince Dreambert to save her, find the Dream Stone, and save the world: to accomplish this, they will have to travel back and forth between the real world and the Dream World, accessible through a portal created by Luigi sleeping on one of the many pillows scattered around the island.

 

After the first time around against Robo-Drilldigger, you know shit is about to go down the very moment you hear this playing.

 

What makes this occasion special, however, is that it's the last giant battle in the game, it's the first part of the final boss fight, and most importantly, it shows just how much Luigi has grown.

 

Whenever you go up against a giant boss, Luigi, sleeping in the real world, is usually cowering under his hat, as if he just wants the nightmares to go away. And we all know Luigi: he knows he's always overshadowed by his brother, yet he still loves Mario all the same. He suffers from a great lack of self-esteem, is easily and almost always frightened, yet we know he can do so much more.

 

Well, take a good look at this.

 

 

Compare shot A and shot B. I dare you to tell me you're not feeling how proud I'm feeling right now.

 

I'm not going to lie, this game made me cry over the guy, especially when I reached Dream's Deep for the first time. Where Luigi's innermost thoughts are displayed everywhere. His sadness, his grief, his greatest insecurities, his worst fears -- this is the one time Luigi's voice is actually heard, and it hit me hard. I couldn't hold myself together any longer and had to set the handheld down.

 

Now, you're nearing the end. The world is about to fall, Peach is to be rescued, Antasma is to be stopped, Bowser is to be fought. A GIANT Bowser.

 

And Luigi? Does he grit his teeth? Is he terrified? Is he cowering in fear?

 

No.

 

Luigi smiles. A genuinely confident and cocky grin never looked better on anyone else, and we all know it. This is his moment. This is his time to shine.

 

Luigi feels fucking unstoppable and there's nothing Bowser can do about it.

 

And it makes for such an epic atmosphere for the boss fight itself.

 

By then, the mechanics of the Giant Battles should be practically drilled into you, so so long as you remember how it should all go down, then you oughta to be fine.

 

Case in point, Luigi casually brushes off Bowser's entire army, can hold his own against the Koopa King, can knock him right into the lava with a mighty swing of his hammer, and, with Mario at his side, can help deal the finishing blow on an even bigger Bowser.

 

Yes, Luigi, of all people, pressured Bowser into having to transform into an even more massive giant form, and still singlehandedly wiped the floor with the Koopa King.

 

Best. Bowser. Beating. Ever.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4VnMPxa-Co

 

See the action up for yourself to get a feel of what I'm talking about! Intro cutscene and the fight itself make up the first almost 20 minutes.

 

Speaking of dreams, sleeping is something I ought to be doing right now. WHOOPS! GOOD NIGHT!

 

[The Deleter]

Day 9: Favorite boss

 

Pretty much every boss from Wonderful 101 is amazing, but when it comes to the best, the final baddie definitely comes out on top.

 

 

 

Jergingha, Supreme Overlord of the GEATHJERK Federation

 

It may not be fast and furious, it may not be brutal, but my goodness, is this fight grand. Every phase is trumped by the successor, every climax is revealed to be the calm before the storm, and every sense of impending doom rises up a notch with every progression.

 

The boss is amazingly fun to play, too, as the game takes a more "Video-game-y" approach to this boss, rather than the usual cinematic baddie. First, you fight his tower-defense style phase, where he's essentially a Mother Brain with breakable life-support orbs. After you give him a splitting headache, he dons his own version of a Wonder Mask, and gains independent movement, weaponry, and limb support, severing him from the ties that a brain-in-a-jar usually have. This turns him into one of the most intense "Floating head and hands" boss ever created, as he has all of your abilities, and can even block some of yours. After you hand him a beatdown again, he tries to attack the team by going into full-out kamakazie mode, and, being a floating brain, is probably an Andross reference. This fails, however, as you blast him by using your ship as a handgun, and totally disintigrate him. However, this still doesn't destroy him, and he transforms the entire fortress into a massive sky titan, sending the gameplay into the "floating god" phase. This boss has so many referances to final boss cliches, it's not even funny,

 

The music and scale of it all is amazing, as well, and fit in well with the atmosphere the boss gives off. Seriously, you're fighting a giant robot in space... with a bunch of giant robots that look like fleas to it! How could you not love that?

 

This is the first boss in my video gaming history to get me immersed enough to yell like a gladiator, feel like a boss, and sweat as if the room was 90 F... all while just mashing a single button into oblivion. A great ending to a great game, and definitely my all-time favorite boss battle.

 

Day 9: Complete

[Silencer226]

Eh I guess I will spoiler tag this stuff.

 

Another jak and Daxter game. The final boss of Jak 3 was pretty damn fun, you had to climb him to actually get to the real fight which was a bit of a challenge itself. Once you make it to the final boss you have to fight Cyber Errol as he pilots the Dark Maker vessel. I always liked this boss because it was kind of designed like the final boss of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. Having Errol be the big bad in Jak 3 was  really weird considering his demise in Jak 2 haha.

[Dejimon11]

Favorite boss

Ummmm yeah this is gonna be though hard so ill just list a bunch of boss battles not because of how they play but because of the moment

Egg dragoon- after years of being defeated by sonic you can tell that eggman has had enough and finally wants to end it. The battle stars off with you in a falling platform and the fights ends with you in the center of the earth and with catchy music to go with it.

Ill edit this post later

[Goldenlink64]

Day 9: The greatest boss of all time in like ever because it's completely amazing........in my opinion.

 

Disclaimer: The following post covers end game spoilers to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. If you still haven't beat this game, you have been warned.

 

And with all that out of the way, shall we begin?

 

So, after collecting all the chaos emeralds, throwing away your childhood to become an adult to save hyrule, collecting all the medals, AFTER DOING ALL THE WHATEVERS, you finally get to enter Ganon's castle. You solve the final mega puzzle and proceed to climb to the top of this huge castle with this ominous music getting louder and louder as you climb to the top.

 

The music keeps getting louder, and louder, the lights become brighter, everything becomes more and more tense. You get to the top, open the biggest door you've seen in the entire game and then you find out...

 

This smug, magnificent bastard has been waiting for you and was playing the music you've been hearing the entire time!

 

And thus, the greatest most intense tennis battle of all time begins.

 

You take Ganondorf down semi-easily (depending on how good at Zelda you are), and then in a last ditch attempt, Ganondorf attempts to take you down with him. He self destructs in a way that tears down the castle. You and Zelda quickly evacuate and you ask yourselves.

 

"Is it all finally over?"

 

 

Wait, what...?

 

 

"There's no way he's going to hold me back again! This time we fight together!"

 

Now, I could've skipped all of that before this, but doing so would've completely missed the perfect build up to what is my favorite boss of all time. I love everything about this fight. The music is perfect, the atmosphere is perfect. It's dark to the point where you can't fully see what Ganon even IS but that's just what makes it so much more intimidating (It's a damn shame that they ruined this in the 3DS port/remaster too)

 

Fighting this guy is intense for your first try too (as it should be). His swords leave that cool/intimidating after glow effect and while you dodge that, you gotta find some way to get behind him and strike that tail of his. You could use the Light Arrows to stun him... or you could just roll in between his legs. Either way makes for a great boss fight and the difficulty is perfect. Not frustratingly hard, but not hold your hand easy either.

 

I love this fight, it's an absolute perfect way to end a revolutionary (albeit somewhat dated now) game of its time. Oh and don't get me started on the finale either... I'd mention that here, but something tells me that that's going to come up later this month. So until then...

 

 

Previously on Day 8: 

Next time on Day 10:

Edited May 20, 2014 by Goldenlink64

[Lucky]

Day 9: Favourite Boss

 

I've been trying to avoid reusing my answers from the last 30 Days topic, but I'd be lying if I didn't go with this.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Yz_Oi_6w0Q

 

Segagaga: Taking the console was a little too literally...

 

In SGGG's final stage, you fight against a number of Sega systems that have been stolen by the evil Dogma corporation and turned against you in a Thunder Force-inspired shmup segment. You have to fight against just about everything from the SG-1000 to the Saturn, and all of them launch weapons at you which are based on titles that appeared on each system. Each system has a transformation sequence when you come up against them and all of them are quite cool... although my favourite is the Mega Drive/Mega CD/32X hybrid. Each time a console appears it also flashes up specs for that particular system which I thought was a cool little touch.

 

Oh yeah, and you're also fighting them in a modified Sega R360 cabinet that works as a functional ship.

 

 

The BGM is also quite epic and I noticed it also had a distinct Thunder Force feel to it the first time I heard it. Looked it up a while afterwards and it turns out it was originally composed by Tsukumo Hyakutaro for a cancelled Thunder Force game that had been in development for the Dreamcast, and some of the actual code was also used in this segment which explains the similarities between them. So another cool little nod from Sega there.

 

I've always loved shmup bosses and SGGG is one of my favourite games for the content alone, so when this popped up it was just the coolest thing ever. It's just a crying shame the game never got an English release of any sorts.

 

Honourable mentions:

GLaDOS, The Great Mighty Poo, Gruntilda, Mr Freeze, and pretty much everything from Truxton and R-Type.

[SuperLink]

Day 9ine - Favourite Boss

 

In the end, I couldn't think of anything that was really important or mindblowing or meant a lot to me, which probably means I need to play more Metal Gear games.. or my memory is bad. Both are equally true. In the end, I'm going to go with the only boss since childhood that's made my shake and squirm.

 

Pikmin 3 spoilers ahead!!!!!!!

 

Plasm Wraith - Pikmin 3

 

 

Like I said before, this was the first boss since childhood that really got me quakin' in my boots, as they say. When I was a kid, I used to enter this funky determined state of mind when I got to an important boss, especially one I was afraid of, my heart would race and I would occasionally shake a bit out of nervousness, because if I lost here this was it.. sometimes this actually made my concentration worse though oops. That happened in particular with the Death Egg Robot in Sonic 2, Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time, Andross' true form in Lylat Wars, Blue in Pokémon Yellow, Mewtwo in Pokémon Yellow, the Emperor in FInal Fantasy II (with good reason fuck that guy) and probably others too. When I got more used to games, it happened less and less, because #1 bosses were just kinda easy in most games I played, and #2 more regular save points meant that the punishment was less and less severe. I'd probably put more FF final bosses if I actually ever bothered to get to the end of FF games lol.

 

Anyway enter THIS guy. The difference with Pikmin is that, even though you can actually retry the beast, the puzzle before it and still have all your progress and damage to it done from the day before, the losses you make are real and permanent and undoing them means starting over. The more I play Pikmin, the more attached I get to my comrades, and more often than not, a day where all Pikmin get defeated is a complete failure to me and I restart the day rather than continuing the next day with the Pikmin left in their onions. MY COMRADES. I retried this thing so many times.. and in the end it took me 3/4 Days of game-time to do it in total, and it killed almost 100 Pikmin, but I was determined to beat the thing without ever losing more than 90 Pikmin. Some people could probably do that with their eyes closed, but I'm not so great at strategy stuff and man like I said I was nervous and probably shaking on occasion.

 

So what is this thing? Well, it's a being made of liquid gold, and it's probably from some other dimension. Honestly, I don't really know.. I'm not sure anyone does, but it certainly has bearing on the Pikmin series thus far and its mysterious unknown nature is part of why it's so terrifying.

 

Doesn't help that this thing is genuinely creepy as shit too, it's obsessed (and I mean obsessed) with Pikmin 1/2 protagonist Captain Olimar, whatever the hell it is it keeps kidnapping Olimar and putting him into an relaxed sleep-like state, it probably fully intended to "keep" him forever. What's even creepier is that this thing seems to have some relation to Pikmin 2's Water Wraith and Olimar's old crappy ship.. *shudders*. And the way it moves and changes its form at will becoming all manner of sci-fi insanity that you'd think you'd never see in a Pikmin game.. well let's just say this boss is a very fitting mysterious ending to a game where mysterious shit happens and sometimes you just have to live with it cause you're never getting the answers you want!! This planet is creepy!! I wanna go back there!!

 

wait.. it's Earth. oh dang.