Best boss encounters in games.

[Deleted]

So in my opinion the Metal Gear Solid franchise has the best boss encounters and boss mechanics compared to any other game ive played.

From MGS1(Playstation): Psycho Mantis fight which was really creepy in atmosphere and you had to do the controller switch which was really cool
From MGS2: Not so many cool ones as this game was abit guff but the Fat Man fight where you had to go around defusing the bombs while he tried to rollerskate over your face was cool, plus fighting the hundreds of Metal Gears at the end was epic.
From MGS3: You had the Fear fight where you had to track him through trees whilst avoiding his traps and poisons. And The End's fight where you had to track him via his footprints on the ground (especially hard when you were going for his camo).
From MGS4: The Crying Wolf fight where you had to stay downwind of her constantly because she could smell you and would track you down, not to mention the fight was in a blizzard where you could see very little. Also the return of the Psycho Mantis was a really well structured fight too as you now had to supress your nano machines then take down the mind control dolls.

Anyway thoughts or opinions on other cool boss encounters

[Skelington]

Koloktos in Skyward Sword is pretty damn spectacular. Also Majora from Majora's Mask, Ganondorf in Twilight Princess, and Ghirahim's final fight in Skyward Sword. A lot of bosses, really.

Dementio, and Count Bleck in Super Paper Mario are very good too. Most of the bosses in it were pretty fun.

[Deleted]

zelda as skelington mentioned has some pretty nice bossfights, even the gameboy titles

i like bossfights in hack and slay games like god of war or devil may cry (and other games of that genre) the most.
they are fast paced, intense and a single mistake can wipe u (especially on higher difficulties)

[ElAmigo]

MGS does after some very memorable boss fights, same as Zelda though to me I think the hardest in that franchise has been Onyx from the Oracle of Seasons...though my choice is limited since I still have played several from the franchise.

A boss I remember for being notoriously a pain in the butt is Dullahan from Golden Sun 2: The Lost Age. Another was the first time I got to The Gatekeeper and then Yunalesca in FFX (for some reason I destroyed Mt Gagazet form of Seymour even though everyone complained about him) but as far as rpg's go you can eventually trump them by grinding a crap load though I was never much of a grinder as I tried to "just get by" with bosses which made them a lot more fun

[Ripoff]

The one that I remember the most must be the Amazon samurai warrior thingy in Majoras mask. I just loved the atmosphere, his voice and the whole strategy intended to kill him with. (you can just hack and slash him and ignore the mechanics, but the original idea was rather good).

Or Dark link in ocarina of time. You walk into a totally white and huge room, with a little island in the middle, lovely atmosphere! Then he pops out and actually beats the crap out of you. (he wasnt that hard, but he was in the top 3 of the hardest in the game imo).

A few good ones in FF X aswell, but thats way to long ago for me to remember.

And to be fair, the prince in karah, lovely "endgame" boss for the casual raiders. His difficulty level was scaled perfectly imo. Just right for the "last first" boss.

[Caiada]

In order from most favorite to least most favorite.

1. Ghirahim's last fight in SS
2. Kefka in FF6
3. Sephiroth in KH2
4. Yiazmat in FF12
5. Zodiark in FF12
6. Ganon in ALttP

Shinryu and Omega in FF5 would be up there as well.

I live for boss fights. Best part of just about every RPG or Action-RPG. The longer, stronger, and more difficult, the better.

[Deleted]

Ares from God of War is a bossfight I will always remember. Finnaly fighting the mad god of war himself felt like a great way to finish a great game. Although, Mecha-birdo from I Wanna Be The Guy will always be remembered simply because it's so god damned hard! I haven't completed the entire game yet so I may encounter even harder bosses, but Mecha-birdo took way longer time to master than any other room.

[Ratyrel]

First thing that came to my mind was also God of War - those were some pretty epic fights. The boss fights in Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal were pretty intense too though.

Oh and I just remembered Bayonetta - those were crazy.

[Kaj392]

zelda as skelington mentioned has some pretty nice bossfights, even the gameboy titles

i like bossfights in hack and slay games like god of war or devil may cry (and other games of that genre) the most.
they are fast paced, intense and a single mistake can wipe u (especially on higher difficulties)

Zelda i gotta agree on.
GoW boss fights were kinda meh.

DMC fights (played 3 and 4, and im actually looking forward to the new DMC) were cool. Especially the second time against Vergil was cool (i just love to circle around like him) xD Dante's humor has a lot to do with it i guess.

MGS boss fights are on a completely different level, they got more, tactic. Loved MSG 3 "The End". Track him down, don't get shot and if you think you have found him snipe him / sneak up on him. Damn i loved that.

[Veluren]

Is it cheating if I choose a game that consists of only boss fights? If so I'd have to say shadow of the collosus is my second favorite, the first, like many, are all three Ghirahim battles in skyward sword.

[OrcsRLame]

God of War 3 has boss battles that break the epic barrier in quite astounding ways. The 2nd person kill of Poseidon is awesome. Hell, who am I kidding, all those boss kills are awesome!

DMC is great too. Nero Angelo third fight on Dante Must Die! mode is just incredible.

---------- Post added 2012-01-07 at 07:59 PM ----------

Zelda i gotta agree on.
GoW boss fights were kinda meh.

DMC fights (played 3 and 4, and im actually looking forward to the new DMC) were cool. Especially the second time against Vergil was cool (i just love to circle around like him) xD Dante's humor has a lot to do with it i guess.

MGS boss fights are on a completely different level, they got more, tactic. Loved MSG 3 "The End". Track him down, don't get shot and if you think you have found him snipe him / sneak up on him. Damn i loved that.

Hate to break it to you, but Dante's typical humor style will be gone in the new DMC. I'm also not expecting much out of the gameplay, considering Ninja Theory's track record in that department. And Dante's half angel now, because that's what happens when you give a franchise like DMC to a small unsuccessful company that has made nothing but mediocre games.

[Deleted]

Must be Timesplitters: Future Perfect last boss it took a while on hard but that boss was actually pretty easy but when i killed him i was so happy i still play it because of the humor in the game but yea was one of the best bosses for me.

Also ganon as puppet and his other two forms and ganon himself in The Windwaker, were a pretty nice challenge i copied that safe from my cousin played it at my home when i was 10 or something at that age and i knew i could beat him only i didn't knew how until i shot my lightning arrow >.>

[ElAmigo]

In order from most favorite to least most favorite.

1. Ghirahim's last fight in SS
2. Kefka in FF6
3. Sephiroth in KH2
4. Yiazmat in FF12
5. Zodiark in FF12
6. Ganon in ALttP

Shinryu and Omega in FF5 would be up there as well.

I live for boss fights. Best part of just about every RPG or Action-RPG. The longer, stronger, and more difficult, the better.

Ganon in ALLTP? Now I haven't played all Zelda games but here are the ones I have played in order: OoT, MM, OoS, OoA, WW, TP, ALTTP, and SS and let me tell you that I found Ganon in ALLTP to be quite a let down....though not as much as the linked version of OoS and OoA ganon

[Caiada]

Ganon in ALLTP? Now I haven't played all Zelda games but here are the ones I have played in order: OoT, MM, OoS, OoA, WW, TP, ALTTP, and SS and let me tell you that I found Ganon in ALLTP to be quite a let down....though not as much as the linked version of OoS and OoA ganon

When I was young, like 6 or something, that fight was the best thing since sliced bread, and I still love it because of that.

---------- Post added 2012-01-07 at 03:29 PM ----------

Also, almost forgot. Dark Gaia/Meteor/The Tower of Babel in Illusion of Time/Gaia. Such a spectatularly bizarre ending for a game.

[Deleted]

Majora's mask boss fights. I like all the mechanics they have - particularly Goht and Gyorg, although it's a bit of a case of once you get the hang of them they're pretty easy. Not so much as "if you know what the tactics are, it's easy", but more "if you play well and know the tactics - they become cake". Despite playing Ocarina rigorously before I still tended to make mistakes. I guess Ocarina was similar with it's bosses. The same applies to the fight with the King of the Ikana, terrifying boss when I first played it and had no idea what to do. Still a favourite as I remember how I struggled and how relieved I was once I beat it the first time - dreading ever facing it again.

Turok and Turok 2 had some good bosses as well.

[Skelington]

Majora's mask boss fights. I like all the mechanics they have - particularly Gyorg

Pfft screw that. Gyorg was one of the hardest, most annoying bosses ever in Zelda!

[Digglett]

Koloktos in Skyward Sword is pretty damn spectacular. Also Majora from Majora's Mask, Ganondorf in Twilight Princess, and Ghirahim's final fight in Skyward Sword. A lot of bosses, really.

All of this, especially Koloktos. Also, Ganon (not dorf) from Ocarina of Time, the fight itself was easy, but the atmosphere, the music, Zelda screaming everytime you get hit, perfection.

And this might be nostalgic bias, but Marx from Kirby Super Star, and Zero two from Kirby 64, I say nostalgic bias because Marx was the first ever final boss I ever beat.

[Harry Botter]

Chrono Trigger: Lavos, Magus, and the Ozzie, Flea, Slash fight. Son of Flame (the eyeball thing when you are trying to get the moonstone to turn into the sunstone) I like every fight in this game but these are the most heart pounding ones to me.
FF6: Kefka, the 8 dragons, Same with Ct i like almost all fights but some slip my memory as i havent played it in years.
FF7:Ruby and Emerald Weapon
MGS: The End (the sniper), Psyco Mantis, Sniper Wolf, Col. Voljin, the Metal Gear Ray fight at the enmd of MGS 2 (looool), more i cant think of (muscle relaxers cutting my memory off)
WoW: Illidan....honestly to me thats the best fight in game for its time.....so much to do.
Zelda A Link to the Past: almost all bosses in here give me great memories.
Super Metroid: Insert any boss and i love it
I could go on and on but my meds for my back are kicking in and making it heard to focus, so pretty much and Square or Enix game from SNES to Ps2 will make my list, and theyre are plenty more.
FF8: The Behemth or w/e you needed to turn your cards into items in Lucrecia's castle to me make it 10x easier

[Fencers]

Hm, lots of good ones. But the two best boss fights I played were the original Four Horsemen in Nax and Mimiron. It always felt as though you weren't suppose to really triumph in those encounters.

I don't have too many memorable boss encounters from non-MMOs since there is usually not a lot of theoretical consideration to fighting Ares, for example. A cool fight, feels "epic". But meh, I don't really have to think about it much. There isn't much during/after the fight to consider as method of design or philosophy. Just a bad guy you are punching.

[ElAmigo]

When I was young, like 6 or something, that fight was the best thing since sliced bread, and I still love it because of that.

---------- Post added 2012-01-07 at 03:29 PM ----------

Also, almost forgot. Dark Gaia/Meteor/The Tower of Babel in Illusion of Time/Gaia. Such a spectatularly bizarre ending for a game.

Meh, I guess that makes sense. I didn't play and beat that game till several months ago. But I'm sure as a kid that was great.