The 411 Games Top 5 03.16.09: Our Most Memorable Boss Fights

Posted by Todd Vote on 03.16.2009

This week we run down our most memorable boss fights. Did your favorites make the cut, and where does Target Terror fit into it all?

Welcome to an all new Top 5. You ever been in a battle so intense that your eyes burn for a good 10 minutes afterwards due to the lack of blinking? Maybe you broke a few controllers along the battle lines. Hell maybe it you remember the particulars of a battle just for the simple fact that it you took a second to sit in awe of what you had just seen go down. These are a few of the things we had in mind coming into this weeks edition of our top 5 most memorable boss fights. Once again I would like to remind everyone the points are just the glue to hold it together. There is no meaning to them other than having a bit of fun. What do you say we get started?

First up this week is the boss man of the games zone here, plus he has been putting a lot of effort into the 411 boxing section, which you should definitely check out after you've finished up here, 411's boxing section. Kids, I bring you Ramon Aranda.

Ramon Aranda

Ok, I'm sure there may have been some other epic battles but these are from games I played dammit!

1. Versus Ganondorf/Ganon (Ocarina of Time): I still remember hearing the melodies coming from Ganondorf's organ on my way to his tower. Climbing that long ass staircase gave me butterflies as I knew I was in for an epic battle. Confronting Ganondorf was awesome and a great finale to the game. However, when I thought it was all over, only to see him transform into Ganon - well shit, my jaw dropped. Great stuff!





2. Versus M. Bison (Street Fighter II): I was never the best SFII player around but I more than held my own. Still, Sagat usually managed to kick my ass so when I finally beat him, back suplexing the shit out of him with Guile one time, I was pretty f'n nervous when I came upon Bison, who I had never fought before. Needless to say, he smashed on me but I kept trying over and over until I finally took him out. It felt pretty good when I did.

As a far below average Street Fighter player, I am inclined to give you 50 sympathy points, Bison always kicked my ass as well.

3. Versus Mike Tyson (Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!!): C'mon, when you first beat Super Macho Man and landed yourself a title shot against Iron Mike, you probably crapped your pants, am I right? Me, as a boxing fan knew all about Tyson and my hands were sweating when I got that first shot at him. Only moments after the opening bell, it was all over as his lightning uppercuts damn near decapitated me. I was left in awe...just staring at the screen like "daaaaaaaaamn!" Countless others have probably felt the same and I know there's gamers out there who had the game when it first released on the NES that STILL haven't beaten Tyson. Don't feel bad, he's pretty good. (And yes, I can beat him...sometimes.)

You can have another 20 points for dredging up painful memories. I've still never even been able to hit Tyson more than a couple times, let alone win the fight.

4. Versus Nemesis (Resident Evil 3): If it wasn't bad enough that this son of a bitch was chasing me around the entire game - as I avoided him feverishly of course, having to finally go face to face with this creepy bastard, knowing I had no escape sucked. This dude was not here to play around and unless you were heavily equipped with some building leveling firepower, you were going to get killed. Playing in the dark doubly sucked and rocked. I hate Nemesis.

5. Versus Final Boss (Duke Nukem Forever): I ONLY KID LOL....Versus Jason (Friday the 13th): As a kid, coming face to face with Jason Vorhees sucked all kinds of ass, not to mention I was pretty afraid of him. Tack on the fact that he wasn't exactly easy and you have a nerve wrecking experience.

Yet another controller breaking boss fight from the boss man. I remember not kicking Jason's ass too. 10 points, plus I'll give you another for being the first "No particular order" list submitted here.

Alright next up, Mark Salmela joins us again this week to drop some boss fight knowledge on us. Nobody knows for sure if Mark still actually writes for this site, but even so he has sort of become 'The guy on the couch' of 411games. You know him, you love him, Mark Salmela everybody! *crickets chirp*

Mark Salmela

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
The final boss from Target Terror: Seriously, at this point you knew it was coming. After combating every terrorist in the world it comes down to you versus the random terrorist who kidnapped the pilot of the plane you're on *which is full of other terrorists, so I have no idea why it needs to be saved*. In one hand the terrorist is holding a gun to the pilots head, and in the other hand, a grenade. The game makes the gun an obvious choice, but if you shoot the gun or anywhere on the screen except the grenade, the terrorist falls on his knees laughing as the grenade goes off and blows up the fucking plane, taking you and everyone else to hell. In true Target Terror fashion the game ends and you have to replay the entire level over again if you want another shot at him. Defeat him though, and you get one of the best cut scenes ever. The terrorist is on his hands and knees begging for mercy, and you kick him out of the fucking plane into the engine propeller of the plane, chopping him into bits.
Target Terror rears it's ugly head again in this column. Mark, you can have 15 points for creating more interest in that game than it's own marketing people could do.

The Cake (Pastry Wars): "You will not conquer the cake." Pastry Wars is the best game on the Xbox Live Community Games section, bar none. Pastry Wars is like Space Invaders on crack, and I love it. At level 5 the first boss of Pastry Wars in unveiled, the dastardly cake! From his opening line of awesomeness to his screams of bloody murder "my eye…" the Cake is quite possibly one of the greatest boss battles of all time.



5.) The Hydra (God of War): Quite possibly the most epic fight in all of gaming, the first boss in the original God of War was flat out amazing. Taking on The Hydra monster sold me on the first game and I've been hooked on God of War ever since. Here's hoping God of War 3 takes advantage of the PS3 hardware and makes something even more amazing.
Yes, yes. A million times yes. This boss was the very definition of epic in gaming. 20,000 points.

4.) Shao Kahn (Mortal Kombat 2 and 3): Shao Kahn is the hardest person ever in a fighting game. Beating Shao Kahn basically comes down to getting lucky. And Kahn knows he kicks ass too, and he taunts your ass the entire fight. Shao Kahn may be controlled by the AI, but that AI was based off of one cocky mother fucker. Shao Kahn will hand your ass to you, then tell you about it, all while taking your quarters.
I really think Mark is trying to win with all these mentions of my favorite games.. It's working, 50 points.

3.) The last boss from Sonic the Hedgehog 2: I couldn't decide between this boss and the first boss from Green Hill Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 1. Both boss battles were incredible as well as memorable but in the end I decided on the last boss from Sonic 2 because of the immense difficulty. I must admit that I am also a little biased because Sonic 2 was the first game I ever played *and in my opinion the best Sonic ever made* but holy crap the last boss from Sonic 2 was incredible. I had honestly thought that fighting Metal Sonic *technically Mecha Sonic not Metal Sonic but I won't get technical* was the final boss of Sonic 2 but then holy shit did Robotnik *I will not call him Eggman ever* get into one giant, bad ass robot. Sure it was just a giant version of himself, but it wasn't taking any shit and was truly a feat to overcome. Hell he still gives me a little bit of trouble, and I can cruise through every Genesis Sonic without dieing once.

2.) Mike Tyson (Punchout!): If Tyson would have celebrated by biting your ear off, than he easily would have been number one. Regardless, the original boss of the NES classic Punchout! gets the number 2 slot for being one of the toughest boss battles in history. When you look at all of the possible accomplishments available on the NES, I can't think of anything more satisfying than knocking out Iron Mike.

1.) Psycho Mantis (Metal Gear Solid): The most innovative and totally awesome boss fight of all time. I was seriously astonished that a video game character was able to read my memory card saves and then read my inputs from the DualShock. Defeating Psycho Mantis required actual thought and actual physical action from the user as you had to think outside of the box and put the controller into the second slot to avoid Mantis's mind-reading abilities. I can't think of any other boss fight as memorable as Psycho Mantis. Oh, and I'm still pissed at the cock tease that was Mantis's appearance in MGS4. It's like working a girl over for months just to get denied on prom night

Next up we have another repeat customer "The Be-dazzler" James McGee. James of course posts all sorts of great news bits for your reading pleasure through out the day.

James McGee

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Anything other than Psycho Mantis! (Metal Gear Solid): I know I'll be crucified for this one, but I absolutely despise this boss fight. I despise it for all the reasons other people love it—all the fourth-wall-breaking details like reading your memory card and switching controllers. It totally shattered the illusion that I was experiencing this tense, action thriller, and reminded me that I was just playing a video game. And, yeah, I know that was the point, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. In a series that is full of amazing, innovative boss battles, it hurts my feelings that the most famous is this gimmicky, post-modern farce.

5. The Hydra (God of War): Yes, quick-time events have become an over-used crutch. Yes, there is some validity to the argument that they make you "watch" the game more than play it. But when done right, they can make for a great blend of cinematic flair and player interaction. And God of War did it right. It says something that no other boss battle in any of the franchise's three entries so far is remembered as vividly or praised as highly as this very first encounter. It personified everything the series is about: buckets of blood, massive scale, great control, and flawless production value.
It appears James has also read the top five secrets to scoring points in this column as he drops the God of War bomb on us as well. I guess it's only fair to give him 20,000 points as well.





4. Mike Tyson (Mike Tyson's Punch Out) - Admit it: Mike Tyson made you cry. No, before his descent into cannibalistic madness. I mean when he was just another video game sprite on your TV screen. The final fight in Punch Out still stands as one of the most punishingly unforgivable battles in video game history. Hours of angry, frustrated tears were shed as Iron Mike defeated you again and again. But that made your ultimate victory all the sweeter.

3. Nemesis (Resident Evil 3): Silent Hill 2's Pyramid Head may have been cooler, creepier, and (arguably) scarier due to his absolute invincibility. But it was Nemesis' vulnerability that made him the better boss. You could knock this guy down, which allowed hope to creep into your heart just a little. But no matter what you threw at him, he just got right back up. More than any other boss, Nemesis personifies that classic horror movie experience of "Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me!" shock as he shrugs off a full magnum clip and just keeps on coming. Plus, he's a zombie CARRYING A ROCKET LAUNCHER. If that doesn't personify "cool," I don't know what does.
Zombies with rocket launchers are always worth a good 30 points.

2. Bowser (Super Mario Series): No particular game for this entry, because every appearance by the Lizard King is perfect for its time. Just like Mario continues to evolve and define whichever console he appears on, the plumber's greatest enemy comes along for the ride. Every encounter with Bowser makes the most of technology and gameplay, and every battle is distinctly different throughout the series. If Mario is the timeless mascot for video game heroes, Bowser has to be counted as the benchmark boss.
Sorry James, but your points are in another castle

1. The End (Metal Gear Solid III: Snake Eater - Hopefully, this wins me back some brownie points from the Kojima faithful. While you can avoid this boss fight all together with either a well-aimed sniper shot or by changing the system clock, you're really missing the fun if you don't take on this battle as it was meant to be played. The sniper duel with The End is a tense game of cat and mouse that utilizes everything in Snake's arsenal—motion detectors, infrared, directional mic, the whole ball of wax. It's a long, nerve-wracking fight that stands out in a game (not to mention a series) full of fantastic boss battles. This was one of those instances where I just had to pause the game and say "This is frickin' brilliant!" In terms of design, pacing, emotion, and impact, there are few moments in any video game that can top it.

Joining us last this week is yet another repeat customer, Armando Rodriguez. Armando is all over the site, if you haven't seen his stuff yet, check it out. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Armando Rodriguez

Honorable Mentions:
Motaro (Mortal Kombat 3): Midway obviously wanted a new Goro and they almost succeeded. Motaro was just as strong and vicious, yet he looked different enough (not like that rip-off Kintaro!) to engrave himself in fans minds. However, by this point I was older and ready for anything, so he didn't scare me as much as Goro did.
More Mortal Kombat love, and it's great. 50 points.

Taros (Shining Force II): Taros was one of a few memorable bosses from SF II. He was a giant, so big that when you attacked him you could only see his legs and his sword. He could not be hurt by anything, except the Achilles Sword, which meant that only your main character could hurt him, while the other 11 where relegated to support duty.

The Kraken (Shining Force II): Your raft was breaking apart, while a constant stream of legs and tentacles attacked you from all sides. The huge head of the Kraken was still far away, yet it could breath damaging bubbles that reached you from afar. Yes, this was another of the memorable bosses of SF II.

Seth (Street Fighter IV) - Even as part of a brand new game, I can say that Seth is one of my most memorable Boss Fights simply because of how cheap he is. He is the cheapest character in SF history, at least under CPU control. From teleporting randomly and constantly to always seeming to know what I am going to throw at him, he is someone you won't forget anytime soon.
10 points for the most honarable mentions I have ever seen.... Ever

5. Odd Eye (Shining Force II): As you can tell, I absolutely loved this game. Odd Eye proved to be one strong boss, but the emotional impact it had was far more damaging than any attack he possessed. To see the same blind kid you rescued and carried around suddenly transformed into evil personified to fulfill a destiny he could not escape has to be one of the most memorable swerves of any RPG game.

4. Dark Dragon (Shining Force):Dark Dragon is one of the most memorable for me. Back when I was 7 years old and playing my brand new Genesis, the thought of Darksol resurrecting Dark Dragon and me having to face it scared me to death. I was overjoyed when I killed Darksol and seemingly stopped him from achieving his nefarious plans, only for him to use his death as a sacrifice and resurrect the three-headed monstrosity known as Dark Dragon. You had to destroy all three heads, each one with ??? health (way more than 100) and almost unlimited magic points. Plus, they also possessed Level 4 spells and the dreaded Demon Blaze. More significant is that you had to fight Darksol and Dark Dragon back to back, without any room to restock on healing items or resurrect dead characters. When I finally beat it (and every time I have beaten it thereafter) I have felt a mixture or relief and accomplishment, which is what every boss should make you feel.

3. Bowser (Super Mario 64) Yes, I know. Bowser is not that hard to beat. But back when the N64 was new, seeing Bowser, so much larger than Mario and so detailed, made any fan's knees shake. He looked simply marvelous and those moments in which he would slowly stalk you or breath fire in your direction where tense. Yeah, until you figure out how easy it is to beat him. But for sheer jaw-dropping value alone, Bowser makes the list.
Sorry Armando but your... Oh you know the deal.

2. The Rancor (Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic): Much like Bowser, The Rancor was not that hard to beat. But once more, it is how impressive it looks and how much damage it can deal that makes it memorable. The first time I saw it, I lifted my fingers from the keyboard, took a deep breath and slowly let out a deep "Oh shit!". Simply put, my jaw dropped as I never expected to fight one of the damn things! Any Star Wars geek will instantly mark out when they get to this fight.





1. Goro (Mortal Kombat): Few things ever scared my 8-year old self more than Goro. Goro is not only the most memorable boss in ALL Mortal Kombat games, but maybe the most memorable boss in any fighting game, ever. I mean, back then bosses in fighting games where just powered up regular characters without many differences that could freak you out. Not Goro. He was taller, stronger, dealt tons of damage and had, *gasp*, four arms! He would grab you with two of them and then pound your chest to his heart's content. He would stomp you into the ground! Fireballs? Nah, they could not hurt him. Only the miracle of constantly doing jump kicks could get you through this bad boy.
Goro is my hero. Armando gets 40 points 10 for each of Goro's arms.

Todd Vote

I'm afraid my list is gonna look like a carbon copy of some of the ones above.

Honorable Mentions
Bowser: I hated how often the princess was in another castle. Bowser has been around for years, and he always serves as a sufficient foe for the Mario Bros.





5. The Hydra: What can I add that hasn't been said by my colleagues above. This boss set the tone for the whole game. In a game where there are so few actuall boss fights featured, the fact that they are so memorable goes a long ways.

4. MIke Tyson: Never beat him, hit him a couple times though. The man was lightning quick, and by the time you figured out his tell, he was beating you into a bloody pulp. I still hook up my NES to this day in a rare attempt to take down Tyson. It hasn't worked yet.

3. General Raam: General Raam was my first real boss fight of the new generation of gaming. Gears was one of the first games I bought, and I had no idea what to expect. He wasn't a particular bad-ass boss, but he was memorable for me for the reason I mentioned.

2. Shao Kahn: It was said above that Shao Kahn would destroy you and taunt you the whole way. There was something to be said about getting smashed with a hammer, and then being told how pathetic you are for it. His hits always took twice the damage as yours seemed to do to him. Many a Genesis controllers were destroyed in his name.

1. Aries God of War: The Hydra may have set the tone, but this Godzilla like battle with Aries is still one of my favorites of the entire series. The payoff for the entire game, you dethrone the God, and take his place atop Olympus. What could be more rewarding than that?

Alright lets tally the points and see who our winner is this week. Coming in fourth place is our esteemed editor Ramon with 80 points. Armando secures 3rd place with 100 points. James and Mark slugged it out with the God of War love, but Mark has edged him out by a mere 35 points. James takes second with 20,030 while Mark wins with 20,065. Congratulations Mark.

Got a subject you would like to see covered in the top five? No subject is taboo, leave it in the comments. We'll see you guys next week.