Top 100 FAVORITE Video Games: “Meet the New Boss”

If you are going to kill anything in a game, it likely has boss battles to make it more difficult, and to help break up the monotony of bashing the same henchman’s head in over and over for hours on end. Video games have boss fights for two reasons, mostly: to help tell story through exposition or to be a huge challenge. Some of the best parts of any game are its boss battles, leaving the player relieved when they are over. For this list, I’ve compiled the 10 most memorable boss fights in my life, but also those that provided the most challenge or entertainment value. Also, you know, the coolest ones…

Top 10 Boss Fights in Video Games:

10: Volvagia  (Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)
After spending all that time looking for the Megaton Hammer and not burning alive, watching this giant worm leak out of its lava-holes is a sight. Volvagia is awesome to watch as it flies through the air, a totally different looking boss than those seen prior in the game. This boss fight earns points for being beautiful to suffer.

9: All of Organization XIII (Kingdom Hearts: CoM and Kingdom Hearts 2)
I understand that this is fairly cheap, its true. But not one boss on their own (with the possible exception of Zexion in Re: CoM) is good enough for this list. But when you put them all together, their individual traits and abilities make them stand out as exemplary boss battles. On the GBA or PS2, the Castle Oblivion crew has Vexen’s icy attacks and Larxenes lightning fast reflexes, and in KH2 you have the epic final showdown with Xemnas, for starts, and the odd-ball fights between a sitar player and a gambler. The variety is really what sets these fights apart.

8: Hyrda (God of War)
The biggest shame of an otherwise (mostly) flawless franchise is that the best boss battle in any of the games is the very first one. Starting off strong, Kratos has to tackle the three heads of the massive Hyrda. Its action commands and fast button pressing, as well as some mash hack-and-slash here and there, too. But the rain falling down and the sea in torment around you makes it twice as epic.

7: Del Lago (Resident Evil 4)
RE4 has some epic boss battles throughout the game, but none better than its aquatic monster in the lake. Its just you and some hand-tossed harpoons against this huge beast, with the only thing keeping you from being fish food is a rickety old wooden boat beneath your feet. Its tense and heart-pounding, resulting in just-missed tosses and game overs from time to time. But sinking the bastard in his own lake feels awesome when its all said and done.

6: Kefka (Final Fantasy VI)
Thanks largely in part to the epic, prog-rock “Dancing Mad” that plays behind it the whole time, FF6’s final toe-to-to…giant flying angel with Kefka is pure awesome. Its a hard fought battle with the man that has destroyed the world. There’s less a feeling of urgency with overthrowing this mad fool and more a sense of justice for the crime he has already managed to commit. Each of his parts is more challenging than the last, with his final form taking place high in the sky. Even FF7’s epic three-part Sephiroth battle had nothing on this.

5 :William Birkin in all his forms (Resident Evil 2)
As a huge fan of the RE franchise – with 2 being my favor… oops, List spoiler alert! – the number of times you do battle with the non-evil Birkin is staggering, each one being just a bit more tragic. The man wants revenge for basically being lied to, robbed, cheated, and then shot down – all by the company he worked for. He’s just out for blood. The player’s blood. The final confrontation with him (in the second play through of the game) in which he assaults the train you’re escaping Raccoon City on is quick, urgent, and fun. Also: terrifying.

4: Phalanx (Shadow of the Colussus)
In a game that is all boss battles, every time you fight one of these giant stone monsters is exciting and interesting. But the way epic battle against the flying sand monster near the end-ish point of the game takes the cake. The only way to get on is to ride your horse as fast as possible beside the flying beast, stand on its back, then jump on and hope to dear god your reflexes are fast enough to grab a hold of something. Then its a slow crawl to the things head for a quick game of “Stab-Stab” until you bring the monster down. The simplicity of the game helps a ton, too, to make this boss battle awe-inspiring to play, but even more interesting to watch.

3: Mother Brain (Super Metroid)
Of course the queen bitch of the universe is on this list. Just when you thought you’d tackled the same boss as you did from the first Metroid game, things take a shocking turn as the “helpless” brain grows a giant body and is now fucking you up royally. If not for the heartfelt intervention of the baby Metroid (GIANT baby Metroid, I might add) you’d have died. Of course, the spoilers I could divulge are widely known at this time, but the results of the battle tug at heartstrings and make you glad you dusted that creepy old Mother Brain for good (…?)

2: The Boss (Metal Gear Solid 3)
The most gorgeous boss battle in the history of boss battles, Snake’s fight with The Boss at the end of the game is the culmination of all the skills you have developed since the start of the game. The CQC, the camo tactics, the stealth skills… it all comes to a head in a beautiful field of white flowers. The fact that you only have ten minutes to take her out before a bombing run adds to the danger, too… but its the game’s highest point and, I feel, the best battle in the whole franchise.

1: Nightmare (Kirby’s Adventure)
Both parts of this battle – Kirby’s showdown while falling down against the Nightmare’s orb form AND the starry final throwdown in space – are epic and the music is fantastic, with each stage of the boss battle having either thumping bass lines or catchy hooks to keep the player’s tension mounted. But its also paired with the fact that you thought the real enemy was King Dedede the whole time that earns this extra points; turns out he was on your side the whole time. As a kid, this battle is instantly one of my favorites, but the fact is that – at any point in my life – I can play this game in its entirety and find myself having a blast doing battle with the Nightmare at the end. For that fact alone, its my favorite boss battle, ever.

Honorable Mention: Mary Sunderland (Silent Hill 2)
Talk about a haunting experience! Silent Hill games don’t have the best boss fights. Usually you just run, shoot, run, shoot, repeat. But the final boss of SH2 is the protagonist’s own wife in demon form, but is not possessed. Its her, just with demon powers. And she wants revenge against her husband. I won’t spoil the reasons or anything like that (since you should just play the damn game), but its just one of those “…fuck, jesus, fuck” moments from the series that really takes the cake, in my opinion.

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SOUND OFF!What are YOUR favorite boss battles?!

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Added March 29, 2017
This is a great list, though #4 should have been higher. These days Mary wouldn’t make the cut, but that’s after so many years of epic battles against so many more fantastic bosses. Undertale would absolutely be featured.