Heading into the next generation of gaming, the team at Press-Start are going to take a moment and reflect on some of the greats of gaming past. This time around each team member has a short piece on their most memorable boss battle. Everyone remembers a boss battle in particular it could be because it was extremely difficult, a perfect end to an intense story or even something else. Here are ours.
Kevin – Alma – Ninja Gaiden
From an already impossibly tough game, Alma represented everything right with a boss battle. Incredibly unforgiving, you were required to utilize all your combos and skills learned throughout the game thus far in order to defeat her. Alma goes down notoriety as one of gaming’s most difficult boss fights, and there’s no question why. The sheer satisfaction at beating her for the first time matches no other game.
John – Queen Gohma – Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
It’s the first boss fight to Ocarina of Time, so of course it isn’t difficult or complex but it does everything a boss fight should do. Everything you learned going through the dungeon, using deku seeds to stun enemies, using the slingshot to hit eyeballs, all come into play when defeating the boss. Sure, Legend of Zelda isn’t the only series to use this formula, but it is by far the master of it. Not to mention Gohma is just the first step in a long adventure that I will never forget.
Diego – Rypto – Spyro 2
I think I was about 8 or 9 at the time, it had taken me quite a few weeks to get there, and the journey was a tough but a memorable one. There I was, finally facing the tyrant Rypto. That final battle was really emotional for me as a kid; all your friends that you have met along the way are there to support you in some way and even Hunter takes a major role in providing you with backup for the battle, handing you orbs with power ups that dish out real damage against the mighty foe. The battle was something I had never seen before, to my childish eyes, it was a battle of absolutely epic proportions, especially in the last part when Rypto and Spyro both take flight for a final dogfight in the sky as the whole ground is flooded by lava. His defeat is very shocking, first, being beaten by you from the sky and then as he falls into the lava. A truly spectacular ending to a great game.
Joshua – RAAM – Gears of War
Ever since you see him kill Lt.Minh Young Kim in battle, I waited till I got to take my shot at him. The fight on the train was so intense and got the best of me a few times before I eventually got the upper hand. He’s a worthy opponent and the boss battle itself is just a great one all round. His shroud of Kryll and the multiple Reavers he summons to hinder you all just add to how intense the battle is. He’s one of the few bosses I’ve ever felt accomplished with beating.
Tyla – Illidian – World of Warcraft
My favourite boss fight would have to be Illidan from World of Warcraft’s burning crusade expansion. The entire encounter was chaos, every phase was punishing and it had such a steep learning curve. I remember the day my guild got our first kill, it took us months to finally get him, and he also screamed the best taunts at you mid fight.
Jake – Zeus – God of War 3
The final battle with the God of Olympus, it had been leading up this fight since the beginning of God of War 2. You got the best of him there but he managed to slip Kratos grasp, this time around there was no escape. This battle took more than just brute strength to best the God of Thunder, it took the power of Kratos to forgive himself for his past sins to gain the upper hand and put an end to Zeus in a gory-bloody fashion that eclipsed any other brutal death scene in the series so far.
There you go each team member’s most memorable boss battles. We would love to hear in the comments below what your most loved or hated boss battles are. Stay tuned as we bring you more highlights of gamings past leading into the future of gaming.
