03-28-2013, 06:30 PM
Alright, back with a few more. (I might just forgo limiting myself to ten, its just too hard to).
Dynamite Headdy (Genesis)
Secret of Mana
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
Dark Souls
Drawing a blank again, that's it for now.
Dynamite Headdy (Genesis)
![[+]](images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
SpoilerDark Demon
![[Image: DynamiteHeaddyJc_006.gif]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v246/Chuthbert/DynamiteHeaddyJc_006.gif)
Dark Demon is, without a doubt, one of the hardest bosses I've ever fought. In a game with limited continues he is the LAST thing you want to be seeing staring you down at the end of the game. He has a large array of devastating attacks (picked randomly by his crystal ball), and you get a semi-random selection of head power-ups spinning around that you have to select. If you don't get a power-up that can help you dodge one of his more powerful attacks, you can pretty much kiss your ass goodbye. His design is amazing too, I love the statues serving as shoulder pads. The psychedelic background also seems like something you only see in SNES Final Fantasy final battles, as well. It works really well here though.
But you know what the crazy part is? The true consciousness of the boss is the smiley face badge around his neck. The whole game is set in motion because the smiley badge believes that he's the greatest puppet in the world, when in actuality he is a BADGE meant for the greatest puppet in the world, and it was all a misunderstanding on his part.
Dark Demon is, without a doubt, one of the hardest bosses I've ever fought. In a game with limited continues he is the LAST thing you want to be seeing staring you down at the end of the game. He has a large array of devastating attacks (picked randomly by his crystal ball), and you get a semi-random selection of head power-ups spinning around that you have to select. If you don't get a power-up that can help you dodge one of his more powerful attacks, you can pretty much kiss your ass goodbye. His design is amazing too, I love the statues serving as shoulder pads. The psychedelic background also seems like something you only see in SNES Final Fantasy final battles, as well. It works really well here though.
But you know what the crazy part is? The true consciousness of the boss is the smiley face badge around his neck. The whole game is set in motion because the smiley badge believes that he's the greatest puppet in the world, when in actuality he is a BADGE meant for the greatest puppet in the world, and it was all a misunderstanding on his part.
Secret of Mana
The Mana Beast
It is INCREDIBLY difficult to choose a favorite boss from a game that's so near and dear to my heart as Secret of Mana, but the Mana Beast stole the show from every other boss the first time I laid eyes on it. I love Flammie's design, and when I found out the final boss was basically a hostile version of Flammie, I nearly shat bricks. Not only that, but its a HARD boss. Considering most of the game bosses can be caught in a loop of spell after spell cast by the player until the player runs out of magic, it was nice to see a boss that really WASN'T effected heavily by magic. Instead, you have to use the sword magic of both the Sprite and the Girl to turn the hero's sword into the Mana Sword. This allowed you to do massive damage to the Mana Beast. However, it was ONLY when he was up close, and ONLY after he performed as many as three screen-covering attacks. The challenge was figuring out ways to avoid his attacks without suffering heavy damage. My initial strategy was to buy as many Barrels as I could. They protected you from one hit, as I recall. I used every single one and almost didn't win.
It is INCREDIBLY difficult to choose a favorite boss from a game that's so near and dear to my heart as Secret of Mana, but the Mana Beast stole the show from every other boss the first time I laid eyes on it. I love Flammie's design, and when I found out the final boss was basically a hostile version of Flammie, I nearly shat bricks. Not only that, but its a HARD boss. Considering most of the game bosses can be caught in a loop of spell after spell cast by the player until the player runs out of magic, it was nice to see a boss that really WASN'T effected heavily by magic. Instead, you have to use the sword magic of both the Sprite and the Girl to turn the hero's sword into the Mana Sword. This allowed you to do massive damage to the Mana Beast. However, it was ONLY when he was up close, and ONLY after he performed as many as three screen-covering attacks. The challenge was figuring out ways to avoid his attacks without suffering heavy damage. My initial strategy was to buy as many Barrels as I could. They protected you from one hit, as I recall. I used every single one and almost didn't win.
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
Saint Germain
![[Image: Pachi_Promo3_23_-_St._Germain.jpg]](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u7BTSpMHwwU/TpnU1Pdlh7I/AAAAAAAAAFc/SCDsoMaR12g/s1600/Pachi_Promo3_23_-_St._Germain.jpg)
![[Image: CoD_OST_Saint_Germain_Gallery.JPG]](http://images.wikia.com/castlevania/images/9/9f/CoD_OST_Saint_Germain_Gallery.JPG)
A probably unexpected boss from an unexpected game. Sure, the 3D Castlevania games get a lot of flack, mostly with good reason, but from a gameplay standpoint I really find this game enjoyable. From the story perspective I feel very differently, but that's not why we're here. Anyway, why Saint Germain over, say, any other boss in this game? On the conceptual level, the boss is, as I said before, unexpected. The character is a strangely dapper gentleman in a top hat who disappears and reappears throughout the game, and like some Castlevania characters before him he is based on a quazi-historical figure (in the sense based on someone who actually existed, utilizing some of the more outlandish legends about them). What makes him interesting to me is his fighting style. He utilizes a saber and a pistol, but in addition to that he can effect the flow of time, slowing things down, speeding things up or stopping them completely. Speeding up time makes roots grow underneath Hector at an accelerated rate and then die moments later. It was an unusually pleasant boss experience I wasn't expecting to have when I first found out I had to fight the guy.
A probably unexpected boss from an unexpected game. Sure, the 3D Castlevania games get a lot of flack, mostly with good reason, but from a gameplay standpoint I really find this game enjoyable. From the story perspective I feel very differently, but that's not why we're here. Anyway, why Saint Germain over, say, any other boss in this game? On the conceptual level, the boss is, as I said before, unexpected. The character is a strangely dapper gentleman in a top hat who disappears and reappears throughout the game, and like some Castlevania characters before him he is based on a quazi-historical figure (in the sense based on someone who actually existed, utilizing some of the more outlandish legends about them). What makes him interesting to me is his fighting style. He utilizes a saber and a pistol, but in addition to that he can effect the flow of time, slowing things down, speeding things up or stopping them completely. Speeding up time makes roots grow underneath Hector at an accelerated rate and then die moments later. It was an unusually pleasant boss experience I wasn't expecting to have when I first found out I had to fight the guy.
Dark Souls
Ornstein and Smough
There has never been a boss that has caused me so much grief EVER in my life. The first time I ever fought these two (not fully understanding the benefit of maintaining human form and not having the ability to play online at the time anyway) I put HOURS in fighting the two of them, innumerable tries going into the HUNDREDS trying to beat them. I spent the better part of a week, reluctant to grind because I felt like the enemies surrounding the area were too hard.
And yet after all that, I have this IMMENSE amount of respect for this boss fight. I don't think any game ever before has had such a difficult dynamic by having two bosses fight the player at once. I mean, I can't think of too many off the top of my head, but I know duo fights exist in plenty of games. I don't think ANYTHING holds a candle to the deadly mixture of Ornstein's speed and ability to close a gap and Smough's raw power and wide range with his hammer. Not only that, the fact the fight continues after one of them dies with the other revived to full health just adds insult to injury. And I love it.
But the Four Kings are bullshit. I have no love for them.
There has never been a boss that has caused me so much grief EVER in my life. The first time I ever fought these two (not fully understanding the benefit of maintaining human form and not having the ability to play online at the time anyway) I put HOURS in fighting the two of them, innumerable tries going into the HUNDREDS trying to beat them. I spent the better part of a week, reluctant to grind because I felt like the enemies surrounding the area were too hard.
And yet after all that, I have this IMMENSE amount of respect for this boss fight. I don't think any game ever before has had such a difficult dynamic by having two bosses fight the player at once. I mean, I can't think of too many off the top of my head, but I know duo fights exist in plenty of games. I don't think ANYTHING holds a candle to the deadly mixture of Ornstein's speed and ability to close a gap and Smough's raw power and wide range with his hammer. Not only that, the fact the fight continues after one of them dies with the other revived to full health just adds insult to injury. And I love it.
But the Four Kings are bullshit. I have no love for them.