Greatest..boss..EVER

[Crop]

Looking at the recent Uncharted thread got me thinking on what you think was the greatest boss battle ever.
Now I'm not talking about who the greatest villain is, but the actual fight (I suppose the character that is the villain DOES have some pull in it though).

I can't think of too many from games I've played in the past, I'll post more if I can, but one for me which was fairly recent was Kessler from inFamous.

My reason for this is that I always play games on Hard mode, and playing through the pretty decent game that is inFamous, I barely saw anything 'hard' about it. When I came up against Kessler I thought it would be easy, but he got the better of me a few times. After a few frustrating losses I got really into the game, both of us jumping around and bashing the crap into each other, it was awsome.

I felt that it really gave you the chance to use a lot of your powers, and gave you a good space to operate in. I also thought Kessler was a pretty good villain.

So, what were your favourite/most memorable boss battles?

[black orb]

>>> The secret boss from my FF1 hack (http://forums.eyesonff.com/final-fantasy/128305-ff1-shopkeepers-quest.html)..:luca:

[Bolivar]

Great point on Kessler, that was an epic bossfight. From the standpoint of a player trying to get the best of him, memorizing his moves and responding to them brought me back to the Mega Man days. inFamous was one of my favorite games from last year, I hope Sony's got that sequel coming sooner rather than later.

The Leviathan from Resistance 2 was pretty astonishing. Seeing it at Sony's E3 was something else and I'm glad I wasn't let down when I actually got to play it. Although from a gameplay perspective the boss at the end of the Twin Falls, Idaho mission might be better. One of my favorite aspects of Resistance 2 is that it's one of the few FPS games I've really seen implement boss fights, and well.

Of course I wouldn't be in these forums if I didn't say:

Gilgamesh!!!

All of the above are pretty great, but for GREATEST boss fight ever:

Metal Gear Solid 3's final, ahem, boss. Probably the intersecting line of how effective a boss fight can be emotionally and from a gameplay standpoint at the same time.

Crying Wolf from MGS4. They took "The End" fight from MGS3, universally considered one of the greatest boss fights of all time. Then they combined it with the alternate "The End" fight where an entire unit of enemies is actively searching for you on a giant map.

And then they put it in the middle of a snowstorm. It's one of the most memorable "moments" I've had as a PS3 owner, and having beat it without being spotted is one of my personal accomplishments in gaming.

The End is a boss fight I have to say by default because of the above. Arguably better than Crying Wolf, and having actually snuck up on The End instead of the other way around is one of my other accomplishments in gaming (although it gets relatively easy once you get the hang of it).

I think as a whole the Metal Gear (Solid) series dominates any reasonable list of best bosses in gaming, and I'm glad MGS4 was no exception.

[Depression Moon]

I have yet to find a truly great boss in a fighting game as of yet, something that lasts a while, feels epic, and very much like a hollywood- action fight scene.

[Vermachtnis]

Utsuho, takes place in the depths of a former hell. Has awesome music. Fights mostly by throwing miniature suns at your face. Also the klaxons start firing and ☢ CAUTION ☢ CAUTION ☢ comes across the screen.

[Jowy]

http://www.mouthpiecesports.com/media/images/contacts/8025/image/teeth-mike-tyson-400a071807.jpg

you can't beat him.

[leader of mortals]

I loved finally beating the Silver Dragon Aphelion in Radiata Stories. He pwned my ass a couple times before I could beat him :)

[I Took the Red Pill]

I would say The End from MGS3. Such a well-crafted battle. Miguel from Chrono Cross was pretty awesome as well. Also Master/Crazy Hand because it's just random as :bou::bou::bou::bou:.

[Shoeberto]

The MGS games really do consistently have the best boss battles. The flying colossi in Shadow of the Colossus were all fairly amazing, too.

I enjoyed most of the boss battles in Twilight Princess, though most don't seem to acknowledge them. They certainly riffed off of Shadow of the Colossus, but I think there was enough of a Zelda twist to keep them particularly interesting. The one that stands out the most to me was the dragon battle with the dual hookshots. I forget the particulars, but I do remember having to grapple between multiple areas to follow him up into the sky. It was very impressive to me.

[Iceglow]

Hmm the final battle in Dragon Age was pretty epic for me I was really looking forwards to it however I feel they should have included more tough darkspawn in the journey through Denerim sure there were plenty of ogres but I wouldn't mind having seen less Grunts in the horde assaulting the city, grunts are fine but they die in a single hit if you train so sure it looks like you're killing a surreal number of enemies however they're 1hit kills I think if they'd increased the numbers even further with the normal darkspawn and added extra grunts in to boot so you're truly, truly killing in epic proportions.

Other great boss fights I remember include General Shepherd on MW2, from the suicide insertion through to the knife throwing ending that was one hell of an epic finale (though I agree it has a lot similar structurally with the ending of CoD 4 in fact I would dare to say it was the same structure of infiltration, chase sequence and then slow-mo finisher and a different formula would have been nice)

The Ace Combat Series has always made me take a deep breath before the final mission because I know to expect something insane what will test my flight skills to the very max. I have yet to be disappointed by their insanity or design. Generally the flying at around 50ft at high speed through a tunnel so tight that the slightest miscalculations results in a game over screen is something reserved for the boss battle in the game the final mission however in Ace Combat 6 they used it I feel too early and too often throughout the game so when the final battle came there was no surprise it would be expected here as well I remember in AC04 I entered the final mission and honestly felt my jaw drop slightly and my eyes widen as they commanded me to do that I thought "hell is that even possible?"

Along similar veins the old Colony Wars games had good final missions too and Front Mission 3 and Vagrant Story :) Hell Vagrant Story had one memorable boss after another really.

[Crop]

Other great boss fights I remember include General Shepherd on MW2, from the suicide insertion through to the knife throwing ending that was one hell of an epic finale

The boat trip got on my nerves a little bit, but I agree that after the helicopter crash, it was pretty intense. Is it true that it doesn't matter where you throw the knife? That seems pretty stupid.

[Iceglow]

Other great boss fights I remember include General Shepherd on MW2, from the suicide insertion through to the knife throwing ending that was one hell of an epic finale

The boat trip got on my nerves a little bit, but I agree that after the helicopter crash, it was pretty intense. Is it true that it doesn't matter where you throw the knife? That seems pretty stupid.

AFAIK you just need to line the knife up on him if you throw it off in to the desert then I believe you fail the mission but if you get a red targetting reticule then you're good to throw. Throwing knives are 1hit kills anyhow so no different from multiplayer

[Pheesh]

I loved the boss fight against Riku in front of the door to darkness, not only because of the level of difficulty (I also loved when kingdom hearts matched you up in a really good 1 vs 1 situation), but because of the cutscenes that transpired just before and after. That cutscene after the fight really stirred up some emotion.

I also have to agree with any and all of the MGS battles listed.

[Moon Rabbits]

http://www.mouthpiecesports.com/media/images/contacts/8025/image/teeth-mike-tyson-400a071807.jpg

you can't beat him.

He can beat his wife, though!

[Necronopticous]

Probably Psycho Mantis or GLaDOS.

[Crop]

GLaDOS.

Really, why's that? Portal is definitely one of my favourite games ever, and GLaDOS was an amazing character, but I wouldn't consider the 'fight' against GLaDOS really a battle. But if you do, it was pretty easy and basic.

@eternal essence - I agree about the Riku fight. I forgot about KH. Both fights, with Riku, and then with Ansem shortly after were amazing imo, they rank up there with Kessler. Partly because (as you said) the cutscenes before and after.

[Alucard von Elru]

Most of the bosses from Twilight Princess, definitely! Particularly the water creature in the Water Temple, the aforementioned dragon in the Sky Temple, and the wicked awesome skeleton thing in the Arbiter's Grounds that you fight on that awesome floating disc (good god the name escapes me!). Twilight Princess is full of epic encounters!

I'll second the notion of the original Kingdom Hearts. I'm of the opinion that the series has gone way down hill since its brilliant debut, and the bosses are a huuuuuuuge part of the reason why. KH1 was a wonderfully challenging action/RPG, and nothing proved it better than its amazing bosses. The encounters with Riku, Malifecent Dragon, Darkside, Sephiroth, the Titans, and the final encounter with Ansem are all spectacular, though it must be said that nearly every fight in the game brings some great moments with it!

Shadow of the Colossus. Kind of obvious.

Every single boss fight and setpiece moment in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

Most of the bosses in Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and the Digital Devil Saga games. It's exceedingly rare for an RPG to have genuinely involving boss fights, but these games succeed with style, creativity, challenge, and balance.

That's all I can think of for now! :P

[McLovin']

The final boss in Dragon Age was definitely a fun ass fight.

[NeoCracker]

I was actually severly let down by the final fight in Dragon Age.

I wasn't anything special, it was you versus a Dragon. I was hoping for something a bit more spectacular then just another Dragon. Felt just like flemmeth with a bunch of goons.

[Del Murder]

I agree with many of the battles posted, like MGS and Twilight Princess.

From the FF series I would nominate the FFVI final battle, FFVII's Ruby and Emerald Weapon, FFX's Nemesis.

FFXI has it's share of intense battles. Some of the most intense I faced were against Alexander in the Treasures of Aht Urhgan finale, and the airship fight against Omega and Ultima in the Chains of Promathia storyline. That airship battle is widely considered the hardest mission in the entire game due to the 60 level cap and the 45 minute time limit given to win 3 different battles.

[Necronopticous]

GLaDOS.
Really, why's that? Portal is definitely one of my favourite games ever, and GLaDOS was an amazing character, but I wouldn't consider the 'fight' against GLaDOS really a battle. But if you do, it was pretty easy and basic.
Its simplicity is part of what makes it so great. It is designed to allow you to figure it out and win on your first try--having to redo this sequence would severely detract from the experience. The atmosphere, the context, the tension, the humor, and the feeling of sheer triumph when it's all over...It's hard to imagine a greater "boss battle."