The Helicopter Boss: Pros and Cons
It has occured to me as well as a friend of mine, also an avid gamer, that the helicopter boss seems to appear everywhere. Three games have come to mind in particular, and I'd like to weigh the pros and cons in each scenario and see who agrees.
Scenario 1: Shinobi (for the PS2)
I had rather enjoyed the hack-n-slash style of shinobi up until the point of the helicopter boss. It was mid-way through the battle that I realized: I was surrounded by 6 or 7 chunin warriors, had one health point left, was out of flame scrolls, and had still only taken down one fourth of the boss's hp. Needless to say I was screwed. I had become rather agitated upon discovering that I could only strike at the boss while jumping underneath it, getting one hit in each time. The battle would NEVER end; albiet the game over came rather quickly. My friend tried. Still no luck, even with a direct hit with the fire-scroll. So why the boss? Why the unneccicary addition? Why can't I fight another ninja here instead of a helicopter? You tell me.
Scenario 2: Viewtiful Joe (for the Gamecube)
Personally, I hadn't played it. My friend had once again tried to beat it. And still this boss would hit us with his angry red blades and kill our health, despite the use of hamburgers and hotdogs and the incessant reoccurance of the "yummy" sound clip. It seemed like every time we would get a break, the boss would fire a barrage of bullets at the most inconvenient time when I couldn't move due to the over-spawning of the psycho-white-zombies who, to my knowledge, looked like robotic gimps. And not even the helpful kind, like in Killer7. Just the annoying ones. Oh Iwazaru, how I miss thee. Sure, the slow-mo helped, but the fact is that the boss pulled cheap-shots until my friend slammed the controller down, nearly breaking it. It's like it was toying with us, saying "here you go, you can defeat me.. JUST KIDDING, tool." For a first boss in the game, it was rather difficult. Why is this neccecary? I want to fight an evil villain with a cape, not a friggin helicopter. Neccecary? You tell me.
Scenario 3: Devil May Cry 2 (for the PS2)
For those of you daring enough to play this crap-load of a game, you know this boss. He's at the top of a small sky-scraper. So here's the deal: Big helicopter that's offscreen 99% of the fight, flying just high enough to evade your sword, two guns full of unlimited ammo, zero space to maneuver, and a boss with defense shields high enough to match that of any ship from any sci-fi series. Ever. This battle isn't hard, rather, boring. I spent a good 30 minutes firing bullets at an object I couldn't see. Sure, it would shoot missiles, but you just dodge them with with a flip. This boss is by far the most unnessecary one in gaming history. I played Devil May Cry to fight demons, not American Military Vehicles. I dont know what part of that you don't get, capcom. A good idea? You tell me.
Pros:
The boss is an easy concept.
You don't have to think of any "out there" moves for it to use".
It's easy to create for a game-designer. Not a hard-to-find model.
It annoys the crap out of gamers, and they call their friends to come over and beat it, and they all order pizza from Dominos, and Dominos sends Capcom checks for cash for netting them business.
Cons:
They suck. They aren't original, they're ususally out of context, and seldom fun to fight. How many helicopters have you actually fought in a MILITARY-THEMED game? 0 that I can recall.
They're a waste of time.
They are either way to easy, or way to hard.
They don't get you involved. Helicopters can't drop one-liners that actually add emotion to gameplay. (if you're into that kinda thing)
They pull cheap-shots.
Lastly, they're helicopters. I mean come on, at least send me something cool like a tank or a figher-jet. Hell, send me the fighter-PILOT for all I care.
So in conclusion, why are helicopters in games? Where did they come from? Why are they still here?
So seriously, does anybody else feel this way? Any good stories? I'm beggin'- throw me a bone here. Am I alone in this?
