Andross - StarFox (SNES)
Polygons. You remember when those things were all the rage? In the 16-bit days you could count the number of polygons a character had on one hand, but it was still wow worthy, none-the-less. Those now archaic polygons made for some impressive-looking bosses with the final baddie, Andross being among them.
Just before the climatic confrontation, Andross tries the old break them by talking technique as our furry hero flies through one final, narrow obstacle laden hallway, spouting the typical "you cannot defeat me" villian speech before Fox reaches his chambers. Thankfully, it's brief. When you arrive, you see this huge, white face. This can be a bit off putting since you clearly saw a talking monkey on your way here. Regardless, that big mug is Andross and he starts off by shooting some rectangles at you. These can easily be dodge, but he likes to recycle his ammo by inhaling it and if possible, you along with it. If you get sucked up, any fire power upgrades you have will be lost and it's possible to lose a wing or two in the process. Should you find yourself on the verge of getting sucked in, use the boost. The eyes are the weak point and once both take enough damage, a cube is revealed to be Andross' true form. If you have any bombs on hand, now is the time to chuck those sucker while the cube is exposed. You want to deal as much damage to the cube as possible before it's facial shell reforms and you have to take out the eyes again. Depending on which path you took to reach Andross will determine the difficulty of the fight. On Hard mode, Andross' facial shield take the form of a bull over time.
WarMech - Final Fantasy (NES, PS, PSP)
Before Omega, Ruby and Emerald Weapon, there was WarMech, what could be considered the first super boss of the Final Fantasy series. Before fighting Tiamat, the final of the Four Fiends, you must cross a long narrow bridge to get to him. This is the only place in the entire game that you can encounter WarMech and even then, you only have a 1/64 chance. In the NES version of FF, he's the strongest foe in the game. There are tougher enemies in the remakes and enhanced ports, but make no mistake, WarMech is not an opponent to be trifled with no matter which version of FF you happen to be playing.
I believe I've made it clear that WarMech is one tough customer and this is compounded further by the fact that he almost always gets the preemptive strike on you. His physical attacks hit hard and his specialty, Nuke, hits the whole party for massive damage. If you're lucky, only two of your party members will be dead from that attack but if you ran into this guy with low HP, you're probably looking at a game over. You need at least one person designated to healing the party with every turn so if you have a White Mage, this shouldn't be too difficult as long as they're kept alive. You should also cast Haste. Anyone not dishing out spells need to hit WarMech with everything they've got because once it starts attacking, it does not let up. You need to kill WarMech before it kills you. You can be high in levels and still get your anus handed to you by this things.
The Boss - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2, 3DS)
In a game that's all about camouflage, the attire that the boss chooses to wear, white, makes her seem like a very shootable target. You'd think she was a big fan of Snow Job. But the area of the last throw down is set in a field of white flowers. All of a sudden her choice of clothing doesn't seem so dumb.
The Boss was Snake's mentor. She taught him everything he knows and together, they developed CQC, Close Quarters Combat. Each time he's encountered her during his mission, he's never had it in him to take her on due to his emotional attachment to her. This time, however, he has to fight her. Fight her and defeat her in 10 minutes. If The Boss is still breathing by then, a pair of MiGs are prepared to blow the place sky high and everyone in the area makes the news.
Being the one who raised Snake, The Boss is unquestionably a formidable opponent. And her choice of camo can make spotting her difficult if you're aren't using an equipment, but it can still be done. Her weapon of choice is her Patriot gun and CQC and if she gets off any CQC on you, you can look forward to losing some of your gear. If you're CQC is pretty good, it's entirely possible to take out the boss with nothing but that, but if you don't have a lot of faith in your CQC, well, there's no harm in shooting her or trying to blow her up. All is fair on the battlefield, after all.
Metal Sonic - Sonic CD (SCD)
The second in the line of robotic Sonic knock-offs, Metal Sonic is the cream of the crop. Making his debut in Sonic CD, his first order of business is kidnapping Amy Rose. I'm a bit surprised it took them this long to get a damsel in distress in the Sonic series. Rather fan fight Metal Sonic in a head to head battle, Sonic is pitted against Dr. Robotnik's creation in a bid to beat the hedgehog at his own game: speed.
Boss fights in Sonic CD are mostly a joke, but the race against Metal Sonic is certainly one of the better conflicts. Overtaking Metal Sonic isn't the toughest thing to do by any means but whenever you do get ahead of him, he'll catch up to you and emit an electrical attack. It's best to just jump over him and let him get ahead for a bit whenever he does this. But you still want to stay ahead because Dr. Eggman follows behind you the whole way with a laser beam that will kill you instantly upon contact even if you are carrying rings. Failure to beat Metal Sonic means getting fried by egghead's laser. Win and Metal Sonic will turn into spare parts and Amy Rose will be freed. I'm not sure if that last one can be considered a win.
Sigma 2nd - Mega Man X4 (PS, SAT)
After taking down Sigma's first form, you drop down a floor for the final showdown. Sigma 2nd is composed of two forms each with their own seperate life bar and Sigma can switch back and forth between each body. One form is a deranged Sigma head that attacks with gusts of wind that attempt to push you into a wall of instant death spikes. You can easily dash against the wind gusts and get in close to attack the Sigma head but blue, red and yellow heads are also scattered about the area and each have their own attacks. The red mask is the most lethal since it comes equipped with spikes and we all know how dangerous those are by now. When Sigma switches over to his second body, composed of a torso with a long gun, you'll need to jump on top of the heads to shoot the second body in the face. When you hear Sigma say "The End" he's going to fire off a floor sweeping laser blast that you do not want to get hit by.
This probably all sounds really nerve wrecking for a first time player and it is, but once you get things down, this final bout is quite easy, but that doesn't take anything away from this being one of the most creative boss fights in the X series and the Mega Man games as a whole. That metal track that plays during the battle is sick on so many levels.
Part I
Part II
Part III
1 comment:
The Boss was the only final battle in the series that was cool.
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