Another day, another edition of Favorite Tunes and this time it's boss themes. I could easily go beyond the usual 10 for something like this, but since I already did that for Favorite Tunes #50, I'll just stick with the usual number. Enjoy!
Sonic meets Chaos at the very start of his quest. As Sonic and Tails collect Chaos Emeralds, Dr. Robotnik, thanks to the duo's cut scene incompetence, acquires all of the hero's emeralds and feeds them to Chaos. With each Chaos Emerald gets, Chaos grows stronger. Chaos ver. 6, at this point has 6 Chaos Emeralds and you'd think the fight with the creature would be incredibly tough but in truth, he shatters like glass. Even so, the boss theme for this fight is one of the sickest boss beats in a Sonic game. Do I hear some Mission Impossible in this theme?
Some players encountered their first SNK Boss in an SNK game. For me, it was Street Fighter II. I can't count how many loses this guy handed me. He wasn't the boss of the Street Fighter IV series but he did make a return and thanks to voice of Gerald C. Rivers, he seems more intimidating than ever.
Before there was Square Enix there was just Square and Enix. 1998 saw a large number of releases from Square, and many of those games weren't Final Fantasy titles. Einhänder is a fondly remembered shooter from the PS era that allowed the player to choose which type of ship or different Einhänder models they wish to pilot. The 2.5D gameplay and visuals made for some pretty impressive stuff as did the soundtrack. The voice samples in Shudder actually contains an F-bomb but the raping is done so fast that not everyone picks up on it in the first listen. That and I image most players are trying to stay alive since this game has some pretty ruthless bosses.
K.O.! The Strongest Foe - Bangai-O (DC)
Bangai-O was first released on the N64 but had a limited print run of only 10,000 copies. Not only that, the N64 version was only released in Japan, which makes it one of the toughest N64 carts to obtain. The Dreamcast version saw a worldwide release, making it the best option to play the original Bangai-O. Being a game developed by Treasure, it has that unique charm and innovation that are associated with nearly all of it's games. It can also get pretty difficult as I got stuck after passing only the first few levels. Regardless of the steep challenge, it's a fantastic mech shooter with a memorable number of upbeat themes. K.O.! The Stongtest Foe is the final boss tune so it's naturally more serious than other tracks.
Burn Yourself - Dodonpachi DAI-OU-JOU (ARC, PS2, 360)
Yet another shooter by Cave with a score by Manabu Namiki and a game that I've never played. This is the fourth game in the DonPachi series and I'd considered importing the PS2 version but I've never been able to find a copy. Namiki sans composes incredible music and I absolutely love his titles for boss tracks. Seriously, you can't anymore menacing than a name like Burn Yourself.
Moskito - Rayman (JAG, PS, SAT, PC)
I was rather surprised to discover that Rayman Origins, one of the best platformers in the current generation of gaming had heavy dose of Nintendo Hard. If the game ketp track of all the lives lost, I can imagine my death toll would be insanely high. The original Rayman was no walk down the street and is by far the tougher game. But even intermediate level players should be able to make it to Moskito and hear his rocking theme.
Battle with the Boss - Kirby Super Star (SNES, DS)
My second favorite Kirby game, Kirby Super Star's eight mini games offer so much to do that's almost not fair to call them mini games. Collecting all the treasures in The Great Cave Offensive can take hours and as can finding all the Copy Abilties in Milky Way Wishes. I've never completed this game 100% though I've come awfully close.
Femmes Fatales - Parasite Eve (PS)
Opera in your boss battles? Eh, sure, why not? Although if you went to the opera and the entire audience around your burst into flames, you might be scared off from ever going to an opera for the rest of the life. But Aya Bre doesn't let this faze her (too much) In fact, after everything she's been through in the game, she's seen at the opera during the game's finale.
Dr. Wily Stage Boss - Mega Man 7 (SNES)
"The sprites are too big! The music isn't as good as the 8-bit games!" Meh, to all of that noise. I still love Mega Man 7. We got Bass, Treble, a memorable (if not controversial) ending and in my humble opinion, a great set of tunes. I still say this is one of the better Wily Stag Boss themes. Come on, Capcom, how about a Virtual Console release?
Andross - Star Fox (SNES)
After a short (but very dangerous) trek through the Lylat System, you come Arwing to face with Andross. Yes, the big bad threatening the galaxy with a genius intellect is a primape. Said monkey tries to inhale you and shoots polygonal rectangles your way. It's quite the gripping fight and one that still makes me sweat even today.
Favorite Tunes Database
