The boss will see you now
The boss will see you now
Trials and tribulations
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Continued…
But where do we go from here? Platinum’s Bayonetta has promised just how insane we can expect bosses to become in the near future if we keep buying their titles (Temperantia, anyone?), and From Software’s Demon’s Souls successfully filled the trousers of many a gamer following its release earlier this year. But how much more can we realistically expect our bosses to develop, following Lords of Shadow’s Titans and the Cronos battle in God of War 3, for example?
If sheer size is a reflection of what we can expect, these scenes are exemplary and are spectacular battles in their own right, but games like Halo Reach have shown a title can be just as exciting and involving without a single end of level guardian. Some would argue boss battles ruin the seamless experience a game should provide, and that our move into more narrative driven games such as Heavy Rain will render the concept obsolete. The popularity of Live, motion control and peripheral gaming is moving us away from a world where bosses are relevant; where they were relied upon to define the structure of a game.
In spite of all this, I’d ask you to hark back to the scenario described at the beginning of this article, and imagine a game world without bosses. I’d ask you to remember that feeling of despair when plunged into an inescapable, gladiatorial arena, in which there can only be one winner. I’d ask you to remember the sight of the continue screen, the Halloween techno music still ringing in your ears, the self promises to do better next time.
Top 5
These memories in mind, I’d like to take you through my top 5 most spectacular, most finger aching, gut wrenching, jaw dropping boss battles of all time; a reminder that if we must adapt to a world without bosses, the towering holes in our culture they would leave behind.
Temperantia (Bayonetta, 2010)
This fight with an industrialised tentacle flinging statue from Bayonetta combines the epic might of Shadow of the Colossus with the silky smooth sexiness of Sonic Adventure, with a dash of insanity, chaos and biblical levels of destruction. There is brilliance in bonkers.
Axel’s Replica (Rocket Knight Adventures, 1993)
Having made your way through a truly testing stage of timing and dexterity, Sparkster runs into Axel Gear, who proceeds to stomp through the stage in a 20-foot robot; the player never less than inches away from metal. Survive, and your own robot awaits you; the odds evened in a genre bending rendition of Street Fighter.
Psycho Mantis (Metal Gear Solid, 1998)
Hideo Kojima plays with convention in this unforgettable encounter, taking the fourth wall and moulding into play-dough models of his own choosing. “Put your controller on the floor….put it down as flat as you can…”
Demon Elvis (God Hand, 2007)
An exercise in cheesy cut scene insult exchanges, as well as the almost perfect requirements of skill, timing and downright perseverance, Demon Elvis has taken my life on almost one hundred separate occasions.
Bowser (Super Mario World, 1990)
It wouldn’t be a list of boss battles without Bowser, and this fight is a particular favourite of mine. I remember it being the first time I’d ever seen a boss character FILL the screen, but it was the combination of lighting and that eerie clown vehicle that made Bowser’s demise on Super Mario World simply unforgettable.
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