After having a discussion with @AkiraSO4 that suddenly had brought our attention to fighting game bosses, the idea came up for a thread all about the topic!
Feel free to discuss anything about bosses in fighting games here!
To start, I'll mention the boss that helped coin the term "SNK Boss Syndrome"-
Doesn't matter which version of him, Rugal from KOF is absurd. Genocide cutter should be considered a war crime - not to mention Omega Rugal in KOF 2002 Unlimited Match being a single-opportunity boss fight; if you lose against him the first go around, no continues will be given to you. It's game over. Absolutely one of the cheapest boss characters around.
My problem with Rugal in 2002UM isn't even him being a one-time attempt, or his damaging moves. It's his ridiculously large health.
I'd mention 94 and 95 but they're kinda similar in design, and the problem it's mostly the cheap AI. But that's the thing, an annoying AI can make the weakest characters pure hell to fight against.
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Now for some mentions!
Gill: Pretty much any version of SF3. BS priority everywhere so his moves will just go over yours, that goes across all the iterations. That alone makes the fight insufferable. And of course, everyone's least favorite super: Ressurection. No wonder he's weak as balls in SFV.
Almost all of SVC Chaos's bosses, honestly (except for Athena): Geese, Demitri, Goenitz, Orochi Iori, Violent Ken, Shin Akuma, Serious Mr. Karate, Red Arremer, you name it. You can't get the good ending if you lose a round until the final boss, and I'd say the title of worst goes to Orochi Iori. Sure, Shin Akuma and Mr. Karate are tough as hell, but at least you can still get the good ending if you lose to them. And Red Arremer is a one time attempt who zones the hell out of everything, but if he's up close, he's history. But Orochi Iori is just a cheating bitch, lol. Reads everything you do, goes through everything, blocks everything, deals more damage than his player version, has more health than his player version, and lose a round to him? Bad ending.
All NGBC bosses: All of them. Mizuchi, Goodman, King Leo, Neo Dio, doesn't matter. All of them. All of them have CPU exclusive moves which are cheap as hell, and quite possibly the worst thing about this game, all the bosses have regenerative health. Just the absolute worst.
Igniz: Specificall his KOF 2001 version where he has infinite supers. The game kinda forces you to pick 3 strikers against him, otherwise you'll die in a blink. Don't forget his SDM that does easy 80% damage, too.
King Leo (Kizuna Encounter): The worst final boss you've probably never heard of. He hits like a truck, dodges a lot of your moves and counters them accordingly, taunts you all fight long, and remember: HE IS THE SUB-BOSS. Jazu is hard, but not as hard as King Leo is.
Magaki (KOF XI): So like, I like fighting him, but he is pretty damn busted, lol. Bullet hell personified. Can SDM you from a grab, has near invisible projectiles, projectiles that come from behind, can teleport, reflect projectiles, and he's kinda tanky. This doesn't ruin KOF XI's awesomeness, however.
Jinpachi Mishima: The final boss that made not play Tekken 5 for over 10 years. Fuck this boss fight. Insta stun attacks, unblockable projectiles that take more than half your health, fake-out projectiles, moves that steal your health, everything knocks down, is it just me or does Tekken really have shitty boss fights? Because Azazel is just Jinpachi with super armor, lol.
My problem with Rugal in 2002UM isn't even him being a one-time attempt, or his damaging moves. It's his ridiculously large health.
I'd mention 94 and 95 but they're kinda similar in design, and the problem it's mostly the cheap AI. But that's the thing, an annoying AI can make the weakest characters pure hell to fight against.
And of course, SNK gave their bosses some of the cheapest AI around. You jump? Genocide cutter, no matter what. Get close? Genocide cutter. I was debating on mentioning KOF94 too, though I've had more experience dealing with 2002UM Omega Rugal. Plus, Rugal is only really difficult for one round of 94, at least. Still an absolute pain to fight, no doubt.
The health was definitely a problem as well - timing out Rugal is not the worst strategy to beat him with just how little damage you deal to his health bar.
Gill: Pretty much any version of SF3. BS priority everywhere so his moves will just go over yours, that goes across all the iterations. That alone makes the fight insufferable. And of course, everyone's least favorite super: Ressurection. No wonder he's weak as balls in SFV.
Gill gives me trouble in 3S when not playing Urien - Aegis mirror is very strong on his wakeup resurection, so he doesn't gain much life back, and loses his meter. Priority is annoying, I'll give ya that
Igniz: Specificall his KOF 2001 version where he has infinite supers. The game kinda forces you to pick 3 strikers against him, otherwise you'll die in a blink. Don't forget his SDM that does easy 80% damage, too.
Yeah, Igniz is a brutal fight in 2001. Debatably worse than Rugal in that instance, though Rugal gets brownie points from me for his sheer notoriety as a royal pain in nearly all games he's in.
Jinpachi Mishima: The final boss that made not play Tekken 5 for over 10 years. Fuck this boss fight. Insta stun attacks, unblockable projectiles that take more than half your health, fake-out projectiles, moves that steal your health, everything knocks down, is it just me or does Tekken really have shitty boss fights? Because Azazel is just Jinpachi with super armor, lol.
Ehhh, most Bison fights aren't so bad. Maybe Alpha 1 where he's kinda fast? I know most people will mention Alpha 3, which is fair, but he's not THAT bad in there. Sure, his Final Psycho Crusher hurts like hell, but as long as you don't whiff stuff around, you can block it most of the time.
My best guess would be his secret fight in EX2 Plus. The one where he becomes Bison 2, you only have one round and he's got infinite meter. But aside from supers at the ready, he doesn't behave too different from the CPU Bison.
Jinpachi Mishima: The final boss that made not play Tekken 5 for over 10 years. Fuck this boss fight. Insta stun attacks, unblockable projectiles that take more than half your health, fake-out projectiles, moves that steal your health, everything knocks down, is it just me or does Tekken really have shitty boss fights? Because Azazel is just Jinpachi with super armor, lol.
I'm a big fan of Bison (Dictator) when I play as him - I've just started playing him more in SF6, even. But playing against him? He's very oppressive in most entries. Great buttons, and scissor kick is strong. As a boss in the games I don't find him too terribly difficult, in my opinion.
Ehhh, most Bison fights aren't so bad. Maybe Alpha 1 where he's kinda fast? I know most people will mention Alpha 3, which is fair, but he's not THAT bad in there. Sure, his Final Psycho Crusher hurts like hell, but as long as you don't whiff stuff around, you can block it most of the time.
I feel like I had a harder time with Fundoshi Heihachi in T4 than I did True Ogre, yeah. Both of those I'd consider to be weaker than Jinpachi, for sure.
Shout outs to Boss I-No from Guilty Gear X2 as well. Took a few attempts to beat her the first time around. Not so bad once you know how to dodge the super, but if you don't, the chip damage is unreal.
Shout outs to Boss I-No from Guilty Gear X2 as well. Took a few attempts to beat her the first time around. Not so bad once you know how to dodge the super, but if you don't, the chip damage is unreal.
I remember having such a bad first impression of this game (or was it Accent Core Plus R? Can't remember), that I didn't even bother playing the arcade mode once I saw what the final boss looked like, lol.
Onto other mentions.
For a more modern example, Kronika from MK11.
It's not so much what she can do, but more what she's immune to. Can't be juggled, can't get thrown, can't get hit by fatal blows, you can't combo her so well, that move she makes where you move in reverse does a crapton of damage, that T-Rex, etc. Corrupted Shinnok in MKX had like ONE cheap move, and that was it. Other than that, he behaved like a regular character, which is a rarity for MK bosses.
Saiki is WEIRD. Like, if you try to fight him like normal, you'll get stomped every time. But if you corner him and sweep him over and over, he's history. Same goes for Dark Ash.
I remember having such a bad first impression of this game (or was it Accent Core Plus R? Can't remember), that I didn't even bother playing the arcade mode once I saw what the final boss looked like, lol.
Don't blame ya. I like AC+R, but don't care for many others in the series. Rev2 felt more restrictive, then Strive pushed the restrictions even further. I was told that my gripes were fixed with Asuka's release back in S2 by a friend of mine, which just was not the case, lmao
Even then, AC+R is the only anime fighter that I've given much time to. Blazblue and others I have played pretty casually.
It's not just you. Tekken has some of my least favorite boss fights around - they lack the notoriety of SNK bosses, and don't have the cool set pieces found for the Street Fighter bosses in my opinion (Secret Laboratory for Seth, SF3 New Gen Gill Stage). Really, the atmosphere of a boss fight is just as important to me as the fight itself, in a way.
honestly i didn't have much trouble with 3s gill, and that's coming from someone who has like 5 hours tops in 3s. i found him more fun than frustrating.
Pretty much the reason I don't mind Shin Akuma and Serious Mr. Karate in SVC Chaos. The Guardian Dogs Temple looks amazing.
There's a lot of cheap Geese Howard fights to choose out there. Fatal Fury 1, Art of Fighting 2, the one in RBS against Nightmare Geese, KOF Neowave, but I'm gonna go with Fatal Fury Wild Ambition. That has to be the hardest Geese fight out there. Plus, the CPU does Deadly Rave cancel combos. That's just humiliating, LMAO.
Samurai Shodown .... the whole game series....
Almost every Boss (except Amakusa in SS1) is an all-countering prophet of virtual fighting mastery or is extremly agressive to the point of impossibility till you randomly beat them (Happens often btw) .
Zankuro Mizakuchi is my blood-pressure death .
Trying to beat this guy is like kicking the wall down , only using with my pinky toe .
How can we have a discussion about Fighting Game bosses and not talk about The General from Kaiser Knuckle?
Possibly the most infamously broken boss in Fighting Game history. A combination of absurdly broken moves and overbearing, button-reading AI make him an absolute nightmare. To quote Atrocious Gameplay Wiki:
In order to even reach the General, you have to get 900,000 points and reach Azteca and defeat him without continues, but due to the game's strong A.I., it can be a real pain to get to him.
Catastrophically overpowered moves that make Gesse Howard or Shao Kahn look balanced in comparison. All of his moves deal really high damage, including his normals and he in "general" hits like a truck.
His ghost projectiles are not only fast, but they absorb yours, making it impossible to even try to zone him out.
He teleports all day and all night, making it sometimes difficult to even land a hit on him with an aerial.
His A.I. is even more ruthless than any opponent in the game; if you try to jump, he'll jump too and knock you down. If you try to sweep, he'll block it and throw you.
He can instantly throw you if he teleports behind you, resulting in high damage and can even result in him trying to attack you.
His entire moveset is safe on block, as he can throw you even if you try to use an attack on him and he blocks it.
His slide kick can hit you up to three times if you block it. Sometimes he might spam it until you finally stop blocking it.
Overall, he's a complete monster in terms of a final boss that wasn't beaten officially until 2009, though it was likely with cheats. He wasn't beaten fairly officially until 2014, clearly showing how much of a nightmare he is.
Overall, he's a complete monster in terms of a final boss that wasn't beaten officially until 2009, though it was likely with cheats. He wasn't beaten fairly officially until 2014, clearly showing how much of a nightmare he is.
And Kaiser Knuckle is from '94! At least 15 years of arcade dominance. In terms of who is the most difficult boss, The General will not be beat in that regard.
Samurai Shodown .... the whole game series....
Almost every Boss (except Amakusa in SS1) is an all-countering prophet of virtual fighting mastery or is extremly agressive to the point of impossibility till you randomly beat them (Happens often btw) .
Zankuro Mizakuchi is my blood-pressure death .
Trying to beat this guy is like kicking the wall down , only using with my pinky toe .
The thing with Samsho is that the bosses can range from either "Eh this is stupid but okay" to "FUCK THIS FRANCHISE".
Amakusa (SS1): This guy is an asshole. Reads you every single time, you can't land a hit on him. Last time I beat him (PS1 version), I just threw him over and over like it was SFV on ranked.
Mizuki (SS2): My favorite boss fight, but that doesn't exactly make it good. I like it because it's the stupidest boss with the stupidest attacks I've ever seen. A projectile that inverts your controls, AND a super THAT COMES BACK BEHIND YOU IF YOU JUMP IT? That's the craziest thing I've ever seen, lol.
Zankuro (SS3): There's lots of things wrong with this battle honestly, and most of them are because of the game itself. It feels so sluggish to play, no matter the version. Not to mention, you have to beat him 3 times, and he can kill you with three swipes.
Amakusa/Zankuro (SSIV): My favorite Samsho game, and the bosses are okay. Not the best but not the worst. Amakusa might be hard but only because he has massive range and plays defensively 90% of the time. Zankuro hits like a goddamn truck in SSIV, vanishing a lifebar in a single hit sometimes. Potential hot take, but they might be the most "fair" bosses in the franchise.
Gaoh (SSV, specifically Vanilla SSV): FUCK THIS GUY, SO MUCH, LOL. He pulls a Rugal where the problems lie if you beat him one round, where whenever he gets full meter, he becomes a armored demon monster and becomes INVULNERABLE TO EVERYTHING, and keeps spamming a dashing attack where if he hits you, it's not only a weapon drop, but massive damage. And it might happen over and over in a single round, so you have no choice but to keep running away.
Makai Gaoh (SSVI): This guy can also eat a bag of dicks, lol. Massive range, the most damaging command grab I think I've ever seen, and a Final Psycho Crusher knockoff super. Also blocks everything and decimates you if you even blink wrong. Sure, busted boss for a busted game, but Makai Gaoh is pretty annoying to fight. At least he doesn't have an invulnerable state, I guess?
Gotta bring up Seth's fight from SF4 again, but this time about the stage theme:
Crumbling laboratory. I love everything about this theme. Seth pulls out all of the stops with the sonic booms, constant teleports, SPDs, and continuous DPs. As the player beats Seth for one round, the theme changes as the laboratory falls into a greater state of disrepair.
In terms of music, crumbling laboratory is everything I want from a boss theme.
Gotta bring up Seth's fight from SF4 again, but this time about the stage theme:
Crumbling laboratory. I love everything about this theme. Seth pulls out all of the stops with the sonic booms, constant teleports, SPDs, and continuous DPs. As the player beats Seth for one round, the theme changes as the laboratory falls into a greater state of disrepair.
In terms of music, crumbling laboratory is everything I want from a boss theme.
Yeah , seth wasnt a pleasant boss . But i didnt had any problems later on when i understood his moves well enough (after getting my ass beaten more than 30 times ).
He has really cheap moments that can ruin everyones day while some Fighters arent suited for this boss entirely because their movesets are why to close-quarters heavy (easy for counters) or arent fast enough to counter seths attacks more easily but maybe because im a scrub with some of those characters in this game .
Yeah , seth wasnt a pleasant boss . But i didnt had any problems later on when i understood his moves well enough (after getting my ass beaten more than 30 times ).
He has really cheap moments that can ruin everyones day while some Fighters arent suited for this boss entirely because their movesets are why to close-quarters heavy (easy for counters) or arent fast enough to counter seths attacks more easily but maybe because im a scrub with some of those characters in this game .
I agree. He's difficult at first, but after a few attempts his patterns are more apparent. I just have a real soft spot for the way the theme of crumbling laboratory was used for the fight moreso than anything else. Not to mention that it brings me back to when I first started really getting into fighting games, around the time of 3S Online Edition, SF4, and MVC3.
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