13 best Boss battles of all time

Disclaimer: This particular article is about the epic showdowns in the best of the video-games. If you are here to read about the cat-fight between Karishma Tanna and Sonali Raut in Big Boss 8, you are in the wrong list, buddy!!!The best part of any game is that epic showdown with the game’s main villain or villains that makes your entire journey through the game worthwhile. It should never be easy, should actually be frustrating as hell, make you attempt the level more than twice and once you defeat the boss, you should be so damn happy that you are willing to throw a party for your friends!!! Only if that happens will the game reach its apex in customer satisfaction. So this time, I am taking you down through the 13 best gaming boss fights that you would die to win. (I could really play a pun on that last phrase!!!)

#13 Tyrant (Resident Evil)

With a name like that, you are a cinch to find yourself in any list featuring baddies. Tyrant is a biological weapon that has been created by the game’s main antagonist. What works in your favor in a battle with him: He is kind of slow and sluggish. What doesn’t: He has a dangerous claw. He appears two times in the game – first time, you can escape from him because of his sluggish pace. The second time, however, he is dangerously fast, and it takes all your ammo plus a rocket launcher to stop this menace. Ok, Resident Evil, what name will you go for next? Osama?

#12 Red Falcon (Contra)

Since Contra is one of my all-time favorite games (the one that made me the coolest guy in the neighborhood, before one punk destroyed my console by accident…Sob!), I have to include the final boss-fight here. Red Falcon (I had no idea that was the name of the alien until I read about it in Wikipedia…) is an alien that had been controlling the enemy forces in the island that you are saving. It is actually a humongous mass of flesh that spews weird creatures at you. You meet this thing in the eight stage, and to be fair, the ride till you reach the thing is easy. Once you face it, it really frustrates you by throwing his ‘children’ down your throat. It’s easier to defeat it if you are playing with your friend, but as a single-player it took me twenty attempts! Or, Maybe I was a lousy player…hmmm….

#11 M. Bison (Street Fighter II)

Street Fighter II (No…No…not the movie…can someone make me forget that monstrosity, please?) is the game that put the series on the popularity charts. The one-on-one fighting game has since then enthralled a lot of game lovers who loves a brutal fist-fight. And M. Bison is the strongest opponent you can face in a physical fight ever (Sorry Balrog, just because you look like Mike Tyson, you ain’t him!). Bison is the game’s main antagonist and his Psycho Crusher attack is very difficult to escape. The key to defeat him is lots of patience – You have to be Rahul Dravid, that is, be defensive and dodge his attacks and let him tire, before you go for the kill. If you do so, you will never be more pleased for winning the best fight of your life. A word of caution: Don’t go and confront your local bully with your newly gained confidence. The makers of this game are not responsible for any of your damaged bones!

#10 Pyramid Head (Silent Hill 2)

Any villain that has a name like Pyramid Head has to be here in this list. Don’t go by the name or the look. This is one of the most macabre villains ever to appear in any game or media. Pyramid Head first appears in Silent Hill 2, the revolutionary psychological horror game (I am still scared that I would wet my pants, remembering its first appearance…Nope, I didn’t say that!). It was supposedly a manifestation of the protagonist’s guilt, and has a fondness of sexually violating other monsters. Yup, that’s one sick dude!!! Throughout the game, you can do nothing to him, other than doing your best not to let him kill you. In the final stage of the game, you have to fight with not one but two Pyramid Heads. You can do a lot of damage to them (provided they don’t kill you on the onset…), but you still cannot kill them. They like to get themselves killed by spearing themselves for fun. So here you have a boss fight where Boss actually shows you that you are not even worthy enough to kill him, and let himself do the deed. Talk about confidence booster!

#9 Nihilanth (Half-Life)

Half-Life is a tremendously exciting game, which you can still enjoy playing even when the game is almost two decades old by now. The best part of the game is the exciting boss-fight with Nihilanth, the baap of all the monsters this game has thrown on your face. What’s so dangerous about a fight with him? He can throw fire-balls at you, whose mere touch can kill you instantly. Your only way to kill him is to get inside his head and destroy his brains. Girls, this round is for you!!!

#8 The Riftworm (Gears of War 2)

This creature is the definition of a legendary monster. It can destroy cities with consummate ease, and has a terrible craving for human flesh. The only way to kill it is to get inside the worm (yuck!), down its disgusting wind-pipe (double yuck!) and destroy its heart (yuck, yuck, yuck!). The worst part is, the damned thing has three hearts!!! No wonder it can eat human flesh so easily without the fear of cholesterol!

#7 Zeus (God of War 3)

In Greek mythology, Zeus is the God of Gods. With that little nugget of knowledge, you are wise enough to know this one bad-ass dude that you shouldn’t lock horns with. But God of War 3 makes him the main antagonist leaving you with no option but to face him in the epic showdown of all battles in the series that you have faced (Never worry, since Kraatos, the hero, is a bad-ass punk himself!). You have to attack and attack and attack in one of the longest drawn battles ever, where your opponent could teleport, psychologically manipulate you and even strike you with lightning charges!!! The music score is effing brilliant, though!!!

#6 Safer Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)

This is the second one in the boss-fights and the most difficult one as well. If you don’t win this one, all what you have achieved till now in this visually-appealing game will be lost. The most irritating factor about this fight is the 2-minute cut scene that appears whenever the monster hits at you. You just have to slug it out and give your all to make this win. Don’t worry, the next boss-fight is too easy. But the bones will still be aching…

#5 Alma (Ninja Gaiden)

Ninja Gaiden is one the most difficult games to win, and Alma, one of the villains in this one, doesnt make things any easier. She is a sweet woman-turned-pink demon (Khoon Bhari Maang, anyone?), whose…err…costume itself is distracting enough. And yup, she is too skilled to be defeated easily, and is very nimble on her feet. You need to be very skilled to get through her, and it may require countless deaths to even learn how to do so. And yes, the costume is still distracting….

#4 Ornstein and Smough (Dark Souls)

I had mentioned them in my previous list (see here https://www.sportskeeda.com/slideshow/10-most-difficult-video-game-levels), but they really deserve a place here. Ornstein is a Dragonslayer. He is very quick and is related to Thor, i.e. has lightning powers. On the other hand, Smough is gigantic, harnesses Hulk’s spirit and wields a mean hammer. One of them is enough to give you goose-bumps. But since ‘Life is not a box full of chocolates’ (Sorry Forrest Gump, your mama obviously hadn’t played this stage!), you have to face both of them in a single fight. If you defeat one, the other will absorb his fallen comrade’s powers and will come after you. Still, always go for Ornstein first…it might give you a sliver of a chance at survival!

#3 Mike Tyson (Mike Tysons Punch-Out)

Another one that makes it here from my previous list (sorry…just cant help it!). Mike Tyson has to be here, ‘cos it takes real dedication and many damaged game-pads to actually defeat this hulk of a man, who is faster, stronger, more unpredictable and above all, towering over you. Seriously, how can this even be a fair fight when your avatar can’t even reach his knees? You just have to deliver occasional punches to his weak spots, without getting KOed yourself, if you have to win the bout. I think I will better fight with my sister…nope…she has a vicious kick!!!

#2 The End (Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater)

Yes, there is very less physical fight here…there is no great showdown. All you have to do is kill a sniper. Not just any sniper. As the game calls him, The Father of Sniping. He is around 100 years old, but don’t let the age factor fool you. His eye-sight is better than an eagle, and he can easily hit you when you least expect it. Finding him is the most difficult part, and many a player had to tinker with the clock and fast-forward it to a week, to let him die of old age. If you are the gutsy one, use your thermal goggles and find him, even if you have to explore the whole forest. Watch out for the bullets…oops…I didn’t…

#1 The Final Colossus (Shadow of the Colossus)

The Final Colossus is the last and best of the monsters this game can offer you. It is a HUGE statue-like ogre (I am actually not sure what it is…) that throws fire-balls at you from even a long distance. You have to go all around the place and hide in every crevice you can find to escape its wrath. To destroy it, You have to get on to his body (Why, man why?), find its weak areas and stab at them using your magic sword. The worst part is that it merely looks at you as if you are just a tiny pesky insect (…which, at its size, you actually are!!!)

Think I am a wimp, and that you have fought better battles? Please feel to share your war-stories in the comments section...