Some of the boss fights in Half Life were cool and unconventional. It was good having to think and not just having a fight where I keep shooting until the big thing stops moving.
Sadly the last couple of bosses in the game, Gonarch and the final boss (name eludes me), were just that: shoot until dead. Sigh.
I remember the first ever time getting to Bowser in Super Mario World, I thought he rocked. Mode 7 madness.
The final boss in Half-Life required a bit of thinking - you had to use those jump pads, and such; just blasting at him did nothing.
I remember Doom levels where you could trick a Cyberdemon and Spiderdemon into fighting each other.
Anyone else here learn the trick of finishing the last level of Episode 3 starting with only a pistol? Ironically, it was harder on the ‘easier’ levels.
“Beware! I live!”
Did anyone ever get past level 3 of Sinistar?
That sounds like the final boss from Super Ghosts and Goblins. For some reason, he’s named Loki. I’m convinced he was Satan in the original version of the game, and some marketing executive decided it would be best to rename him.
Kung Fu Master At least I think that was the name. It deserves mention as being AFAIK the first game to have stage bosses.
Wario World for the Virtual Boy. A great game, with 3D. The sandworm boss could easily be done with a normal display. The other bosses involve action on a near and far platform. One boss is a tiny blob in a teapot-like mech. He jumps to the other platform, and fires at you. You have to figure out his sequence and jump to the platform at the right time, otherwise he immediately jumps to other platform.
I know I’m a big Arcanum guy, and the ‘end’ boss is nothing special, just a talk and then either you 1) join him and turn evil, or 2) fight him. Ho hum. Not even that tough. BUT…
If you have maxed out your persuasion skill, charisma, and intelligence… You can find the logic hole in his plan, talk him out of it, and get him to commit suicide. It’s… Rather weird.
Actually, that’s somewhat like Fallout.
Planescape Torment was interesting where like fallout, you didn’t actually have to fight the final boss. If you had certain stats at high levels, you could rather easily beat the final boss without a battle. In fact, you can’t get the best ending if you do fight him.
ArrMatey! - sounds like they lifted the right out of the first Fallout game, which had a suitably horrible boss you could talk into suicide (or fight/join).
Heh, me and my friend laughed our asses off when we realized you could talk your way out of the very first ‘boss battle’ in the game, at the end of the trial dungeon. We hadn’t played the first Fallout and it was a real surprise for people who had fought in thousands of boss battles before.
BTW, it’s fairly obvious by the context of the paragraph, but I was talking about the first boss battle in Fallout 2.
Galamoth from CASTLEVANIA: SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT
Two story boss with 6666 HP.
Well, each of the five levels in Kung Fu Master had a boss, but arguably there had been an evoution in this direction, rather than a sudden innovation. Pheonix (1980) predates KFM by four years and it, too, has a “boss”. After shooting down four levels of birdlike enemies, you have to destroy the proto-boss mothership. Then the cycle repeated with slightly increased difficulty.
I thought he had 9999 HP? He was the toughest boss in the game if you didn’t fight him intelligently. Merely equip beryl circlet )absorbs lightning damage) or lightning mail or something, ALucard shield and shield rod. Hit both attack buttons to get the power-up for the rod from the shield. The power up? Hold out the shield and walk into enimies to do massive damage. Just stand on his leg while doing this and he goes down easily.
Nah, it was Dracula with the 9999HP. Who, dispite that, still went down pathetically easially even if you didn’t do the cheezy Alucard Shield bit or use the Crissaegrim. Both of which I always considered near cheating, at least on the first time through. Beat it with skill, fools! It’s not like you’re playing a Belmont and are going to get into trouble if you don’t.
I was going to nominate some of the bosses from Bangai-O, but really, it’s wasn’t the bosses themselves that were cool, it was the conversations beforehand.
We’re drifting a bit far afield from video games, but most of the major battles in Dark Sun: Shattered Lands (a PC D&D from 1993) were like this. You could usually talk your way out of a fight, talk your way into an easier fight, or finish a fight very quickly once you figured out your enemy’s vulnerability (rather than just trying to do damage to him). But it wasn’t until the second or third time through the game, when I wised up to making my charismatic character party leader, that I realized this.