Boss characters: your thoughts?
hi Everyone here's a chance to get your soap boxes out and have a rant 
i'm currently in the middle of a MSc Dissertation, for which i'm looking at the role of the boss characters in games, as part of this i'm looking at character design, implimentation, perception, gameplay and lots of other fun areas.
what i'd like to know from those of you out there is:
whats your favourite game boss and why?
What's your least favourtie game boss and why?
what makes a boss memorable?
thanks for your help guys. hope this sparks some discussion?
i'm currently in the middle of a MSc Dissertation, for which i'm looking at the role of the boss characters in games, as part of this i'm looking at character design, implimentation, perception, gameplay and lots of other fun areas.
what i'd like to know from those of you out there is:
whats your favourite game boss and why?
What's your least favourtie game boss and why?
what makes a boss memorable?
thanks for your help guys. hope this sparks some discussion?
Replies
There are so many good bosses..
My fav game boss is probably the giant crab on the end of the first level of metal slug 3. Because the sprite is just so big and heavily animated for an arcade game.
Least fav boss are the ones where it's a realistic game and the boss is a normal dude but just has a super big life bar... can't think of a specific example.
To be memorable for me the boss has to be impressive but also a lot of memorable boss fights involve solving them in a smart way or some sort of cinematic event.
My favorite would have to be The End from MGS3. Id say it my fav just because the fight itself is very fun, along with the End himself, and they way he fights. It wasn't a straight run and gun him down, you had to be really careful and had to find where he was before even have a chance to shoot him.
Another one of my favorites would be Avion from Shadow of the Colossus (big flying bird). The general feel of the fight is very intense and the soundtrack adds even more atmosphere.
So what Id say makes a good/memorable boss fight is:
-The boss itself. how interesting is his character, what are his motives/reason for being there.
-The general atmosphere of the fight, which would be location, tone/feel of the area itself. Music adds a lot to a boss fight.
-play style change: What new tactics are you forced to employ? Is it something involving interaction with the level too like knocking down pillars? Fights involving some problem solving tend to be more interesting.
-Perhaps more than one way to defeat them? This adds replay value to the boss fights. Ex) The End in MGS3: you could regularly kill him or stam kill, try to sneak up behind him or counter-snipe him. There were other ways you could kill him non directly through story progression. This aspect ties into the play style one of course.
Id have to agree with TheSplash and say a guy with a lot of health isnt truly a boss.
Hope that helped out Daaaave.
The bosses from Resident evil 4, god of war and the latest zelda series: they were visually impressive, challenging, and each boss from those games usually had a unique approach to beat them. For most of these bosses the environment also contributed to make the battle feel like an epic fight.
What's your least favourtie game boss and why?
I dont like games where you can predict when a boss is coming, like the games where you know that after you beat three levels, a boss will show up(even though I like the bosses from zelda gameplay-wise, theyre a good example for this). I also dont like bosses in which you have to repeat the ordinary gameplay to beat them(ie: just a regular enemy with more health).
What makes a boss memorable?
Bosses that have ties to the storyline or have a backstory, like most of the bosses from Metal gear Solid for PSX(psycho mantis, revolver ocelot, the mysterious ninja, vulcan raven), or Glados from Portal for example. Theyre also great bosses gameplay-wise.
Too often bosses in games appear randomly and are killed as fast as possible with very little connection to actual story or gameplay and the results of your actions arent visible other than in the explosions and gibs. In some games this is perfectly acceptable eg metal slug but in others it would be cool to get more of an experience.
My favorite is the swimming boss(the 7th boss) from Shadow of the Colossus. It was very interesting to fight the boss while you have to hold onto it and arrange your attacks so you don't lose the beast in the lake(you can get drowned too, of course). It was interesting because the fight involves the environment and the boss may be thought of as a kind of environment(it's so large that you can run around on the boss) too. Also the graphics(hair, water etc.) were awesome for PS2.
What's your least favourtie game boss and why?
It's the first boss in Sonic 2(Game Gear version). I hated that boss so much I can still remember it. It was just too unpredictable and difficult.
what makes a boss memorable?
IMO a boss is memorable if it has a story which you can read from its appearence, the environment in which you fight it and the gameplay(the attack types, reactions to your attacks etc.).
Good luck with your MSc
This thing from Shadow of the Colossus. It combined all the best parts of the gameplay and it's just a truly gargantuan creature. The eagle one comes a close second, it was a very tense fight (but no Agro
Least favourite;
Nihilanth in Half-Life. Might not be the worst boss ever, but it felt the biggest let-down. It was a really akward thing that was just sort of thrown at you at the end of the game and that you never really directly fought with, it's main offensive weapon being to shunt you off somewhere else to fight regular enemies for a bit.
What makes them memorable?;
Bosses you really want to fight, with a hatred that is built up over the course of the game (Bob Page & Gunther Hermann - Deus Ex, GladOS - Portal, SHODAN - System Shock 2, Vladmir Lem - Max Payne 2, collectively The Flood - Halo, Wallace Breen - Half-Life 2).
[ame]http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=0w5neFPat1w[/ame]
least favorit is player/human scaled bosses with lame attacks (i.e, gears of war end boss) especially after fighting huge bosses in earlier levels
I have a bunch, aaaahhhh.... If i had to choose one, id say the 1st Fate boss in God of War 2 (Lakhesis). The fight itself was highly active, involved some puzzle solving to dodge her damage, memorization, coordination, and quick reaction times. It of course was helped out a lot by the badass visuals. The fight was multi-dimensional as well, which really what sells it as my favorite boss fight. Not only did you have to dodge her physical attacks, but she uses ranged attacks, and electrifies the floor in intervals while you have to dodge / reflect her attacks.... not to mention that you're also fighting another Sister of Fate at the same time.
A lot of the God of War bosses are "wins" for me, especially Thesus and Perseus in addition to the first fate listed above. The last Spartan was a cool fight stylistically. The Thesus fight is so rad, i *love* when things explode out of the ground in semi-recognizable patterns for some reason. Dont know why, is just really fun to dodge.
I'm also a pretty huge WoW dork, and pretty much solely play that game for the boss battles. I really enjoy the later boss fights in the game, that offer an intense ammount of complexity, where the focus of the fight is less about mindless sacks of hit points, and more where you lose track of the status of the fight because you're so involved doing other things: Illidari Council, Kalecgos, Felmyst, Muru. These have so much complexity involved with not only your character, but the entire group, creating this fun dynamic of playing mini-games within the overall game of "takings its health to 0."
Final Fantasy 12 had some really amazing boss battles in it compared to the previous FF games, but i think i enjoyed those more because they were very active.
What's your least favourtie game boss and why?
Zeus in God of War 2, and the final boss of Prince of Persia 2. Made me want to stab my eyes out, and cry in anger. I didn't enjoy it because of the lack of interaction you actually had with fighting Zeus. The boss in PoP2 was just bullshit, i hated her tornados, damage scaling (You get a fucking badASS sword right before that... and it doesnt scale at all when you damage her). Not fun!
I generally dislike bosses that are pure hitpoint sacks, w/o gimicks; or bosses that have some annoying "hitch" that they use incessantly for what it seems like the only reason is to annoy you/delay the actual fight.
I also did not enjoy any of the bosses in Mass Effect or Oblivion (ok, they arent really "bosses," but key figureheads in quest lines), purely for the fact that I could relate to them too to my character one-on-one. They were the same scale, not really "evil," just dudes that looked like me w/ some other purpose.
what makes a boss memorable?
Scope, scale, diversity, and interactivity. Bosses become really memorable when you find yourself doing everything you've learned by playing the game up until that point while also preforming other reflex abilities/tasks.
Individual boss abilities & signature moves are crucial for this. For example, if Lakhesis from God of War 2 did not electrify the floor, she probably would not have been as bad ass. Felmyst in WoW would not be as fucking cool if she didn't crop-dust a position of the arena you fight her in w/ a cloud that mind controls someone, while you juggle 15-20 skeletons. Maybe I just really like the color green.
It is a thin line though, a signature move could become an easy path to a hated boss if they use it too much (see: Prince of Persia 2, the tornado bitch @ the end).
Lastly, the bosses visuals definitely have a huge impact on it. If it looks too much like the main character/your character i think it can be difficult to be really "afraid" of the boss. That isn't to say it has to be alien looking, but instead look "badass." A cute kitten could make a sick ass boss if its abilities countered its cuteness, just as a big-hulking-super-armored-double-axe-wielding-fire-spewing-vagina-faced-squid-behemoth could be boring by not doing anything threatening.
I love boss battles, it the only thing that has kept me playing wow, and sadly, their team is only getting better at designing unique and fun fights. I'm also really looking forward to God of War 3
whats your favourite game boss and why?
I personally love big boss fights with cleaver twists, and well established game play mechanics. The God of War boss fights are some of my favorites.
What's your least favourtie game boss and why?
I'm not a big fan of being tossed in the middle of something big and having to figure out new quirky game-play mechanics that only exists in that one fight.
[rant]
Nothing worse then dodging a bosses attacks wasting precious resources you'll need later, for 5min while looking for an opening, when all along all you needed to do was mouse over the pile of junk in the corner, retrieve a pen combine it with some herbs you never picked up, and stab a giant whatever in the toe killing it dead in one hit. Oh so this action game just turned into a point click adventure game, cute... can I have my ammo back now? You want to genre bend, fine. But do it well through out the rest of the game and not just in the heat of the moment.
[/rant]
what makes a boss memorable?
A great fight, but not frustrating, a pay off that's worthy of the boss and the time you put into it.
Example1, last shot goes off, monster roars and falls over, credits roll.
Example2, last shot goes off, monster roars takes out 3 city blocks in its death throws, this triggers an action scene (like you've previously played) you have to scramble for cover and as the dust settles the credits roll.
First -- DEVIL HAND from God Hand.
Runner up -- Every DMC4 boss fight
I'm going to go against the trend here and say i do not like giant bosses, usually. At all. A huge, giant healthbar, 'watch the patten and jump to dodge the attack' boss forces you to use tactics and methods you don't apply anywhere else in the game. I don't find that enjoyable at all.
If i've played four hours of a game about dodging around enemies and applying varried combos, why do i want to fight a boss who will kick my ass unless i stay in front of it, do specific, controlled jumps to dodge its' attacks, and use only *one* combo, which happens to be the right length to slip through its' pattern? Not fun at all.
Devil Hand in the ridiculous and very difficult God Hand is a boss who is your character's exact equal. Move for move, he fights exactly like you do. So in a game about quick jukes and ridiculous combos, your methods are pit against someone using... Quick jukes and ridiculous combos. The fight is exceedingly hard and difficult, yet perfectly fair. He can't do anything you can't, and he has all of the same weaknesses you do.
DMC4 gets my second vote because it had incredible bosses, and is an exception to my 'giant bosses' rule. As both Nero and Danta, your normal fighting methods work against even bohemoth demons, and with some skill you can reduce their intimidating healthbar's in only a few combos. These fights are ruled entire by player skill -- there are a few otherwise intense fights that can be ended with one good chain of combos.
What's your least favourtie game boss and why?
Most games i've played. The average bossfight seeks to gimp the player into a corner, and forces them to lash out defensively and cower the rest of the fight. Not fun in any way.
what makes a boss memorable?
Art, and animation. I couldn't tell you what Devil Hand's attack pattern is, but i can still remember exactly what his effects-heavy kick combos look like. In DMC4's case, i remember exactly what all of them look like -- that game had awesome, if overwrought, character designs. I can't remember any of the more average looking ones from other games i've played.
*cough* VAMP *cough*
dang, i dont know how i forgot DMC4, those were some fun bosses. Love me some naked chicks on tentacles.
QFT. Most epic boss battle ever.
All RE: 4 ones, but the final one sticks out in my mind. The whole scene plays out just like that; a scene, as opposed to one critically lame boss fight where I'm whittling down some guys energy bar for 20 minutes. Lame. It had a sense of urgency to a degree, and the crux of it, I suppose, is a context. That boss had a great context within the story.
What's your least favourtie game boss and why?
I cant think of one, stand-alone, boss I hate - I hate the ones that have an unfeasibly large energy bar the most (not one for grinding...) but the worst - absolute worst offence - is the end of game bosses that act as FIGHT ALL THE BOSSES YOUVE EVER FOUGHT scenarios. Wind Waker pops to mind. in fact, sod it, Wind Waker's final boss is the worst, crappiest thing ever, the whole scenario.
Dont read, spoilers, although its only Zelda: Wind Waker.
Ok so the whole thing is within its own little level, the boss fight prefaced with waves of enemys and a puzzle environment so mind bitingly vague it makes me ache all over. I class this as part of the boss fight. Then if memory serves, I have to then fight every crappy boss I've fought in the game, in a series (in black and white?) to proceed - offence number 2.
Offence number three comes in the form of this big mass of crap that is far too fast, demands actions that are by and large, hard to perform due to the game mechanics, then the sod ENDS and your left to climb up a rope that seriously bores anyone to death.
Then it picks up slightly fighting YET ANOTHER BOSS in a standard sword fight, but hes a normal size (bit of a let down) and by this time I'm so bored of fighting I want to turn off the game.
So why is that boss crap? Pacing and scene imo. Theres no reason other than the fact they tried padding the end out like they did the middle.
what makes a boss memorable?
Being mind numbingly crap, as above, is one, but I dare say this is not the angle you are after.
I really think some fun, unique gameplay mechanics are pretty key to remembering your boss, and just something unique... one huge boss is great, ill remember that, but 5 huge bosses becomes unmemorable, it becomes just a class of enemy imo.
Lets not forget my previous point of context and story, but that I suspect is more a hallmark of a good game than a good boss.
Favorite Game Boss: Phantom Gannon from Zelda: The Ocarina of Time.
The level of complexity, the amount of creativity, the plethora of game mechanics was absolutely staggering. It was a combination of skill and puzzle solving that made me feel a tremendous amount of accomplishment to defeat him. But not to the point where it was purely frustrating.
The worst boss: I agree with Talon. Nihilanth in Half-Life for the exact same reasons.
What makes a bos Memorable:
Pretty much everything everyone else said. Amazing art/animation/sound, to go with a positively memorable challenge.
Actually, having to go out and find a secret boss is pretty cool. Hunting jumbo cactuar and finding tonberry king ftw.
just the way he splatters your character with a single blow sent chills down my spine..
worst boss was one in MDK. basically, hold left trigger down, circle strafe for 5 minutes, win.
recently, I really enjoyed the boss of portal--there was a lot of story-build up to that encounter--but unlike most games, I didn't actually realize how much was being written. A lot of games go over the top with trying to be super involved, overly emotional, and 'over-written' just for the sake of being 'over-written'. In portal, the boss has JUST enough backstory to make it engaging. I was very cleverly done, and I didn't realize I knew as much about her as I did when I actually came face-to-face with her. That, and the humor, made it memorable.
The best bosses, I think, are a mix of skill and puzzle solving. You can't simply run and gun--but it's not as easy as finding the 'kill spot' either--there is some skill involved.
If I remember correctly, the first metal gear had something like that--and then some sort of escape sequence afterwards, which was fun.
Games that are excellent all the way through, but then give up at the end, are my least favorite. Deus Ex, for example, didn't even have a boss. It had a player 'choice', that affected the final cutscene, and that was all fun and all, but there was no real climactic fight. It was a shame for an otherwise perfect game.
Bad boss fights have one-hit instakills. That's just an excuse to prolong the fight for no good reason, and to frustrate the player.
The worst bosses have one hit insta-kills, AND a long cutscene before the fight AND no save point between the two.
wait, was that the one where the sky kept changing during the fight? it was like dark and stormy, then epic god rays, etc? That was a good fight.
that was serious sam: the second encounter
Kefka from Final Fantasy 3/6 for Snes. The art was just insane for all the different sub-bosses during the fight. The music just plain rocked, it gave the perfect sense of eeriness and awe.
What's your least favourtie game boss and why?
The dude at the end of first Half-Life 2. One of the most boring and ridiculously easy boss fights ever. I remember all you had to do was stand by one of those plasma streams that send out little orbs, then you just right click to grab, left click to fire one, rinse and repeat until he's dead. I thought it was so easy I wanted to see if my mom could do it. I told her what to do and she beat it on the first try just spamming right click and left click while pointing in his general direction (and she never plays games).
what makes a boss memorable?
Great art and sound are key, and so is a fairly long memorable fight that requires a solid level of skill without being so hard that it's damn near impossible to beat without perfect timing.
The Megaman bosses are still most memorable for me.
All the Shadow of the Colossus battles were pretty amazing. Fighting something 10+ times the size of you is a fun feeling.
As for dissapointing, just off the top of my head - Fable's end boss was pretty lame & super easy
The environment of a battle, the weather, the boss' attacks, the music, etc. all help to make it memorable.
And a boss would have been doubly as bad if you'd spent your skill points on hacking rather than combat.
But because it came down to the player to choose the fate of the world based on their values, the boss was, in effect, yourself.
As mentioned before, Devil Hand from God Hand was a great fight. He DID have a pattern though, which made it a little less awesome, but none the less ridiculous. Honestly all the bosses and minibosses in God Hand were great because of their personality, and execution. Some of them you did have to change tactics from the basic enemies, but none of them required totally special gameplay. The end boss was the least awesome. Huge demon thing fighting you on top of a tower.. or rather you're on the tower, and its standing next to it. IT was one of those logical "why is it bothering?" moments, and it was really a pattern matching prolonged battle of 3 healthbar annoyance.
The other favorite "boss" of mine is any AC from the Armored Core series. Again because they are very capable just like you are, but are usually fairly intelligent and can destroy you utterly if you don't step your fighting up a notch.
I love the large bosses from God of War, but those I like specifically because of their execution. Large bosses can be done poorly very easily, but the cinematic aspects of the God of War battles made them very enjoyable, even if repetitious.
One type of boss I like is the one you meet throughout your travel in the game at differing stages in their development. Gives a better sense that the adversary is progressing just like you, rather than sitting back and throwing less and less lame troops your way till they get annoyed and finally face you themselves. (listed in "things not to do" in the evil overlord's handbook)
What's your least favourtie game boss and why?
I'm gonna agree that one hit kills are no fun, lame, and poor design. Now attacks that hurt a lot and can kill you if you don't pay attention are often fun.
Sigmas final form in Megaman X and or Dr. Wily's final form in Megaman 2.
Both because the only thing that does any appreciable damage to them is a crappy weapon that does nearly NOTHING to any other enemy in the game. (mm2 bubble lead, mmx rolling shield). But Sigma wins out since he's this HUGE thing and the only vulnerable part is his head, and the only weapon that works decently is highly affected by gravity, and he can kill you in 3-5 hits(depending on what attack)
I also have a love-hate relationship with multi form bosses sometimes its cool, often its one of those "aw are you kidding me? again!" moments.
Edit: OH Least favorite end boss ever: Red Faction. Wimpy fight followed by.. dun dun duh dun: Disarming a time bomb by pressing three correct RANDOM sequences of buttons/keys. If you mess one up, you start from the first sequence. If you take to long on one sequence, you start from the first sequence. If you don't do it all in under the time limit (30 seconds or less) you die and have to fight the lame boss again and THEN try the random bomb again.
what makes a boss memorable?
Setting, atmosphere, execution. Really the same things that make environment art good are what make a boss memorable... well with the addition of writing.
How a boss shows up, and how exciting the battle is have as much to do with the memorability as do its look. They seem to come in a few archetypes:
Flamboyant ass who can back it up. (Kefka)
Flamboyant ass who can't. (Lord Star from Radiata Stories, the midget rangers from God Hand)
These are memorable not for their difficulty, but for their execution. They're humorous. Whats better is when you meet one of these early on and they are tough, but you meet them later and they haven't developed at all and so are simple to defeat.
Excessively Evil Giant Thing (the Lucifer and Sathanis in Descent:Freespace and its sequal, and most things in God of War)
The Warrior/Badass (this is the quieter type of boss who doesn't talk about how much hes going to kill you, he just does it. I haven't finished FF7 but I think Sephiroth fits in here and a number of the MGS series bosses.)