Top 10 End Bosses… (Sort of)

What is an end boss?

For me it is a not necessarily the final fight but the culmination of everything you have been fighting for & against throughout the game. They are normally epic in scale & test your abilities like no other boss before….

So here are my top 10 bosses of all time taken only from games I have played. These are the ones that I enjoyed immensely:

10 – Marauder Shields from Mass Effect 3

Ok this first one is kind of a joke & highlights the disappointment that follows in Mass Effect 3. Shepard awakes from the reaper attack to see most of the squad dead. He staggers towards the entry beam into the Citadel with just a pistol to defend himself. The final enemy that Shepard can shoot is a Marauder with Shields. Great end-boss there, Bioware.

9 – Lucifer from Dante’s Inferno

It’s freakin’ Satan for goodness sake, what more do you need to know?

8 – Jubileus, The Creator from Bayonetta

Coming in 5 stages this final boss has you using all of Bayonetta’s tricks & skills that you have learned throughout the game. It’s epic, pretty tough & ends with you steering its soul into the sun!

7 – Tyrant from Resident Evil

Watching it break out of the glass to attack Wesker then turn its attention to me was something else. Putting it down in the laboratory was one thing but when it came bursting out through the roof & came running at me, claws up was one of the most terrifying things I ever experienced. No matter how many times I shot it, it kept coming until that beautiful rocket launcher landed at my feet.

6 – Darth Vader from The Force Unleashed

This is the fight I dreamt of as kid…the chance to lock horns with the sith lord himself.

5 – Bowser from Super Mario 64

You fight Bowser in 3 stages throughout the game & each one is brilliant, the final battle though has you facing him on a platform in the sky. It’s a do or die battle where there can be only one winner. The image of Mario holding onto his tail as he swings him around & around is one that has stuck with me over many years.

4 – Giant Robot Robotnik from Sonic the Hedgehog 2

I remember being let down by the final boss battle in Sonic the Hedgehog that was certainly not the case in the sequel. The scene is set perfectly with the epic assault on his carrier before going up into space & battling Metal Sonic. Chasing him down he jumps into the top of machine that starts to stand up getting bigger & bigger. The battle that follows is as tough as it gets in a Sonic game.

3 – Wheatley from Portal 2

I didn’t think they were ever going to top the GLADoS battle from the first game but they did. Having to use his defective & corrupt cores to damage him was one thing but that moment when it became clear that we had to portal him to the moon was…out of this world. End bosses should leave you breathless…

2 – Metal Gear Rex from Metal Gear Soild

Technically Rex isn’t the final boss if you count in Liquid on top of the wreckage of Rex…I don’t. The build up to fighting the giant walking nuclear tank sees you planning to deactivate it but actually activating it instead. Liquid jumps in driving seat & its battle time. All you have is your trusty stinger & a little help from an old friend…

When people say Solid Snake is a badass it is because of moments like this.

1 – Ganon from Ocarina of Time

Of course it was going to be Ganon! How many bosses have you travelled through time just to beat? Ganon is pure evil & his hunger for power will see him destroy all of Hyrule. When Link finally battles through is castle to reach him Ganondorf transforms into the monstrous Ganon holding 2 blades & several times the size of Link.

Maybe it’s made all the more epic knowing that beating Ganon isn’t just about beating the game but saving the princess, restoring Hyrule & giving Link his years back.