Top 10 Hardest Classic Video Game Bosses
#10: Dr. Wily
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“Mega Man 7” (1995) Having been defeated half a dozen times beforehand, Dr. Wily really brought his A-game in “Mega Man 7.” After besting all his robot masters, you’ll have to deal with the mad scientist’s personal, and highly impressive, robotics. During the first phase, Wily operates a large, stomping machine, sending out minions as a distraction while he tries to smush you. His second phase, however, is much worse. The Wily Capsule can turn invisible, takes a ton of firepower to go down, and its quick-moving projectiles are incredibly difficult to dodge. Some of those projectiles can even freeze you for an easy follow-up attack. “Mega Man” creator Keiji Inafune specifically wanted to make this final fight insanely hard, and we’d say he succeeded.
#9: Death Egg Robot
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“Sonic the Hedgehog 2” (1992) The final fight in “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” might not be so bad if not for two things: you have to defeat two bosses in a row, and you die in one hit. Before taking on Eggman, you must first defeat Mecha Sonic. Dodging his dashes across the screen isn’t too hard in theory; neither is hitting him when he pauses. The problem is that everything is made much more stressful by the fact that no rings appear on this stage. Considering they’re Sonic’s only form of health, best of luck to you. Naturally, Eggman’s Death Egg Robot is worse. Sure, it’s slow-moving. But it can easily skewer Sonic with one of its projectile claws, and then you have to start the whole process over.
#8: M. Bison
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“Street Fighter II: The World Warrior” (1991) Classic arcade games were designed to devour quarters. When Capcom released “Street Fighter II,” it knew to ramp up the difficulty of each fight, climaxing with the domineering M. Bison. As is befitting of a maniacal dictator, M. Bison will begin oppressing you as soon as the announcer yells “Fight!” His patterns can be tricky to pin down as he flips about and slide kicks, forcing you to alternate your defense. He also charges his attacks with what he calls Psycho Power, delivering heavy blows to your HP should they land. Adding to the pressure, at least back then, was how one screw up could cost you the match, and therefore another quarter. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before “Street Fighter II” was ported.
#7: Ridley
“Super Metroid” (1994) When you come across Ridley for the first time in “Super Metroid,” you only get a taste of what perils he has to offer. When you get an actual chance to battle him late in the game, he fights like the deadly predator he is. Thanks to his wings and agility, he can easily dive around the arena, which features a vertical layout designed to work in his favior. Just like a dragon, he covers the air space with fireballs. But Ridley’s most dangerous feature is his tail. When he isn’t using it to pierce Samus or smack her out of his way, he can use it to defend himself from any attack. All this on top of a massive health pool.
#6: Death
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“Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse” (1990) Although he’s only second in command, Death offers a greater challenge than Dracula. (xref) At least, in this particular “Castlevania” adventure. Directly after appearing on your screen, Death will spawn a group of scythes to constantly fly around the arena. While you can destroy them, they always come back. However, where they’ll spawn, how many there will be, and their movement patterns will be a complete mystery to you. Then there’s the terrible arena to consider. It’s fairly small and has awkwardly placed blocks in your way. With Death being pretty large and the barrage of projectiles, that means a LOT of dodging lest your health bar be swiftly drained. Although he has a second phase, it at least doesn’t use nearly as many scythes.
#5: Shao Kahn
“Mortal Kombat II” (1993) For anyone who thought M. Bison could be cheap, Shao Kahn awaited to prove you never knew the meaning of the word. The final boss of “Mortal Kombat II” strives to extend his rule of Outworld to other dimensions, and only you stand in his way. He can easily beat you into submission with tactics that are far from sportsmanly, like tossing a giant hammer, energy projectiles, or an unblockable shoulder charge. All of these attacks drain massive chunks of HP. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he also likes to taunt you throughout in an attempt to blind you with rage, a plan that undoubtedly worked on many of us back in the day.
#4: Mike Tyson
“Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!” (1987) Iron Mike was already a famous boxer by the time he starred in his own game. And he brought the same levels of ferocity in the virtual ring as he did in the real one. Each fighter has a recognizable pattern, showing when to avoid and when to strike. But good luck catching it here. If you don’t have fast enough reaction time, Tyson will immediately knock you straight to the ground. Literally, the first minute and a half of the fight, he only uses one-shot uppercuts. Plus, it only takes three knockdowns before you lose and have to start over. Mike Tyson easily beat down countless players, though a cheat code that took you directly to him was a godsend.
#3: Lavos
“Chrono Trigger” (1995) Lavos can offer different difficulties depending on when you decide to fight him. Fighting him at the earliest point will be incredibly challenging as you won’t be nearly strong enough, and he himself will be stronger than normal. But if you wait until the natural climax…well, he’s still pretty damn challenging. He comes in three forms, the first of which copies various bosses from across the game. His Humanoid Form has twice as much health and two targetable arms, one of which can revive the body. Finally, the last form comes stacked with 30,000 HP and a Pod that can heal and absorb elemental damage. At least by this point, you should have the necessary fire power to deal heavy attacks.
#2: Giygas
“EarthBound” (1995) Giygas is a hateful alien with an army of evil-doers at his beck and call, who can sway just about any creature to be violent. By the time you face him, his immense power has taken such a toll that it has destroyed his body, causing him to transform into pure malice. So, yeah, fighting something like that is naturally going to be a struggle. Giygas is fought across three phases and his attacks are formidable to say the least. The first is mostly against his minion, Pokey, while the second with Giygas himself requires a good balance of offense and defense. His final phase is invincible, with no indication that you’re meant to use Paula’s Pray ability to finally rid yourself of him. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
The Joker, “Batman: The Video Game” (1989)
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Dark Link, “Zelda II: The Adventure of Link” (1988)
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Vortex Queen, “Ecco the Dolphin” (1992)
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#1: Culex
“Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars” (1996) Final bosses in RPGs are naturally tough. But a fight after you’ve already beaten the game is usually where the real pain lies. Culex from “Super Mario RPG” is such a boss. The interdimensional warrior fights alongside four crystals, each of which represents and uses one of the elements. Their collective HP is just over 12,000. While you can defeat Culex without destroying the crystals, he has no weakness, but does have high defense against magic attacks. Having to deal with five sources of damage, one of which can drain your party’s health for its own, is a major pain. Culex is just the type of fight reserved for the players who want to push themselves further.
