The Hardest Boss Fight From Every Metroid Game
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VOICE OVER: Josh McLean
WRITTEN BY: Josh McLean
Welcome to MojoPlays, bounty hunters! Today we're setting our visors to our picks for the hardest boss fight from every Metroid game. For this list, we'll be looking at the greatest threats to a player's runtime when entering a boss room. Be it in terms of lethality, or utter annoyance. Oh and there'll no doubt be some final bosses included here, so consider this a series-wide spoiler warning! Our list includes Nightmare from "Metroid Fusion" (2002), Omega Pirate from "Metroid Prime" (2002), Diggernaut from "Metroid: Samus Returns" (2017) and more!
Script written by Josh McLean
Enter the sentient supercomputer of Metroid legend. Reaching the stationary boss proves to be a daunting challenge as hallways of Metroids precede her, each capable of sucking away entire energy tanks if Samus isn’t careful. Plus, a whopping 15 laser cannons, 14 death-hoop generators, and multiple Chozo-melting pools of lava surround her. You’ll need to think in four dimensions as to not be hit by the stupid amount of projectiles on screen at any given time. Since this is old school Nintendo hard, you won’t find a single health or ammo drop, plus a single hit could mean a prolonged dunk into game ending magma.
This big Momma Metroid of the GameBoy sequel tests your energy tank collecting skills, with several near unavoidable attacks. Such as a tri-fireball blast and bite lunge that are unleashed with tremendous speed that increases as the Queen’s health is lowered. Curiously, there is an escape hatch available to flee the fight at any time. But it seeds the question in the player's mind, even when fully upgraded, “am I strong enough for this?” This final boss will take a respectable 150 missiles to defeat, in comparison to your starting loadout of 30. Although if you're brave enough to let yourself be swallowed in ball form, you can damage her that way too.
To no one’s surprise, the super-sized space lizard was going to crash this list at some point. During your second and final encounter with the pirate, Riddles leave little room for error. The platform of his hideout is miniature, even smaller than Phantoon’s, and surrounded by deep lava. He can leave the screen at any time to swoop down for a tail attack or launch indestructible fire balls, and due to your somewhat limited vertical jump height it’s hard to tell what angle the barrage will come from. If Samus attempts to use her screw attack to reach him, he may just break through it with a talon grab for big damage. What makes this fight so difficult is the lack of gimmicks, Samus must simply dish out greater damage than her equal foe can.
Contending for the hardest boss of Fusion is this three-phase, gravity immobilizing, biotech beast. Nightmare edges out the infamous spider boss "Yakuza", of the same game, by the smallest of margins. What tips the scale is that Nightmare controls when the fight is over. On average it takes twice as long to defeat, due to its only weak point being damageable when lining up with a climbable ladder. All the while, it will control the gravity of the stage, hindering your movement and jump speed when attempting to reach said ladder. After finally destroying its faceplate, Nightmare will swoop in guns blazing, making for a nightmarish sequence of nearly unavoidable attacks. Oh, and also, the lead up to its battle fakes you out with an energy tank before dropping Samus through the floor. So, I hope you didn’t actually trust the devs, and saved prior...
In the first to the lineup of the 3D Metroids, comes this phazon infused Elite, ‘and I do mean Elite. This guy could’ve been pulled right from Halo. He’ll go invisible, send shock waves on the ground, and absorb some of your attacks for health to stall you out. Imagine every overpowered Spartan upgrade, in one soldier. Back to Metroid though, despite the Omega Pirate’s many abilities, he won’t be shy to call in backup troopers to tank even more of your hits. The combined fire of beams, plasma launchers, and missiles that the battalion will unleash can overwhelm even a fully powered Samus.
If it’s any surprise MB is on here once again, it’s proof that this style of boss is just maddening! Now more than ever, there are constant projectiles, akin to a bullet hell, and you must shoot in every direction possible to stay alive. Mother’s new eye laser is a huge blast that will constantly throw Samus in lava, which on “Hard” mode, is a death sentence. Sure, "Mecha Ridley" is difficult too, due to his high health, and small weak spot - but his only real threat is his claw swipe, whereas Mother Brain v2 has ALL OF THIS GARBAGE! (Projectiles)
With a name like that, you’d expect this upgrade hogging early game boss to be a standard alien affair… Not so! This “Ing” creature is notorious for its deranged difficulty spike for a mere ability battle. One could argue it is Metroid’s hardest boss ever… You’ll only start with a few energy tanks to begin with, and it’s invulnerable in its ball form. Puddles of deadly goo trail behind it and the remaining floor space can be taken up with little bugs that the Boost Guardian summons. All this to say, its speed and damage output make this a seemingly impossible task. One that was nerfed in the Wii port of the game, as its producer stated the difficulty increase of bosses was a last-minute change when releasing the original copies.
Here we are, it’s pinball with four bosses who you defeat by… well, just playing pinball. There isn't a particularly "hard" boss, but Thard comes close due to much of his battle being random chance. This living rock really doesn't want to be hit, as it’ll summon boulders to block your shot, on top of the fact that he can only be damaged once reaching the top screen. While on the bottom screen, little crabs will attempt to grab you, sending your morph ball downwards while causing Samus to lose health.
Since the final boss of this title is a colour match game spam-athon, the hardest boss actually comes down to this giant… turd(?), or the massive eyeball named "Slench". Whereas you can avoid the screaming eyeball in certain corners of his room, the Cretaphid's final form goes all out with unlockable damage. It’ll charge at you full steam while shooting heat seeking missiles, and cover the room with sweeping lasers. Regardless of how jumpy you are, you're going to be hit often, and Samus will need the most energy tanks possible to take it down.
Regardless of how you pronounce his name, Mogey has the ability to restore its weak points and extend the battle if the player doesn’t constantly stay on the aggressive. This boss gets bonus points for the mental warfare he inflicts on the player out of sheer annoyance. As Samus has to continually use her health reserves in order to activate “Hyper Mode”, to damage his many cores. Combined with this golem’s shockwave blasts and rock scatter attacks, he single handedly ensures a no-damage run is a pure impossibility.
Yes, the Queen returns, this time with an entourage! Samus must fight a metric butt ton of Metroids before the Queen will even let you damage her. These namesake head crabs will easily dodge your attacks, sap your life, and test your reflexes with quick time events. Once finally battling the Queen, getting hit by her plasma breath is a death sentence, often putting you into a last chance 1hp state. Thankfully the room is large enough to move around in, and do some dodging yourself. Also, Wii mote…
Let’s not talk about this Chibi style game any longer than we have to… Deal? You can't lock onto this robotic globe until destroying its outer shell… Multiple… multiple times… Meanwhile, our soldiers will have to avoid the annoyingly constant spray of its robo-snake defenders. Even with four fully upgraded teammates to draw the fire, the sentinels will constantly return whenever the boss finally becomes vulnerable. Not a lot to see here folks, just space cops shooting at an orb for ten long minutes…
So, “Mercury Steam” placed their stake in the ground when designing their own original boss, for this Metroid 2 remake. Rightfully so, they didn’t pull any punches. This massive mining machine contains three phases in which it attacks from the background of the stage while utilizing muuuultiple kinds of attack. By the time you’ve learned its first pattern, it’ll already have another queued up. Its drill arms can cover the entire screen by rolling, trusting, sweeping, shooting, and rotating across the stage. So it’s no doubt Samus can die in just a few hits even with the best armour available. Finally, before the final blow, players must line up electricity nodes within a limited time window, or else he'll go right back to beating your morph ball.
If you thought Metroid’s idea of a tricky boss contained 3 stages… Try 5! Nice! Samus will have to use every tool acquired throughout her exploration on ZDR, to claim revenge on this twelvish-foot-tall bird alien from the opening segment. As it turns out, his speedy movement and huge damage from the cutscene were not just for show. His pink beam arm cannon is greater than that of Samus, and at certain segments it’ll feel like fighting a final boss version of yourself! All that to say, do not expect to best him on your first or even second try.
And the one you’ve all been waiting for...
Sure, the logo is good. But when are we getting another taste? For now, the hardest boss is time itself! Any questions, lady?
#15: Mother Brain
"Metroid" (1987)Enter the sentient supercomputer of Metroid legend. Reaching the stationary boss proves to be a daunting challenge as hallways of Metroids precede her, each capable of sucking away entire energy tanks if Samus isn’t careful. Plus, a whopping 15 laser cannons, 14 death-hoop generators, and multiple Chozo-melting pools of lava surround her. You’ll need to think in four dimensions as to not be hit by the stupid amount of projectiles on screen at any given time. Since this is old school Nintendo hard, you won’t find a single health or ammo drop, plus a single hit could mean a prolonged dunk into game ending magma.
#14: Queen Metroid
"Metroid II: Return of Samus" (1991)This big Momma Metroid of the GameBoy sequel tests your energy tank collecting skills, with several near unavoidable attacks. Such as a tri-fireball blast and bite lunge that are unleashed with tremendous speed that increases as the Queen’s health is lowered. Curiously, there is an escape hatch available to flee the fight at any time. But it seeds the question in the player's mind, even when fully upgraded, “am I strong enough for this?” This final boss will take a respectable 150 missiles to defeat, in comparison to your starting loadout of 30. Although if you're brave enough to let yourself be swallowed in ball form, you can damage her that way too.
#13: Ridley Round 2
"Super Metroid" (1994)To no one’s surprise, the super-sized space lizard was going to crash this list at some point. During your second and final encounter with the pirate, Riddles leave little room for error. The platform of his hideout is miniature, even smaller than Phantoon’s, and surrounded by deep lava. He can leave the screen at any time to swoop down for a tail attack or launch indestructible fire balls, and due to your somewhat limited vertical jump height it’s hard to tell what angle the barrage will come from. If Samus attempts to use her screw attack to reach him, he may just break through it with a talon grab for big damage. What makes this fight so difficult is the lack of gimmicks, Samus must simply dish out greater damage than her equal foe can.
#12: Nightmare
"Metroid Fusion" (2002)Contending for the hardest boss of Fusion is this three-phase, gravity immobilizing, biotech beast. Nightmare edges out the infamous spider boss "Yakuza", of the same game, by the smallest of margins. What tips the scale is that Nightmare controls when the fight is over. On average it takes twice as long to defeat, due to its only weak point being damageable when lining up with a climbable ladder. All the while, it will control the gravity of the stage, hindering your movement and jump speed when attempting to reach said ladder. After finally destroying its faceplate, Nightmare will swoop in guns blazing, making for a nightmarish sequence of nearly unavoidable attacks. Oh, and also, the lead up to its battle fakes you out with an energy tank before dropping Samus through the floor. So, I hope you didn’t actually trust the devs, and saved prior...
#11: Omega Pirate
"Metroid Prime" (2002)In the first to the lineup of the 3D Metroids, comes this phazon infused Elite, ‘and I do mean Elite. This guy could’ve been pulled right from Halo. He’ll go invisible, send shock waves on the ground, and absorb some of your attacks for health to stall you out. Imagine every overpowered Spartan upgrade, in one soldier. Back to Metroid though, despite the Omega Pirate’s many abilities, he won’t be shy to call in backup troopers to tank even more of your hits. The combined fire of beams, plasma launchers, and missiles that the battalion will unleash can overwhelm even a fully powered Samus.
#10: Mother Brain Returns
"Metroid: Zero Mission" (2004)If it’s any surprise MB is on here once again, it’s proof that this style of boss is just maddening! Now more than ever, there are constant projectiles, akin to a bullet hell, and you must shoot in every direction possible to stay alive. Mother’s new eye laser is a huge blast that will constantly throw Samus in lava, which on “Hard” mode, is a death sentence. Sure, "Mecha Ridley" is difficult too, due to his high health, and small weak spot - but his only real threat is his claw swipe, whereas Mother Brain v2 has ALL OF THIS GARBAGE! (Projectiles)
#9: Boost Guardian
"Metroid Prime 2: Echoes" (2004)With a name like that, you’d expect this upgrade hogging early game boss to be a standard alien affair… Not so! This “Ing” creature is notorious for its deranged difficulty spike for a mere ability battle. One could argue it is Metroid’s hardest boss ever… You’ll only start with a few energy tanks to begin with, and it’s invulnerable in its ball form. Puddles of deadly goo trail behind it and the remaining floor space can be taken up with little bugs that the Boost Guardian summons. All this to say, its speed and damage output make this a seemingly impossible task. One that was nerfed in the Wii port of the game, as its producer stated the difficulty increase of bosses was a last-minute change when releasing the original copies.
#8: Thardus
"Metroid Prime Pinball" (2005)Here we are, it’s pinball with four bosses who you defeat by… well, just playing pinball. There isn't a particularly "hard" boss, but Thard comes close due to much of his battle being random chance. This living rock really doesn't want to be hit, as it’ll summon boulders to block your shot, on top of the fact that he can only be damaged once reaching the top screen. While on the bottom screen, little crabs will attempt to grab you, sending your morph ball downwards while causing Samus to lose health.
#7: Cretaphid v4
"Metroid Prime Hunters" (2006)Since the final boss of this title is a colour match game spam-athon, the hardest boss actually comes down to this giant… turd(?), or the massive eyeball named "Slench". Whereas you can avoid the screaming eyeball in certain corners of his room, the Cretaphid's final form goes all out with unlockable damage. It’ll charge at you full steam while shooting heat seeking missiles, and cover the room with sweeping lasers. Regardless of how jumpy you are, you're going to be hit often, and Samus will need the most energy tanks possible to take it down.
#6: Mogenar
"Metroid Prime 3: Corruption" (2007)Regardless of how you pronounce his name, Mogey has the ability to restore its weak points and extend the battle if the player doesn’t constantly stay on the aggressive. This boss gets bonus points for the mental warfare he inflicts on the player out of sheer annoyance. As Samus has to continually use her health reserves in order to activate “Hyper Mode”, to damage his many cores. Combined with this golem’s shockwave blasts and rock scatter attacks, he single handedly ensures a no-damage run is a pure impossibility.
#5: Queen Metroid & Co.
"Metroid: Other M" (2010)Yes, the Queen returns, this time with an entourage! Samus must fight a metric butt ton of Metroids before the Queen will even let you damage her. These namesake head crabs will easily dodge your attacks, sap your life, and test your reflexes with quick time events. Once finally battling the Queen, getting hit by her plasma breath is a death sentence, often putting you into a last chance 1hp state. Thankfully the room is large enough to move around in, and do some dodging yourself. Also, Wii mote…
#4: Cyranon
"Metroid Prime: Federation Force" (2016)Let’s not talk about this Chibi style game any longer than we have to… Deal? You can't lock onto this robotic globe until destroying its outer shell… Multiple… multiple times… Meanwhile, our soldiers will have to avoid the annoyingly constant spray of its robo-snake defenders. Even with four fully upgraded teammates to draw the fire, the sentinels will constantly return whenever the boss finally becomes vulnerable. Not a lot to see here folks, just space cops shooting at an orb for ten long minutes…
#3: Diggernaut
"Metroid: Samus Returns" (2017)So, “Mercury Steam” placed their stake in the ground when designing their own original boss, for this Metroid 2 remake. Rightfully so, they didn’t pull any punches. This massive mining machine contains three phases in which it attacks from the background of the stage while utilizing muuuultiple kinds of attack. By the time you’ve learned its first pattern, it’ll already have another queued up. Its drill arms can cover the entire screen by rolling, trusting, sweeping, shooting, and rotating across the stage. So it’s no doubt Samus can die in just a few hits even with the best armour available. Finally, before the final blow, players must line up electricity nodes within a limited time window, or else he'll go right back to beating your morph ball.
#2: Raven Beak
"Metroid Dread" (2021)If you thought Metroid’s idea of a tricky boss contained 3 stages… Try 5! Nice! Samus will have to use every tool acquired throughout her exploration on ZDR, to claim revenge on this twelvish-foot-tall bird alien from the opening segment. As it turns out, his speedy movement and huge damage from the cutscene were not just for show. His pink beam arm cannon is greater than that of Samus, and at certain segments it’ll feel like fighting a final boss version of yourself! All that to say, do not expect to best him on your first or even second try.
And the one you’ve all been waiting for...
#1: The Wait…
"Metroid Prime 4" (20XX)Sure, the logo is good. But when are we getting another taste? For now, the hardest boss is time itself! Any questions, lady?
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