Top 20 Ridiculous Video Game Boss Battles

#20: The Slot Machine

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Top 10 Ridiculous Video Game Boss Battles

“Star Fox” (1993) The “Star Fox” games have always had some strange boss fights in the form of odd machinations and extraterrestrial life forms, yet they have often stayed within the bounds and tropes of science fiction. But…a slot machine? We aren’t quite sure where this fits into the series even when looking at the first game by itself. Discovering this secret boss fight was truly a weird turn of events, especially since it serves as an alternate ending for the game. It does have us wondering why Nintendo hasn’t bothered repeating with similar bosses in future games.

“Psychonauts” (2004) We could easily chalk up this boss fight to “Psychonauts’” visual style, but the fight against Jasper Rolls is ridiculous in narrative and spectacle. Here, you have a pretentious critic who was so spiteful towards actress Bonita Soleil that he adopted an entire persona and plotted to off her as he gained more fame. As for the fight itself, well, how many other fights see the boss pilot a mechanized theater seat while they throw absurd insults at the player? Everyone’s a critic until they can’t defend their criticisms with wit and gusto, and so ends the tyranny of Jasper Rolls.

“Spider-Man 2” (2004) “Spider-Man 2” was such a fantastic game in an era where licensed games were expectedly awful. However, the one blemish on this game was the Mysterio levels. Good lord, these missions became more and more infuriating as you progressed. So, imagine our dread when we saw Mysterio’s health bar go up three times. Thankfully, there was no fight to begin with. A single punch depletes all of his health and brings a swift end to his delusional criminal career. Honestly, we were expecting more arson or even some kind of magic involved, but this will do.

“Luigi’s Mansion” (2001) Nintendo has thrown in the occasional surreal boss fight here and there as we’ve seen with the original “Star Fox”. But the House Mario Built isn’t afraid of going to the other side of ridiculousness, the side that’s more on over-the-top spectacle. “Luigi’s Mansion” is on that end as the final fight against King Boo is far more outlandish than we anticipated. As the rooftops and mansion are set aflame, the ghostly tyrant hides inside a giant Bowser, and the only way to get him out is by blowing Bowser’s head off. What’s weirder is how Bowser’s head will follow you and blast ice balls at you as you try to wrangle in the king. It simply feels like one haunting fever dream.

“Metal Arms: Glitch in the System” (2003) If you haven’t played “Metal Arms”, you absolutely must! It is a fantastic shooter that never got the spotlight it deserved. Besides, it does feature one hell of a boss fight! In the final level, appropriately named “Final Battle”, Glitch comes face-to-face with General Corrosive, the colossal commander of the Milbot Military. Corrosive will chase you all around the map, and if you take a couple rockets too many or wind up beneath his boot, you’re dead. Even if you find most of the batteries in the game, you’ll be scrambling for health before long.

“The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Game” (2004) Given that this scene in “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” features a celebrity, one would expect the video game adaptation to ax it completely. And yet, it made it in. The boss fight against Dennis is ridiculous simply in its setting. Here you are, fighting this hulk of a fish who is tossing daggers at you while riding on the back of one David Hasslhoff…er, at least a version of Hasselhoff that didn’t require permission from him to use his likeness. It doesn’t help that he spends parts of the fight flipping back and forth between Hasselhoff’s butt cheeks.

#14: The Bride

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“Ms. ‘Splosion Man” (2011) This gem from Twisted Pixel houses a plethora of nods to classic arcade and NES games. This one was admittedly one of our favorites. The final boss in “Ms. ‘Splosion Man” sees the titular protagonist go toe-to-toe with a dopey looking bride in a battle reminiscent of the “Punch-Out” games. And there is a lot of mammary nonsense happening here between the Bride’s anatomy and how she telegraphs her attacks. Meatenstein was a fantastic boss for “Splosion Man”, sure, but honestly, the Bride takes the cake.

#13: Iron Maiden

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“Twisted Metal” (2012) “Twisted Metal” really went all out in its level design and making the story mode feel like a thrill ride. Case in point, this fight against Dollface in her Iron Maiden mecha. As Mr. Grimm, you will have to speed across Devil’s Canyon as she fires missiles and tries to torch you with her boosters. The only way to damage her is by capturing an enemy leader and throwing them into a sacrificial missile launcher. Yes, it is all completely over-the-top and one of the reasons why “Twisted Metal” 2012 was such an awesome game.

“Saints Row IV” (2013) Of course, you can’t talk about over-the-top boss fights without roping “Saints Row” into the conversation. After all, few franchises reach the same level of WTF as this series. “Saints Row IV” arguably had the weirdest boss fight, that being against the Saints’ energy drink mascot, Paul. It exudes “Ghostbusters” vibes, and it escalates into a kaiju fight as you pilot the Magarac Island statue to bring him down. What can we say? Only in “Saints Row” can you expect boss fights of this scale.

“Trigger Witch” (2021) Were you expecting Mecha Hitler from “Wolfenstein”? Well, so were we, but “Trigger Witch” beats out a classic with something even more ridiculous than what we experienced in 1992. Upon reaching the final boss, Colette discovers the true identity of the mysterious Man in Black is really a visitor from another world - the leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin. A massive gunfight ensues between the two of you that eventually leads to a chase and another shootout on the freakin’ moon! It's a surreal turn in the story, but fitting in its themes and commentary.

#10: The Phantom of the Bwahpera

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“Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle” (2017) The first “Mario + Rabbids” was a surprising treat and quickly established itself as one of the best games to play on Nintendo Switch. One highlight in particular was this boss fight in the game’s third world. The Phantom of the Bwahpera puts on the performance of a lifetime, using his operatic prowess to sing and push you around the map to keep you from disabling his spotlights. But the best bits were the couple of cutscenes where the Phantom sings a melody of smacktalk towards Mario while throwing in some clever references to the plumber’s previous adventures.

“Deadly Premonition” series (2010-) “Deadly Premonition” is just a total enigma in the realm of video games. The characters are so…out there that all logic has to be tossed out the window, and Forrest Kayson is a prime example. Here is this seemingly jolly salesman turned serial killer who suddenly turns demonic and mutates several times throughout the final moments of the game. Then, in “Deadly Premonition 2”, he’s flapping his arms around like a goofy bird. What is this man…demon…thing? More importantly, what was director SWERY doing when he came up with this character?

“Undertale” (2015) “Undertale” already has a drastically different approach to the typical RPG formula, and that’s certainly evident in the fight against Mettaton. The first phase of the fight forces you to blast through barriers like a level of “Galaxian”. The second phase is where things get crazy as an audience rating is thrown into the battle and Mettaton begins asking bizarre questions. And throughout the whole fight, Mettaton is frantically posing with those long and thin legs. It was another boss that had us asking, “What the heck is going on in this game?”

“Cuphead” (2017) Much like “Undertale”, “Cuphead” has a lot of strange stuff going on with its character designs and boss battles. Street fighting frogs, a puppeteering genie, a blimp lady that turns into a moon… How can this game get more outlandish? How about a sentient salt shaker that attacks with sentient food? Yeah, that’ll do it, and Chef Saltbaker is absolutely vicious! He straight up murders food in the background of the first phase, conjures monstrous pepper shakers in the second, and caps off the fight as a colossal salt soulnado in the third phase. The absolute madness on display is just overwhelming!

“The House of the Dead: Overkill” (2009) If you haven’t had the great pleasure of playing “The House of the Dead: Overkill” or its alternate “Typing” version, well…it’s, uh…it’s a game alright! And it’s more screwed up than most games we typically cover. Just look at the final boss, Mother. She originally poses as a young and sexy woman with the back of her brain exposed, but a few bullets get her riled up enough to turn into a massive and grotesque beast. Yeah, it’s totally ridiculous - ridiculously disgusting. “House of the Dead”, ladies and germs!

“Catherine” (2011) This is, without a doubt, the strangest game to come from “Shin Megami” developer Atlus, and it is mainly because of the boss fights. Catherine herself is egregiously absurd, but the Child With Chainsaw ultimately outdoes the titular antagonist. Just look at this thing. It’s a cyborg baby with a giant chainsaw for an arm! Sure, it isn’t the most vile thing we’ve seen on this list, not compared to what we just saw from “House of the Dead”. But really - a Terminator-looking baby with a chainsaw arm? What?

“Metal Gear Solid” (1998) You know we had to put Psycho Mantis on here. He’s one of the most famously bizarre boss fights we have ever had to take on. For those unfamiliar, Psycho Mantis had this mechanic that required you to interact directly with your PlayStation in order to defeat him. On top of that, he would read your memory card and taunt you directly about the games you had played. Had our next three boss fights never happened, we would probably throw him into our top spot. Breaking the fourth wall doesn’t net you a win that easily, Mantis. We still love you, though.

“Bayonetta 2” (2014) When it comes to completely ridiculous bosses in action games, none come close to the “Bayonetta” games. The fight against Valor is a perfect example of this. Just think about it: you’re a sexy witch who can fly and uses her hair and feet pistols to attack a headless knight whose face is also his shield and he is the size of a freakin’ skyscraper. Oh, and the two of you duke it out while falling down what feels like an endless number of stories before finishing it off underwater. Are we missing anything?

#2: Bob the Killer Goldfish

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“Earthworm Jim 2” (1995) Vicious only in name, and we can’t imagine he tastes decent. C-grade meal - scaly and flaky, but not enough salt.

#1: The Great Mighty Poo

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“Conker’s Bad Fur Day” (2001) Face it - we all knew there is not a single boss character out there who could ever top the Great Mighty Poo. We are talking about a sentient pile of poo who can sing opera better than most people could, was prepared to terrorize an entire civilization of dung beetles, and mercilessly feasts on annoying kernels of sweet corn. And the funny thing is that he still manages to be defeated by some squirrel that’s just wandering around and trying to get home. What part of this boss fight isn’t screaming “ridiculous”?