Top 20 Worst Final Bosses In Great Games

“No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle” (2010)

The final battle against Travis’ brother Henry Cooldown in the original “No More Heroes” was one of the most badass in gaming history, so to say this one was disappointing is an understatement. Throughout the whole game, Travis is seeking out revenge on who killed his pal Bishop, and it ends up being this dweeb with his hovering vehicle. If that wasn’t lame enough, his cartoonish superhero second form is insanely cheap, with broken undodgeable attacks. The cherry on top is his final gigantic mascot form, which you just wail on until it’s over. Not only is this one of the worst boss fights ever, but the most disappointing as well.

“Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back” (1997)

Crash and Neo Cortex have had some fantastic battles over the years, but sadly this is not one of them. After making your way through some incredibly challenging levels, Crash will finally battle his arch nemesis. Except this doesn’t really happen as Neo Cortex just flies away without even attacking Crash once. All the player has to do is follow him on an extremely simple path, avoiding meteorites and then spinning into him three times once they are close enough. Why he didn’t put up more of a fight we don’t know!

“Half-Life” (1998)

The Xen area at the end of Half Life was already incredibly poorly received by fans of the game, and this final boss just made things even worse. Floating in the middle of an open area, Nihilanth is a bullet sponge who will constantly fire balls of light at you as well as teleport you to other places. Eventually its head will open up, and you’ll be tasked with finding a way to damage it all while dodging its incredibly annoying attacks. Thankfully, this boss fight was made infinitely more engaging by Crowbar Collective in the “Black Mesa” remake.

“Demon's Souls” (2009)

After defeating what many at first thought to be the final boss “Old King Allant”, the player must journey below the nexus to take on his true form. As it turns out, King Alant has mutated into a disgusting ball of flesh, who can barely move, let alone attack. This pitiful creature slowly crawls around the area and makes some of the most pathetic strikes you’ll ever see in video games. The battle doesn’t last very long as he’s completely open to your onslaught of attacks. For a game filled with tough bosses, this one was certainly a massive shock.

“Street Fighter IV” (2009)

The fighting game genre is no stranger to almost impossible to beat final bosses designed to take your quarters and “Street Fighter IV” was no exception. This genetically engineered fighter has been programmed to react to the player's input, meaning it will always have an answer to whatever way you try to fight them. Seth also possesses an annoying teleport ability, meaning they can appear right behind you, throwing off your directional inputs and immediately grabbing you. Making matters worse is their vortex that will pull you towards them, as well as their vast array of moves taken from other characters such as a sonic boom that doesn’t require a charge and a Shoryuken that hits three times.

“Sonic Generations” (2011)

The best 3D sonic game in years unfortunately did not seal the deal with its final boss. After making their way through classic stages in the franchise, the two Sonics finally confront their Eggman counterparts alongside the Time Eater. What follows is a confusing final boss fight that gives you absolutely no guidance on what the heck you’re supposed to be doing. The battle is essentially you pressing random buttons until the game decides to advance itself. Couple this with trying to gather rings to stay in the fight and the annoying repeating voice lines and you have the worst Sonic final boss in the franchise.

“Assassin's Creed II” (2009)

After assassinating his way through multiple villains, fan favorite Ezio finally confronts the root of all the evil happening in the game; the Pope himself. Instead of using all the skills and equipment he has gained throughout his journey, our hero bizarrely opts to instead have a boxing match against Rodrigo Borgia. This battle is essentially just a generic guard enemy with a massively inflated HP bar and a few different attack animations. The boss fight ends with Ezio choking him out and then deciding not to kill him, which just feels insanely out of character.

“Uncharted: Drake's Fortune” (2007)

“Uncharted: Drake's Fortune” was an excellent first entry to what is now a mega franchise, but this final encounter left a lot of people thinking “that was it?”. In a dramatic showdown on top of a cargo ship, Drake must take out the mercenaries all the while avoiding Navarro’s annoying attacks. Once you chase him down to the end of the boat, all Nate has to do is hide behind some boxes and then get close enough to hit him with the dreaded quick time punches. Immediately follow that up with another round of punches and the boss fight is over, leaving much to be desired.

“Halo 4” (2012)

The Halo franchise is not exactly known for it’s memorable boss fights, but the fourth entry took things a step further and elected to make something downright awful with this clash against the Didact. Hyped up as the unbeatable big bad throughout the game, when Master Chief finally confronts him, instead of your standard-fare FPS boss fight, you’re subjected to the dullest quick time event you could ever imagine. Master Chief is supposed to be a powerful super soldier, but seeing him struggle in what is essentially a cutscene with a few button presses was just pathetic.

“Fable II” (2008)

It’s the epic final showdown between the protagonist and the dastardly Lucien Fairfax who has antagonized us throughout the game. As he gives his evil pre-battle speech, you’re prompted to just shoot him, taking him out in one hit and instantly ending the battle. Even if you decide not to shoot him, Reaver will do it for you instead. We know exactly what they were going for here, and admittedly it is quite funny. But after everything we’ve been through in this game we would have rather they used this punchline on another boss and not the dramatic finale against the main antagonist right at the end.

“Far Cry 3” (2012)

We start this list off with a real head scratcher: why is Hoyt the final boss in this game when it already has one of the best, most sinister bad guys in gaming history in Vaas Montenegro? Seriously, please give us an answer… Vaas’ “definition of insanity” cutscene still gives us chills nearly six years later, and gives us a bit of trepidation when thinking of replaying this game again. He’s one evil dude! Hoyt, on the other hand, comes out of nowhere dressed in a nice suit and is dispatched largely through quick time events. We prefer Vaas, thank you very much.

“Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor” (2014)

Yet another final boss that’s done away with using quick time events… This one is especially disappointing, however, considering all the incredibly cool and novel enemy encounters due to the game’s excellent Nemesis System. There are plenty of regular battles with high-ranking Uruk in this game that had more tension and excitement than the final battle against The Black Hand. Luckily, after he’s defeated, we could hop right back into the gameplay and do battle with more rival baddies on route to creating even more enemy adversaries. Heck, even retreating from enemies is more fun than battling The Black Hand thanks to the Nemesis System.

“Final Fantasy X” (2001)

So, let’s get this straight: an immortal being that tormented Earth for centuries as the creator of Sin appears in the final battle as… a tick? Strike one. And, for some reason, all members of our party have auto health, so basically this final encounter is one we cannot lose? And… strike two. “Final Fantasy 10” is an epic adventure, but we wish that the battle against Braska’s Final Aeon was the final boss – though many consider it to be just that – instead of Yu Yevon. There’s just something lacking in a game where the final encounter is one that’s ultimately already decided.

“Borderlands” (2009)

All that talk of vaults and treasure only to end up doing battle with a generic blob with an even more generic name. Yes, the lead up to the final battle with The Destroyer is magical in “Borderlands” due to gun customization and a great sense of humor, but the final battle itself leaves much to be desired. The Destroyer is basically just a giant immovable target that requires endless amounts of ammunition pumped into him with little to no creativity whatsoever. Our advice is to tackle this baddie with a friend who can penetrate his shield so it’s not so time consuming and frustrating.

“Fallout 3” (2008)

For a long-awaited battle with the diabolical man who killed your father, we’d expect it to last just a little longer and offer a challenge. But, by the time we reach Colonel Autumn in “Fallout 3” we’re so overpowered that this final boss fight is almost laughable. Sure, there are final bosses that are too hard and too much of a challenge, which makes them a poor note to end the game on, but – in all honesty – we’d prefer that to a final baddie who’s just way, way to easy. Give the guy some armor or superpowers or something!

“Mass Effect 2” (2010)

This game won many awards upon its release in 2010 including Best RPG and Best Xbox 360 Game at the Spike Video Game Awards, with many people considering it to be a damn near perfect game. But (there’s always a but isn’t there?) critics and fans alike were not impressed with the final boss encounter with this giant human-robot hybrid thingie that looks like something out of “The Terminator.” For all the grand mythology in this game, we expected something a little more unique and “space-agey” and not something that looks like it’s out of an Early 90s arcade shooter.

“The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” (2011)

Oh, how we love “Skyrim”… The first-person exploration, the cave-dwelling battles with evildoers and the amazing storyline are some of the finest moments in gaming. But the final encounter with Alduin is pathetically easy and anti-climatic seeing as you have a swarm of NPCs accompanying you. We prefer the first battle against the giant dragon as it’s much harder, and Alduin seems like a genuine threat. The fact we had to face him again had us worried, but ultimately it was a bit of a let down as there are much harder and more interesting battles to be found in the game’s open environments.

“Super Mario Galaxy 2” (2010)

We’ve squared off against the big bad Bowser so many times now that we need something unique and special to take place in order for it to stay exciting. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen in “Super Mario Galaxy 2” as Bowser is far too easy to hold any clout as a final boss. Despite being big in size, he’s really just one more enemy to stomp before the final credits roll. But, at least the triumphant music and neat presentation were pretty cool, right? We could listen to this all day!

“BioShock” (2007)

Another example of a nearly perfect game held back by its final boss battle. After a very creepy, intriguing game, Frank Fontaine feels weirdly out of place – almost like the developers just wanted a big hulking boss fight for the sake of a big hulking boss fight. And unfortunately, defeating him is a complete bore, as it’s basically a “rinse and repeat” formula of dodging attacks and draining his life bar. We were hoping for something much more imaginative and unique. To be honest, we had more fun whacking around Andrew Ryan with his own cane. But, that’s just us!

“Batman: Arkham Asylum” (2009)

We’re still wondering how this final boss fight got so messed up. We were given an amazing Batman game in “Arkham Asylum” and our favorite villain in Joker to boot, but then they go and turn him into some weird Bane-like rip off? Why not just fight, umm you know, Bane? And beating him wasn’t that much fun either, as the swarms of regular enemies were much harder than anything the Joker put forth in this battle. The Clown Prince is such an intelligent and cunning enemy that it was disappointing to see him downgraded to just a hulking beast.