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[Squid Party]

What makes a good boss fight, loads of explosions, lots of action, who knows.
How long should a boss fight be?
How hard should be?
What is every ones view on boss fights, do you hate them or love them?
Put your opinion here!
feel free to write anything related!

[Paul Eres]

the answer is that konjak makes a good boss fight

http://www.konjak.org/

[peanutbuttershoes]

so stop trying

[baconman]

TIGSearch is the boss you just can't beat.

[Noah!]

Don't we have one of these topics like every six months? Anyway, I'll let you figure this one out on your own, with some great games to help prod your thinking in the right direction:

* Play Alien Soldier until your fingers bleed.
* Then play Rocket Knight Adventures until they are reduced to stumps.
* Then play Hellsinker. Make sure to 1cc it, because all of the good bosses are in the latter half of the game.
* Now play the rest of Treasure's library (excluding possibly Ikaruga and its dinner roll of doom)
* Oh, and Yoshi's Island too.
* Go back to Step 1 and repeat, until the enlightenment comes.

[FTLRalph]

I figure I'll throw this in here.  It's a conclusion I've come to that I haven't yet applied yet (haven't had the chance).

Now, assuming you're talking about a 2D platformer boss (though it works with 3D too), I'd say it's important to make sure the player needs to HAVE to move - nearly constantly.

For example, have a "never-ending" floor where the boss is chasing the player while they fight, have the floor shift / slant and the player needs to move or be hurt, or maybe even have stuff to dodge fall from the ceiling, etc...

I find this is a common theme in some of my favorite boss fights, and it makes for more interesting and challenging gameplay.

[Painting]

Don't we have one of these topics like every six months? Anyway, I'll let you figure this one out on your own, with some great games to help prod your thinking in the right direction:

* Play Alien Soldier until your fingers bleed.
* Then play Rocket Knight Adventures until they are reduced to stumps.
* Then play Hellsinker. Make sure to 1cc it, because all of the good bosses are in the latter half of the game.
* Now play the rest of Treasure's library (excluding possibly Ikaruga and its dinner roll of doom)
* Oh, and Yoshi's Island too.
* Go back to Step 1 and repeat, until the enlightenment comes.

Noah is consistently the best poster on these forums, and this post confirms it. Do these things Dan.

[Squid Party]

Don't we have one of these topics like every six months? Anyway, I'll let you figure this one out on your own, with some great games to help prod your thinking in the right direction:

* Play Alien Soldier until your fingers bleed.
* Then play Rocket Knight Adventures until they are reduced to stumps.
* Then play Hellsinker. Make sure to 1cc it, because all of the good bosses are in the latter half of the game.
* Now play the rest of Treasure's library (excluding possibly Ikaruga and its dinner roll of doom)
* Oh, and Yoshi's Island too.
* Go back to Step 1 and repeat, until the enlightenment comes.

Thanks guys very helpful especially you noah

[Derek]

When the boss isn't completely invincible except for its tiny weak point which you have to open by either:

1. Getting it to charge/attack you and crash into a wall/spikes
2. Throwing something back at it
3. Destroying all of its tentacles/testicles/whatever

The boss should not create a bunch of popcorn enemies after each of the 3-5 times you blast the weak spot in a futile attempt to make the fight more interesting.

[C.A. Sinner]

imo a good boss fight should make you use the game's mechanics in unusual ways. "puzzle bosses" (think zelda and sotc) can be fun too.

i dislike bosses that are, mechanically, just tougher versions of normal enemies (ex: assassins creed). also most "minigame bosses" (i.e. bosses that have their own game mechanics) because it just seems like a cheap way to add "variety." though it CAN work if done well.

[PANPOMMA]

Alright, I'll have a go.



How long should a boss fight be?
I think a boss should last at maximum fifteen minutes, but if you happen to know how to beat it, it should take five minutes. What I mean is there shouldn't be any cutscene transformations or, and I hate this, refilling health bars once you think you've beaten the thing. It'd be cool if it transformed in front of you as you played though. After dying to the boss a couple of times, which I think the player should, they will have the knowledge needed to wipe the floor with it.

How hard should be?
Depends on the game, in a 2D platform game without a run and gun play-style? Easy as heck, with the emphasis on platforming past the boss, not beating it up. For a a 3D on rails shooter, they should be very hard, as shooting is pretty much how you interact with the world.

What is every ones view on boss fights, do you hate them or love them?
They're great, just as I've said, only when they're an intense showing of the game's formula.

Put your opinion here!
feel free to write anything related!
What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk...have at you!

[J-Snake]

In my vision of a metroid-like game a cool bossfight is one that requires you to smartly use your environment and weapon-combinations.

It cannot get better and cooler than that. That is just one reason why a metroid-rethought utilizing this dimension of depth will own.

[Geeze]

Well the boss shouldn't be easier than the rest of the level.

[Squid Party]

In my vision of a metroid-like game a cool bossfight is one that requires you to smartly use your environment and weapon-combinations.

It cannot get better and cooler than that. That is just one reason why a metroid-rethought utilizing this dimension of depth will own.

I really like your idea 

[forwardresent]

I like bosses that feel like bosses.

Like in Shadow of the Colossus, each fight with one of them was a puzzle in itself, and when you took it down it actually felt like you had destroyed something colossal.