Best Ever End Boss?

[ATB]

Inspired by Farley's thread...

I reckon there should be spoiler alerts...if you provide too much detail.

Original Legend of Zelda Spoiler:

Gannon in the original Legend of Zelda was a perfect end boss.  You had to figure out the right combo and then blast him with the silver arrow.  I remember beating him and calling up my friend to come over and see.

End LOZ spoiler

Actually all the bosses in LoZ were pretty remarkable.

Additionally, for whatever reason, I really enjoyed the last boss fight in Ninja Gaiden.

[semiconscious]

Actually all the bosses in LoZ were pretty remarkable.

resident evil's come up with some great ones, &, for recent games, the one in snake eater is as memorable as any i can think of, but, yeah, as far as consistently tough-but-fair, over-the-top final bosses, the zelda series was my first thought too...

[whiteboyskim]

I got a big thrill out of the finale of Half-Life 2, but the original's "boss" was stupid beyond belief. I love the final boss in PoP: Sands of Time, mainly because it is what it is - you versus a 70-year-old vizier with TB. But I'm hard-pressed to really think of a "final boss fight" that I either enjoyed or thought was worth the time. Take Kefka from FFVI, for example. There were stages to that one, and as members of my team would fall and be replaced, I had to change my attack/defense strategies based on who was left. It was an epic battle, but it seemed to go on forever for the sake of going on forever.

Same with Sephiroth in FFVII, however a buddy of mine couldn't get past him for whatever reason but he had picked up the Knights of the Round materia. I played it and beat Seph down in under 10 minutes just from casting that.

[depward]

Zeromus from FFIV.  I'm not going to bother with "spoilers" and such, seeing as how if someone has played FFIV then they know the TRUE best end-game boss ever.

It was so awesome how it was set-up too.  Everyone that you knew came back and "prayed" for you, which in turn gave you the energy and hit points back from practically being dead.  He was laughably easy in the SNES version but tough as nails for the psx one.

FFVI also had a GREAT GREAT last boss battle.  Good music too.

Xenosaga II didn't have that great of a last boss battle.  But the ending movie/cinematic was REALLY great!  It makes me really want a Xenosaga III to come out.

[semiconscious]

Take Kefka from FFVI, for example. There were stages to that one, and as members of my team would fall and be replaced, I had to change my attack/defense strategies based on who was left. It was an epic battle, but it seemed to go on forever for the sake of going on forever.

just played ffvi for the first time last year, & was really glad i beat kefka first time out - that was a grind! also did the kotr against sephiroth, which was sooo devastating (my vote for 'most devastating attack in a final boss battle') it kinda spoiled things...

&, as far as ff in general, my single favorite/toughest boss battle wasn't a final boss, it was yunalesca from ffx - for some reason, she just owned me...

[mytocles]

not exactly a "boss" battle, but it felt like it:  i still remember the moment (3 AM, no doubt) that i finally beat level 20 High on Dr. Mario, to unlock the final "mini-movie".  the glorious 8-bit clip unfolded - and it felt like a religious experience.  it's all about the gameplay, sometimes at least!

[Kevin Grey]

Definitely the final battle in MGS 3- by a mile.

Other recent notables:

Another from MGS 3- The End

The first boss battle in RE4- it was so cinematic it was practically a game in itself.  

The final battle in FFVI was okay- it was certainly epic and I was fortunate enough to beat it on the second try but I also found it rather stressful- then again I was also trying to beat the game before 2am on a work night.

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

It was so awesome how it was set-up too.  Everyone that you knew came back and "prayed" for you, which in turn gave you the energy and hit points back from practically being dead.  He was laughably easy in the SNES version but tough as nails for the psx one.

That reminds me alot of Earthbound for the SNES.  The final boss is basically invincible--however, there's a girl in your party who can use a 'Pray' command to occasionally get random beneficial things done to the party... except, when you 'Pray' in this final combat, a cutscene occurs where other people start praying for you too.  You have to execute the 'Pray' command like ten times in a row--the first time, it's just like Ness's parents praying for him, but as you keep praying, more and more people join in the prayer til the entire planet is praying for Ness's victory against this alien menace.  And with each new 'Prayer' level, the boss starts taking more and more damage until, when the world is united, it's obliterated with something like tens of thousands of damage.

Definitely the most emotional final combat sequence I've ever experienced.

Lavos from Chrono Trigger is also fantastic, just because of the mechanic of when you defeat him and the effect it has on the surviving world's chronology.  Though, arguably, Queen Zeal and the Black Omen is a better fight.

[Dimmona]

Zelda 64: OoT was about as perfect as an end confrontation(s) could be.  Both parts of the battle were awesome, but the final battle on top of the tower was about as climactic and cinematic of a boss battle as I can remember.

More recently, the end boss for the first level in Resident Evil 4 was supremely awesome...

Edit: Oh yeah, the other end boss thread reminded me that you can't have a 'best end boss' list without including Mike Tyson's Punch-Out.  Hardest (but best) boss ever!

[Qbert]

Baldur's Gate 1 & 2

Kicked my ass for sure.

doh!
my bad, didn't pay attention to being in consoles...not pc gaming.

[depward]

It was so awesome how it was set-up too.  Everyone that you knew came back and "prayed" for you, which in turn gave you the energy and hit points back from practically being dead.  He was laughably easy in the SNES version but tough as nails for the psx one.

Lavos from Chrono Trigger is also fantastic, just because of the mechanic of when you defeat him and the effect it has on the surviving world's chronology.  Though, arguably, Queen Zeal and the Black Omen is a better fight.

Yeah the battle with Lavos is a good one!  Also I thought it was pretty unreal how there were so many different "endings" when it came out on the SNES.

And maybe I'm committing a crime, but I've never tried Earthbound   :?   Always heard stuff about it.  I'll have to give it a try sometime then.