The Video Game Critic

I notice in a lot of reviews when the VGC mentions boss-fights, he mentions how outdated and sucky boss-fights are. Does the VGC have something against boss-fights?

(I didn't know where to put this topic, just asking a question.)

Maybe, he hated Contra: Shattered Soldier because there was too much emphasis on the bosses.

I think I'm just jaded when it comes to bosses.

It used to be a treat to face an awesome boss.  Remember the mother ship in the Phoenix arcade game?

Then the bosses kept getting harder, more repetitive, and wore out their welcome.  

Who wants to keep firing and dodging the same patterns for 15 minutes?

Now days, I think "less is more" when it comes to bosses.

Is that why you like Mario games so much because their bossfights completely suck they're simple and easy to beat? (This forum needs a Strikethrough option to make it easier to tell when people are joking.)

Bosses are personally my favorite part of videogames. I don't like taking a LOOONG time fighting a boss (unless the boss looks really cool), but I also don't like bosses that are over in seconds, either. I like bosses with unique strategies, often change things up, and take a good two or three minutes to beat. I don't like bosses with predictable strategies and only take three hits to beat.

That's my view on boss fights.

I really think boss fights are some of the defining moments of certain genres while in others it really doesn't matter. In strategy RPG/traditional RPG games boss fights can be a defining point of those types of games. Remember Magus's theme on Chrono Trigger? Great song and one of the most epic RPG battles I've ever had. Also platforming games tend to have boss fights that really are a big part of the game. You spend all stage clawing your way to them (or in some you just start the battle) and those games tend to be all about memorizing patterns and landing hits when the boss is available. Shmups are another strong genre with boss fights. Those almost always come at the end of a stage, guns a blazing.

Really most genres incorporate boss fights into their games and they can be epic when done right. Still, I think games tend to go wrong when it comes to bosses overstaying their welcome. Yes they should be epic and force you to incorporate everything you have learned, but at the same time I think boss battles that go on for like half an hour, taking miniscule damage, with unfair advantages, are not fun at all. Also, (this applies more to retro gaming) when a boss battle is all the way after a very long stage, and when you die you immediately have to redo the whole stage just to fight them again. I hate that. That is absolutely ridiculous and adds unnecessary frustration to a game.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkCqxKFYOJo[/video]

Supporting the Critics view see the above simply wonderful game Phoenix.

Yeah, but that's not to say bosses can't be done right. In fact, I'd rather have long and repetitive bossfights than no bossfights at all.

Now I see why he hated Chaos Field so much...it was all boss fighting.