The Video Game Critic

Simple: Best final boss songs from a video game.


WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS

Donkey Kong Country 2: Crocodile Cacophony-I actually prefer this over Gangplank Galleon, and it perfectly sets the tone after a tough as nails quest just to get to Kaptain K. Rool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svsX8wk0aLk


Paper Mario: Final Boss-
The third and final fight with Bowser (best 2 out of 3) includes an incredibly sinister song displaying Bowser's power and the task at hand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrO3hfyfBds


Super Mario 64-From a mostly mysterious synth oriented soundtrack, this one comes as a shock, with haunting organs sounding like something Bach would compose. It sounds like no other Final Boss music before or after, and that's part of why it's so great.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6YwX03nFQM

Sonic 3 & Knuckles: Final Boss/Doomsday Zone-Yes, I cheated and included 2 songs into one. The first one sounds like an arena rock anthem, while the 2nd demonstrates the peak of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise with an adrenaline rushing beat and an extremely satisfying conclusion to the original trilogy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyDc1H0GrPw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfuv444YAxk


Earthbound: Pokey Means Business-Sounding like no other, the first part is straight out of a NES game, then it suddenly breaks into a Pantera-esque thrash with snare drums that sound as authentic as it gets on the SNES. Don't even get me started on Giygas' music. That's for another story (if you know what I mean...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4z82byt5mA


Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis): The Final Fight-Maybe it doesn't "fit" for a final boss theme, but it still sounds awesome to me. Listen on headphones to understand how awesome the bass drum is for this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eko8B2xXLQM


Plok: Boss-Yes, it's the same theme as the normal boss music (final boss doesn't have its own theme), but it sounds so damn good I'm posting it anyways. FEEL THE 1990S' WITH THIS TECHNO RAVE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peuTnilEv9g




If I think of more, I'll post them. Let's hear yours!

Hmm... let me see...

Guardando Nel Buio from Kingdom Hearts 1. The dramatic opening is the perfect representation of how a formerly light hearted game just became serious as hell. "Darkness conquers all worlds!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT3QkhpS3-8

One Winged Angel from Final Fantasy VII. Perhaps the most widely recognized boss theme in video game (or at least RPG) history. I'll include both the original version from the game and the heavy metal version from the Advent Children movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7wJ8pE2qKU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_MW65XxS7s

Darkness of the Unknown from Kingdom Hearts 2. The way it starts out, it doesn't sound all that much different from any other boss theme, but a little more than halfway through there's a sudden shift in the tone when Riku gets injured and Sora has to take up both keyblades and finish Xemas off on his own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns3c1yAc3iY

Caius' Theme from Final Fantasy XIII-2. In a game where most of the fight themes are fast and energetic, you know somethin's goin' down when Caius shows up with his dark, brooding theme song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8vXYBEvSow

Shadowlord from Nier. I'm always saying that Nier has the greatest game soundtrack of all time, so how could I NOT put it's final boss theme in my list?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IEbfDtDaUc

Battle for a Future to Believe in from Tales of Xillia. Everything you've been fighting for over the course of this epic 75 hour story comes down to the line in this one last battle. Of course, Gaius is just as much a pushover as any other enemy in this game, but this epic orchestral piece is the perfect background between a band of friends going against the (supposedly) most powerful man in the world in hand to hand combat to decide the fate of two worlds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejga2ni4wzY



Wow. Every single one of these came from a JRPG. That wasn't even intentional. I guess that shows you what my video taste in video games is like!