Ok so epic boss fights is one thing that JRPGs do do well, for instance, each stage of the last ultimacia battle in FF8 had me going oh snap...what now?! hugely epic.

All the fights in MGS4 really suited the game, and the bosses were really messed up, but what really takes the biscuit for me is

The MGS series actually had some great ones...sniper wolf in MGS1 i mean wow, awesome, both times. MGS2, that sword fight in Manhatten vs Solidus was so atmospheric and a great climax, in the same way the fight with liquid on top of REX in MGS1 was.

Diablo II had a great one too, fighting Diablo (although i was dissapointed with baal and most of the others actually) was pretty cool

Nothing else really stands out that much.

I liked Scorpian from the original Spiderman game, Scorpian from Spiderman movie Video game and any boss which isnt unavoidable to the point of being fustrating.

If it counts as a boss, the 1000 heartless battle in Kingdom Hearts II was awesome.

Devil May Cry has had a ton of great boss battles. One of the greatest was Agni and Rudra, but the best in my opinion was the third battle against Vergil. It was almost impossible to for me to beat, but it was always fun. It really felt like an epic final fight between Dante and Vergil, and it was really rewarding when I finally won.

Star Wolf battles in StarFox 64 were so much fun. I was young at the time, but the idea that I was actually outmaneuvering a rival to the point where he was saying "Where'd he go?" was really compelling.

Another great boss fight was that big yellow Golem in the original NES Megaman. His pattern was difficult, but after a few tries you more or less hit it like a pro. Nailing that rhythm and watching his health get chipped down was really satisfying

All the Organization XIII battles deserve a spot on someone's list, but Demyx stood out for me because he was the first one Sora fought, against an eccentric sitarist who even ADMITS that he prefers dancing over fighting. Yet he's still an epic trial, or at least a roadblock on Proud mode. First time took many retries, and after that I was like "***dayamn. If he's the weakest of Org. XIII just THINK of what the strongest members will be like... Parlay?"

Not sure if this counts as a 'boss battle' but more recently I was extremely satisfied when I beat Mission 20 in the latest Advance Wars, 'Lin's Gambit'. There's a time limit and Admiral Greyfield's a tough customer on the open seas, but he's also someone you really want to beat down HARD for all the BS he's thrown your way. Well done, Lin.

I enjoyed The End, from MGS 3, but I kept getting beaten by him so I just saved and quit. I came back three days and SUPRISE! SUPRISE! He had died from old age. I also enjoyed the flying fight sequence with General Tsao in Sly 3 was pretty sweet (but pretty easy)

-Fighting Volvagia from OoT was a blast
-Satisfying to beat emporer Sauzer and the dragon Alexander from Bahamut Lagoon
-Magus from Chrono Trigger was rather satisfying and made of epic
-Emeral and Ruby weapon are a pain in the ass but beating just makes you wanna go "booya mother fucker!!"
-Magma Dragoon from mega man X4 was tough but exilerating
-Fighting Genesis, sephiroth, Ifrit, and Bahamut in crisis core are all fun and fast paced battles

Fighting Lou on Expert in Guitar Hero 3.

Cramps... CRAMPS! CARPAL TUNNEL!

Any boss from Painkiller.

They were fucking huuuuuge !

And nasty on higher difficulties

WhiteFangofWar:
All the Organization XIII battles deserve a spot on someone's list, but Demyx stood out for me because he was the first one Sora fought, against an eccentric sitarist who even ADMITS that he prefers dancing over fighting. Yet he's still an epic trial, or at least a roadblock on Proud mode. First time took many retries, and after that I was like "***dayamn. If he's the weakest of Org. XIII just THINK of what the strongest members will be like... Parlay?"

Not sure if this counts as a 'boss battle' but more recently I was extremely satisfied when I beat Mission 20 in the latest Advance Wars, 'Lin's Gambit'. There's a time limit and Admiral Greyfield's a tough customer on the open seas, but he's also someone you really want to beat down HARD for all the BS he's thrown your way. Well done, Lin.

Arg! Demyx! The first you fight, but possibly the hardest one (with Xigbar and Xemnas trailing a close 2nd and 3rd)!

This

SenseOfTumour:
Yeah. its not THE greatest, but before 'Colossus', Painkiller, last level of Act 1, you awaken in a graveyard, start running around grabbing stuff, then you see.. what appears to be a huge leg.

You look up...and up...and up, and somewhere in the sky is a passive face staring down.

Damn that guy was huge!

That boss was absolutely fantastic. After 10,000 demons worth of levels, you wind up in the most open space ever and think, "Okay, this is different..." and then the ground starts shaking, you look up and your heart drops.

Bocca:
Shodan from system shock 2 :>

"Look at you hacker pathetic creature of meat and bone.."

SHODAN is really a better antagonist than an end boss, as the fight just doesn't match up to the claustrophobia it's built for so long. Not to mention that the ending, after such a masterful dynamic between you and SHODAN ends with you saying "Nah" is one of the most anticlimactic, disappointing endings in video game history.

KneeLord:
The Fallout 1 & 2 bosses were suitably awesome; Lieutenant, The Master, Frank Horrigan. Partly because they all had some interesting dialouge to go along with a challenging fight.

No doubt - the Lieutenant is my personal favorite, mainly because by killing him you had something to gain you didn't even appreciate until the end: a nuclear warhead activation key. The Master was fantastic because of the atmosphere of the Cathedral and the stark parallel to the Overseer, but you could basically bypass him altogether if you wanted and just nuke the place. Horrigan is certainly an archetype boss with giant gun and blade, and probably one of the hardest SOBs ever. If you don't have the computer skill to reroute the turrets or the charisma to get Sgt. Granite's team, you're not gonna make it out alive.

Since they haven't been mentioned, I have to give a shout-out to the bosses of the original "Half-Life." The squid beast dwelling under the rocket that you had to figure out how to activate was a personal favorite, as is the massive abomination that is Nihilanth.

Honorable mentions go also to Sarevok of "Baldur's Gate" and the Dark Jedi of "Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight."

The Final Boss in Streets of Rage, me and my friend still have never managed to beat that bastard.

Xemnas and Sephiroth were the only bosses in KH2 that gave me problems in Proud Mode. That and the first encounter with that big heartless during your first visit to the Pride Lands. F***ing thing killed me in three hits.

In JRPG's, I'd have to say that the battle with Nyx Avatar (Persona 3) was frackin' awesome. The music was also one of the best end-fight BGM's I've ever heard.

Colossus 13 was the best fight for me in Shadow of the Colossus, simply because of the fact that you needed Agro to go to its side, JUMP from Agro to its wing, find its weakspot then whack it there. The game was pretty much a collection of EPIC bossfights, but 13 was the most epic of them all.

Yeah, The Great Mighty Poo was cool. That monstrous ship in R-type, though I don't really like having to memorize Boss patterns to beat them. The Rai-Den bosses were awesome.

Serious_Stalin:
The Final Boss in Streets of Rage, me and my friend still have never managed to beat that bastard.

A friend and I toasted him on Hardest, 3 lives, no continues. He was Axel, I was Max. You need Max in there to do the back-breaker move on Mr. X. Trena and I almost finished it; Mr. X was down to 1 star. She was playing Skate, me Max.

almost any boss in ninja gaiden 2 on whatever the hardest difficulty is(the one you unlock not default hardest)

I don't know about great, but the last battle with gannondorf in twilight princess was hilarious. You can distract him with the fishing pole if you get tired of fighting. :)

Richard Groovy Pants:
Muru.

Anyone who guesses where that bastard's from gets a cookie.

According to a google search: WoW?

Richard Groovy Pants:

Lukeje:

Richard Groovy Pants:
Muru.

Anyone who guesses where that bastard's from gets a cookie.

According to a google search: WoW?

Yes, but I'm not happy with that answer, you should have lied and take that google bit away >:|

.....Fine take the cookie.

What, and make it look like I actually play WoW? No way. And thanks for the cookie. Wanna split it?

Vergil fights in DMC3

Saren(Mass Effect)
The Master(Fallout)
Psycho Mantis(Metal Gear Solid)
General Raam(Gears of War)
Darth Revan(Knights of the Old Republic)
Sephiroth(Final Fantasy VII)
Magus(Chrono Trigger)
Ridley(Super Metroid)

Alma from NG. Basically any boss from that game was pretty nifty come to think of it.

Other than that i've never actually played a boss that's been more than just run wait for super move dodge and then wail away for a few hits.

- Most if not all the boss fights in I Wanna Be The Guy. So frustratingly difficult as to make you scream for the blood of the game's programmer, but all ultimately beatable (and awesome).

- The second Scarab fight of Halo 3 has special memories for me. Not because of any particular design, but because there was a ramp there. And a warthog. And I got the bright idea to try a Dukes of Hazzard approach to things, doing the theme from Dukes as we flew... stuck the landing, we ran around each side of the thing, met up at the core, stuck it, and ran like hell. I managed to stick the landing back off of the Scarab too... it was sweet.

That little midget guy from Resident Evil 4. I don't remember how many times it took for me to kill him, and I think he was harder than the final boss. I'm not very good with remembering their names.

WhiteFangofWar:
All the Organization XIII battles deserve a spot on someone's list, but Demyx stood out for me because he was the first one Sora fought, against an eccentric sitarist who even ADMITS that he prefers dancing over fighting. Yet he's still an epic trial, or at least a roadblock on Proud mode. First time took many retries, and after that I was like "***dayamn. If he's the weakest of Org. XIII just THINK of what the strongest members will be like... Parlay?"

I loved that whole thing with the army attacking Hollow Bastion. I even had a save file so I could play it over and over again.

I'd have to say my favorite boss of all time was either Abyssion, from Tales of Symphonia, or that one skeletal dragon thing from LoZ: Twilight Princess. One of the more inventive fights I've seen in the Zelda series.

Samoftherocks:
[snip] and Paxton Fettel from F.E.A.R. (why shouldn't a character you've pursued the whole game be THAT easy).

Exactly. I've always wondered this about other bosses; why are they running away if they're so tough? Fettel had a reason: He wasn't. Sure, he could throw his Replica soldiers at you and put you in a nightmare, but he himself was still weak.

I can't believe nobody has mentioned God of War - The Hydra, The Colossus, Theseus, The Barbarian King, The Fates. Shame on you all!

There was this game for the PS2 called Primal that had some pretty cool boss fights. In the game you play as 2 different characters - this girl who is a half-demon and can take on 4 different demon forms, and an animated stone gargoyle who can possess statues. At one part of the game the girl becomes hypnotized and turns on the gargoyle dude (you), so you have to possess a sword-wielding statue to fight her. And then later in the game the gargoyle guy regains his true form, this big badass lion-headed dude, and then you get to kick the ass of this big demon thing that has been hunting you throughout the whole game. And then the girl has to fight her own brother, who has become this evil half-demon thing himself, and you fight him in all 4 different forms (including an aquatic one). Pretty good game, you could probably grab it for like $5 nowadays.

I remember the last boss of Onimusha 2 as something quite amazing.

You fight it ENTIRELY different to the rest of the game.. your character has gone "Oni" constantly throughout the battle, and you're constantly running away from him towards the screen.

He (Nobonaga's spirit in this really weird giant golden statue) chases you, and shoots lasers at you and these really weird floating heads, while you shoot lasers back at him while running

it was... surreal.

Gary, From bully. The music that played while fighting him was fantastic, and it felt good to finally take out that manipulative bastard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cucFmnIw4yk

that's the last boss from Samurai Zombie Nation

Put to Thriller music

if you want to see a full review of the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sZG7Y7CdTc

Skorge from Gears of War 2. ("Press B! PRESS B! DUDE DON'T STOP HITTING B- *chainsawed*. DUDE, I TOLD YOU WHAT TO DO! Oh shi-")

The fish boss in Gears of War 2. (Hey, where's the fish at now- *chomp*)

"Glados" from Portal was also a interesting boss. (Look out for the rocket!)