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What do the following 3 games, plucked at random from the Hat of All Games (well, Hat of All Games Played by Yours Truly, anyway), have in common? Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy… Metal Gear Solid 2… Broken Sword: the Sleeping Dragon…? Answer: they all feature that inevitable stalwart of videogames past and present… the Final Boss. “What of it?” I hear you ask. Well… the reason I feel the need to bring up this Statement of Gaming Obviosity is that I am of the opinion that in most cases the Final Boss is the least innovative, least creative, most difficult and most out-of-character-with-the-feel-of-the-rest-of-the-game part of any game you might care to set your Dual Shock to the completion of.
I must first mention that I believe all 3 of the above to be pretty good games. Overall. In general. And in 2 out of 3 cases I have vanquished the Final Boss, albeit with no small amount of headscratchery and some small degree of recourse to a walkthrough. My problem, though, is thus… Why, in a game where much of the time is spent on puzzles or stealth or puzzles’n’stealth, is it such a given that in the end, when all is said and done, what it all comes down to is bashing a big monster with a sword, blowing away far too many robots with a rocket launcher, or numerous other variations on the theme of “Kill Big Evil Baddie With Big Powerful Weapon”? I mean, it’s all a bit predictable, is it not?
"But how else do you finish a game?” I hear you ponder.
Well come on, Game Designing Folks, get creative! OK, a big finish is important; there’s nothing worse than a weak ending to what is otherwise a satisfying game. A big ending, though, need not be a big, difficult, stupid ending. I feel it necessary to mention here a lesser known game you may or may not have heard of, called Pac-Man World 2. A jolly little platformer, providing a few hours of jumpy, collecty, bashy fun, until… a stupidly hard ending! It’s Pac-Man! Give us a break! On the other hand, there is the decidedly more “adult” Enter The Matrix, which maintains a fair, consistent, but reasonably challenging difficulty curve, and culminates in a not too difficult but definitely exciting chase, involving Sentinals and narrow pipes, and no small degree of satisfaction at the conclusion of it all.
(I won’t go into detail as to the exact nature of the endings of Pac-Man World 2 and Enter The Matrix - play the games and you’ll see what I mean…)
As I was saying… get creative! Finish things off with a puzzle, a particularly stealthy section, or why not simply reward our hours of hard work with a particularly stunning ending sequence? (i.e. no gameplay at all, just something beautiful to look at) I’m not saying abolish the Final Boss. It’s the right and proper ending for many a fighty, shooty, Kill The Evil Villain-type game. I would, however, like to see it become more innovative, more original… and less inevitable.
I must first mention that I believe all 3 of the above to be pretty good games. Overall. In general. And in 2 out of 3 cases I have vanquished the Final Boss, albeit with no small amount of headscratchery and some small degree of recourse to a walkthrough. My problem, though, is thus… Why, in a game where much of the time is spent on puzzles or stealth or puzzles’n’stealth, is it such a given that in the end, when all is said and done, what it all comes down to is bashing a big monster with a sword, blowing away far too many robots with a rocket launcher, or numerous other variations on the theme of “Kill Big Evil Baddie With Big Powerful Weapon”? I mean, it’s all a bit predictable, is it not?
"But how else do you finish a game?” I hear you ponder.
Well come on, Game Designing Folks, get creative! OK, a big finish is important; there’s nothing worse than a weak ending to what is otherwise a satisfying game. A big ending, though, need not be a big, difficult, stupid ending. I feel it necessary to mention here a lesser known game you may or may not have heard of, called Pac-Man World 2. A jolly little platformer, providing a few hours of jumpy, collecty, bashy fun, until… a stupidly hard ending! It’s Pac-Man! Give us a break! On the other hand, there is the decidedly more “adult” Enter The Matrix, which maintains a fair, consistent, but reasonably challenging difficulty curve, and culminates in a not too difficult but definitely exciting chase, involving Sentinals and narrow pipes, and no small degree of satisfaction at the conclusion of it all.
(I won’t go into detail as to the exact nature of the endings of Pac-Man World 2 and Enter The Matrix - play the games and you’ll see what I mean…)
As I was saying… get creative! Finish things off with a puzzle, a particularly stealthy section, or why not simply reward our hours of hard work with a particularly stunning ending sequence? (i.e. no gameplay at all, just something beautiful to look at) I’m not saying abolish the Final Boss. It’s the right and proper ending for many a fighty, shooty, Kill The Evil Villain-type game. I would, however, like to see it become more innovative, more original… and less inevitable.
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When I had a megadrive, the hardest-final-Bosses for me were the ones on Doomsday Zone on S&K, and the 'Hand-o-matic' as Tails on Sonic 3.
Not anymore!
Not anymore!
ßora† §agdiyeV wrote:
> I thought enter the matrix was terrible anyway, I still own a copy,
> and would have sold it on ebay, if I didn't think that the jiffy bag
> I'd post it in would be worth more than the game.
Wha!? It was a bit simple, but I thought it was pretty fun, if not a little repetitive.
> I thought enter the matrix was terrible anyway, I still own a copy,
> and would have sold it on ebay, if I didn't think that the jiffy bag
> I'd post it in would be worth more than the game.
Wha!? It was a bit simple, but I thought it was pretty fun, if not a little repetitive.
the boss at the end of streets of rage 2, on very hard. holy crap it cant be done.
Final bosses are awesome.
I liked beating solidus snake with the sword, I don't class that as being original, neither out of place as he is in the story line quite a bit lol.
cookie monster wrote:
> If i send you a SAE can i have it for free then?
I'm sure we can work something ou ... [S]runs
> If i send you a SAE can i have it for free then?
I'm sure we can work something ou ... [S]runs
Aw shame! Well I know ETM has had mixed reviews, but I'm one of those who played as Ghost & Naobe, & loved every minute of it. But then I love everything about The Matrix...
Anyway, getting off the topic here.
Any more views on the "Final Boss"? Or bosses in general? (Not "Big Boss", coz I don't want this to turn into a "conversation" about MGS... such things could go on forever...!)
Anyway, getting off the topic here.
Any more views on the "Final Boss"? Or bosses in general? (Not "Big Boss", coz I don't want this to turn into a "conversation" about MGS... such things could go on forever...!)
ßora† §agdiyeV wrote:
> I thought enter the matrix was terrible anyway, I still own a copy,
> and would have sold it on ebay, if I didn't think that the jiffy bag
> I'd post it in would be worth more than the game.
If i send you a SAE can i have it for free then?
> I thought enter the matrix was terrible anyway, I still own a copy,
> and would have sold it on ebay, if I didn't think that the jiffy bag
> I'd post it in would be worth more than the game.
If i send you a SAE can i have it for free then?
I thought enter the matrix was terrible anyway, I still own a copy, and would have sold it on ebay, if I didn't think that the jiffy bag I'd post it in would be worth more than the game.
Paragraph breaks inserted! Blimey, I feel like I'm back at school...
(my excuse, I must add, for the non-paragraphiness of the post, was that I copied & pasted from Word & it didn't translate properly...)
Back to the topic...
I do like games to gradually increase in difficulty, but that's the point... GRADUALLY... I know it's a pretty normal thing, but I just hate it when I settle into a game only to be thrown by a particularly hard boss... I mentioned Enter The Matrix, which has a few "bosslets", but nothing that could strictly speaking be called a "proper" boss - & ETM is just a marvel of a game! Oh & my fave game of recent months is "The Sims: Bustin' Out"; so maybe that just says it all......
(my excuse, I must add, for the non-paragraphiness of the post, was that I copied & pasted from Word & it didn't translate properly...)
Back to the topic...
I do like games to gradually increase in difficulty, but that's the point... GRADUALLY... I know it's a pretty normal thing, but I just hate it when I settle into a game only to be thrown by a particularly hard boss... I mentioned Enter The Matrix, which has a few "bosslets", but nothing that could strictly speaking be called a "proper" boss - & ETM is just a marvel of a game! Oh & my fave game of recent months is "The Sims: Bustin' Out"; so maybe that just says it all......
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