|
Video game boss battle music is often intense, powerful, and tends to be the climax of the story or at least current arc in a video game. Post your favorite examples of video game boss fight music! Try to keep it to less than 3-5 embedded videos in your post, just to keep the thread remotely readable. And if you have good remixes of a given theme, feel free to link those underneath the relevant example you post, too! I'll start off with a few of my own favorites. Probably the most incredible, lengthy, truly apocalyptic boss battle theme in any game, Final Fantasy 6's Dancing Mad is also one of the most fitting tracks for a boss fight. Really was an incredible thing to hear upon reaching the finale of what was for many a 100+ hour game culminating in a fight against 3 screen-filling bosses followed by god-kefka himself with it playing in the background. The Black Mages, headed by Nobuo Uematsu himself, did a crazy good version of Dancing Mad as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbXVNKtmWnc&hd=1 Black Mages arrange(I can never not hear a sound clip of laying a bomb in super metroid in there at times) Lufia 2 has one of the best JRPG soundtracks of all time, and only fittingly does it also have an incredible good final boss fight theme. After making your way through the Fortress of Doom set to appropriately dramatic "save the world" music(one of my top 5 favorite game tracks ever), you encounter Gades, the leader of the Sinistrals, and this music kicks in. It's pretty legendary. There's an official arranged version for the DS remake(Curse of the Sinistrals), as well, though I'm more favorable towards the SNES version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_sQDL2lyCU Curse of the Sinistrals DS Arranged theme DS Arranged version of The Last Duel, as well Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance has an incredibly powerful, energetic final boss theme, and one of the best lyric-based music tracks in a video game I've ever heard. Bonus points because it is super relevant to what is happening in the story and between the two characters duking it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDEJdyRZKd8 "vocals only" version, with the track edited in a music editor to mostly mute the music the actual fight itself, which, if you've never seen MGR:R, is kinda of amazing in every way Undertale is a pretty new game, but it also happens to have one of the best overall video game soundtracks of the last ten years, if not ever. Nowhere is this more exemplified than the various boss themes, and especially in the themes for the final bosses of the game(different depending on which path you take through the game). The example I'll be using is the final boss theme of the Genocide path. It is a track that the artist has used in every previous work and improved upon each time, this one beefed up a lot to be superior in every way, and is crazy frantic and intense, perfect for that last fight. Behold, MEGALOVANIA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qaUTOLF5V4 The fight itself, some spoilers, including who it is you fight of course Each version of MEGALOVANIA over time(aside from the last one) Taylor Davis's violin rendition of MEGALOVANIA RichaadEB's metal guitar cover a surprisingly good rendition of MEGALOVANIA on...kazoo And, to be relevant to the thread title, G-DARIUS's ADAM boss battle theme. The original is good on its own, however, the remix by Dangerous Mezashi Cat is fantastic. No youtube uploads of it outside of a sampler of that particular album though, linked below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I05gZw5hbys ADAM / G-DRAIUS (BIG BOSS)(sample clip) Post some of your favorites! Captain Invictus has a new favorite as of 14:20 on Sep 3, 2016 |
#
¿
Sep 3, 2016 14:15
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 19:51 |
|
|
Another outstanding theme from a game full of them, Earthbound's first final boss fight with Giygas and Pokey is set to the theme Pokey Means Business. And boy howdy does he ever, with a theme like this. Starts out very standard bleeps and bloops, albeit intense, and then when the "drop" hits, it really gets serious. When I was playing the game as a kid and heard that coming out of my speakers, I couldn't believe that the SNES was managing to produce that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3nYwTSkr0Q Pokey Means Business, imagined as if it was a Smash Bros remix And a boss theme that really blew me away was in Megaman X5. Say what you will about the quality of the game, but it had some outstanding music, and none was more standout than X VS ZERO. The climactic battle between the two heroes, set to one of the most incredible themes in the entire franchise's history(an impressive feat considering Megaman's musical pedigree). It's really just intensely powerful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed9jkuczzRU remix by Breis Rockman X-HOLIC X vs Zero by Sound Holic X-HOLIC music video by the studio
|
|
#
¿
Sep 4, 2016 18:33
|
|
|
I thought I mentioned that but yeah, the way the lyrics actually kick in to the fights is fantastic. Let's also talk about the first boss theme, RULES OF NATURE, where you face off against a Metal Gear Ray as the tutorial boss. The lyrics kick in with RULES OF NATURE! as you parry the metal gear's massive sword attack, then hurl it into the air and slice-and-dice its sword limb off. It's perfectly ridiculous and fitting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3472Q6kvg0 the scene where the lyrics kick in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM33Hr94SKw&hd=1
|
|
#
¿
Sep 4, 2016 19:11
|
|
|
A post dedicated solely to Chrono Trigger boss music, because it's consistently got winners for every single boss encounter. Breaking the rules a little. The standard boss fight theme is a great "don't gently caress around" type of track https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEzosTEFUjM Lavos's Theme is a very good "unearthly apocalyptic creature" track. It's not fast, it's not frantic, but it's forboding as all hell and most times you hear it, you're likely moments away from death by Destruction Rains From The Heavens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X1-uqDYa7w The second boss theme is undoubtedly the more serious and dramatic of the two "generic" boss battle themes, and the bosses that incorporate it often are incredibly tough, as they should be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeTWWro16fQ One of the most famous tracks from a game full of them, the battle with Magus has an AMAZING theme. A perfect track for an antihero. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKRRXt8J5YU One of the best pieces of music in the entire soundtrack, one of the most fitting tracks in the game, and one of the best boss fight themes of all time, World Revolution is almost unparalleled. It's intense, it's frenetic, it's kinetic, it incorporates multiple leitmotifs from other tracks in the game flawlessly to create a powerfully dramatic "YOU MUST SUCCEED HERE, OR THE WORLD WILL END!" sense of urgency. It's just absolutely outstanding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QgUjqMxeXo one of the few decent reimaginings of the track alongside the other Lavos themes And the final, FINAL battle, while it does not have the best final boss theme by a long shot, does some creative stuff with it regardless and is still a powerful track in its own right, especially when accompanied by the visuals in the fight itself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IevXx3yQ77s
|
|
#
¿
Sep 5, 2016 02:20
|
|
|
It's hard to think of SRW boss music without much of the older OG themes. A lot of them are just fantastic. The first final boss of Super Robot Wars Original Generation 1, Judecca, has a fantastic theme in Marionette Messiah(also a great name). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg8Hv7_RbWM official song version with lyrics sung by the voice actor with Judecca's attacks in the background OGS version Gate of Magus, the theme of Wodan Ymir in his Thrudgelmir, was an amazing theme that absolutely told you in no uncertain terms that you were about to have a bad day. Whenever he showed up, his Colossal Blade would wreck anything it touched. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihqXPQwXEVU original GBA version Thrudgelmir attacks The alternate universe bad guy, Axel Almer, had a fantastic antihero theme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf8iQrWXlDM Soulgain all attacks all versions of Dark Knight from every game he's in Shuu Shirakawa and his Granzon, the recurring huge rear end in a top hat and bad guy from many SRW OG games, has a great apocalyptic theme for his black hole-powered mech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3HcfmPAxCY Neo Granzon's attacks, with accompanying theme And the fifth for this post, THE ARROW OF DESTINY(awesome name) that is played for the Aerogator forces bosses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHQS3hWxMH8
|
|
#
¿
Sep 6, 2016 16:28
|
|
|
Somfin posted:One of the things I love about the songs in Metal Gear Rising is how they are used as an opportunity to lay bare the hearts of the bosses you're fighting, clearing up morality exposition that can't be delivered any other way. Let me introduce you to a few more of them. There's a Japanese-only series well known for three things: its absolutely terrible artwork(that still manages to be well-designed despite the poo poo quality), the one-man dev team who has made every single game, soundtrack, etc by himself(including the awful artwork), and most notably, the utterly outstanding soundtracks for each game. I'm talking about the Touhou Project bullet hell shooters, created by ZUN. Many of his music tracks are crafted while drunk, yet he still pulls off amazing works despite it. There are an incredible amount of great tracks throughout the series, but here are some of my favorites. It's worth noting that there are an incredible amount of remixes for this game. Nearly 8 years ago I downloaded a 26,000-file megatorrent collection of remixes, and that number has ballooned to 60,000+ since then, it's rather insane. There's so goddamn much Touhou music. I made a collection of "keepers"(or at least not the absolute worst) from 10,000 or so tracks I had gone through, so feel free to grab it if you'd like some stuff to listen to, there's about 120 hours of music in there and it covers nearly every genre conceivable. NUCLEAR FUSION, the theme of Utsuho Reiuji is my favorite Touhou theme. It is 100% pure Final Boss, and there's not much more you can do to be a final boss than a nuclear-powered hell raven who is trying to create an artificial subterranean sun in Hell. It's most famous for including blaring klaxons during the song when Utsuho performs special attacks, and the insane amount of remixes take advantage of this to add some pretty powerful moments alongside air raid sirens and such. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzlmlafQXBk the actual fight against Utsuho on Lunatic difficulty Touhou Dogfight, a rendition of the fight in 3D using multiple great remixes The Mantle, one of the best NF remixes A cute animation headbobbin' to one of the better remixes Demetori - 霊知の太陽信仰 ～ Nuclear Fusion Emotional Skyscraper, the theme of Byakuren Hijiri. My second favorite touhou boss theme next to Nuclear Fusion. A much more upbeat, spiritual theme as befitting a buddhist monk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ehKblhOfg Demetori - World's End(Emotional Skyscraper) Magus Night, the theme of Marisa Kirisame from Fairy Wars, is a super foreboding track considering the character in question, however it's fitting when you consider you're going up against her as a mere fairy, one of the weakest supernatural creatures. One of the more famous tracks composed while drunk, it was originally going to be a spin on Dance of Witches, but quickly turned into something way, way more intense. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dJA_YLSPz0 Magus Night remix played on an NES soundchip GUNFIRE - THAT'S MAGUS NIGHT -Rampageous Shooting Star- There are tons more, maybe I'll post others later. He's got a real knack for a good melody, even if he relies on the ZUN Horn a bit much at times.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 11, 2016 21:54
|
|
|
If you're going with Pokemon champion themes, it's hard to come up with a better example than, well, the original protagonist's theme, Red's theme, after he becomes a final boss in the second game, Pokemon Gold/Silver. Another extremely frenetic theme while still tying back to the original roots, that being the very first thing you hear upon loading up the original game boy games after the dev screen; with the Nidorino vs Gengar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWHgMcIOsuw It lends itself really well to remixing, too. Red Theme Metal Remix remix 1 remix 2 The original Red/Blue/Yellow had a very good final fight theme with Gary Oak/Blue, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_5TVp1wSTU
|
|
#
¿
Sep 12, 2016 01:08
|
|
|
rndmnmbr posted:FFVI. poo poo's slowly been getting more and more hosed up at time passes... and then Kefka rips half a continent out of the ground and goes flying with it. You parachute drop on it, and start getting chewed up by enemies tougher than any you've encountered before. You finally claw your way through, and Kefka is in your sights, but there's something in the way. 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 12, 2016 03:11
|
|
|
Diddy Kong Racing was a fun game, and had fantastic music. The boss challenge theme is my favorite among all the tracks though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rD42H8icFw Wizpig, the final boss, had quite an intense theme too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwJ41cq0c74
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2016 15:16
|
|
|
Zernach posted:Brute Justice, a robot sentai team that combines when it's had enough of your poo poo. edit: Crypt of the Necrodancer has some good boss themes, as a music-themed game should. It even comes with versions in different music styles by various artists that you can switch between depending on preference! King Konga https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUAq7-YpO0w Death Metal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8sSkxgmueA Deep Blues, a certainly unorthodox boss theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUgyIpim1ls Necrodancer phase 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZiorkb9F1M Necrodancer phase 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yBqlPVmfX0 Captain Invictus has a new favorite as of 01:13 on Sep 21, 2016 |
|
#
¿
Sep 21, 2016 01:02
|
|
|
Squidtentacle posted:I loved that silly controversy. And I didn't realize that was the delay; admittedly, I don't play FF14, I'm just a distant appreciator. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQIIiHc5FMw&hd=1 I really like most of their Disciple medleys, they take a core track(Fighting of the Spirit from Tales of Fantasia/Symphonia) and build an appropriate medley corresponding to a given element around it. The one for Fire incorporates two Touhou boss tracks well(though one is barely there). Their videos also nicely show what part of each track corresponds to each character/game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n_sq7RubUM&hd=1
|
|
#
¿
Oct 16, 2016 20:28
|
|
|
Please don't post so many embedded youtube videos in a single post, the thread is already really slow to load as it is. A bunch of indie games have had fantastic boss music. Axiom Verge, a Metroid 2-alike, has a few boss tracks and they're all intense. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL68Sp-4Dqs Super Meat Boy's bosses were less fights and more surviving until the boss killed themselves. But boy were the boss tracks amazing, as is the entire soundtrack really, there's a reason Danny Baranowsky became very well known after the game came out. Lil' Slugger is just crazy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQa4-s_3m_Q FTL has some amazing atmospheric music that seamlessly kicks into battle mode whenever you enter a fight. But for the final battle against the Rebel Flagship, there's only one theme, and it plays from the moment you jump into the final system. It's pretty forboding and has a great buildup. It takes nearly half the entire track to get to the main melody but it's totally worth it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quwBEzrwXSU Say what you will about Castle Crashers, but it had some really good music, and one of the better ones was the Necromancer boss fight track, Simple Sight. When the intro ends and the real track kicks in, it's frantic as gently caress and great for that particular fight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK_mZFdo-hY And on a considerably less-indie note, Super Mario Galaxy has a loving NUTS final boss, I don't know of any Mario tracks that really go in this direction, this is Battle For The Grand Star https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myZ67-RXq7c
|
|
#
¿
Oct 27, 2016 19:04
|
|
|
Yoshi's Island's final boss has been posted here, sure. But I feel this is worth posting: an insanely good cover of it, which is even better because the track is so woefully underrepresented in the cover/remix communities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCNgxs3iGu8 It's really drat good. Also apparently Smash Wiiu has a Big Baby Bowser stage? Neato.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 5, 2016 04:34
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 19:51 |
|
|
Corporate Lifestyle Simulator may not be amazing, but the soundtrack certainly is. And the boss theme in particular is quite good. Starts slow, but builds and builds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GKgFfWvr7A&t=5249s Here's the OST on bandcamp for anyone interested. https://bignic.bandcamp.com/album/zombies
|
|
#
¿
May 16, 2017 10:14
|
|