Boss fights are exciting for a number of reasons. They often represent a turning point in the story or the last obstacle before progressing to the next chapter. Additionally, they also spice up the gameplay by increasing the difficulty or forcing players to think about the mechanics in new ways.
Unfortunately, not all games hit the mark when it comes to these encounters. The following franchises below are all heavy hitters, but they never quite got bosses right. None of the fights ruin the game or even make them worse, but no fan will ever bring up the bosses as a highlight of the series.
5 Grand Theft Auto
There's nothing anybody can say to hurt Grand Theft Auto. It is one of the most popular pieces of entertainment to ever exist and its most recent entry, Grand Theft Auto V, remains in the spotlight thanks to the wildly popular and ever-expanding online component. Because it is set in a satirical version of the real world, every enemy is a human being just like the player characters. With this in mind, boss fights never feel like they have stakes.
They are either bullet sponges who stand still and shoot or extended chase sequences. At least the latter is often accompanied by an intense spectacle. With the series' combat mostly revolving around shooting and lacking an in-depth melee combat system, none of the games end with intimate fist fights, either. Red Dead Redemption, to its credit, does a great job of adding a layer of drama to bosses. The last fight before the epilogue in Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the most emotionally charged moments in modern gaming.
4 Super Mario
Platformers in general rarely have standout boss fights. The big bad generally repeats a pattern of attacks and the player jumps on their head when they are resting. Each subsequent attack slightly changes the pattern, but after the first time fighting them there are no more surprises.
Since the beginning, the Super Mario games have followed a similar trend. Bowser in the debut NES game was felled by simply undoing the bridge he is standing on. They become a little more creative by the time Super Mario Bros. 3 came out. Super Mario Odyssey perhaps has the best take on the bosses. The siblings Mario fights here rechallenge the hero throughout the game, but each fight adds a level of difficulty to a similar pattern.
3 Max Payne
The original Max Payne was extremely unique upon its 2001 release for its gritty narrative and slick third-person combat. Because it eschewed a science fiction or fantasy aesthetic common to gaming at the time, it meant none of the bosses could be larger-than-life adversaries. The closes it gets to this are a couple of bosses who are under the influence of the fictional narcotic, Valkyr. Max Payne 2 does not deal with the illicit substance anymore, so most of the bosses just feel like normal enemies.
The final boss, Vladimir Lem, is first drawn out of hiding by making a hanging ornament in a mansion fall and then shooting him up. The 2012 third entry almost eschews bosses altogether. The final encounter sees Max rampaging through an airport. The final set-piece involves him shooting up enemies until the game decides to trigger the final act. Then, there is a small chase down the runway in a car.
2 Mortal Kombat
Fighting games are another genre where bosses are difficult to make. At least brawlers give players more movement and can change screens. When it is a one-on-one fighter, what else is there to do except give the adversary godlike strength and make them invulnerable to special moves?
The first three Mortal Kombat games in the arcades had notoriously difficult bosses at the end of their arcade ladders. All but the most experienced experts would waste dozens of quarters trying to beat them. At least with the console games, players could finally turn down the difficulty. Shao Kahn from the story mode of 2011's Mortal Kombat drew complaints for being overpowered. The two numbered entries afterward almost entirely get rid of boss characters. Even the antagonists feel more like regular foes.
1 Uncharted
Unlike a lot of the shooters on this list, Uncharted mostly avoids making bosses unrealistic bullet sponges by adding another challenge to it. Whether this alternative works is the subject of debate. In the debut title, Nathan slowly creeps from cover to cover to disarm the final foe. In Uncharted 2 Lazarevic becomes a monster after drinking what was thought to be the fountain of youth.
Uncharted 3 has a simple fistfight. At least Uncharted 4's sword fight adds a new dimension to the gameplay and couples it with the high stakes of burning to death in a pirate boat and losing Drake's brother. The PS Vita spin-off, Golden Abyss, also has an underwhelming final showdown despite being one of the finest games on the platform. Its final bouts are filled with quick time events that utilize the handheld's touchpad.