Like any good Capcom franchise, Resident Evil has had its ups and downs. After establishing itself as one of the most important and influential survival horror series of all time, Resident Evil hit something of a quality snag. Since then, the series has been something of a roller coaster. Even as the series builds back up its reputation, one thing is certain: final bosses will never be consistent.
Time and time again, Resident Evil games fumble right at the finale. This often isn’t enough to ruin the experience, even lending specific games a certain charm, but it’s disappointing running into a bad final boss. Thankfully, this does at least mean the few truly great final bosses stand out from the pack all the more.
10 BEST: Jack Norman (Revelations)
In general, Resident Evil Revelations stands out as one of the better entries in the series. It was seen as a return to form at a time where Capcom was gradually moving the franchise away from its survival horror roots. That said, it was still quite action heavy, feeling like a proper successor to Resident Evil 4 than anything else.
The final fight against Jack Norman is built up well over the course of the game and ends up being one of the more engaging finales in the series, even being genuinely challenging at times. The fight’s also a visual marvel on the 3DS. While the re-release looks great, there’s something truly remarkable about how the game looks in its native resolution.
9 WORST: Last Boss (RE 2)
Worst doesn’t necessarily mean bad, but the final fight against the last boss in the original Resident Evil 2 isn’t much to write home about either. It’s also difficult to discuss given the nature of RE 2’s Zap system, but that’s not a flaw. Rather, it’s one of the best qualities about RE 2’s final boss— how different routes ultimately affect the finale.
That said, it’s hard to deny how painfully easy both Mr. X and Birkin can be. So long as players are smart with their Zaps, they’ll be fine. Even then, it’s not difficult to mess up a playthrough and still get out of Raccoon City unscathed. For as challenging as RE 2 can be at times, it pulls its punches at the end.
8 BEST: Alexia (Code Veronica)
Code Veronica is a longer, more dramatic, and more “epic” Resident Evil game— which is something of a double edged sword. On one hand, it recontextualized the first few games into a cohesive narrative that was actively building up to a single event. On the other hand, this not only set a bad precedent, it made the first few games’ story less special.
At least the gameplay is good, though! Although the difficulty curve can be insane at times, Code Veronica is good fun for those well versed in the series (or with this individual game.) The final fight against Alexia is tense and engaging while featuring some of the best music and boss combat the series has ever seen.
7 WORST: Tyrant (RE 1)
Like the final boss of Resident Evil 2, Tyrant in the original game isn’t so much bad as he is bland. All the bosses in the first game are a bit underwhelming, honestly. They certainly aren’t the appeal of playing the original game by any means. Tyrant isn’t particularly difficult, either, making an already lame fight lamer.
So long as players have enough ammo to take him out (which they really should since RE 1 gets pretty generous by the end,) there’s no real chance of dying against Tyrant. Only a worst case scenario can lock players here— which is likely why Tyrant is so unimposing. Who wants to get stuck minutes before the credits roll?
6 BEST: Saddler (RE 4)
Saddler commits the Resident Evil final boss sin of being too easy, but he’s a fantastic end to the game otherwise. While not the best boss in Resident Evil 4 (a game with great boss fights all around,) Saddler makes good use of the game’s core mechanics, challenging how well players can reacting fight.
This is a battle that really benefits from the higher difficulties. While he isn’t too, too challenging even on the hardest difficulty, Saddler’s just a generally fun boss. Resident Evil 4’s core combat is so good that the game could have just ended with a full blown shootout and still felt fun. Of course, that’s the exact mindset that went on to plague the rest of the series. See what happens when games show restraint?
5 WORST: Leech Queen (RE 0)
The Leech Queen and Saddler are two sides of the same coin. Both bosses do a genuinely good job of making use of the mechanics at play, but they botch the difficulty. Where Saddler errs on the side of easiness, however, the Leech Queen is too hard for her own good— especially her painful second phase.
It’s sad because her first phase isn’t that bad. In fact, it’s one of the best parts of Resident Evil 0. Both times fighting her, phase 1 isn’t hair pulling hard. Phase 2, however? It’s a horrible end to an already tedious game. At the same time, it makes sense. Resident Evil 0 is so oppressive that any other finale would have felt totally out of place.
4 BEST: Wesker (RE 5)
For all of Resident Evil 5’s faults, it at least goes out on one hell of a bang. After games of build up, RE 5 genuinely sticks the landing. The final battle between Chris and Wesker is perhaps the goofiest the series has ever gotten, but it’s just so hot blooded and genuinely epic that it’s hard not to love it.
Mechanically, it’s also just one of the best boss fights in the series. Wekser is designed perfectly for both single player and cooperative play. While the final boss is still plenty fun alone, it’s on another level with a friend.
3 WORST: Eveline (RE 7)
Resident Evil 7’s first person camera was certainly a radical change for the series, but the game actually feels very much in-line with the design philosophy of the original two games, even going so far to feature a terrible final boss! Eveline is a complete waste of a final boss, shoved at the end of a story that had already reached its emotional, thematic, and arguably narrative, conclusion.
She’s just painfully unfun all around and really hurts her game worse than other final bosses. Unlike most entries in the series, RE 7 was able to get to its finale without any major disruptions. What fans didn’t know was that Capcom was simply saving the series’ standard dose of disappointment for the very end.
2 BEST: Nemesis (RE 3)
After an entire game of pushing Nemesis back and desperately just trying to survive, there’s something tremendously cathartic about Jill finally being able to turn the tables, killing Nemesis once and for all. Granted, the final Nemesis fight is easier than, really, almost all of them, but it’s the spirit of the fight that makes it so amazing.
This is a showdown that the game has been building to for hours. Jill has slowly chipped Nemesis down over the course of the game, and players can really feel like they’ve made progress by the time they start the final battle. Thematically, it’s the best finale that any Resident Evil game has.
1 WORST: Derek Simmons (RE 6)
Oof. Now this is a bad final boss. For the most part, Resident Evil 6 isn’t a bad game. Not by any means, honestly. It has fantastic gunplay and decent bosses more often than not. It’s also a moronic mess of a game with chaotic level design and a final boss so bad, Capcom had to make Resident Evil 7 just to save face.
Derek Simmons is a tedious, bullet sponge boss. He’s what would happen if the Leech Queen and Eveline had a disgusting baby together. Derek Simmons isn’t just everything wrong with Resident Evil 6, he’s everything wrong with Resident Evil’s history of final bosses: too long, tedious, unfair difficulty, boring, and narratively worthless.