Cast your mind back to the good old 90’s video gaming era. Remember how each stage climaxed with some big bad boss fight that had you quivering in your boots? Sweat oozing from your palms as you worked tirelessly to defeat an enemy that required every ounce of skill you could muster. Sadly, the boss fights of today just don’t seem to match up to some of the legendary battles that have been imprinted in our minds since childhood. Join me as I count down some of the most epic fights from not just the 90’s, but of all time;

Sonic 2 Final Boss

Timing is the key to defeating this boss and one badly timed jump will mean your death. The boss itself probably wouldn’t be that much of a big deal if you were given at least one ring to see you through. That’s right! From the moment you enter the stage, whoop Metal Sonic and face off against Eggman, sorry, Robotnik, you’re not given a single ring! Imagine making your way through the entire game, just to lose your continues on such a punishing final boss.

Street Fighter Alpha 2 – Ryu Vs. M.Bison (8 Star Difficulty)

Whether you class this as a boss fight or not, there is no denying that facing off against such a cheap character wasn’t insanely frustrating. Just when you actually think you stand a chance at beating this sucker, he whips out his all-famous Psycho Crusher move. This wouldn’t be such a problem if the move was anything like when you use it. Instead, it fills up the entire screen and even if you do manage to block it, you’re still going to be in bad shape afterwards.

Final Fantasy VIII – Omega Weapon

This game only just makes its way into the hardest boss fights of the 90’s chart by being released in 1999. If you thought Ruby and Emerald Weapon were hard, you haven’t seen anything yet! Omega Weapon will tear you apart from limb to limb with his devastating blows that dish out almost 3000 damage each time, his spamming of LV5 Death and the almighty Medigo Flame move which leaves your party with only 1HP each. Oh, and did I mention his speed is far superior to yours. Make sure you stock up on plenty of MegaElixirs before even thinking of taking on this guy!

Mega Man III – Gemini Man

Mega Man games set the bar in difficulty and they definitely didn’t disappoint with this boss. It’s bad enough that you have to contend with one Gemini Man working relentlessly to take you down, but to take on his clone as well is an absolute nightmare! The entire fight is spent dodging an insane amount of lasers and trying desperately to get little hits in here and there. This is by far one of the toughest boss fights around.

Rocket Knight Adventures – Axel Gear (The First Fight)

Rocket Knight Adventures isn’t exactly a difficult game – that is until you reach the level 5 boss! It’s not the fight itself which gets you quivering, but entire time Axel is chasing you down in his giant robot. You have to hastily make your way up platforms and tunnels using that rocket to speed things along. Eventually you’re able to take control of your own robot, which then sees you in an unpredictable boxing match which requires luck more than anything! If you kids think Snake had it hard taking on Metal Gear Rex with a stinger missile, wait until you’re thrown into a battle like this!

Castlevania Dracula X – Final Boss Dracula

If ever there was a boss that was there purely to test your nerves, this was it! Not only did you have to jump from platform to platform throughout the entire fight whilst dodging his attacks, but the fight seems to last forever! Adding insult to injury, Dracula laughs at you the entire time until he transforms and starts doing some serious damage. It’s no surprise that Castlevania games have become renowned for their difficulty.

This is a guest post on behalf of Liberty Games who are arcade machine fanatics and retailers of cool gear for your own home games room.