History Main / LevelInBossClothing

* ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'': In the third level, you chase Mara Aramov through a a DC Metro [[SinisterSubway subway tunnel]] while [[CorridorCubbyholeRun dodging trains]]. You can either snipe her while she's running, or you can chase her to the end and take her down there. The second game has the Ancient China Exhibit, where the boss, Morgan, is equipped with a DeadManSwitch, so you must escort Teresa while she disarms his bombs, only after which you can kill him.

* ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'': In the third level, you chase Mara Aramov through a a DC Metro [[SinisterSubway subway tunnel]] while [[CorridorCubbyholeRun dodging trains]]. You can either snipe her while she's running, or you can chase her to the end and take her down there.

* The final boss of the Octo Expansion of ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' is like this. [[spoiler: You have to splat an entire statue in ink, before the time runs out. The statue doesn't attack you, and no enemies spawn, so your only threat is the incredibly tight time limit.]]
* In ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'''s third level, you chase Mara Aramov through a a DC Metro [[SinisterSubway subway tunnel]] while [[CorridorCubbyholeRun dodging trains]]. You can either snipe her while she's running, or you can chase her to the end and take her down there.

* The boss levels in the first ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'' are more-or-less normal levels that happen to have a weak GetBackHereBoss in them that only takes a few hits to defeat. None of them are required to beat the game, they only exist for extra collectables. The only reason to defeat the bosses themselves is because they drop gems. This changed in later games, which made bosses a lot stronger and gave them each a BossOnlyLevel.

* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', some side character battles can play like this. Folks like ComicBook/TheRiddler, ComicBook/{{Deadshot}}, or Zsasz can't stand to go toe-to-toe with the Bat, but have advantages like hostages or powerful guns, so their battles consist of getting close enough to them to perform an instant takedown without alerting them to your approach.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the "battle" against Divine Beast Vah Rudaniah is actually more of a [[StealthBasedMission Stealth-Based]] EscortMission. Link must guide Yunobo to the various cannons dotted around Death Mountain, using them to launch Yunobo at Rudania. All while avoiding (or destroying) the search drones that it deployed.

* The first boss of [[BonusDungeon Archdragon Peak]] in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls3'' is a giant wyvern with a health bar that each of your attacks [[DamageSpongeBoss chips away a few pixels from at most]], if you engage it directly. You're instead supposed to dash past it and fight through a gauntlet full of mooks, while avoiding its fire breath attacks, and then [[spoiler:OneHitKill it with a plunging attack onto its head from above]].
* In ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance,'' Galactus is less of an enemy and more of an incentive to move ''really fast'' as you fight your way through the rest of the stage he's encountered in.

* The fight against Death in ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead 3'' takes place across two full stages, with the boss itself only making sporadic appearances to attack and let you whittle down its health before you return to blasting other zomb- err, [[NotUsingTheZWord mutants]].

** In ''VideoGame/{{Sonic Rush|Series}}'' Adventure, we have the Ghost Whale which you must enter, then work your way through an obstacle course.

* ''VideoGame/CloudCutter'' have at least three of them; the Hovercraft Amphibious base, the TG-660 Prototype Jet and the FinalBoss, a SPiderTank larger than skyscrapers. The whole stage have you fighting them and some occasional mooks until they go down.

* Dr. Zomboss from ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'' plays almost entirely like a conveyor-belt ''Plants vs Zombies'' level, only occasionally attacking and becoming vulnerable.

A BossBattle that doesn't play like a BossBattle. There's a boss health bar, and the level finishes when it reaches 0, but the boss isn't the focus of the level, instead acting as a timer for the level, HoldTheLine-style. The hazards of the level instead consist of mooks and terrain hazards.

* The fourth boss of ''[[VideoGame/SuperMonkeyBall Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz]]'' is an absolutely massive robot dinosaur. The fight is unique from the other boss battles in the game, since instead of fassing the boss in an arena and hitting its weak spot to bring down their health, this boss has you move across the boss's back, fighting through enemies and obstacles to reach its head and shut it off.

* The FinalBoss in ''VideoGame/AeroTheAcrobat'': A good half of the battle is spent chasing him upwards and upwards through the floors, tiers, and rafters of his laboratory.

[[folder:Shoot 'Em Up]]

* ''VideoGame/StarFox64'' has [[FanNickname the Forever Train]], which causes trouble for you all throughout the Macbeth stage. Near the end it will deploy its secret weapon, the Mechbeth, for a traditional boss battle, but you can avoid having to deal with Mechbeth by simply switching the track to send the train crashing into the weapons factory.

Related to BattleshipRaid, ColossusClimb, and FlunkyBoss, but is distinct from each - a BattleshipRaid or ColossusClimb keeps the focus on the boss, and the things you have to destroy and the parts of the level you have to traverse are generally part of or ejected from the boss, a FlunkyBoss generally keeps to one room. There are also the AdvancingBossOfDoom and GetBackHereBoss tropes, where a boss may be chasing you or you may be chasing the boss, respectively, but in those cases, the boss is often a clear goal (most often in the case of the latter) that must either be avoided or found.

** ''VideoGame/StarFox64'' has [[FanNickname the Forever Train]], which causes trouble for you all throughout the Macbeth stage. Near the end it will deploy its secret weapon, the Mechbeth, for a traditional boss battle, but you can avoid having to deal with Mechbeth by simply switching the track to send the train crashing into the weapons factory.

* Boss stages in ''VideoGame/{{Jumper}}'' games are generally normal levels with additional danger in form an enemy who is usually defeated as result of progressing through the stage. The Boss in ''Jumper Two'', however, gives a genuine boss fight in which he is defeated by [[TennisBoss reflecting energy orbs back at him]].

* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', some side character battles can play like this. Folks like ComicBook/TheRiddler, ComicBook/{{Deadshot}}, or Zsasz can't stand go toe-to-toe with the Bat, but have advantages like hostages or powerful guns, so their battles consist of getting close enough to them to perform an instant takedown without alerting them to your approach.

* The level Aerial Combat from ''VideoGame/{{Bugdom}}'' is completed by destroying the beehive at its centre, identical to how Queen Bee and King Ant are completed. The beehive cannot actually attack you, however, and the threats in the level consist of flying bees and various terrain hazards on the ground.
* The final boss of the Octo Expansion of ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' is like this. [[spoiler: You have to splat an entire statue in ink, before the time runs out. The statue doesn't attack you, and no enemies spawn, so your only threat is the incredibly tight time limit.]]
* Dr. Zomboss from ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'' plays almost entirely like a conveyor-belt ''Plants vs Zombies'' level, only occasionally attacking and becoming vulnerable.
* The fight with Ironhead in ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' takes up the entire level "Main Artery". However, Ironhead itself merely swims back and forth through the screen, occasionally shooting three puny shots at you. The level is mostly about fighting the swarms of Pufferfish that flood the screen, and dodging the blocks flying across the screen that deal CollisionDamage.

* The FinalBoss in ''VideoGame/AeroTheAcrobat'': A good half of the battle is spent chasing him upwards and upwards through the floors, tiers, and rafters of his laboratory.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sonic & Knuckles]]'', Lava Reef Zone, Act 2. The fight with Robotnik begins with a forced-scrolling segment, then the meat of the fight involves dodging mines while leaping between moving platforms in lava. You don't directly damage Robotnik; you just survive until Robotnik destroys the machine with his own mines.
** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD'' has the Collision Chaos boss, a [[PinballZone pinball machine]]
** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'' has the Labyrinth Zone boss. While you can hit Robotnik the pre-requisite eight times, it's entirely unnecessary, and the level ends once you reach the top of a vertical shaft filled with obstacles that is slowly flooding with water.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Sonic Rush|Series}}'' Adventure, we have the Ghost Whale which you must enter, then work your way through an obstacle course.
** The first part of the Dark Gaia fight in ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' is half [[spoiler:piloting a HumongousMecha made out of temples]] and half this, with Sonic running down [[spoiler:the aforementioned mecha's arms]] to hit Dark Gaia's weak spots.
** The fights with Captain Jelly and Admiral Jelly in ''VideoGame/SonicColors'', though you do still have to hit the boss in between the level-like segments (which can be done in one hit with a yellow Wisp in tow and some good aim).
** In ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'', Perfect Chaos plays out this way. Mind you, this is fairly similar to how Perfect Chaos worked in the original ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure''; despite the fact that [[TookALevelInBadass you don't have Super Sonic for the fight]], the ''Generations'' boost mechanic works in almost the same way, so the only real differences are the addition of 2D sections and the method of scoring the final hit.
** Any of the bosses of the ''VideoGame/SonicRiders'' games, purely by virtue of the fact that it's a racing game. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools This works out]], however, as it doesn't take any wild changes of the mechanics to get the fights to work in the context of the game.
* Similar to the above, the boss races in ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacing'' are simply one-on-one races on a normal track, the only real gameplay addition being the opponent having unlimited items.
* The boss levels in the first ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'' are more-or-less normal levels that happen to have a weak GetBackHereBoss in them that only takes a few hits to defeat. None of them are required to beat the game, they only exist for extra collectables. The only reason to defeat the bosses themselves is because they drop gems. This changed in later games, which made bosses a lot stronger and gave them each a BossOnlyLevel.
* The boss levels for the video game version of ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' are like this, as you have to collect 50 grain, find all the FLIK letters, and kill all the enemies with a gold berry in order to fully complete them, just like any other level. The fights against the Bird and Hopper are particularly good examples, as they take place in level-sized maze/canyon areas that involve a lot of climbing.
* Speed Buster in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' plays like this. What makes her different from the other bosses is that she is at the end of the level, and that Travis has to make his way while avoiding her dreaded laser cannon. [[spoiler:To win, Travis has to knock down a telephone pole to destroy her {{BFG}}, then make his way to Speed Buster herself to win.]] This break from the normal boss structure apparently causes her to not be included in the game's score attack mode, a BossRush mode that allows players to fight a ranking fight of their choosing.
* The fourth level of ''VideoGame/XenaWarriorPrincess'', the Isle of Kronos, where right at the beginning of the level Xena will get assaulted by a huge cyclops who hurl rocks at her from a distance. After dodging the flung rocks and making her way inland, Xena will have to climb up a small hill, surviving a landslide started by the Cyclops and make her way to the top of the hill where she confronts the Cyclops one-on-one. The level ends when Xena made the cyclops fall to its death.
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'':
** All three encounters with ComicBook/TheScarecrow are this. After a few minutes of horror, you have to navigate a giant, fragmented landscape as a giant Scarecrow tries to spot you. At the end, shining a spotlight on him will dispel the illusion.
** Killer Croc in the same game. His "fight" consists of sneaking around his lair trying to collect plant samples without alerting him to your presence, and knocking him back into the water if he finds you.
* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', some side character battles can play like this. Folks like ComicBook/TheRiddler, ComicBook/{{Deadshot}}, or Zsasz can't stand go toe-to-toe with the Bat, but have advantages like hostages or powerful guns, so their battles consist of getting close enough to them to perform an instant takedown without alerting them to your approach.
* The third Bowser battle in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' as he transforms into Meowser, and then Double Meowser, running around you and attacking at multiple points. However, getting to the end is really all that's needed.
* There are quite a few ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' examples, all full of [[VideoGameSetpiece Setpieces]], such as the giant living statue at the start of [[VideoGame/GodOfWarII the second game]].

** The Scarab Walker from ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'', which was more of a platform or level segment than an actual boss. They became legitimate bosses in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}''.

* The Cydonia alien base on Mars in ''VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense'' has a big alien brain that needs to be destroyed in order to beat the game, but it doesn't do anything and thus the level is really more like a standard alien base assault mission.
* ''VideoGame/StarFox1'' has its alternate FinalBoss, [[spoiler: the Slot Machine]].
** ''VideoGame/StarFox64'' has [[FanNickname the Forever Train]], which causes trouble for you all throughout the Macbeth stage. Near the end it will deploy its secret weapon, the Mechbeth, for a traditional boss battle, but you can avoid having to deal with Mechbeth by simply switching the track to send the train crashing into the weapons factory.
* In ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'''s third level, you chase Mara Aramov through a a DC Metro [[SinisterSubway subway tunnel]] while [[CorridorCubbyholeRun dodging trains]]. You can either snipe her while she's running, or you can chase her to the end and take her down there.
* Boss stages in ''VideoGame/{{Jumper}}'' games are generally normal levels with additional danger in form an enemy who is usually defeated as result of progressing through the stage. The Boss in ''Jumper Two'', however, gives a genuine boss fight in which he is defeated by [[TennisBoss reflecting energy orbs back at him]].
* The first, third and final bosses in ''[[VideoGame/MeatBoy Super Meat Boy]]'' play out like normal levels with a few extra hazards.
* Unlike in the main ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'', the only boss in ''The Missing Link'', [[spoiler:Burke]], has no ContractualBossImmunity or any abilities that make him fundamentally different than a normal enemy. Your confrontation with him is really about getting through the gauntlet of soldiers to the room he's holed up in.
* Balrog's stage in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterXMegaMan'' has Balrog at the far left side of the screen, occasionally jumping forward to attack. Mega Man can't damage him; he just needs to make his way past all the obstacles until Balrog steps on a shaky bridge and falls.
* The Xel'naga Temple in the ''Videogame/StarcraftII'' mission "The Dig" is presented in this way, with its own nifty health bar frame. Your objective is solely to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin dig]] your way through the temple's door with a giant mining laser. Because it's a temple, it can't move or fight you in any way, and the difficulty of the stage lies in its fanatical guardians. Note that in this case, you are encouraged to use [[DeathRay the mining laser]] to help defend your base as well as unlock secondary objectives, which does make tunneling through the door take longer; therefore the mission is slightly shorter if you're confident enough in your base defenses not to need it.

* ''VideoGame/{{Eschatos}}''[='=]s third stage (Areas 12 through 15) is spent fighting against a space station, and you deplete its health over the course of the stage, occasionally pulling away to fight waves of {{Mook}}s. The boss music doesn't play until the final area, when the station's been severely damaged leaving only the core and is down to the last of its three health bars.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the "battle" against Divine Beast Vah Rudaniah is actually more of a [[StealthBasedMission Stealth-Based]] EscortMission. Link must guide Yunobo to the various cannons dotted around Death Mountain, using them to launch Yunobo at Rudania. All while avoiding (or destroying) the search drones that it deployed.
* The FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'' is about trying to bring power to a railgun by inserting three batteries dotted around the area into their sockets then lure the Nemesis into the weapon's line of fire, while avoiding contact with Nemesis itself. Its [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake remake]] changes Nemesis' final form into a [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever gigantic]] StationaryBoss and the railgun into something relatively smaller but three of the batteries dotted around the arena still need be manually inserted in order to give it power.

Compare BossInMookClothing.