Yes, you are fighting a half dingo, half crocodile hybrid with a flamethrower. Only the music itself
adds to the insanity.
adds to the insanity.Considering that he was the unofficial mascot for Sony and the Playstation, as well as being a rival to Sonic and Mario, its only fitting that this wacky bandicoot has spun his way through his fair share of bosses over the years. And boy if they aren't epic.
- The final battle against Cortex set to the background of his burning castle is a really fun fight. You constantly dodge energy blasts that the doctor shoots, redirecting the green ones toward him and avoiding the various patterns of the purple and blue blasts. Admittedly it is a bit on the easy side as you are given two Aku-Aku masks that will save you two hits, but it's still a memorable way to end the game.
- Pinstripe also deserves a spot thanks to being an obvious shout out to old gangster movies, and having a twist on his fight as well; you have to duck and cover behind different pieces of furniture and attack once he has to reload or his gun gets jammed. Combine that with the jazzy music and you get a pretty memorable boss fight for only the first game. Too bad Pinstripe rarely reappeared after this.
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
- This game marks Tiny's first appearance, and damn if it isn't a good one. Just the fact that his intro has him tearing through solid metal can make you tell this battle is gonna be fun. You play a game of cat and mouse with the both of you hopping from platform to platform, and you must trick Tiny into jumping on one that's prepared to fall. Its a fun challenge, and just like Pinstripe, his quirky music adds to the memorability.
- N.Gin may be a bit on the hard side, but there's no denying that he was a fitting penultimate boss. You must systematically take out his giant mech by throwing Wumpa fruits at the different parts of said machine. Meanwhile, N.Gin fires all kinds of lasers and missiles in order to take you out. Its one chaotic fight, and a very rewarding one considering it's in the final stretch of the story. Not to mention the powerful, incredible, and insanely catchy boss music.
- While Cortex's boss fight in this game is infamous for being a total letdown in terms of a final boss, its still a nice way to end off the game. The atmosphere is completely laid out as you chase Cortex through a maze to beat him before he reaches the Space Station, and the music is absolutely remarkable.
- Where do we even begin with Dingodile? First off, his accent is amazing to listen to. Second, his Design is unique and unorthodox. And 3rd, his theme is impeccable. Now onto the battle itself. You spend the entire battle dodging hits from his flamethrower as he stands enclosed in an ice cage. So how do you damage him? By waiting until he accidentally blasts holes in his ice barriers, leaving him open for attack. This results in his Flamethrower going haywire, in which you have approximately 4 seconds to escape, lest you want to get engulfed in an explosion. Add in all the other factors, and you have a high paced battle that'll leave you coming back for more. There's a reason Fans say Dingodile had the best Boss fight in Warped.
- Honestly, all the bosses could count. Tiny fights you in a coliseum of all things, and has an attack where he summons lions to charge at you. N.Tropy's fight takes place through multiple time periods, as he summons all manners of clocks and lasers to throw your way. N.Gin takes you (as Coco) on in a 1 on 1 Dogfight in an improved mech, in which there's a second and even faster form of the mech you must take down should you defeat the first (with Pura coming in with a cannon), and Cortex himself, where you must dodge attacks from Aku Aku and Uka Uka while focusing on Cortex himself.
- The penultimate boss race against Pinstripe, mainly because of his track, Hot Air Skyway, being a fairly long and twisty track in the sky, as well as his tactic of spamming rolling bombs. The introduction before the race starts shows his character well, too.
- The Final Boss race against Nitros Oxide, to decide the fate of your planet. It takes place in Oxide Station, which is situated in outer space and is the longest track in the game. The alien starts before the green light and spams a lot more weapons than previous bosses. It's definitely satisfying when you manage to beat him in the race.
- Big Bad Fox, a.k.a the battle against the Komodo Brothers on the moon. You're driving tanks while they operate a fortress filled with cannons that you have to shoot down, and in the last volley, they're powerful missile launchers that can destroy the walls in the arena. Oh, and after you take down their fortress, the fight isn't over - they then ride tanks of their own, and now you're wielding the same missile launcher for your tank.
- Oxide Ride. Yes, Nitros Oxide is back as the Final Boss, and the battle starts like no other minigames in the game: you (and your partner) ride a spaceship to chase Oxide in space, all while avoiding obstacles shooting down incoming space debris and the chain of floating Nitro crates he drops on the path as traps. Once you go through all that, you and he land on a planet (presumably his own) for a Ballistix battle. Unlike the other opponents' AI in the game, Oxide is good at defending his goal from the steel balls - and then he calls for missile strikes from his corners of the arena, trying to hit you directly. Oh, and occasionally, there's the One-Hit Kill "red balls" from Sky Balls' crystal challenge for extra hectic points.
Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure
- In addition to bringing back Tiny's boss fight from Cortex Strikes Back and N. Gin's from Warped (albeit watered down due to the limitations of the GBA), there is also the True Final Boss: Megamix. It's a horrible amalgamation of all of the game's bosses, brought to life after Crash causes Cortex's machine to become unstable. As an Advancing Boss of Doom, it forces Crash to run for his life as it chases him through the space station, and as a Final-Exam Boss, it tasks the player to use every power-up acquired throughout the game to dodge obstacles and put some distance away from the creature. That being said, bringing two Aku Aku masks turns this battle into an Anticlimax Boss, as it's possible to abuse the invincibility to skip a large section of the level... but then you won't get the final Gem if you reach the goal too early.
- Fake Crash is unique in that it subverts the franchise's trend of Tactical Suicide Bosses. Instead, it's a Puzzle Boss that copies Crash's every movement and must be tricked into stepping into one of the traps laid throughout the arena.
- The titular N. Trance begins the fight with a strategy that is clearly a homage to King K. Rool's original boss battle before taking it to the skies. Crash uses the helicopter backpack to follow him, dodging waves of Bullet Hell as he tries to spin N. Trance into a lava trap that is activated by Fake Crash.
- Dingodile makes his return as a boss in Twinsanity and delivers a battle that is just as great as his original battle, but this time with an extra level of intensity. The core of the battle remains similar to Warped, with him attacking you from the center of the room, but this time he's trailing at you with his flamethrower at a faster rate than Crash can run, requiring Crash to duck and weave until Dingodile prepares a charged shot that can be used to open a button that turns on the sprinklers and lower his defenses. His attacks get more and more dangerous as the battle goes on, requiring much more caution than the previous bosses of the game. Blending perfectly with this is the setting of his fight being a steamy boiler room, and his incredibly oppressive boss theme that sounds like you're being roasted just listening to it.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
- The first boss level of the game, Stage Dive, is immensely fun. You take on N.Gin, who is in a giant drum-playing mech, dodging an onslaught of projectiles being thrown at you while spinning Crazed Kids back at his speakers to immobilize him, then rushing up to the stage and giving him a big old whack to the cockpit. His theme is also a real banger, and one of the best tracks in the game. And he's only the first boss!
- The first battle against Cortex starts off simple as he fires a barrage of easy-to-dodge missiles at you, but with each hit you land on him, his attack patterns become more aggressive and difficult to dodge, to the point where it's a literal Bullet Hell. His remixed theme that plays during the fight is amazing as well, and you'll feel like an absolute unit should you beat him without dying once. Bonus points if you did so without using Kupuna-Wa.
- Even though the N. Tropys have often been seen as an Anti-Climax Boss, there's no denying that the build-up to the battle, along with the atmosphere and the music of the fight itself are simply jaw-dropping. It's also one of the few levels where you use the powers of all of the Quantum Masks, and that in itself is something to behold.
- The final boss, a rematch with Dr. Cortex, is a fast-paced and incredibly fun battle, and a satisfying way to cap off the adventure. He steals all of the Quantum Masks and uses their power against you, from phase-shifting the battlefield, flipping the whole screen to disorient you, and manipulating time to send you into the bottomless pit below, among other things.
