![]() Phantoon in Super ’s Wrecked Ship ratchets up the difficulty by quite a margin, and that’s just as important as the amazing item it guards. Even in the most lackadaisical Kirby games, Kracko and Meta Knight are threats. But bosses are meant to push you no matter how low the skill floor is. This idea is limited, since it can define a boss’s (and a game’s) worth by its difficulty. In practice, they can be exacting fights only overcome with the skills you spend the game honing. Like in Super Metroid, you kill Kraid and get the Varia Suit, and that opens up Norfair as the next act. “Go through these three levels, beat Tinker, Propeller, and Polar Knight, and then you can access the Tower of Fate.” Not all bosses are required, many don’t close a level or give you a present, and several muddle this definition, but that sense of “import” is there. ![]() By those metrics, we can think of them as punctuations. Effectively, they close one act and lead you to the next. That reward may be an item, or an upgrade, or just access to the next challenge. What is a boss? Well, typically, they’re a tougher bad guy than the rest who ends a level and bestows a reward. Let’s start by finally just doing it and defining a boss. Perhaps it’s time to start getting into the terminology and analyzing what makes someone like him “mini.” This industry of ours is filled with confusing and vague terminology, something that as a librarian I find equal parts fascinating and frustrating. But more to the point, he’s something I have covered but not really discussed: a mini-boss. So instead, I’m gonna talk about Crocomire, because I like him. ![]() There’s also the tragic final battle against Mother Brain, the creepy Phantoon (who was disqualified by virtue of me wanting to write separately about the Wrecked Ship), and the living Chozo Statue. The fight against Draygon, where you can turn yourself into an electrical wire to zap the beast, is held up as a high point of 16-bit boss design. There’s the early duel with Ridley, where the game reveals its cinematic aspirations. Thing is, though, that I could never decide which boss to choose.
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