Best Boss Fight - Round Two

[This Old Neon]

Round Two of the "Best Boss Fight" side-event includes 3 polls of 9 games each.

• You can vote for UP TO THREE (3) games per poll, or skip a poll entirely.
• The top 3 games in each poll will advance to the category finals.
• You can't change your votes once they've been submitted, so click carefully. Voting closes on Saturday at midnight ADT.

VOTE HERE

Poll 1 of 3
The Boss - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004, PS2)
The Core, Misery, & Sue - Cave Story (2004, PC)
GLaDOS - Portal (2007, Multiplatform)
Jevil - Deltarune (2018, Multiplatform)
Jowy Atreides - Suikoden II (1998, PS1)
Kefka - Final Fantasy VI (1994, SNES)
Mike Tyson - Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! (1987, NES)
Old Monk - Demon's Souls (2009, PS3)
SA-X - Metroid Fusion (2002, GBA)

Poll 2 of 3
Cecil - Final Fantasy IV (1991, SNES)
The Devil - Cuphead (2017, PC/XB1)
Giygas - Earthbound (1994, SNES)
Green - Gunstar Heroes (1993, Genesis)
Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower - Bloodborne (2015, PS4)
Martyr Logarius - Bloodborne (2015, PS4)
Mother Brain - Super Metroid (1994, SNES)
Rebel Mothership - FTL: Faster Than Light (2012, PC)
Sniper Wolf - Metal Gear Solid (1998, PS1)

Poll 3 of 3
Asriel Dreemurr - Undertale (2015, Multiplatform)
Dragon Slayer Ornstein & Executioner Smough - Dark Souls (2011, Multiplatform)
The End - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004, PS2)
Psycho Mantis - Metal Gear Solid (1998, PS1)
Pyramid Head - Silent Hill 2 (2001, Multiplatform)
Red - Pokémon [Gold/Silver] Version (1999, GB)
Scarecrow - Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009, Multiplatform)
Velius - Final Fantasy Tactics (1997, PS1)
Wheatley - Portal 2 (2011, Multiplatform)

[Kong Wen]

Poll 1 of 3
The Boss - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004, PS2)
The Core, Misery, & Sue - Cave Story (2004, PC)
GLaDOS - Portal (2007, Multiplatform)
Jevil - Deltarune (2018, Multiplatform)
Jowy Atreides - Suikoden II (1998, PS1)
Kefka - Final Fantasy VI (1994, SNES)
Mike Tyson - Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! (1987, NES)
Old Monk - Demon's Souls (2009, PS3)
SA-X - Metroid Fusion (2002, GBA)

GLaDOS gets a vote for being the culmination of all the gameplay tricks you learned throughout the game. It lets you feel like you're "breaking the rules" while actually playing fully within the guidelines the game has designed for you.

Only other vote is the Old Monk, for reasons I explained in the first round:

Listen, before I say anything else in this poll, or talk about any of my votes, let me just say something about the Old Monk fight. It's one of the most unique fights in video game history IMO, and deserves to win this whole category just because of how mind-blowing and nerve-wracking it was at the time.

If you're wandering around in the Tower of Latria within a certain radius of the boss's room, there's a chance you'll suddenly find yourself being summoned into another player's game. But instead of arriving there to help the other player, to your joy or perhaps dismay, you'll find that you've been summoned by the Old Monk himself!!! You're meant to be HIS champion against the encroaching do-gooder.

The Old Monk is actually be a soul that has possessed the abundant yellow robes. Its previous body/host is too frail to deal with the incoming threat. That's what you're there for. The robes attach themselves to your head, and you get to participate in the boss battle as a boss. You're a boss. In perfect keeping with the name and theme of the game, you get to be the literal demon in addition to the metaphorical one.

It's simply fantastic design. It perfectly adheres to the overall game philosophy of Demon's Souls, it's fully embedded into the game's lore and internal mechanics, and it gives the players a unique experience.

Winning this fight as the boss is also the only way to get the righteous yellow robe tornado hat in your inventory.

Poll 2 of 3
Cecil - Final Fantasy IV (1991, SNES)
The Devil - Cuphead (2017, PC/XB1)
Giygas - Earthbound (1994, SNES)
Green - Gunstar Heroes (1993, Genesis)
Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower - Bloodborne (2015, PS4)
Martyr Logarius - Bloodborne (2015, PS4)
Mother Brain - Super Metroid (1994, SNES)
Rebel Mothership - FTL: Faster Than Light (2012, PC)
Sniper Wolf - Metal Gear Solid (1998, PS1)

The Mother Brain sequence is an excellent story sequence, but only a decent fight. Still voting for it in this round at least.

Lady Maria gets my main vote. She's the ultimate form of the old classic "Link vs. Dark Link, Samus vs. Dark Samus, Mana kids vs. Mana kid clones" kind of boss fight where the player has to fight a jacked up version of a character with their own shape and abilities. Really good skill gate, and also a cool design and encounter in general.

Poll 3 of 3
Asriel Dreemurr - Undertale (2015, Multiplatform)
Dragon Slayer Ornstein & Executioner Smough - Dark Souls (2011, Multiplatform)
The End - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004, PS2)
Psycho Mantis - Metal Gear Solid (1998, PS1)
Pyramid Head - Silent Hill 2 (2001, Multiplatform)
Red - Pokémon [Gold/Silver] Version (1999, GB)
Scarecrow - Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009, Multiplatform)
Velius - Final Fantasy Tactics (1997, PS1)
Wheatley - Portal 2 (2011, Multiplatform)

Ugh, this is a murderous killer bracket. I really have to vote for Ornstein & Smough and Scarecrow (which are the correct answers in this bracket), and Velius (a sentimental pick), but it makes me feel awful about leaving Psycho Mantis in the lurch.

[This Old Neon]

Poll 1 of 3
GLaDOS - Portal (2007, Multiplatform)
Mike Tyson - Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! (1987, NES)

Jowy Atreides - Suikoden II (1998, PS1)
Kefka - Final Fantasy VI (1994, SNES)

Poll 2 of 3
Giygas - Earthbound (1994, SNES)
Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower - Bloodborne (2015, PS4)
Mother Brain - Super Metroid (1994, SNES)

Poll 3 of 3
Asriel Dreemurr - Undertale (2015, Multiplatform)
Wheatley - Portal 2 (2011, Multiplatform)

The End - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004, PS2)
Pyramid Head - Silent Hill 2 (2001, Multiplatform)
Scarecrow - Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009, Multiplatform)
Velius - Final Fantasy Tactics (1997, PS1)

Winners & tie-breaker contenders.

[Kong Wen]

Can't believe I'm the only one who cares about this brilliant category!