History Main / BossRush

** Unlocking the final skill for each member of [[BadassCrew the Eternals]] involves using the member in question to fight nine consecutive DuelBoss fights versus each of the other Eternals. Losing at any point means starting over from the first fight.

** "The Arena" was first featured in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', where it pitted you against all the bosses from the various subgames in random order, ending with [[FinalBoss Marx]], and gave you healing items between rounds that you had to use wisely. Its remake, ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'', added ''two'' new variants on The Arena. The first is Helper to Hero, where you play as one of Kirby's numerous sidekicks through a shortened, pre-set order Boss Rush ending with new boss Wham Bam Jewel; and [[NintendoHard The "True" Arena]] where you fight the new bosses and minibosses added by the game's new subgames; the standard bosses and mini-bosses are in random order, but the arena ends with the "Final Four", consisting of Masked Dedede, Wham Bam Jewel again, Galacta Knight, and a TrueFinalBoss exclusive to the True Arena -- [[spoiler:a souped up version of Marx named Marx Soul]]. The healing items are also much less effective, making one of the [[NintendoHard most frustratingly difficult challenges]] in the entire series.

* Chapter 61 of ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'' has you fighting five bosses in its four sections. Lecia and Katarina fight Gandharva, Rosetta and Io fight Fenrir, Eugen, Rackam and the main character fight Leviathan Malice, and then the party comes together to fight Leviathan Malice (again) and Mithra Malice back to back.

* ''VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureThe7thStandUser'' has a boss rush that can be triggered by running into an NPC in the final town after discovering Dio's mansion. It consists of all the Tarot bosses (except Kakyoin and Polnareff, natch) with higher stats and, in a few cases, new attacks and different gimmicks. For example, Tower of Gray has an attack that is normally exclusive to hard mode, and the battle with Hanged Man is completely different, catapulting it into ThatOneBoss territory.

* ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' sees the main antagonists of the first five ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' live-action films (specifically, [[Film/SpiderMan1 Green Goblin]], [[Film/SpiderMan2 Doctor Octopus]], [[Film/SpiderMan3 Sandman]], [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan Lizard]], and [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2 Electro]]) [[TrappedInAnotherWorld getting dragged into]] the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' to fight [[Film/MCUSpiderManTrilogy its Spider-Man]] along with their respective [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy Wall]] [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries Crawler]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Katanagatari}}'''s finale has Shichika defeating 12 warriors wielding the 12 katana he's been gathering with Togame during the entire series, but using upgraded tactics. [[spoiler:Since it's part of a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, he [[CurbStompBattle curbstomps]] them all, and it's awesome]].

* The Salmon Run mode of ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon 2}}'' has this as a ''tutorial level''; its main purpose is to teach you how to fight the seven most common Boss Salmonid that appear in the mode, but if you think that's hostile, it's ''[[NintendoHard nothing]]'' compared to fighting several Boss Salmonid at once on top of the actual hordes.

** All of the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' games aside from the first and fourth, despite being [=RPGs=], have a boss rush towards the end of the main story that is split into multiple sections.
*** The sixth game in particular has two, with the second being a repeatable straight boss rush in the BonusDungeon that is required in order to challenge the {{superboss}} again. Similarly, the fourth and fifth games have the same setup, where the six bosses you gained Double Souls have dark counterparts that must be defeated to reach the {{superboss}}. In the fourth game, it's one-time-only fights, which eventually lead to a battle with Mega Man's Dark Soul. In the fifth game, going off to face the Chaos Lord warrants a rematch with the Dark Soul Navis each time you return to fight again -- though depending on the average time it takes to defeat the Navis, Chaos Lord will assume the form of Nebula Grey, Bass, or Mega Man's Dark Soul.

*** The third ''Battle Network'' had two unique situations of boss-rushing. One involved earning ranks to rise up in status in the Undernet, where Beastman shows up suddenly for a rematch, getting deleted again earlier than the other enemy Navis and not during the final stages of the game. To prevent a third fight, Wily terminates his operator, Inukai. The other instance of boss-rush beyond the norm is a series of battles against 15 Omega Navis, the strongest forms of all the Navis in the game, including post-game bosses (save for OptionalBoss Punk), accessed by a secret code when you have surmounted five stars. These fights are punctuated with 3 battles against Omega-level viruses, then a battle against the Omega Navis. To find them, you have to stumble upon their hidden data on the Net. Beating them and earning seven stars causes FinalBoss Alpha to morph into a respective Omega form.
*** Although the first game made the player go through similar dungeons from earlier in the game. The only thing that was missing was a boss at the end of them. And the 4th game only had only 2 non-final bosses you were guaranteed to face, with one of those bosses not really counting as a boss fight (until the post-endgame anyways) and the other boss isn't ever faced until the room before the final boss.
** The picture at the top of this trope's page + Mega Man 2 = [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQBU4ZfA_qY Rockman 2 (Ippatsu) Neta]]. And yes, it is beatable. (Another E-tank, onii-chan? Maybe that's bad to say, for reasons.)

** A Boss Rush is typically placed in the second-to-last or last level in the game, although the initial game in the [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 first two]] [[VideoGame/MegaManX1 series]] dispersed the Boss Rush throughout the last few levels. It's somewhat bearable thanks to the ElementalRockPaperScissors weakness to each boss, meaning you'll likely own them in no time flat with little to no damage. Another bonus is the fact that the game typically gives you health powerups after each battle, so you fight each boss on more even terms. In fact, it's so ingrained into the ''Mega Man'' identity that they continue to do it even when, for most games, [[GrandfatherClause most gamers do not like the Boss Rush as part of the main game anymore]].
** ROMHack ''VideoGame/RockmanNoConstancy'' gave the boss rooms slippery floors.

** ''VideoGame/MegaManZero''

*** ''VideoGame/MegaManZero2'' throws the player for a loop by changing the attack patterns of one of the bosses in the boss rush entirely, by throwing in the brother you killed in the previous game. It's like they were feeling spiteful and wanted you to lose. Also, the return of these bosses is {{handwave}}d by the fact Elpizo used the power of the Dark Elf to bring them back -- though with heavy brainwashing in effect. One of those bosses also has an attack that invokes this, where he lifts Zero into the air and attacks him with phantom images of previous ''X''-series bosses ([[VideoGame/MegaManX1 Vile]], [[VideoGame/MegaManX2 Agile]], [[VideoGame/MegaManX3 Bit]], and [[VideoGame/MegaManX4 Colonel]]).
*** ''VideoGame/MegaManZero3'' {{handwave}}s this, with the BigBad specializing in Reploid "revival". Even more stunning -- no less than ''four'' bosses return to fight you from the first game, all with brand new powers! If that wasn't enough for you, Copy X, the BigBad of the first title, is one of them! However, he's now stuck with a VerbalTic, and to prevent him from using his Seraph form and rebelling against Dr. Weil (and effectively becoming a case of final boss deja vu), Weil's rigged him with a self-destruct mechanism that goes off when he tries to transform.
*** In ''VideoGame/MegaManZero4'', not only is there a regular Boss Rush, but the FinalBoss has an attack that is effectively a Boss ''Bum Rush''. He can summon the eight bosses from ''the previous game'' to quickly perform their signature attack before vanishing. Luckily, they don't have to be destroyed.
** ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork2'', where Gospel attacks using images of three enemy Navis (Air Man, Quick Man, and Cut Man if you were curious) that the player fought ''just previously'' in the actual boss rush.
** And so does ''VideoGame/MegaManX8'', where the "revived" bosses are actually Reploids who have shapeshifted into them.
** And in ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' and ''Advent'', the bosses are rebuilt in new bodies [[spoiler:thanks to the usage of [[ArtifactOfDoom Model W]]]]. ''Advent'' also features a subversion where [[spoiler:after beating the eight Pseudoroids, Grey/Ashe are confronted by all four of the enemy Mega Men just before the FinalBoss, who make it clear they intend to shut them down right here and now. Instead of seguing into another gauntlet, Aile/Vent pull their BigDamnHeroes and blast a path for Grey/Ashe to go through while they HoldTheLine in an OffscreenMomentOfAwesome.]]

** ''VideoGame/MegaManUnlimited'', true to Mega Man tradition, has one of these in the fourth endgame stage. However, there is an added twist: [[spoiler: Before you fight each boss again, [[AllTheWorldsAreAStage you have to traverse a mini-stage based on the obstacles and enemies in that boss's original stage]].]]

* The final level of the ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D''-based game ''VideoGame/Corridor7'' ends in a series of small rooms, each one containing the previous bosses of the game, ending with the final boss.

* In the anime/manga Kuroko's Basketball, Kise's Perfect Copy feels like fighting all 5 Generations of Miracles at the same time as he uses Aomine's speed, Murasakibara's defense, Midorima's 3 point shots, Akashi's future sight and Kuroko's passes to beat Kagami and Kuroko. However, Seirin still wins the match, barely.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'': After [[spoiler:siding with Othinus and making an enemy of the world]], Touma has to fight through a series of powerful opponents, most of whom he's already fought before. Notable in that [[spoiler:most of them actually let him win, or allow him to pass after he explains himself]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Assassins Creed|I}}'', during the final confrontation with [[spoiler:Al-Mualim]], the Piece of Eden is used to create specters of each of Altair's previous assassination targets to throw him off.

** ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' continues the trend of having both a standard Arena and a True Arena: The Arena features bosses from the game's regular mode, while The True Arena features their powered-up forms from the extra mode and saves the five most powerful bosses for the end. Like ''Ultra'', one of those five is actually [[{{superboss}} exclusive to The True Arena]], though this time it's not a stronger version of the final boss - instead, you fight [[spoiler:Galacta Knight.]]

* During the FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/PizzaTower'', [[VillainousHarlequin Pizzahead]], no worse for wear after his first bout with [[TheHero Peppino]], summons all four previous bosses to fight for him. Peppino ends up [[RageBreakingPoint having none of it]], launching into a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown upon hitting a returning boss (ripping half their healthbars out with every impact), with [[TheLancer Gustavo]] joining in to assist with the rematches with [[VigilanteMan The Vigilante]], [[PsychopathicManchild The Noise]], and [[EvilKnockoff Fake Peppino]] by [[GrievousHarmWithABody letting Peppino throw him at the bosses]] to open them up for a beat down.

* ''VideoGame/PrinnyCanIReallyBeTheHero'' has the second-to-last level, Sweet Palace, which pits you against souped-up versions of bosses you've fought in previous stages, interspersed with short platforming areas. What makes this example interesting is that, depending on which boss (or bosses) you battled in the six initial stages, some will change up during the rush. For example, if you chose the Demon Sea Casino Stage first, you battle Bok Choy, a Zombie who's extremely easy. In the aformentioned Sweet Palace, he decides to sic Cyberclops on you instead of rematching. If you already beat Cyberclops by choosing the stage fifth or last, it gets upgraded to 2.0 and has harder to avoid attacks. Likewise, if the High Tome Forest was picked first, you fight Kim, a Magic Knight. In Sweet Palace, she calls up her twin sister, Chi, to assist her in the fight. If Anise the Cat Witch was involved in any way (including the 3 on 1 midnight battle), she faces you alone.

* Happens at the end of ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'', where the final "boss" is in fact three boss fusions fought back-to-back.

* In ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'', when you complete the Ascent stage of the Tower of Fate, you literally drop in on the bosses' dinner party, and they each attack you one by one. The order is different each time you face them. In the case ''Plague Of Shadows'', you literally drop in on the bosses' dinner party, but then [[spoiler: Shovel Knight]] drops in on you, and he ends up in the chair where Plague Knight would normally sit. The bosses attack you one by one, again with the order being different, but then you fight [[spoiler: Shovel Knight]] as the final opponent in the Boss Rush. The Boss Rush is removed from ''Specter of Torment''

* Round 8 in ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' forces the player to fight against all the previous bosses (Antonio, Souther, Abadede, Bongo, and Onihime and Yasha) before the final battle against Mr. X. While the bosses have less health this time, unlike in the regular rounds, the player cannot summon the bazooka-launching police backup to help them out (since the battle takes place inside a building).
** Continued in Stages 7 and 8 of the sequel. Stage 7's second half contains almost all of the sub-bosses in the game, alongside Stage 2's boss Jet. Stage 8 contains all of the main bosses, minus Jet.

* During the FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/PizzaTower'', [[VillainousHarlequin Pizzahead]], no worse for wear after his first bout with [[TheHero Peppino]], summons all four previous bosses to fight for him. Peppino ends up [[RageBreakingPoint having none of it]], launching into a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown upon hitting a returning boss, with [[TheLancer Gustavo]] joining in to assist with the rematches with [[VigilanteMan The Vigilante]], [[PsychopathicManchild The Noise]], and [[EvilKnockoff Fake Peppino]] by [[GreviousHarmWithABody letting Peppino throw him at the bosses]] to open them up for a beat down.

* ''VideoGame/DigimonWorldDawnDusk'' features a post-final-boss quest where you have to go through a new area featuring stronger wild encounters than any you have faced before, only to end up with a boss rush involving SEVEN back-to-back battles, of which two are against a pair of Digimon, while the rest are against only one (tellingly, most of them are either {{final boss}}es or {{eleventh hour superpower}}s from the anime or manga). [[spoiler: Omegamon was nasty thanks to Royal Slash, and the fact he was not alone, then there's Dukemon Crimson Mode at the end who not only hits like a truck, but takes quite a while to bring down too]]. If THAT wasn't enough, there's another boss rush quest after you've done several other things, including the boss rush just mentioned. This time, it's 5 battles, each against 1-3 digimon, the last one being against a digimon that has obscenely high defences and resistances to most things, leading to what is a MarathonBoss (called [[spoiler: Chronomon Holy Mode, a bonus boss who is the more powerful version of Digimon World DS's final boss, in which he also turns up as a bonus boss]]) if you don't have [[spoiler: darkness attacks to exploit its weakest resistance]].

* In ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga 2'', [[BonusBoss a sidequest]] allows you to fight the four archangels Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael in a certain area. The first three you fight individually, but in the final fight you have to kill them again before facing Michael. In addition, the final dungeon has an interesting case overlapping with BossBonanza -- [[spoiler:you have to fight four bosses from the first game: Harley/Hayagriva, Bat/Camazotz, Mick/Rahu, and Varin/Beck/Ravana]].

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', in its version for the GBA, has the Soul Shrine, a place where the souls of all the enemies go after being defeated. In order to appease them, you have to fight 128 consecutive battles, with only 5 breaks in between. These fights are random, and they can include the [[ComMons commonest of the foes]], but you could end up fighting ThatOneBoss as well. Repeatedly. Regardless, for the final 9 battles, you'll face the 8 Dragons after they've taken their steroids, and their angry daddy, the powerful and almighty [[BonusBoss Kaiser Dragon]]. Of course, you will be [[BraggingRightsReward rewarded accordingly]].

* The MonsterArena in ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'' can easily become this if you have defeated every boss there is. The normal bosses aren't ''that'' hard, but try surviving when there comes BonusBoss after BonusBoss. Or easier said, try surviving when ''Dullahan'' comes.

** ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'': Mission 89 on Day 353 has Roxas going around Twilight Town to take down 6 powerful Heartless: Gigas Shadow, Poison Plant, Stalwart Blade, Orcus, Veil Lizard, and Power Armor. There's also an [[BonusBoss optional fight]] against the draconic Dustflier, the strongest enemy in the game, that shows up in front of the Clock Tower once the other 6 have been defeated.
** ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts02BirthBySleepAFragmentaryPassage'' has one, unlocked by opening 12 zodiac chests. It starts off with a Darkside, two swarms of Heartless, and a Demon Tower. But the final opponent? Say hello to [[spoiler:[[BonusBoss an even stronger version]] of [[MirrorBoss Phantom Aqua]]. She's by far the hardest boss of the game. Be prepared for hours of rage.]]

* Starting with ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'', the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series has featured an area where you can face off against stronger versions of the game's bosses, with limited items and a turn limit imposed on you. You can face each boss individually, or face them all in a row ending with a BonusBoss fight against either an incredibly powered up version of Bowser known as "Bowser X" (''Bowser's Inside Story''), [[spoiler:Bowser Jr.]] (''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam''), or [[spoiler:Dry Bowser]] (''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam''). ''Dream Team'' also features an alternate mode where you face off against the game's Giant Bosses again. Dream Team actually makes The Gauntlet part of the plot as you have to go there and battle Grobot X to claim the Zeekeeper Feathers for the FetchQuest.

*** The sixth game in particular has two, with the second being a repeatable straight boss rush in the BonusDungeon that is required in order to challenge the BonusBoss again. Similarly, the fourth and fifth games have the same setup, where the six bosses you gained Double Souls have dark counterparts that must be defeated to reach the BonusBoss. In the fourth game, it's one-time-only fights, which eventually lead to a battle with Mega Man's Dark Soul. In the fifth game, going off to face the Chaos Lord warrants a rematch with the Dark Soul Navis each time you return to fight again -- though depending on the average time it takes to defeat the Navis, Chaos Lord will assume the form of Nebula Grey, Bass, or Mega Man's Dark Soul.

*** The third ''Battle Network'' had two unique situations of boss-rushing. One involved earning ranks to rise up in status in the Undernet, where Beastman shows up suddenly for a rematch, getting deleted again earlier than the other enemy Navis and not during the final stages of the game. To prevent a third fight, Wily terminates his operator, Inukai. The other instance of boss-rush beyond the norm is a series of battles against 15 Omega Navis, the strongest forms of all the Navis in the game, including post-game bosses (save for BonusBoss Punk), accessed by a secret code when you have surmounted five stars. These fights are punctuated with 3 battles against Omega-level viruses, then a battle against the Omega Navis. To find them, you have to stumble upon their hidden data on the Net. Beating them and earning seven stars causes FinalBoss Alpha to morph into a respective Omega form.

** In ''Star Force 2'', there are two boss rushes of sorts. The first is the normal one where you fight all the bosses who aren't your friends (the usual type,) while the second is in the [[BadFuture Bonus]] [[BonusDungeon Dungeon]], where you fight heavily upgraded versions of nearly every boss, (friends included,) as well as some new ones, ending with the BonusBoss. ''Star Force 3'' also does the same thing.

** ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' continues the trend of having both a standard Arena and a True Arena: The Arena features bosses from the game's regular mode, while The True Arena features their powered-up forms from the extra mode and saves the five most powerful bosses for the end. Like ''Ultra'', one of those five is actually [[BonusBoss exclusive to The True Arena]], though this time it's not a stronger version of the final boss - instead, you fight [[spoiler:Galacta Knight.]]

*** ''ZX'', in addition to a normal mandatory Boss Rush, has optional rushes through eight select bosses of ''Zero 3'' and ''4'' (the first 4 fought in the final stage of ''3''[[note]]Blazin' Flizard, Childre Inarabbita, Devilbat Schilt, and Deathtanz Mantisk[[/note]], and the upper floor of boss teleportation chambers in the final stage of ''4''[[note]]Sol Titanion, Fenri Lunaedge, Pegasolta Eclair, and Noble Mandrago[[/note]]), in order to get the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Model O]][[note]]Omega[[/note]]. Instead of beating those 8 bosses[[note]]Or due to not having [=MMZ3&4=] games or playing the game on a [=DSi=] or 3DS, which lack the GBA cartridge port[[/note]], the player can opt to beating a single BonusBoss -- an ultra-pumped up version of Omega Zero (technically, residual data), which is HarderThanHard. Enjoy using up the subtanks.

** In ''beatmania IIDX 20 tricoro'', unlocking "Sol Cosine Job 2" for the [[BonusBoss Extra Stage]] requires you to, among other things, invoke this trope yourself by playing a set consisting of tracks that were previously One More Extra Stage tracks.

* ''VideoGame/TouhouKaeidzukaPhantasmagoriaOfFlowerView'' has one in the extra stage, in which you have to defeat every character in the game in succession. Additionally, the fans have composed a couple of amazing boss theme compilations, known as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESA63E6SzgE Last Boss Rush]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxJavbRAo-0 Extra Boss Rush,]] which covers the {{Leitmotif}} every FinalBoss and BonusBoss through the 12th game, respectively.

* The [=PS2=] game ''Seven Samurai: 20XX'' has the "Colliseum Mode", an unlockable option that lets you fight against all non-giant bosses from the main game, including the {{Bonus Boss}}es.

** A bonus Boss Rush mode is a common unlockable feature in later games. Notably ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDissonance Harmony of Dissonance]]'', the ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Sorrow]]'' duology, ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin Portrait of Ruin]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia Order of Ecclesia.]]'' You battle all the bosses in a row, aiming for the quickest time, often to unlock special weapons and equipment for the main game. Quite often given a bit of extra replay value though allowing you to use the bonus characters from the game as well.

* Starting with ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'', the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series has featured an area where you can face off against stronger versions of the game's bosses, with limited items and a turn limit imposed on you. You can face each boss individually, or face them all in a row ending with a BonusBoss fight against either an incredibly powered up version of Bowser known as "Bowser X" (''Bowser's Inside Story''), [[spoiler:Bowser Jr.]] (''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam''), or [[spoiler:Dry Bowser]] (''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam''). ''Dream Team'' also features an alternate mode where you face off against the game's Giant Bosses again.

*** The final co-op Event Match in ''Brawl'' and ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros4 For Wii U]]'' is two players against the game's playable roster, similar to All-Star Mode minus the breaks or recovery opportunities.

** ''Mario Party DS'' has this as a "Boss Bash" Minigame, where you get to fight the bosses in order as a TimeTrial. You don't have to worry about restocking or having to fight the bosses on reduced health -- but you DO have to beat them all in a row or you'll fail the entire minigame.
** ''Mario Party 9'' allows the player to choose between fighting only minibosses, only main bosses or all of them. Since bosses can't kill characters (their attacks only reduce scores), the challenge is based on which of the 2-4 challengers deals the most damage in each battle. The character with the highest overall rank is declared victor.

* ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvoltSeries'', a SpiritualSuccessor of the below-mentioned ''Franchise/MegaMan'', not only have boss rushes in both the last stage of the story mode of each of its games as well as its unlockable modes, but they even bring justifications for the story mode boss rushes:

* The ''LightNovel/MariaWatchesOverUs'' doujin game ''Lillian Fourhand'' has its final level consisting of a rush with all of the mini-bosses and the first two bosses before you reach the final boss, a triple tag-team of the game's latter three bosses.