History Main / HardLevelsEasyBosses

* ''GoldenSun'' as a general rule tends to involve more tricky puzzles than tough battles, and most of the bosses are no exception (the few that are tend to end up ThatOneBoss anyway). ''The Lost Age'' mitigates this somewhat by having a Hard Mode, ramping up the difficulty of the bosses for you. ''Dark Dawn'' does not have a Hard Mode, and [[StopHelpingMe gives you an assist for the puzzles]], which made it [[ItsEasySoItSucks painfully easy for some fans]].

* ''{{God of War}}'' featured several really difficult and lethal environmental challenges, along with a few miniboss pile-on challenges. Fighting the bosses, particularly the end boss, was practically a relief.

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** Subverted by ''KaizoMarioWorld''. The first game featured two boss fights, against [[spoiler:the Big Boo and Invisible Bowser.]] The second had two, [[spoiler:Underwater Bowser and Reznor, but in a room full of spiked logs and rising lava.]]
** Inverted by ''Brutal Mario''. The levels are harder, but not mind-numbingly hard. The ''sub''-bosses include [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger The Mammon Machine]] and [[DonkeyKongCountry King K. Rool]], and the Koopa kids are simply brutal, brutal fights.

** Inverted by ''Brutal Mario''. The levels are harder, but not mind-numbingly hard. The ''sub''-bosses include [[ChronoTrigger The Mammon Machine]] and [[DonkeyKongCountry King K. Rool]], and the Koopa kids are simply brutal, brutal fights.

* No gunslinger in ''RedDeadRedemption'' is as deadly as a pack of wolves or a solitary cougar.

** Mario games have shaken the trend a bit recently. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' has pathetic bosses like Gooper Blooper, but Phantamanta and Eely-Mouth can be extremely difficult. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' has some tricky bosses, particularly in the daredevil runs; Bouldergeist in particular is rather frustrating. The bosses in ''New SMB Wii'' always retreat into their shell after each hit, so even the easier fights at least take some time to win. Then there's the final boss.
** However, VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 plays this straight with the final Bowser battle.

** By the fifth stage (and especially on Pro), the Island, it's '''both'''. You will pull your hair out fighting Krauser again and again, and then when you do beat him, spend the next few hours warding off waves of enemies and machine gun turrets.

** As is to be expected of a fangame, ''[[SonicRoboBlast2 SRB2]]'' is also a large offender, with bosses that are very basic compared to the stage, at least until (of course) you reach a [[ShoutOut familiar]] [[ThatOneBoss mechanical behemoth]]. Of course, this could be attributed to the [[DevelopmentHell ten years spent designing the game]].

* ''{{Battletoads}}'' might as well be the level-focused poster-boy. The bosses are rather easy, but several of the stages are almost up there with ''IWannaBeTheGuy'' in difficulty.

* In the various ''FinalFantasyTactics'' games, bosses are almost always easier than regular battles. This is because you have five people and they have only one, so you can move five times as fast as them, and more often than not their attacks can't hit everyone at once, or take a long time to charge.

* ''ThunderForce III'':
** Nearly every boss is much easier than the stage preceding it, especially if you have [[GameBreaker Sever]], in which case they'll go down in under 20 seconds each.

* In ''SpaceHarrier'', the levels consist of tricky controlling around dangerous scenery and large amounts of EverythingTryingToKillYou; the bosses are fought in clean areas with incredibly predictable movement and attack patterns.

* ''Sly Spy'', an obscure arcade-only game, has extremely simple boss fights. All the actual bosses have only a single, easily dodgeable attack with the motorcycle and underwater levels being the worst offenders. However, some boss fights are just rushes of EliteMooks which are very good at eating away at your health.

* ''[[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]]'':
** Usually it has bosses much easier than the stages before them, with the exception of [[ThatOneBoss one boss per game]] who gives people trouble.
** Let us not speak of a [[ThatOneBoss certain boss]] in the second game.
*** [[WakeUpCallBoss Good morning]], today we have a heaping helping of bottomless pits, stupid sidekicks, and [[MercyInvincibility going through the boss]] because of said sidekick.
** As is to be expected of a fangame, ''[[SonicRoboBlast2 SRB2]]'' is also a large offender, with bosses that are very basic compared to the stage, at least until (of course) you reach a [[ShoutOut familiar]] [[ThatOneBoss mechanical behemoth]]. Of course, this could be attributed to the [[DevelopmentHell ten years spent designing the game]].

A.k.a. [[SuperMarioBros Mario-type]] BossDissonance.

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'s'' [[ThatOneLevel Water Temple]], one of the most hair-pulling 3D temples with [[AntiClimaxBoss Morpha]], one of the easiest bosses ever (sit in a corner, and watch how you effortlessly get a no-damage win).** In ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', there's the Stone Tower Temple, likely the most diabolical and [[MindScrew convoluted]] dungeon in the game (and one of the most in the entire series, for that matter), but whose boss simply requires you to turn into a giant and constantly hit its permanently exposed weak points (tail and head) to be defeated. This boss, Twinmold, doesn't even try to attack you, since it just moves around the [[VisualPun battle arena]].

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'s'' [[ThatOneLevel Water Temple]], one of the most hair-pulling 3D temples with [[AntiClimaxBoss Morpha]], one of the easiest bosses ever (sit in a corner, and watch how you effortlessly get a no-damage win).
** In ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', there's the Stone Tower Temple, likely the most diabolical and [[MindScrew convoluted]] dungeon in the game (and one of the most in the entire series, for that matter), but whose boss simply requires you to turn into a giant and constantly hit its permanently exposed weak points (tail and head) to be defeated. This boss, Twinmold, doesn't even try to attack you, since it just moves around the [[VisualPun battle arena]].

* ''{{MegamanX}}6'' tends to have extremely brutal stages (Blaze Heatnix and Metal Sharkplayer come to mind) followed by insultingly easy bosses in comparison. The only exception is Gate's second stage, which has both a difficult level, and two difficult boss fights (High Max and Gate himself). Played straight once again with Sigma, who's an absolute joke.

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** Even ''in'' ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', there's the Stone Tower Temple, likely the most diabolical and [[MindScrew convoluted]] dungeon in the game (and one of the most in the entire series, for that matter), but whose boss simply requires you to turn into a giant and constantly hit its permanently exposed weak points (tail and head) to be defeated. This boss, Twinmold, doesn't even try to attack you, since it just moves around the [[VisualPun battle arena]].

* Arguably, ''ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink''. The game itself was pretty hard, but many of the boss fights weren't. The most extreme example was a wizard boss who was basically a gear check (whether the player won came down to whether he had the Reflect spell or not).
** How hard the bosses are really depends on how good you are at dealing with ''Zelda II'''s somewhat "squirrelly" jumping and attacking physics. If you're good at it, then the bosses aren't that hard compared to getting through the levels. If you're not good at it, then even the Horsehead can be a challenge.
** This trope applies to the post - ''Majora's Mask Zelda'' titles as well. Some of the dungeons are very tough, ending with an unmemorable and anti-climactic boss fight.
*** Even before ''MajorasMask'' - we had ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'s'' [[ThatOneLevel Water Temple]], one of the most hair-pulling 3D temples with [[AntiClimaxBoss Morpha]], one of the easiest bosses ever (sit in a corner, and watch how you effortlessly get a no-damage win).
*** Even ''in'' ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', there's the Stone Tower Temple, likely the most diabolical and [[MindScrew convoluted]] dungeon in the game (and one of the most in the entire series, for that matter), but whose boss simply requires you to turn into a giant and constantly hit its permanently exposed weak points (tail and head) to be defeated. This boss, Twinmold, doesn't even try to attack you, since it just moves around the [[VisualPun battle arena]].

* ''WorldOfWarcraft'' high level dungeons tend to fall in this category. Getting to a boss requires carefully planned engagement with mook groups using every bit of "crowd control" the party has to offer, but most of the bosses are fairly straightforward. Some bosses do require comparable efforts... because they are accompanied by minor mooks.

* Sometime appears in the ''[[SuperMarioBros Mario]]'' series, though it varies; earlier games in the series tended to have bosses as difficult or harder than their levels (though they were NintendoHard overall.)

*** Reznor may be an exception, as you need to attack ''very quickly'', on pain of death by lava. Of course, in the [[RecurringBoss last few encounters]], you've pretty much gotten used to that.
*** Subverted by ''KaizoMarioWorld''. The first game featured two boss fights, against [[spoiler:the Big Boo and Invisible Bowser.]] The second had two, [[spoiler:Underwater Bowser and Reznor, but in a room full of spiked logs and rising lava.]]
*** Inverted by ''Brutal Mario''. The levels are harder, but not mind-numbingly hard. The ''sub''-bosses include [[ChronoTrigger The Mammon Machine]] and [[DonkeyKongCountry King K. Rool]], and the Koopa kids are simply brutal, brutal fights.

* The ''[[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]]'' series usually has bosses much easier than the stages before them, with the exception of [[ThatOneBoss one boss per game]] who gives people trouble.

** ''However'', there is one exception: The Hardest Thing To Do In The Entire Game. It happens to be a boss fight. Having to beat Asteroth and Nebiroth [[spoiler:with the Goddesses' Bracelet, one of the crappiest weapons in the game,]] is absolutely brutal, and probably the place where even the die-hard NintendoHard fan throws the controller across the room.

** But right before Jaffar is a PuzzleBoss that stumps many players. The Level 6 boss is likely to be a stumbling-block for first-time players, too.

* While ''BanjoTooie'' wasn't really hard, the bosses actually got easier as the stages progressed, with the final boss being difficult more due to length than challenge. The sequel didn't have bosses per se, but the challenges offered by Grunty were all pathetically easy with the proper application of creative thinking.
** Mostly, this is because the characters grow disproportionately powerful compared to the bosses, provided you find the items. There's no excusing [[AnticlimaxBoss Minji-Jongo]]. Try the bosses on Boss Replay, and the final boss suddenly becomes hair-pulling.

** The Japanese version, Elnard, is quite a bit easier. [[DifficultyByRegion The localizers]] [[FakeDifficulty increased enemy stats, reduced player stats, cut experience gain, and overpowered the rival encounters.]]

* Some players call {{Demons Souls}} this. Helps that there's sometimes an exploit that makes the boss a breeze. (safe zones, inability to attack at a distance, etc.)

* Nearly every boss in ''ThunderForce III'' is much easier than the stage preceding it, especially if you have [[GameBreaker Sever]], in which case they'll go down in under 20 seconds each.

* ''ResidentEvil4'', in some cases. Granted, the mooks aren't much harder, but there are a couple bosses that can be instantly killed with one hit from a rocket launcher, or a few shots from an upgraded magnum. Avoiding the super powerful weapons swings things closer to the lethal boss end of the spectrum; the bosses will take several shots from a normal gun and can dish out serious pain.

* ''DungeonsAndDragons'', regrettably, often works out like this - singular powerful monsters can often be a trivial challenge, simply because everybody gets their one set of actions a round. So the boss gets to move and attack... and then four to six party members get to do the same thing. Boss monsters tend to get buried in a pile of player character actions. Not to mention how many spells, even at low levels, can win such fights with a single dice roll, and at high levels with ''no'' dice roll. Fourth Edition attempts to avert this with Solo monsters, which get a lot more HP than normal enemies, and may also receive multiple actions to make them a challenge for a full party.
** And, since the boss is usually at the end of a day, in 4th edition players may decide to use their daily powers against them (since you lose your chance after an extended rest), speeding things up a bit.
** A Balor? No sweat. [[http://www.tuckerskobolds.com/ Tucker's kobolds]]? Run.