Line #92 Main/BossGame


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7	Some video games feature a BossBonanza, which is when you have to fight several bosses in quick succession. Boss Games take this to another level: The whole thing is ''nothing'' but boss battles with sometimes the occasional breather segment in between. The polar opposite is MooksButNoBosses, and the extreme end of EasyLevelsHardBosses. Compare BossOnlyLevel, in which only ''one'' level is just a boss (or bosses are just separate from the main levels).
8
9	Boss Games come in three flavors:
10
11	* '''Primarily Bosses:''' An original game with a main focus on fighting bosses: There may be [[{{Mooks}} "fodder" enemies]] (or at least pauses) between each fight, but those segments are easy and very short.
12	* '''Entirely Bosses:''' The entire game is one continuous battle against a single opponent, usually one who changes depending on the performance of the player. These games tend to be rather short but intense, and are almost always 2D [[ShootEmUp Shoot 'em Ups]].
13	* '''Boss Remix:''' A "special" edition/port/hack/ArrangeMode of a normal game with everything except the bosses removed, similar to a BossRush.
14
15	----
16	!!Examples:
17	[[foldercontrol]]
18
19	[[folder:Primarily Bosses]]
20	[[index]]
21	%%* ''VideoGame/AeroFighters 3''
22	* ''VideoGame/AlienSoldier''. There are ''more bosses than levels'' if you count each form of [[ShoutOut Seven]] [[VideoGame/GunstarHeroes Force]] separately, and it held the previous world record for "Most boss battles in a run and gun game" with 25; for the current record holder, see ''Cuphead'' below.
23	* The ''VideoGame/AquaticAdventureOfTheLastHuman'' is a Metroidvania with only minor obstacles between bosses.
24	* ''VideoGame/BananaNababa'' is a throwback to 8-bit, NintendoHard bosses. Mercifully, if you die you only have to repeat the boss you died on and not lose your entire progress.
25	* ''VideoGame/BattleClash'' and its sequel are light gun games that consist entirely of boss battles with HumongousMecha.
26	* ''VideoGame/BendyInNightmareRun'' has one boss per "episode," fought in multiple acts. In each act, there are also mooks and gauntlet sections.
27	* ''VideoGame/BigKarnak'' have mooks in the first ''three'' stages, but halfway through it begins throwing bosses almost non-stop, with less than ten seconds between each boss.
28	* ''VideoGame/BloodWillTell'' consists majorly of boss fights, given the game's GottaKillEmAll nature to collect various body parts from the bosses.
29	* ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}} Quest''. Every enemy is a miniboss with some HP, different attacks, weaknesses, and a battle theme playing while they're not yet defeated.
30	* The flash game ''Bosses!''. (One of them is VideoGame/MegaManClassic in all but name, and you in fact play as a Mega Man {{Expy}} with the same attacks.)
31	* ''VideoGame/BossgameTheFinalBossIsMyHeart'', as indicated by the title, is a series of fights against unique opponents intercut with a story told through dialogue about the main characters, lesbian lovers Sophie and Anne, finding out the truth about their demon-hunting job and then overcoming their differences to fight for the right cause. Every fight can be rechallenged after victory, with the game keeping track of your fastest time.
32	* ''VideoGame/BossRushMythology'', a game where you have to face twenty bosses on various mythologies.
33	* The flash game ''Boss Slayer'' consists of fighting 10 giant alien spaceships and no other enemies. There aren't even breaks inbetween each fight.
34	* ''VideoGame/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'' is a LicensedGame released in the early 2000s for Platform/PlayStation, Platform/Nintendo64 and PC (all ports are essentially the same but for control differences) which is a third person shooter with a twist: You're chasing and, if possible, outrunning the boss into an arena where boss fight happens. If you made it to the arena before the boss, then the boss fight will be made easier as one of Buzz's sidekick weakens the boss.
35	* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaFighter'', a homebrewed game developed using ''VideoGame/{{MUGEN}}'', is a humongous boss rush where you choose a character, choose a difficulty level, then take on just about every meaningful boss from the series that has a sprite which wouldn't clash with those of [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight SotN]]-styled characters. Oh, and most of them have even more attacks than they did in their original games.
36	* ''VideoGame/ChaosField''. The original game consists entirely of boss battles, while the Expanded mode in the [=GameCube=] version has waves of cannon fodder enemies between bosses.
37	* ''VideoGame/{{Chippy}}'' is a BulletHell twinstick shooter where you shoot and take apart a variety of multi-form [[CoresAndTurretsBoss Cores-and-Turrets Bosses]].
38	* ''VideoGame/CleanAsia'': Two of the three stages are a sequence of bosses, and are timed. The other stage plays like a normal vertical shooter, finishing in a boss fight (but no completion time is given).
39	* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'':
40	** ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps'' is basically all bosses.
41	** ''VideoGame/ContraShatteredSoldier'' is largely just boss after boss. There are generic mooks to be killed here and there, but largely they are just fodder on your way to the next boss and should provide zero threat. Notably, they do not contribute to the completion percentage for each level.
42	* ''VideoGame/CreatureShock'' is an InteractiveMovie example of this. After the RailShooter opening, the whole game consists of a simplistic adventure game broken up by [[LightGunGame light-gun]] fights against alien creatures, all of them completely unique.
43	* ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' is a run-and-gun game centering around boss fights, with each one being a SequentialBoss. In the base game, there are 19 unique boss levels, one of which has ten sub-bosses, making for a total of 28. The DLC adds 12 additional bosses, bringing the total up to 40. The game currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most bosses in a run-and-gun game. None of these bosses have a level before them, and their battle locations are placed on the world maps instead, but there are six side-scrolling levels which are nothing but fighting {{mook}}s and platforming (though a couple of them have a MiniBoss at some point in the stage).
44	* ''Death Brade'' (a.k.a. ''VideoGame/MutantFighter''), the spiritual sequel to ''Hippodrome'', was a fantasy fighting tournament with a total of nine stages, each in its own unique arena (it also had a one-off versus mode). Playing with two players would cause the opponent to appear twice ''except'' for the Golem, Hydra, Demon, and Archmage (very unusual in the Golem's case because it was a normal selectable character unlike the other three). Running out of energy ''or'' time resulted in defeat, but if the player continued, all damage to the enemy remained (and the clock was fully reset), so this was more a wrestling-centric beat-'em-up than a fighting game.
45	* ''VideoGame/DeathDuel1992''. Notable because it's an early LightGunGame (... without the light gun).
46	* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'', which has a lot of non-boss enemies -- but not a single ''mooks'' encounter. Since it has no RandomEncounters, every combat is a hand-crafted event designed specifically to challenge players, in which every enemy (even non-boss one) is either just as dangerous as a PlayerParty member, or has a nasty trick up its sleeve that is hard to counter, even on regular difficulty. The end result that you have to approach every single fight like you would a boss battle in any other RPG.[[note]]The only way to have an easy time with battles is to outmatch the enemies by a couple character levels, meaning that you are most likely BackTracking, anyway.[[/note]]
47	* A puzzle game that qualifies is ''VideoGame/DoctorRobotniksMeanBeanMachine'' where the player (who has no character in the game to represent him) has to go through a gauntlet against Dr. Robotnik's robotic minions in order to save a city of sentient Beans. Each of the enemies face appears to scowl, gloat or snivel, in a window in the middle of the screen.
48	* ''VideoGame/EldestSouls'' is a SoulsLikeRPG boss-rush game where you are sent to ancient prison called the Citadel to slay all the Old Gods. Each time you kill a God, you gain their power and use it on others.
49	* ''VideoGame/EndlessFrontier'' and its sequel may be considered this. The {{mook}}s are mostly weak and easy to go through, while bosses take a while and there's tons of them (and often you face them twice). The sequel even has hunting a bunch of {{Optional Boss}}es as a SideQuest.
50	* ''VideoGame/EpicBossFighter'' and its sequel. Every level of either game is a separate boss fight, and you move on to the next boss as soon as you defeat the previous one.
51	* The songs that ''[[VideoGame/{{Everhood}} Everhood’s]]'' gameplay revolves around all take place in combat against another character. Only a couple minigames, the incinerator and an obstacle course do not involve a boss.
52	* ''Videogame/EverQuestII'', especially when it comes to the raid dungeons, has been getting steadily more like this.
53	* ''VideoGame/{{Evolve}}''. There are smaller Mooks in each level and one huge monster as the boss- killing it allows the hunters to win. The catch is that the boss itself is ''playable''.
54	* Every FightingGame is this. This is especially noticeable with older games like the original ''VideoGame/{{Street Fighter\|I}}'' or the first ''VideoGame/FatalFury'', which had a much more limited choice of player characters. The first ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' was very obviously an action game with a fighting game setup (one punch, kick, and throw button, clear demarcation between the heroes and the enemies, 2-against-1 mode).
55	* ''[[VideoGame/StreetPassMiiPlaza Find Mii]]'' [[MarketBasedTitle or]] ''[=StreetPass=] Quest''. The whole game is nothing but fights against either enemies, mini bosses or bosses, there's never any walking or travelling around involved.
56	* ''VideoGame/ForbiddenForest'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfbEWXXo8T4&fmt=18 Beyond Forbidden Forest]]'' for the Platform/Commodore64. A relatively short game which is more or less a Boss Game, the second more so than the first. Notable for the fact that you play as a BountyHunter who's been paid to make a hit on a ''god''. Yowza.
57	* ''VideoGame/{{Fraxy}}''. You have a choice of either choosing what boss you wish to fight, or letting the game choose for you. Be warned, however, that the game will sometimes pit you against ThatOneBoss.
58	* ''VideoGame/{{Furi}}'' alternates between fighting bosses in a hack and slash bullet hell hybrid and walking to the next boss while you get some exposition.
59	* ''VideoGame/{{Gundemonium\|Series}} (Recollection)'' and ''[=GundeadliGne=]''
60	* Creator/DataEast's ''Hippodrome'' pitted a sword-wielding gladiator against a series of exotic opponents, each with a unique fighting style. The other player could jump in at any time for a versus contest. Stylistically this resembled a cross between ''VideoGame/YieArKungFu'' and ''VideoGame/StreetFighterI''.
61	* ''VideoGame/IwateMountainDance'' consists entirely of boss battles. Even it's promotional website calls it as such, a "tough-as-nails BulletHell boss fighter".
62	* As befitting the source material, the video game based on ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' features dozens of bosses and no mooks of any kind. Save one chapter involving avoiding the boss, and another that's just a cutscene, the game is simply multi-stage bosses, with some even spanning two or three chapters.
63	* In ''VideoGame/{{Jotun}}'', levels are relatively short and won't even necessarily have enemies (just stage hazards.) The huge, multi-stage fights with the titular Jotun are obviously the focal point of the game.
64	* ''[=KaGeKi=]''. Arcade was bosses-only; Genesis port had a few token mooks (all palette swaps of the first boss). Interestingly, the arcade cabinet made a half-baked attempt to pass it off as a boxing game with "Three knockdowns = TKO (Technical Knock Out)", this despite the fact that only three of the nine foes in the game require that number of knockdowns.
65	* ''TabletopGame/KingdomDeath: Monster'' pits human survivor miniatures against giant boss miniatures. Some monsters are easier than others, but none are ever a sure kill.
66	* ''VideoGame/KingOfTheMonsters 2'' (The Platform/NeoGeo original; the SNES version has longer levels and the Platform/SegaGenesis port is more of a straight one-on-one fighter.)
67	* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'':
68	** ''VideoGame/KirbysPinballLand'' can be seen as this, as the gameplay consists of nothing but playing each table for the purpose of fighting the corresponding boss.
69	** Any Boss Endurance mode in a ''Kirby'' game qualifies, including but not limited to: "The Arena" in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', "The Ultimate Choice" in ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' and "Helper to Hero" and "The True Arena" in the UpdatedRerelease ''Kirby Super Star Ultra''. In the third of the four, you play not as Kirby, but as a [[HelpfulMook helper-fied mook]].
70	** ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'' features a side mode entitled "Team Kirby Clash", an [[RPGElements RPG-styled]] multiplayer mode where players team up against big enemies with one of four reskinned abilities. Every quest in the mode is a mid-boss/boss from a different ''Kirby'' game with beefed-up health. The standalone version, ''VideoGame/TeamKirbyClashDeluxe'', includes many more returning bosses as well as a few new ones. And then ''VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash'' takes it even further with a few more bosses, both old and new, including but not limited to its familiar-looking main villain, Parallel Nightmare.
71	* ''VideoGame/KnuckleBash'', a somewhat obscure arcade only beat-'em-up. Nearly every enemy appears in only one scene in the entire game. The only distinction the "bosses" (each announced with a "VS." screen) have is that they have more powerful attacks and can take more damage, and the difference isn't tremendous.
72	* ''VideoGame/KrazyIvan''. There are randomly-spawning mooks, but most of the game is spent in one-on-one shootouts against unique enemy mechs.
73	* ''Videogame/Left4Dead'' and [[Videogame/Left4Dead2 its sequel]] constantly pits the Survivors against the Special Infected - boss type enemies with either more durability or deadly incapacitating/disorienting attacks. The Versus Mode takes it even further - the respawn rate of Special Infected is boosted dramatically and all but one is player-controlled (except one which only purpose is to OneHitKill the unlucky survivor spooking her)
74	* ''VideoGame/{{Lemegeton}}'' has mook sections that generally aren't all that dangerous (although some enemies, like the Wood Men, can be rather obnoxious). Bosses, on the other hand, are just about everywhere--every third or fourth room, on average. The first episode had ''ten'' bosses, the second episode eleven. There's two more episodes planned.
75	* The Modern chapter of ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', one of the game's several self-contained adventures, uses the same turn-based battle system as the other chapters but replaces the typical wandering around the overworld with a {{Fighting Game}}-style opponent selection screen.
76	* In ''VideoGame/{{Malicious}}'', the focus is on defeating a giant boss in each area, but all the while you're being attacked by hordes of {{Mooks}} that can be farmed for [[{{Mana}} Aura]], which can be used to heal yourself or power-up your attacks for a brief period of time. Which you'll need to do, as, particularly in the early game, you simply aren't a match for the bosses without the boost to attack and defense.
77	* ''VideoGame/MonsterMaulers'' is a BeatEmUp structured like a FightingGame. It has short, scant areas where players battle mooks, but at least two-thirds of the game still revolves around boss or MiniBoss battles.
78	* The flash game ''VideoGame/MarioRemixBossEdition'' is all about the boss fights, with multiple different tiers of bosses from many different games. You can also play mini-games to replenish your coins. Completing every fight allows you to do it all again... as Luigi!
79	* ''VideoGame/MechsterminationForce'' is a run and gunner in the style of Contra, except all the levels are giant mechs. Which you have to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exterminate]]. [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs Mechstermination]] if one would.
80	* ''VideoGame/{{Metamoqester}}'', a HighFantasy-themed action game where your bosses include {{Golem}}s, giant mechas, and an all-powerful [[FetusTerrible demon foetus]] as the FinalBoss.
81	* ''VideoGame/MegaManThePowerBattle'' and its sequel ''VideoGame/MegaMan2ThePowerFighters'' masquerade as fighting games, but are actually a selection of Robot Master battles (without the preceding stages) from the first seven entries in [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic the main series]] strung together. However they, for the most part, fight much differently than their games of origin with many new attacks, such as Gutsman punching a boulder that drops down to rain debris across the arena, and Wood Man rolling onto his side to bounce across the arena.
82	* The ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' franchise is an interesting example, as your character is just one of thousands of hunters who gets paid to go out hunting wild creatures; it just so happens that virtually everything in their ecosystem is ''huge''. A typical hunting mission calls for the player to go out hunting ''a'' (singular) monster, which are functionally boss fights. While there are more {{Mook}}-level monsters in the game, they tend to pose almost no danger to the player, acting more like hazards than enemies. On higher-ranked hunting quests, multiple monsters roam and all of them have to be hunted, and on rare occasions the only objective is to hunt an Elder Dragon (or some other incredibly large monster) in a BossOnlyLevel.
83	* All the ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' games, especially the [[VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle first sequel]], where everything but the boss battles (and the short levels leading to them) became optional.
84	* ''VideoGame/PitFighter'' was a 10-stage fighting tournament where up to three players could compete at once and were always matched up against an equal number of opponents. The players had very short health bars and (except for a brief elimination fight near the end) never recovered any health, but could continue as many times as they wanted. Since the opponents never recovered any health either, this meant that anyone could get through the entire game...provided they were willing to spend...[[BribingYourWayToVictory and spend]]...[[CrackIsCheaper and spend]].
85	* ''VideoGame/PowerStone 2''. The first, second, and fourth stages are 4-man battle royals which continue until two of the combatants are defeated; the third (Pharaoh Walker) and fifth (Dr. Erode) stages are standard boss fights.
86	* ''VideoGame/{{Profane}}'': A game with very similar mechanics to ''Furi'', and which contains nothing but 10 bosses. Oh, and every battle is timed, and time also represents your character's health, as well as the currency used to pay for upgrades.
87	* ''VideoGame/PraeyForTheGods'' is an open world action-adventure game inspired by ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'' that takes place on a desolate frozen island where you have to fight gods that involve climbing on them. You also will have to survive by making fires, finding food, craft weapons, and battle minions for better gear. They also caves to explore to discover the history and backstory of this land.
88	* Fan works made in the LevelEditor for the music BulletHell ''VideoGame/ProjectArrhythmia'' often focus on bosses as a means to introduce characters. An example is the ''VideoGame/{{Black Heart\|Ol666}}'' series, where every level has a boss-fight and the only breaks come from small sections of levels where their boss is absent.
89	* ''[[Creator/{{Cactus}} Protoganda: Strings]]'', ''Protoganda II'', and ''Fractal Fighter'' are all BulletHell games with nothing but bosses.
90	* The ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' series act like boss-only vertical scroll shooters with fists instead of bullets.
91	* The further you get in ''VideoGame/RabiRibi'', the more and more the game turns into an excuse for boss fights and the occasional PlatformHell segment, to the point that all of Chapter 5 is nothing but 4 boss fights in a row, and a lot of postgame areas are just prolonged {{Boss Rush}}es.
92	* ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun''. In some cases, there's only a short segment of normal enemies between bosses and after stage 5, there are no normal enemy segments between bosses.
93	* ''VideoGame/RagnarokOdyssey'' and its enhanced remake, ''Ragnarok Odyssey ACE'': ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''VideoGame/RagnarokOnline''.
94	* ''VideoGame/RedEarth'' has all the trappings of a fighting game, but you can only pick as one of 4 characters against a collection of CPU-only characters.
95	* ''VideoGame/RRootage''. 30 non-random stages * 5 bosses per stage * 4 modes = 600 boss battles.
96	* ''VideoGame/{{Sacrifights}}'' has you summoning and killing demon bosses in order to eat their parts and grow stronger, with the end goal being to grow strong enough to kill [[{{Satan}} the Ancient One]] by the time he comes to take you to Hell. Losing a fight to one of these demons makes you lose a day, and you cannot afford to lose too many days.
97	* Nice Code Software's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzfrjPdOOz0 Seaport Guarl]]'', featured on Dreamgear's Retroplay 200-in-1 plug 'n play system, consists entirely of repeatedly taking on an increasingly fast battleship with a sluggish tank, [[ShoddyKnockoffProduct blatantly ripping off]] the battleship boss from ''Iron Tank'' for the NES.
98	* ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' is always a battle between a team of heroes and a powerful villain. With few exceptions, the heroes' sole win condition is to incapacitate that one being. Many of the bosses have a substantial number of minions that they can deploy: Baron Blade, The Organization, Grand Warlord Voss, and the Matriarch are the biggest offenders. The two primary exceptions are The Dreamer and the Tormented Ally variation of Infinitor. Both of these are rescue missions, where your goal is to destroy enough of the manifestations while preventing the Dreamer or Infinitor from dying until you save them.
99	* ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'' -- interesting because they are all {{Puzzle Boss}}es, and, [[TropeNamer appropriately]], {{Colossus Climb}}s. The game is also a grim {{Deconstruction}} of this trope (and [[BossBattle boss battles]] in general); the PlayerCharacter is basically a poacher [[MookHorrorShow hunting down and butchering majestic creatures that are minding their own business]] in order to fulfill his side of a DealWithTheDevil, and each one you kill/harvest [[TheCorruption makes you more sickly and monstrous]], in a total inversion of typical video game progression. [[spoiler:And you get a taste of your own medicine at the end, as you are ultimately [[DemonicPossession corrupted entirely and possessed]] by the aforementioned devil figure, [[PerspectiveFlip transforming you into a giant boss monster desperately fighting for its life against a small but relentless foe]].]]
100	* ''VideoGame/SinAndPunishment'' and [[VideoGame/SinAndPunishmentStarSuccessor its sequel]] feature many boss encounters, and even the few reccuring (mini-)bosses like the Mole Seemer have different patterns.
101	* ''VideoGame/SkullmanInScoobyDoc4TheDestroyerFeaturingAtsushiOnita'' has a few full levels and the rest is just bosses.
102	* ''VideoGame/SkySerpents'' has a series of bosses across fifteen levels. Beyond a [[ExcusePlot brief intro section]], you spend the game fighting them.
103	* ''VideoGame/SpawnInTheDemonsHand'' has Boss Attack as its main mode, where you fight a boss in each stage, though most of them are accompanied by mooks, and you'll often have to take out a few to get the boss to appear.
104	* ''VideoGame/SpiritualAssassinTaromaru'' can be completed in around an hour, and contains at least 15 bosses (excluding several MiniBoss battles). The final stage is notably a colorful BossBonanza of enemies.
105	* ''VideoGame/SpookysJumpScareMansion'''s main game and Endless Mode consists of running through halls and rooms to get to the end, and the main challenge comes from the MonsterMash of Specimens which will chase you at randomized points; the only non-boss enemy is the Unusually Violent Deer that only shows up in Specimen 8's rooms. This is averted in the ''Karamari Hospital'' and ''Spooky's Dollhouse'' modes, which are more traditional puzzle-based explorations of haunted locations with monsters interspersed within.
106	* The game adaptation of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', ''[[VideoGame/StarWarsEpisodeIIIRevengeOfTheSith Star Wars Episode III]]''. The levels get shorter and shorter, and increasingly focus on you vs. one enemy, to the point of being a FightingGame with a few short hallways between arenas.
107	* ''VideoGame/StreetFighter2010'', despite its name, is a platformer (that also has [[InNameOnly nothing to do]] with ''Street Fighter'') with very short stages. The meat of the game is the boss fights, and Capcom knew it. Many bosses don't even have a stage preceding them, and you're immediately thrust into the fight.
108	* ''VideoGame/{{Street Smart\|1989}}'', other than being bosses-only, was a BeatEmUp in every way that mattered. It was a multi-city fighting tournament starring generic street brawlers Karate Man (1P) and Crusher (2P). Each had three punches and a throw dished out by the same punch button, three kicks delivered by the same kick button, and a (largely useless) jump, all of which looked somewhat different but functioned exactly the same. Both the heroes and opponents could walk in 8 directions, with the opponents having a considerable speed advantage. Each credit bought a certain number of lives; losing all energy (which usually didn't take very long, especially in the later rounds) would cost one life. Each city had a preset first and second opponent, the second starting if both heroes started the match and running in if the second hero jumped in during the match. The opponents had no energy meters but would flash red when they were nearly beaten. They took a ''massive'' pounding before giving out but unlike the heroes had no extra lives. Most notably, it was not actually possible for the heroes to be defeated. Losing all lives simply brought up the continue countdown, and if the player continued, all damage to the opponent remained. Only running out of tokens or will could end the quest for the championship.
109	* ''VideoGame/StretchPanic'' has Linda's twelve demon-possessed sisters as the main obstacles. While there are four standard levels, they have no collectibles and the enemies in them are fairly harmless; they exist purely to grind points, which are used to unlock boss doors and to perform a special move that deals heavy damage to bosses and exorcises the aforementioned demons.
110	* ''[[VideoGame/StriderArcade Strider 2]]'': There's actually a wide variety of fodder enemies, but the levels are very short and often end with a mid-boss battle.
111	* ''Sword Master'' [[DownplayedTrope borders on]] being this; while the odd-numbered stages generally consist of going through a few fodder enemies before fighting mini-bosses and bosses (including [[DegradedBoss demoted ones]]), the even-numbered ones have NintendoHard platforming challenges instead.
112	* ''VideoGame/TitanSouls'' has no regular enemies and every boss is a PuzzleBoss. However, both you and your opponents, the enormous Titans, are technically {{One Hit Point Wonder}}s, and the key to victory is finding an opening in which you can AttackItsWeakPoint.
113	* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'':
114	** The Windows games are loose examples. The stages aren't exactly short due to the fixed scrolling rate, but depending on the difficulty, boss fights can take five to six times as long as the stage (or more than ten times if the bosses have attacks that render them invincible for a duration). The PC-98 games had better developed stages and don't fit this trope as well. Special mention goes to the 9th game, ''VideoGame/TouhouKaeidzukaPhantasmagoriaOfFlowerView'', which is 100% boss fight, with random {{Mooks}} flying around in order to allow you to build up your [[LimitBreak Spell]] [[BulletHell Cards]] and attack your opponent.
115	** ''VideoGame/TouhouBunkachouShootTheBullet''. Since the objective is to take photos of the various residents of Gensokyo, each stage consists solely of Aya vs Boss. Also true of its sequel, ''Double Spoiler'', and fellow spinoff game ''Impossible Spellcard''.
116	* ''VideoGame/UrbanReign''. There are a ''few'' characters that qualify as flunkies, but for the most part, you're up against various combinations of big bosses, lieutenants, [[EliteMook Elite Mooks]], [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Quirky Miniboss Squads]], and the occasional [[TheWorfEffect Worf]]. Many of the stages allow you to have a partner.
117	* ''VideoGame/WadeHixtonsCounterPunch'' being a ''Punch Out'' clone for the [=GBA=], pits you against a series of quirky bosses.
118	* ''VideoGame/YieArKungFu''. The hero (Oolong) was a little bitty sprite who used a bunch of chopsocky moves against a series of increasingly tougher opponents, also little bitty sprites. The reason the game required so much empty space above the combatants was that Oolong could [[InASingleBound jump about 40 feet high]], and in fact lots (and lots and lots and lots) of jumping was key to beating most of the opponents.
119	* In ''VideoGame/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsterColiseum'', ''VideoGame/YuGiOhDarkDuelStories'', ''VideoGame/YuGiOhDungeonDiceMonsters'', and ''VideoGame/YuGiOhForbiddenMemories'', the whole game is Yugi or the Player Avatar facing off against his friends, rivals, and enemies. There are segments where you can buy monsters and save, but the majority of your time will be spent in battle.
120	[[/folder]]
121
122	[[folder:Entirely Bosses]]
123	* ''VideoGame/{{Abadox}}'' is a shmup where you fight against the titular planet-sized entity, with all bosses and even [[WombLevel the stages themselves]] being part of it.
124	* ''VideoGame/BoundByBlades'' is an Action-RPG where you're an andromorphic cat warrior fighting assorted boss enemies. The promotional website even cites "Unending BossRush" as a selling point!
125	* ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder'' is an extremely lengthy one of these, probably helped because the Godmodder tends to summon minions to help him out. In addition, many significant plot moments in a game occur when a major boss other than the Godmodder appears on the Battlefield, temporarily moving the spotlight away from the latter and towards the former.
126	* The [=iOS=]/Android game ''Endless Boss Fight''. No points for guessing what the whole game is.
127	* ''VideoGame/GrinningCobossus'' is nothing but a fight against the titular Cobossus.
128	* ''VideoGame/ListenToTheWind'' can be completed in around an hour, where every stage is a boss battle with you collecting upgrades in-between.
129	* The ''[[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Mega Man]]'' fan game ''VideoGame/MegaManBossExchange'' is a collection of ''Mega Man'' bosses created as art trades, using the Megamix Engine. As such, there are options for the player to fight as many bosses as they wish, and the only screens preceding these boss fights are a single room containing power-ups, and the signature double doors.
130	* A game on Website/{{Neopets}} is appropriately called "The Neverending Boss Battle".
131	* The obscure arcade game ''Omega Fighter'' consists entirely of a battle against a [[BattleshipRaid giant enemy warship]], with each stage corresponding to a different part of the ship.
132	* In the WesternRPG ''VideoGame/{{Perihelion}}'', unusually for normal gameplay in an RPG, every enemy encountered in the game is a boss, with no regular enemies to be found. This also means the only way to level up is to kill a boss.
133	* ''VideoGame/SINNERSacrificeForRedemption'' is an action-RPG where you fight against 7 monstrous bosses, all of them modeled after the SevenDeadlySins.
134	* The old VectorGame ''VideoGame/StarCastle'', though from an era when it was not common for video games to have levels to explore or varied stage design, has the one big enemy to destroy always present.
135	* ''VideoGame/TrillionGodOfDestruction''. The [[AntagonistTitle titular antagonist]] is the only meaningful foe in the game, and can be challenged at any time. The entire rest of the game is an elaborate TrainingMontage to get your overlords powerful enough to have a fighting chance.
136	* ''VideoGame/UltimateCrabBattle'' is just a fight against the titular crab.
137	* The indie Platform/Xbox360 game ''You Will Die''
138	* ''VideoGame/TheVoidRainsUponHerHeart'' is a boss rush bullet hell shoot'em up where you play as one of five alien girls who has to escape a cave that filled with monsters. To deal with these monsters, they have to be defeated with [[PowerOfLove love]]. It also has roguelike elements with several encounters different along with power-ups called "Gifts".
139	* ''VideoGame/WarningForever'' pits the player's fighter ship against a sequence of ever-upgrading enemies.
140	* ''VideoGame/YarsRevenge'' was originally going to be a port of ''Star Castle'' and has the same basic set-up. The only thing to do in the game is to defeat the Qotile by blasting apart its core and then hitting it with the Zorlon Cannon.
141	* ''VideoGame/YouHaveToBurnTheRope'' entirely consists of a corridor with a PuzzleBoss at the end.
142	* ''VideoGame/ZettaiHeroProject'' ''advertises'' itself as such. The intro says that the whole game is nothing but one long epic battle... which is sort of correct. The BigBad, Darkdeath Evilman, is continuously trying to kill you and Super Baby, he just punts you into orbit away from the action every level, and you have to fight through a random dungeon just to get back to him (and get your ass thrown into outer space again). So this is invoked meta-wise if not gameplay-wise.
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Boss Remix]]
146	* ''VideoGame/{{Darius}} Alpha'', a rare variant of ''Darius Plus'' in which you fight all of the bosses of ''Darius Plus'' one after the other.
147	* ''[[VideoGame/DonPachi DoDonpachi Daioujou: Death Label]]''. At the end, you fight ''two'' Hibachis at once.
148	* [[spoiler:Reallyjoel's Dad]] mode in ''VideoGame/HeroCore'' is a parody of this that's supposed to be impossible to beat. It consists of a single room that contains ''almost every single boss in the game''.
149	* ''VideoGame/{{Ketsui}}: Death Label'' on the Platform/NintendoDS (with the "Extra Course" being the sole exception by virtue of being a full-length stage with a special version the game's TrueFinalBoss at the end of it).
150	* A cheat code for ''VideoGame/KirbysPinballLand'' will turn it into this, eliminating the main pinball stages and instead sending you straight to the boss battles.
151	* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' has "Last Man on Earth" mutation which has only one survivor against only the Special Infected that is summoned periodically, one at a time.
152	* The ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' fan game ''Rockman 2 Neta'', which allows you to fight the eight Robot Masters of said game '''all at once'''.
153	* The ''VideoGame/MegaMan5'' [[GameMod ROM hack]] ''Rockman Cross X'' (not to be confused with ''Videogame/RockmanXOver''), which features entirely redone Robot Masters (two from each of the the first four games) and aside from one or two rooms before a boss, the hack is nothing but boss battles.
154	* The ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' ROM hack ''VideoGame/RobotniksRevenge'' is a boss rush of all 17 bosses from the first two ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games.
155	* There are two different passwords in ''VideoGame/{{Xexyz}}'' that allow you to play against only the bosses (one for the odd-numbered ground stages, and another for the even-numbered flying stages).
156	* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has the ''Vs. Saxton Hale/Freak Fortress 2'' GameMod, which removes the normal team-vs-team gameplay and instead has a random player, who is selected to be a powerful boss character, fight against everyone else in the server.
157	* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'' added the Godhome area with the ''Godmaster'' update; this is a dream area where you can fight the game's bosses again (with every boss you've fought in the save file available to fight), and engage in several BossRush sequences, known as Pantheons. Clearing several Pantheons will unlock the ability to start a new save file in God Tuner mode. A God Tuner save file starts a player with every possible health, soul, charm, and nail upgrade, and almost every Charm acquired (except for certain mutually-exclusive ones). It also places the player in a fully-unlocked Godhome right away, and doesn't allow the player to leave Godhome. A God Tuner save, then, is a Boss Game, instead of an exploration game. This can be useful if a player hasn't unlocked everything in their main save file.
158	* The (very rare) Comiket 74 release of the "Boss Rush-only" edition of ''VideoGame/EtherVapor'' that strips the game down to nothing but its boss battles.
159	[[/index]]
160	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BossGame