Glossary Entry: Boss Fight
Definition
Combat with normal enemies in video games tends to be fairly routine, with the exact gameplay determined by the game in question. Bosses however, are usually fought in a more elaborate and dangerous manner, requiring the player to pay more attention than usual.
These difficult encounters are, unsurprisingly, known as boss fights.
These difficult encounters are, unsurprisingly, known as boss fights.
Additional Information
Since dealing with a boss requires more effort than normal gameplay, it can be a rather bad time to interrupt or distract the player. Fortunately, these battles can usually be identified pretty easily - just look for the tell-tale signs listed below.
The battle takes place in a Boss Room
Bosses are often battled in special boss rooms - large arenas that give the player ample room to move around. Since these areas are designed specifically as a place for the battle, they often have a unique appearance and don't look like the areas found the rest of the game.
Bosses are usually huge
Many bosses fill the entire screen or otherwise dwarf the player character. In other words, if there's just one large enemy on screen, it's probably a boss. The bigger the enemy, the more likely this is to be the case.
The music is atypically dramatic
These battles form the climax of a game or story, so the music for them is usually fast paced and very dramatic to make the scene more urgent and epic. Many games have a distinctive song for their boss fights, though it's not unheard of for a game to use a unique song for each boss. Either way, it's not the usual music and stands out from the rest of the soundtrack.
Many bosses are announced
It's something of a cliche for a boss to make their appearance with a warning klaxon or very dramatic entrance cutscene. Once the warning has been sounded, the actual fight begins. Some games even display a message like "WARNING! BOSS APPROACHING!" when they sound the alarm, making it pretty obvious what's about to happen.
Many games show the boss' life meter
It's not very common for a game to show the current health of any random enemy on screen. This means that if another health bar is visible, it's going to belong to a boss. In fact, the sudden appearance of another health bar is one way for a game to announce that a boss is about to show up.
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