Best Metroidvania Boss Fights

Highlights

• Hollow Knight is a standout in the Metroidvania genre, sparking renewed popularity with its charming art style and well-designed boss battles.
• Salt & Sanctuary’s “The Sodden Knight” is a great introductory boss that challenges newcomers while teaching them the game mechanics.
• Metroid Dread’s “Experiment Z-57” is a menacing boss with visually stunning design and dynamic attacks, making for an exciting and satisfying battle.

The Metroidvania genre is highly saturated and popular, especially in the indie gaming space. This is arguably due to the outstanding success of games such as Hollow Knight, which took everything that players adored about Metroid and Castlevania and distilled it into an atmospheric indie package.

Since Hollow Knight’s release (and even before it), there have been a plethora of Metroidvanias released from studios big and small. While not all great Metroidvanias are known for their boss fights, many of them feature standout, often climactic battles against their various villains.

1 Salt & Sanctuary: The Sodden Knight

A Strong Introductory Boss That Teaches The Basics

Salt & Sanctuary combines elements of Dark Souls and Metroidvanias to create a uniquely dark and Gothic experience. This combination of genres results in an often brutally difficult game, but “The Sodden Knight” is far from Salt & Sanctuary’s hardest boss.

“The Sodden Knight” is a great boss for both its visual design and its purpose. Salt & Sanctuary is packed with challenging boss fights, and similarly to Dark Souls, it’s necessary to gate-keep the player from encountering these bosses until they’ve learned the mechanics of the game. “The Sodden Knight” does this perfectly, providing a solid challenge for newcomers and ensuring they have learned the necessary skills to proceed.

A Challenging Fight That Takes Full Advantage Of Metroid’s Transition To 3D

Metroid has a long and storied history, being one of Nintendo’s most iconic franchises, and making up one-half of the “Metroidvania” definition. Metroid Prime took the classic game formula and expertly transitioned it into 3D, allowing for a first-person Metroidvania experience that is truly unique even today.

Metroid Prime features several bosses, many of which are memorable, but “Meta Ridley” is arguably the best. Meta Ridley’s arena is large and open, allowing Ridley to take full advantage of their flight as they drop bombs and breathe lasers. Meta Ridley’s character design, as well as the way the battle takes full advantage of Metroid Prime’s 3D environments, makes it a truly memorable battle.

3 Grime: The Last Performance

Impressive Presentation And Variety Make This A Climactic Battle

This strange, bleak action/RPG Metroidvania features an alien aesthetic that allows for truly distinct character designs. This is most prevalent in Grime‘s many boss fights, which often provide their unique challenges and gimmicks.

While there are certainly more difficult bosses in Grime, and everyone has their favorites, “The Last Performance” is an especially fun and unique fight. The Last Performance features three unique phases that force the player to switch up their playstyle, and the theme/presentation of the fight is particularly well-crafted.

4 Metroid Dread: Experiment Z-57

A Visceral Fight That Makes The Most Out Of Metroid Dread’s 2D-3D Transitions

Metroid Dread arguably revitalized the Metroid series, bringing the iconic character of Samus back into the mainstream. The game’s polished 2.5D visuals blend side-scrolling exploration with 3D action cutscenes, and it could be argued that nothing displays this better than “Experiment Z-57.”

“Experiment Z-57” is a menacing boss thanks primarily to its visual design, but its variety of dynamic attacks make it a consistently exciting battle. The creature’s array of swipes, beams, and projectiles ensure the fight never gets old, and it’s immensely satisfying to defeat.

5 Blasphemous: Isidora, Voice Of The Dead

A Boss That’s Brutal, But Fair

Blasphemous is a beautifully illustrated pixel-art Metroidvania with soulslike elements. Its most soulslike features are its parry and its notoriously difficult bosses. The most difficult of these bosses is arguably “Isidora,” but despite their difficulty, this boss battle remains a fair fight throughout.

Isidora’s fast attacks often need to be parried, and many of her projectiles and magical attacks force players to reposition constantly. However, careful positioning and well-timed parries can make this fight a lot easier. It’s this fairness that allows “Isidora” to be challenging and rewarding at the same time, and is arguably what makes them so memorable.

6 Ori And The Will Of The Wisps: Shriek

A Menacing Creature With An Evolving Arena

Ori And The Will Wisps features plenty of great character designs and bosses, but “Shriek” is arguably the most impressive. Its menacing eyes, behemoth stature, and lore make Shriek a truly memorable boss.

Shriek’s boss arena, superb character design, and excellent music all work together to create an immersive, climactic battle. However, Shriek is most notable for changing the arena throughout the fight, eventually forcing the player to fight them midair.

7 Hollow Knight: The Mantis Lords

A Thematic, Escalating Fight With Well-Telegraphed Attacks

Hollow Knight is one of the most popular, and arguably one of the best, modern Metroidvanias. It could be argued that Hollow Knight sparked a renewed popularity in the genre, in part thanks to its charming art style and moody atmosphere, but also thanks to its well-designed boss battles.

Of all of Hollow Knight’s great bosses, “The Mantis Lords” fight is arguably one of the best. This is thanks to their highly thematic set-up and lore, as well as the escalation provided in the second phase by forcing the player to fight two Lords at once. However, the most satisfying aspect of “The Mantis Lords” comes after the player has defeated them when the denizens of the Mantis Village finally relent their hostility toward the player.