Boss battles are the ultimate test of a player's strength in most games. However, some projects take this a step further and allow players the opportunity (or sometimes, don't give them the choice) to fight a series of bosses in one go. Sometimes, they aren't even given the chance to save or heal in between fights, making them that much more difficult.

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Oftentimes, boss rushes revisit fights from earlier in the game, but other times they'll feature brand-new bosses players haven't encountered before. From platformers to JRPGs, the boss rush has been prevalent in gaming since its earliest days, to the plight of gamers nearing the end of their journey. These difficult boss rushes are notable for really challenging players to their limits.

8 Mega Man – Wily Stages

Before Capcom Perfected The Boss Rush

It became a tradition for Mega Man games to throw players into a gauntlet of the Robot Masters they previously conquered throughout the game. What makes this a worthy fight is that by this point, Mega Man has acquired all the power-ups from defeating stages the first time, meaning players can use the disadvantages of Robot Masters against them in sequential order.

While the first Mega Man has six Robot Masters compared to the franchise's typical eight, it also didn't introduce a teleporter room to streamline players' choice of fighting them in order. In this game, players have to challenge Robot Masters at a time at the end of each Wily Stages 2 and 4, forcing them to overcome the game's hardest platforming yet before the boss rushes.

7 Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game – Boss Rush

It's More Like Speed Dating

Based on the iconic graphic novel, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game was originally released in 2010, retelling the narrative in a side-scrolling beat-'em-up game. Its bosses included Ramona's seven exes, as well as supporting characters like Envy Adams and Super Fighting Robot. Players who complete the game can take on an additional Boss Rush mode.

Although this mode was originally DLC for the base game, ported additions on current-day consoles come with Boss Rush already installed. With no access to healing items, players can take on every boss in order, even if they haven't completed the main game or challenged the bosses there first.

6 The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D – Boss Gauntlet

Link's Childhood Bed Invites A Nightmare

The 3DS remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time features a lot of quality-of-life improvements on the iconic N64 game. One of which is a Boss Challenge mode, unlocked after players complete the Forest Temple and reunite with Sheik at the Temple of Time. By returning to the Kokiri Forest, players can rematch all the bosses they've defeated in the main story.

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After completing the Shadow Temple and rematching each boss once, players will also unlock the Boss Gauntlet, forcing players into a boss rush with only five Heart Containers. In the end, players will be rewarded with treasure or ammunition, which can be a great way to stock up before the final battle against Ganon, though players get limited recovery options during this encounter.

5 Shovel Knight – Battle Royale

Crashing A Dinner Party Never Ends Well

Shovel Knight certainly takes its cues from Mega Man by featuring eight members of the Order of No Quarter, who players must defeat at the end of each level. While adventuring through the Tower of Fate during the game's final levels, Shovel Knight will be reunited with the eight knights, all dining together, and must defeat them all at once with limited health and in a random order.

Given the knights are fought in a randomized order, it can be a difficult section of the game to overcome if players keep dying. Players can get lucky and rid themselves of a late-game boss early on, or they could get stuck fighting a challenging boss with dwindling health. In Plague of Shadows, the same battle royale occurs from Plague Knight's perspective.

4 Kid Icarus: Uprising – Boss Battle

A Challenge Worthy Of The Gods

There are 25 total chapters for players to complete Kid Icarus: Uprising, but a total of 26 boss battles throughout the game. After finishing the game and defeating Hades, players will unlock one final chapter: Boss Battle. In this boss rush mode, players must face off against all the previous bosses they've already defeated with only one weapon loadout.

While players do get the chance to recover health in between each boss battle, it's still a monumental challenge to battle 26 bosses in one sequence. After completing it in Easy mode, players will also unlock the option to replay Boss Battle in both Normal and Hard modes, though they'll hopefully come prepared for this devastating game mode.

3 Bravely Default – Chapters 7 & 8

Bravely Repeating The Same Fights

Bravely Default was a 3DS-exclusive RPG where players build up their typical party of four across only 9 chapters. However, in chapter 7, players will have the challenge of having to rematch four of the bosses they've previously encountered in dungeons: Orthros, Rusalka, Chaugmar, and Gigas Lich. To make matters worse, the bosses are boosted in power.

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While this is a tough enough challenge for unequipped parties, chapter 8 pulls the rug out from beneath players by making them rematch the same four bosses again. This time, however, players don't get breaks in between each boss. It's a fairly brutal challenge to place on parties after all they've been through, but hopefully, by this point, they've gotten the hang of it.

2 Viewtiful Joe – The Raging Stones

A Mini Gauntlet To Test The Mightiest Heroes

Near the end of Capcom's beat-'em-up Viewtiful Joe, players encounter a boss known as The Raging Stones, which are stone iterations of four of the already-fought bosses: Charles the Third, Hulk Davidson, Gran Bruce, and Another Joe. This serves as the game's de facto boss rush mode, despite not including several of the other bosses throughout the game.

While the strategy to defeat each of these bosses is exactly the same as earlier in Viewtiful Joe, they'll be stronger and deal more damage to make fighting them all in succession harder. At the very least, the game doesn't make you rematch some of the tougher boss battles, including the subsequent Fire Leo, as well as the final boss, King Blue.

1 Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Boss Battles

Nintendo's Greatest Villains Against Their Heroes

While Super Smash Bros. isn't a franchise synonymous with boss battles, it's had its fair share of boss characters, from the Twin Master and Crazy Hand to featured enemies from iconic Nintendo games. Even Super Smash Bros. Ultimate features a semi-boss rush mode with Sephiroth's Classic Mode, pitting players against the Adventure Mode bosses in one go.

However, Super Smash Bros. Brawl includes one of the most challenging boss rush modes in Boss Battles. Unlocked after completing The Subspace Emissary, this All-Star mode pits players against the story mode's various bosses, albeit offering them a rest area in between. Particularly, rematching the final boss Tabuu and others like Meta Ridley is frustrating on higher difficulties.

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