Hazelight's new co-op adventure, It Takes Two, is filled with nods to different game genres, easter eggs, and some pretty epic boss fights. Each one of the boss fights in this new game brings different mechanics and difficult co-op challenges for players to overcome.
Not all of these fights are easy to figure out right away. Some of them will have players guessing until these end up dying at the hands of a space monkey or a giant octopus, but that is all about trying to figure out how the game works.
Updated February 6, 2022 by Ritwik Mitra:It Takes Two is one of the greatest co-op action-adventure games of all time. The game is absolutely bursting with creativity, adding new mechanics and changing up the gameplay every so often to keep things fresh and engaging. The plot of It Takes Two also touches upon some quite relevant topics, but even if it does not hit the mark for every player, the title more than makes up for it with stellar gameplay loops that will keep people engaged for the longest time.
The boss fights serve as the biggest test for players who have ideally familiarized themselves with the mechanics present in each level. These climactic encounters are a joy to play through and make for a great time as players conquer these obstacles and progress through the game.
Vacuum Tower
- Fires bombs that Cody and May can launch back
- Boss uses different attacks during each phase
To start the fight, the Vacuum Tower will launch flaming canisters at the players. Dodge these and wait for a platform to raise up in the back of the arena. This platform will have a vacuum hose attached to the top and bottom. One player must hop on the bottom portion of the hose to suck up the flaming canisters, while the other player uses the top hose to shoot the canisters at the boss. Since players have been doing the same throughout the initial portion of the level, th boss fight shouldn't be all that challenging.
Once the players damage the boss enough, he will slam the arena. This will create areas of expanding air that the players must dodge. Players should be familiar enough with the movement mechanics of the game to get through this part unscathed. The canisters will then make a return and the players will need to perform their hose trick again. After damaging the boss a second time, he will start slamming the arena again.
Following this latest outburst, the boss will cause strips of explosive mines to fall down. Dodge a row and wait until they explode. Going back to where they just exploded will be a safe area. Damage the boss with more canisters and then survive the onslaught of slams, mines, and flaming lint balls. It's a great conclusion to the first boss in the game, and players need to be on their toes at every step of the way to damage the boss one last time and defeat it once and for all.
That being said, the boss fight isn't over after the health bar is gone. The player needs to perform one last action with the boss's hoses, which will fall after his HP depletes. Both players must grab a hose and direct them to the boss's eyes. This will start the cutscene where the boss meets his end and players successfully conquer the first stage of It Takes Two!
Toolbox
- Boss fight has two phases
- During phase one, May will remove the first arm
- During phase two, Cody will need to throw nails at the canister on top of the boss
Phase One
The boss will start off by firing nails all over the platform, before taking his arm and swinging it from right to left. Jump over the arm to avoid damage, following which the player who is controlling Cody will need to throw a nail into the boss's arm to pin it down. Following this, Cody must then throw the other nails into the two wood pieces in the boss's arm. This will allow May to swing up to the platform next to the boss — a form of teamwork that the players had been replicating for quite some time in the stages following this boss. May must then hit one of the locks with her hammer until it breaks off, allowing players to get into the second phase of the fight with ease.
Phase Two
The Toolbox will now throw more nails, while also using a drill to create holes in the arena. After a little while, the boss will throw out some saw blades. Dodge everything to avoid a premature demise until the boss brings out his arm, following which Cody must pin down the arm again and help May swing over to the other lock. Break the other lock and the boss's arm will fall off. With one arm gone, the boss will start using the other arm to slam down on the arena.
After dodging the arm for a little while, the boss will place it on the right side of the arena. Cody must stand on the arm while May hits the other end to launch Cody into the air. While in the air, Cody will need to throw nails at an aerosol can on top of the boss. Cody must hit the can a few more times using the same mechanic, which is necessary to ensure that the boss is taken down sooner rather than later.
The boss will use two new moves in the meantime; using a saw blade to cut off pieces of the arena and spinning his arm around to knock the players off the map. Players need to be on their toes to dodge these moves while also damaging the Toolbox in the process, which can seem challenging but is quite doable. Once the aerosol can is destroyed, it will take the toolbox down with it, letting players bask in the glory of beating the second boss in the game!
Shield Wasp
- Watch out for charge attacks
- Cover boss in sap from behind and detonate with matchsticks
The first boss fight of the Tree chapter is against the Shield Wasp. This boss fight goes by pretty quickly because the boss performs the same maneuver over and over again. Shield Wasp will charge at either May or Cody three or four times before switching over to the other player.
Dodge to the left or right when the wasp charges, and turn around quickly to cover it in sap using Cody's sap gun. Once the boss is covered in enough sap, May will need to use her match launcher to ignite it. Do this a few times, and the boss will be defeated. Remember, the more sap covering the boss, the more damage the matches will do. So, try and maximize the total amount of sap that can cover this annoying insect before May delivers the final blow.
Mortar Wasp
- Boss launches explosives
- Cover the boss in sap and light with matchsticks to defeat
The Mortar Wasp boss fight is another straightforward boss fight that is simple to complete. It will fly above Cody or May and drop green mortar bombs on top of them. As with the Shield Wasp fight, Cody must coat the Mortar Wasp in sap until it is completely covered.
After that, May needs to shoot it with a match. These explosives will defeat the Mortar Wasp after a little while. Just keep rinsing and repeating, and this boss should be down and out for the count!
Mini-Boss: Wasp Swarm
- Boss fight has two phases
- During the first phase, boss will slam the arena
- During the second phase, boss will block the player's path
Phase One
Though it isn't marked as a boss with a large health bar at the top of the screen, the Wasp Swarm is still a difficult enemy to handle. The Wasp Swarm mini-boss is taken down in two phases. During the first phase, the team will need to dodge the wasps as they form the shape of a hammer and attempt to hit Cody and May. The player controlling Cody must use the sap gun to cover the wasps like in previous fights. May can then use her matchstick gun to ignite the sap and hurt the wasps. Always prioritize dodging during this segment, otherwise the players can be smashed in seconds.
Phase Two
Phase two will start when the Wasp Swarm starts hitting the ground over and over. This will cause the floor to break, and Cody and May will fall down. They will land on a different part of the tree that they must slide down. The Wasp Swarm will form various shapes to block Cody and May's progression down the slide. Keep the pattern of hitting them with sap and then a matchstick to break up the formations. The boss fight will end when the players enter a cutscene for the next area, which is a shame since players would've wanted to do away with this Wasp Swarm for good.
Giant Beetle
- Fill the sewer grates with sap and detonate to damage boss
- Avoid charge attacks
The Giant Beetle will start off by charging at either May or Cody. Run around the map while dodging the charges to make it over to the sewer grates. There are four sewer grates around the arena. Cody must fill these up with his sap gun to make for the perfect trap that can chip away at the Beetle's health.
One of the players can then lure the boss over one of the grates while May shoots the sap. Once the boss is damaged, it will slam the ground, creating one to three red rings that will expand outward. Jump over the rings to avoid any unnecessary damage and get ready for the boss to charge at the two players once again. Here, players need to stay patient and lure the Giant Beetle over these sewer traps time and time again, exploding these Sap traps for damage until this insect is down and out for the count.
Wasp Queen
- Avoid the wasp swarm attacks
- Boss is defeated by destroying the armor around it
The key to defeating the Wasp Queen is coating each section of the armor in sap and blowing it up. There are four pieces of armor that must be destroyed; two on the front and two on the back.
Phase One
To start the fight, the Wasp Queen will have a swarm with her that will arrange themselves into a hammer to try and hit the players, similar to how the previous Wasp Swarm was trying to do away with the dynamic duo. Dodge the hammer strikes and start aiming at any piece of armor that isn't protected by a swarm, allowing players to get some good damaging shots in the midst of all this chaos. After a third of the boss's health is gone, it will start shooting fire onto the arena. Take the rails on either side of the arena to avoid damage. The boss's swarms will also start performing the hammer strikes and a horizontal bar move. Keeping dodging the attacks while destroying the boss's armor plates.
Phase Two
With half of her health gone, the Wasp Queen will command her swarm to drop onto the arena like bombs, with an explosive radius made of wasps. The wasps will also start to fly across the map in the shape of scissors. During this time the view will change to a top-down view so that players can dodge these attacks without facing too many problems in the process. Once the view returns to normal, Cody and May will need to take out the remaining armor of the boss.
Phase Three
Once the Wasp Queen is low enough on health, the arena will fall away and the rest of the fight will take place on a rail that encircles the Wasp Queen. During this time, Cody and May will need to take aim at the chain holding the boss up, which will be protected by swarms. Take out the swarms and hit the chain enough to defeat the boss.
Chief
- Avoid tail sweep attack and Hadouken attack
- Try to get behind the boss to deal the most damage
As Cody and May are trying to escape the tree on the makeshift plane, Chief will fly out of the brush and land on top. May will climb to the top of the plane and enter a Street Fighter-style battle with him. Cody will need to fly the plane while the fight commences and steer clear of any obstacles that appear. May needs to focus her attention on Chief.
Chief isn't extremely hard to defeat, but watch out for a few key attacks. He likes to perform a tail sweep and the infamous Hadouken from the classic fighting game. Those two moves do the most damage and can throw off the fight. As long as the player controlling May avoids these moves, they'll be able to take down Chief with relative ease.
Moon Baboon
- Boss fight has three phases
- Avoid the laser as it does significant damage
- Lure the laser to the pylons to defeat
Phase One
Moon Baboon will start off the boss fight in a UFO and will fire a laser at either Cody or May. Whoever is targeted will need to run away from the laser while the other player finds the glowing button on the floor of the arena. Once the player finds the button, stand on it to make a pylon come up out of the ground. The player who is being chased by the laser will need to guide the laser over to the pylon. Once the laser hits the pylon, it will damage Moon Baboon.
After the boss takes damage, lasers will shoot out of the center of the arena. Keep jumping the lasers as they spin around the arena. During this time the players will also have to dodge grenades that Moon Baboon throws out. It can be slightly chaotic, but this phase is only temporary. After its outburst, the Moon Baboon will repeat the laser part. Repeat the process above until all four pylons have been hit by the laser.
Phase Two
A cutscene will play once a third of the boss's health is gone. Moon Baboon will land on the ground, and Cody will need to become large to lift the ship so that May can pull off the laser. During the second phase, Moon Baboon will shoot rockets. Run away from these until they land on the ground, following which players can jump on the grounded rocket to ride it. The ultimate aim here is to fly the rocket over to Moon Baboon to damage him. Rinse and repeat until another third of his health is gone, at which point another cutscene will play.
Phase Three
After the cutscene, Cody will need to shrink down and climb inside the rocket. He will need to jump platforms, avoid electrified walls, and maneuver around lasers until he reaches the big red eject button to ground pound. Meanwhile, May will need to continuously dodge lasers, grenades, and slams while running around the arena. How long the player controlling May needs to deal with this onslaught depends on how quiet Cody is during his act of internal sabotage.
Once the eject button is slammed, another cutscene will play and Moon Baboon will be on the moon while May hops into the cockpit to fly the UFO. While May is flying the UFO, Cody will man the laser gun. Cody will need to use the radar to shoot the laser and hit Moon Baboon, while May flies around the moon. Hit the boss enough times, and he will be down for the count!
Giant Octopus
- Destroy tentacles whenever they appear
- Be careful to avoid the ducks when they appear
At the start of the fight, May and Cody will be aboard a ship that they must work together to pilot. The Octopus will spawn and the two characters should immediately aim at its face. Watch out for any tentacles that come up out of the water, because these will damage the ship. When a tentacle spawns, turn the ship and shoot it, then go back to shooting the Octopus. Rinse and repeat until a cutscene plays.
After the cutscene, the players will be caught in a whirlpool where they will only be able to spin. The Octopus will disappear, but its tentacles will keep spawning to send out rubber ducks with explosives fixed to them. Destroy the ducks until the Octopus comes back into the arena. When the main body of the Octopus pops back up it will also spawn multiple tentacles. Take out the tentacles and then attack the main body. Rinse and repeat this until the Octopus is defeated.
King And Queen
- Avoid the jump attacks
- Watch the other chess pieces to learn their movements
The King and Queen boss fight appears during the time that the game turns into a dungeon crawler. Cody has his magic and May has her flaming sword. The King and Queen don't pose much of a threat; Cody and May just need to avoidthem jumping around.
The real threat is in the extra chess pieces that spawn during the fight. The Knights will run in a straight line across the board and will hurt the player, as will their black magic trail. The Bishops will shoot out lines of black magic in an X-formation. Lastly, the Pawns will shoot electricity around them in a square formation. Avoid the attacks from all the different pieces while attacking the King and Queen.
Mechanical Bull
- Avoid charge attacks
- Cody and May need to rely on their abilities for the fight
- Bull can be avoided easily by using clones
The Mechanical Bull boss fight is pretty easy despite being farther along in the game. The Bull will charge May for the most part. There is an area in the front of the arena where Cody can reverse time, which will cause a button to appear on the ground. Once the button appears, May will need to place a clone somewhere and then stand on the button.
This will cause the Bull to charge. When the Bull charges, May will need to swap places with her clone to make the Bull smash the statue. After this is done twice, the statue will fall but miss the Bull. Players will need to have Cody reverse time and get May to pull the ol' switcheroo on the Bull one last time. When the Bull hits the statue, let time play and the statue will hit it.
Mini-Boss: Mechanical Bird
- Dark Rings will appear wherever the boss will attack
- The fight is over once the entire platform is destroyed
The Mechanical Bird is another fight without the giant health bar, but it can still be quite challenging. The fight starts with Cody and May being dropped onto a glass fixture in the clock. Be careful not to fall off the edges as the bird destroys it. Cody and May will need to dodge the bird as it flies through different parts of the glass. A dark circle will appear on each section the bird will destroy. The bird disappears after all the glass is gone and the next cutscene ends.
Mini-Boss: Clock
- Boss fight has four phases
- Watch out for the pendulums because they can instantly kill
Phase One
The Clock mini-boss can be a bit of a nuisance for players, as it's a test of survivability and reaction times. It starts off with Cody and May on a glass platform, with pendulums swinging across it. May and Cody will need to avoid them since they are a one-hit kill. After the first wave of pendulums, the camera will shift. During this time, Cody and May should stand in the center of the floor. Pendulums will come down and destroy the outermost end of the platform, after which a second wave of pendulums will fall. Avoid them until the camera switches again and then stand in the center of the platform once more. The rest of the platform will disappear and the players will be stuck in the center.
Phase Two
The second phase is pretty straightforward. Once all the platforms disappear, Cody and May will plummet down a hole. Avoid all the objects coming out of the walls until the next cutscene starts. Avoiding the objects is fairly easy, and doesn't result in a death sentence if the play gets hit.
Phase Three
At the end of phase two, Cody and May will get reversed back to the top of the hole and back onto the platform from the first phase. This time, however, wooden platforms with clocks will surround them. The key to this phase is to break all the clocks. At the start of this phase, lights will appear around the players. They must run toa clock and dodge the bomb when it falls to destroy the clock. Keep doing this until all the clocks are destroyed.
Phase Four
Phase four will start with a massive explosion. Cody will stop time with his clock, and May will land on a platform. Now, the player controlling Cody will need to play with time to get May across the platforms and over to the clock. Pay attention to the platforms, and move time forward or backward to get them to line up. May will be able to jump across the various platforms until she lands safely over at the clock. It will now be Cody's turn to move time forward and fling a pendulum at the clock. He will land on the platform with May, and then they will both need to run for safety as the clock falls apart. Jump over the broken pieces of the platform and don't fall into the holes.
Burrower
- Avoid the trail the Burrower leaves behind
- Quickly dispatch the root creatures to not get overwhelmed
The Burrower boss fight, like the Bull, is pretty simple. The Burrower will burrow into the ground and roam around the arena. Whenever it pops up, Cody will need to hold it with his head leaf while May goes to town on it with her sickle. The boss will summon root creatures to chase down the players. Quickly dispatch them and keep wailing on the boss whenever it makes an appearance. Repeat this until it dies. Make sure to also avoid the trail the Burrower leaves behind whenever it is in the ground.
Joy
- Quickly water down the poison to avoid damage
- Avoid the falling objects when the second phase starts
Joy isn't the typical boss fight that players will experience in the game. While most bosses have health bars, Joy is defeated by completing the three phases.
Phase One
Phase one will start with Cody transformed into a tomato while corrupted plants attack. Some of these plants will be larger and spew poison. May must take care of the poison with her water sprayer while Cody slams into the corrupted plants. The phase will end once Cody returns to normal and the plants blocking Joy disappear.
May will then need to wet the soil in front of Joy. Once wet, Cody can ground pound on the soil to become a part of Joy. Button mashing is the key here. A prompt will appear on the screen after a short cutscene. Smash the button until the infected part of Joy gets lowered down to where May can attack it with her sickle.
Phase Two
With the infection cleared, phase two will begin with Joy spawning plants to smash the ground. Pay attention to where the shadows are and avoid the plants. Once they are gone, it will be exactly like before, only this time Cody will be a potato. Clear the corrupted plants and hijack Joy's mind for the second time. Once the second infectious part is cleared, phase three will start.
Phase Three
Similar to phase two, phase three will start with Joy trying to smash Cody and May with large plants, only this time they are on pot lids. Keep dodging the plants wherever the shadows appear until the pot lids are all destroyed. Again, clear the corrupted plants with Cody's new lime form and hijack Joy for the third time. With the final infected area cleared, the fight will be over.
It Takes Two is available on PlayStation 5, Playstation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows.