Shantae Boss Battles - Discussions, Ideas and Concepts

This topic is all about Boss Battles in Shantae games.
Do you wanna discuss a Boss Battle from the Shantae games?
Do you think the Boss Battle could be improved somehow?
Or do you even have ideas for new bosses/bosses of your own?

Either of these can be posted here. Looking forward to some great discussions and ideas.


I think I will make the start with one Boss Battle that I think could've been much better.

THE TINKERTANK
(Aka, Risky's giant mech from the GBC-Original.)
Seriously, this boss is very nice in concept. But the way it played out didn't do it any justice.
So if this game were to be remade in the distant future, here is what I would like to do with this boss.

Setting
First of all, I would kinda change the setting of the boss battle.
Shantae would stand on a large platform to fight the boss from. The platform has two ends without any handrails or something.
Meaning the you can fall off. So be careful.
The Tinkertank would be located in the background and attack from here.
Though occasionally it would move out of the screen and then attack from left or right.
(In similar fashion as bosses like the Death Egg Boss from Sonic 3 & Knuckles)


Attacks
First of all, it has its hands to attack with. Ranging from a horizontal chop to a fist slam.
Each one can be avoided in a different way. For example: You need to jump over the chop.
It also has anti-air hand attacks. So you're also not safe, if you decide to fly with your Harpy-Form.

But of course, it also is armed.
There are cannons on its shoulders, that can fire cannonballs at Shantae.
There is also a small cannon on each hand palm. It can also use those to fire cannonballs.
Especially when the Tinkertank moves out of the screen to attack from left or right, it uses these "hand-cannons".

It also can fire those large "Transporter-Cannonballs". If they land, Tinkerbats will jump out of them and attack Shantae.

It has something that Risky calls "Scattershot Catapult".
It is located on its back and fires a number of TNT-barrels, which then rain down upon the stage.

Lastly, it has a Flamethrower in its mouth. It will only use it, once both hands are destroyed.
And it will only use it from either the left or right. NEVER from the background.

Strategy
Of course, Shantae still needs to enter the Tinkertank, get back the four stones and destroy the Steam Engine.
But she needs to battle the boss first, before she has an opportunity to enter it.

There are those "Orbs" located on each hand. Each orb is only vulnerable for a short time, when the Tinkertank performs certain attacks.
Shantae needs to destroy those orbs. Once all orbs on one hand are destroyed, the hand and its arm will fall off and explode, giving you one threat less to worry about.

Once both hands are destroyed, wait for it to appear on either the left or right side of the screen to use its Flamethrower.
It needs to charge it first, before it actually fires. During the charging, its mouth can be damaged.
Once you've damaged it enough, the flamethrower will explode and the Tinkertank will be immobilized.
Now you can enter it through its mouth.

Once you've entered it, it proceeds the same way as in the original.
The only difference is that Tinkerbats will appear and try to stop you.
(Risky too will make an appearance, but only once you've destroyed the Steam Engine already. Of course, she is not amused by that. )


I shall post more later.

Paragon-Yoshi wrote:Once you've entered it, it proceeds the same way as in the original.
The only difference is that Tinkerbats will appear and try to stop you.

Hmm... I'm kind of tempted to say that last part might still be better the way it was done originally.

GBC Shantae Endgame spoilers:

Just my two cents.

I can't comment much on GBC Shantae's bosses until I've experienced them myself, but I can sure give my thoughts on the Risky's Revenge bosses!

Risky's Revenge Spoilers:

Agent Gold wrote:Hmm... I'm kind of tempted to say that last part might still be better the way it was done originally.

GBC Shantae Endgame spoilers:

Just my two cents.

Sorry, but I can't follow that. :/

To me it only makes sense that Risky would throw everything she has at Shantae to stop her from destroying her proud creation.
And seriously, it's only some Tinkerbats. Nothing fancy.
I can't comprehend the fuss about this. Sorry.

Paragon-Yoshi wrote:Sorry, but I can't follow that. :/

To me it only makes sense that Risky would throw everything she has at Shantae to stop her from destroying her proud creation.
And seriously, it's only some Tinkerbats. Nothing fancy.
I can't comprehend the fuss about this. Sorry.

The thought stems from a conversation I was having with someone about the fact that games have a unique way of conveying things to the player. Since you're experiencing the story rather than just observing it, you can feel things for yourself rather than just watching how the character reacts. When this can be done without dialogue (which I wish game developers would take a shot at more often), it tends to make for a really nice moment. (I could start giving examples from another series, but that might be better suited to another topic.)

In the case of this moment, my thought is that the Tinkerbats might be a bit of an interruption. It's still easy enough to do what you need to do even if they're there--what you lose is the ability for the player to move at their own pace and take in the "What the **** am I doing?!" feeling of the moment.

On the other hand, your logic behind throwing everything they've got at Shantae makes perfect sense. So I guess this one boils down to the question of which flavor you prefer?

EDIT: Come to think of it, Risky's Revenge makes you ask this question too, but in a much more action packed moment. Does WayForward just love throwing surprises into their endings? If they do, I approve!

Ah, the boss battles: this is one of the things I though Risky's Revenge definitely improved upon,
since they no longer feel like standard enemies with unique music.
I will admit though, I always get a kick out of rapidly slamming into the GBC Golem Boss, Hokuto No Ken-style eheh.

Agent Gold makes a good point about the Tinkertank battle.
Despite how anticlimatic actually getting inside and defeating it is,
a tiny part of me felt the same way he did when it came to actually doing what had to be done to bring the big guy down.
Brings me back to my thoughts on the Mother Brain battle in Super Metroid though: it's not exactly the biggest challenge, but it more than does it job on the storytelling front.

tldr: I just like that the bosses in RR can take more damage and aren't quite as predictable as the GBC bosses and that they don't just feel like afterthoughts. Slightly off topic I guess, but I also liked that the enemies present in the world changed as the game went on, making trips to past locales seem fresh. You don't really see that in too many games, do ya? That and the fact that enemies in RR do different amounts of damage, not just a flat half-heart ; )

Agent Gold wrote:The thought stems from a conversation I was having with someone about the fact that games have a unique way of conveying things to the player. Since you're experiencing the story rather than just observing it, you can feel things for yourself rather than just watching how the character reacts. When this can be done without dialogue (which I wish game developers would take a shot at more often), it tends to make for a really nice moment. (I could start giving examples from another series, but that might be better suited to another topic.)

I know that.
But I don't see how it has anything to do with my Tinkertank concept. oO

In the case of this moment, my thought is that the Tinkerbats might be a bit of an interruption. It's still easy enough to do what you need to do even if they're there--what you lose is the ability for the player to move at their own pace and take in the "What the **** am I doing?!" feeling of the moment.

Sorry, but I think that's nonsense.

And quite honestly, I think as soon as the Boss Battle begins, it should be quite clear on what you're supposed to do.
Trash the thing and save Sequin Land. Plain and simple.

Yes, the Tinkerbats are an interruption. But I don't see how it's a bad thing.
In fact, it makes the battle more believable from Risky's side.
Hence I immobilized her mech and now proceed to take away its power source.
Of course, she'd get desperate and throw everything she has at Shantae to stop her.
Just letting Shantae do her thing without even trying to do anything about it would made Risky look like an idiot in my eyes. :/

And players would still be able to move at their own pace, even if obstacles are in the way.
In fact, it'd make the thing a little more challenging and fun, than it was in the GBC-original.


All-in-all I have to say that I can't comprehend your point at all.
Why removing potential obstacles that'd make the fight too easy and also less believable?
Heck, if you need to take a breather, you could always pause. :/


But oh well, I guess I should move on now.
So let me post some more boss concepts.
This time for NEW, ORIGINAL BOSSES.
Here are some of the bosses that I'd like to use in the "Element Gem" game that I came up with some time ago.


Fire-Bat
A MINI-BOSS that I'd place in the first dungeon.
Essentially it's a fire-powered, tougher Tinkerbat.

Attacks and Behavior
His primary form of attack are (obviously) FIREBALLS.
He will keep throwing them at you, from a distance.

Unlike his other comrades, he is NOT armed with a blade.
Instead he uses a flaming jab at close-range, which is equally damaging.

His behavior is not much different from the regular Tinkerbats.
He will walk around and throw fireballs at you. Or use the flame-jab if you are close.
But he can also jump forward or backward, in case he needs to change positions more quickly.


Strategy
There is actually no real strategy involved. Just avoid the fireballs, close in and whip away at him.
Eventually, he will jump away. So repeat the process.
Just keep an eye on his attacks and don't get too careless. Otherwise he might hit you after all.
But overall, an easy Mini-Boss that should fall soon.

As reward, you will get the FIREBALLS!



Venuscythe
A giant, one-eyed carnivorous plant with two large pincers.
It's the BOSS of the first dungeon.

Setting
The fight takes place in a large room with a poisonous pond on the right, where the boss is in.
There is a platform above you, from which vines are hanging from.
However, you cannot reach them normally...

Attacks and Behavior
The boss always attacks with its pincers. There are various pincer-attacks that it uses.
It has two swing-attacks, in which it swing its pincers to hurt Shantae.

Then it has a grab-attack. It opens one of its pincers and tries to grab Shantae with it.
If successful, it will continue to squeeze life-energy out of her.
Press the button repeatedly to break free and keep the damage at a minimum.

And the last pincer-attack is a powerful thrust. First it turns around to charge the attack.
After the charging it done, it will open its pincers and thrust it towards Shantae immediately after at very high speed.
Avoid it by jumping at the right moment. If you do manage to avoid it, it will hit the wall instead and get stuck for a moment.
You can then use the pincer as stepping stone to reach the vines and the platform above.

In its last attack it will drink from the pond it is in and then spit poisonous water-drops at Shantae.
It will only use this attack as retaliation-attack, after you've damaged it.

Strategy
You can only damage the boss from higher ground. But since you cannot reach it on your own, you will need to wait for it to perform its thrust-attack to reach the platform.
From here you can shoot a fireball at its eye. Which will cause the boss to collapse.
Then jump down and whip away at the eye, until it gets up.
Avoid the poisonous drops it spits afterward and repeat until the boss kicks the bucket.
Enjoy seeing the boss dissolving into dust!
With the boss defeated, the poison in the water will be gone.
So jump into it, dive through the short underwater tunnel and grab the first scroll.


Yuriko (1st Encounter)
The "Demonic Half-Genie" and second villain of the game.
You will encounter her several times throughout the game.

Attacks and Abilities
Yuriko can be quite a formidable boss to fight against, if you are not sure what to do.

At first, she will only utilize hair-lash attacks, which have decent range.
After you've taken away some of her health, she will form a hand with her hair.
She will use it to perform punches, chops and other attacks.
She will also grab some of the rocks lying around with her hair and either throw or roll them at Shantae.

Lastly, she has a COUNTERATTACK in which she grabs Shantae by her hair, spin her around a few times and then slam her into the ground.

Yuriko can BLOCK your melee-attacks with her hair and even DEFLECT projectile-attacks with it.
You should be aware of that.

Strategy
This boss can be a pain if you don't know what to do.
Just going in for the attack will do you no good. She will either block or deflect your attack.
If you recklessly hair-whip her, she will eventually use her Counter-Grab Attack and punish you hard.

Yuriko is very defensive at first. She will only attack, if you don't attack for some time.
The key to victory is patience and only attacking when she is open.
And she is only open when she is attacking. So wait for her to attack, avoid it and then quickly strike while she has her guard down.

Eventually she will form a hand with her hair and then she will become a little more offensive.
Keep this up and you should be able to get this done.

Yuriko retreats eventually.
Not because she has been defeated for real, but because she is done wasting her time on Shantae.



Just some of the bosses that I came up with.
I think I will post more later.

Paragon-Yoshi wrote:I know that.
But I don't see how it has anything to do with my Tinkertank concept. oO

Just giving you a little background so you can see where I'm coming from with my viewpoint.

Paragon-Yoshi wrote:All-in-all I have to say that I can't comprehend your point at all.
Why removing potential obstacles that'd make the fight too easy and also less believable?
Heck, if you need to take a breather, you could always pause. :/

GBC Shantae Endgame spoilers again:

So, you're right that adding Tinkerbats there would make things more realistic and more exciting, and normally I'm a fan of both of these things. The trade-off is that it adds a feeling of urgency--you need to hurry up and finish this if you want to avoid more of them coming after you, rather than being given a moment to take in what just happened and "let your jaw hang there" so to speak. It's fine if you need to pause to take a quick breather from the action, but you shouldn't need to pause just to buy the extra moment to take in what's going on--that kind of separates you from the experience. If you have no enemies and no distractions, you have nothing to focus on except this unbelievable thing you're doing. You can still take it in if the enemies are there, but you have to split your focus, and it makes it sort of choppy trying to take it in.

What it boils down to is a trade off. Do you want to keep the moment realistic and exciting (a good thing), or do you want to give the player a chance to really absorb what you're having them do and make of it what they will (also a good thing)? Since these moments come along kind of rarely, I personally wouldn't want to give up the feelings I experienced for anything. It should be memorable either way--it's just a question of will it be memorable because it was exciting, or will it be memorable because it shocked you?

Paragon-Yoshi wrote:Fire-Bat

Strategy
There is actually no real strategy involved. Just avoid the fireballs, close in and whip away at him.
Eventually, he will jump away. So repeat the process.
Just keep an eye on his attacks and don't get too careless. Otherwise he might hit you after all.
But overall, an easy Mini-Boss that should fall soon.

Curious question, how many times do you suppose you'll need to repeat the cycle for this one? My gut is saying 3-5 times would be ideal, but I have no solid basing behind that.

Paragon-Yoshi wrote:Venuscythe

That's looking pretty well thought out! Nicely done!

Paragon-Yoshi wrote:Yuriko (1st Encounter)
Strategy
This boss can be a pain if you don't know what to do.
Just going in for the attack will do you no good. She will either block or deflect your attack.
If you recklessly hair-whip her, she will eventually use her Counter-Grab Attack and punish you hard.

Do you know how many times I'd lose to this boss before I got the strategy right? I'll tell you what, I'd quickly find out exactly how many ways attacking head on DOESN'T work! XD That's just me, though.

Even if that were my fate, I do like bosses that you have to fight a few times to get how they work. A lot of bosses in modern games are inherently pretty easy, so I'm always happy to see one that takes a few tries. This looks like it would be just enough to shake things up a bit!

Paragon-Yoshi wrote:Yuriko retreats eventually.
Not because she has been defeated for real, but because she is done wasting her time on Shantae.

I can get behind that logic. It suggests she's pretty powerful if she can just walk away, so you'll want to be sure to keep that image up later--nothing worse than a boss who appears to be really powerful but turns out to be a disappointment! (Ever played Star Fox Adventures? You might know what I'm talking about if you've seen a certain fight from the end of that game.)

I'd say we drop this discussion and maybe continue it elsewhere.
Since I can expect that we don't get to an agreement anytime soon.
I don't want to topic to get ravaged by it, if you catch my drift.

Curious question, how many times do you suppose you'll need to repeat the cycle for this one? My gut is saying 3-5 times would be ideal, but I have no solid basing behind that.

Yeah, I'd say 3-5 times would be fair. Otherwise it'd get annoying.

That's looking pretty well thought out! Nicely done!

Thanks a lot.

Do you know how many times I'd lose to this boss before I got the strategy right? I'll tell you what, I'd quickly find out exactly how many ways attacking head on DOESN'T work! XD That's just me, though.

Lol, some bosses are that way.
A pain in the butt, since they seem invincible at first.
But once you figured out what to do, it ain't so hard anymore.
It's just a matter of studying the boss and figure out how to beat him. Or HER in this case.

Even if that were my fate, I do like bosses that you have to fight a few times to get how they work. A lot of bosses in modern games are inherently pretty easy, so I'm always happy to see one that takes a few tries. This looks like it would be just enough to shake things up a bit!

Yep. Me too.
Kinda reminds me of how Ghirahim whooped my butt at first. (Though this way mainly because I was not yet used to the controls.)
But yeah, there should be more of such bosses, where you have to learn the hard way how things work.

I can get behind that logic. It suggests she's pretty powerful if she can just walk away, so you'll want to be sure to keep that image up later--nothing worse than a boss who appears to be really powerful but turns out to be a disappointment! (Ever played Star Fox Adventures? You might know what I'm talking about if you've seen a certain fight from the end of that game.)

Yes, I know what you mean.
(Starfox Adventures felt all wrong anyways. It should've stayed out of the Starfox Universe and follow its original concept.)
And I wouldn't think about making her like that.



EDIT:

Actually, I forgot one Mini-Boss, that you are supposed to fight before entering the first dungeon.
So let me start with this one.

Goblo-Leader
MINI-BOSS!
A leader of primitive, yet dangerous, Goblin-like creatures, that are normally equipped with Spike-Hammers.
He is also equipped with a shield and is larger than the other Goblo's.
They will return later, as regular enemies.

Setting
This battle takes place in a clearing, with one large tree, where Sky is on.
Shantae's objective here is to save Sky, who is desperately clinging on a tree, with Goblo's trying to get her down and... you know.
First she battles the regular Goblo's, which are not really worth mentioning here.
After that, the leader appears.

Attacks
He really only has one attack. Which is a Hammer Smash Attack.
When he holds up his shield, he can also thrust it towards Shantae, if she is too close.
This won't do any damage, but it'll briefly knock her off balance.

Strategy
At this early stage, you can still get away with mindless hair-whipping/button-mashing.
If you are lucky, you might even defeat the mini-boss this way without getting hit.

But if you really want to beat him the clever way, then wait for his to do his Hammer-Attack and after that, moving in for the attack, back away once he uses his shield, rinse and repeat.
It's the most effective way to beat him, since he will be open for a fair amount of time.
If you just go in and attack, he will eventually use his shield to protect himself and then Shield-Thrust Shantae.
You also risk getting hit by his Hammer-Attack this way.
But yeah, both ways work actually. It's your call!

So much for the forgotten. Now let's proceed normally.


Jet Raven
Another MINI-BOSS.
It's a large raven, that is pretty nimble and flies around a lot.

Setting
This time, it's Bolo who needs to be saved...
Well, at first he actually seems to manage on his own. But he is distracted for just a short moment and ends up getting hurt.
So it's up to Shantae to bring down this bird.
It takes place in a canyon of a mountain-area.


Attacks
It has two attacks. Both are really fast.
The first one is a Claw Dive Attack, diagonally down.
And the second one is a charge-attack, where the bird first gets at the same height as Shantae and then charges.


Strategy
This mini-boss might be fast, but it is still quite a pushover.
While its attacks are fast, it telegraphs them. Making it blatantly obvious which attack it's going to use and when it will do so.
Both attacks can be easily avoided, by jumping at the right moment.
You can even INTERCEPT them with a hair-whip, if you get the timing right.
But avoiding is the better option. Since after each attack, it'll be briefly open for some hair-whipping.
You'll do more damage this way.
Keep this up and it should go down in no time.

While this mini-boss is easy already, it becomes a complete joke with this trick.
Go to the wall on the right side and wait for it to do it's charge attack.
Avoid it and it will crash into the wall and see stars for some time.
Now punish it with hair-whipping.
If you are fast enough, you can bring the mini-boss down before it even has a chance to get up again.


Moblibat
Another Mini-Boss. This time the Mini-Boss of the second dungeon.
It's a big Tinkerbat, with a large, round belly. And armed with a large spear.
(Later in the game, they will return as regular enemies. But you will have items and technques to easily fight them, by then.)

Attacks
Obviously, he has a spear-attack. It comes out rather slow, but it really hurts.
He also has a butt-slam, in which he jumps and lands on his butt. This one also hurts, if he lands directly on Shantae.
But even if he doesn't hit Shantae directly, since he is so heavy, he will cause the ground to shake the instant he lands.
If Shantae doesn't jump to avoid it, this will stun her for a moment.

Lastly, he has a rolling-attack. Due his size you CANNOT jump over him. Do you will either have to outrun it, or use the Monkey-Form to cling on the wall and climb to safety.
However, you should avoid hanging on the walls for longer than necessary.
Since he WILL hop up and down, which will also cause the ground to shake.
If Shantae is clinging on the wall when he does that, she will lose her grip and fall down.

Strategy
Due his large belly, any frontal attack is repelled. So you will have to attack him from behind.
Actually getting behind him can be a little difficult. But it's nothing too bad.
There are actually two ways of doing so.
The first option is to wait for him to do his Butt-Slam and then QUICKLY run beneath him.
Jump to avoid the ground shake as he lands and then attack his back, before he turns around.
The second option is to transform into a Monkey and wait near a wall to do his Roll-Attack.
He telegraphs this attack. So he gives you enough time to grab the wall and climb to safety.
If he rolls into the wall, he will be stunned for some time.
Retransform and whip away at the back while you can.

He might be tough, but he should fall eventually.
As a reward, you will get the BOMB BUGS. Apparently one of Risky's toys...


Tinkertank MkII
Risky's Tinkertank rebuilt, with a lot of new nasty features.
The BOSS of the second dungeon.

Setting
Pretty much the like in my "Tinkertank" concept, the boss is in the background and attacks from there.
It takes place in the depths of the Mine Dungeon (have yet to come up with a good name).

Attacks
Most of the time, it attacks with it's cannons.
The "Scattershot Catapult" also returns.
Though the hand attacks are now reduced to two. A horizontal Chop and a Fist Slam.

It has a new attack, in which it fires beams of energy, gathered from the crystals that Risky and her Tinkerbats have been mining from the mines.
And lastly, it opens its two hand palms, Tinkerbats jump on it and then its throws them towards Shantae.
Though not all of them will reach the stage where Shantae fights from. Some of them will fly off.
Sometimes a Tinkerbat will hit the screen in a cartoony way.
While it may look funny, it actually obscures your vision for a moment.
(So you can say that this one actually served his purpose...)

Strategy
First, you will need to get to higher ground to properly fight this boss.
So transform into a monkey and climb up the wall, while avoiding the cannonballs.
Once you have reached that ground, the real battle begins. You can retransform now.

Avoid its attacks and wait for it to perform the Fist Slam attack. Avoid it and then the weak point is exposed for a second.
Though this time, it's only one orb per hand AND the orbs are now protected by some kind of armor.
But with the BOMB BUGS that you've received, you can damage the armor and eventually destroy it completely.
Then you can whip away at the orb. Of course, the Tinkertank will withdraw its hand eventually. So you will have to repeat this process several time.
Once you have destroyed the orb on one hand, the arm will be damaged and unusable for the boss for some time.
If both orbs have been destroyed, the boss's head will come crashing down onto the stage. Make sure you avoid it.
Transforming into a monkey, climb on it, retransform and whip away at the core on its head.
Rinse and repeat.

However, after the first beating of the main core, Tinkerbats will now start to climb down and repair any damaged arms.
So you better destroy the other orb quickly, before they have a chance to restore the other.

In the end, the Tinkertank is destroyed and an angered Risky retreats.
The blast has opened a large hole in the ground. Jump down and grab the second scroll!


So much for today.

Okay, about time for me to post another set of bosses and Mini-Bosses.
Another double-post, but what can I do? D:


Before I start, I want to note that do things I little differently now.
I know merge both "Attacks" and "Strategy" into one.
Since the way I handled it before was a little... heavy-handed. ^^;

Here we go:

Smoke Puffer
A small, levitating, parasite-like monster, that emits poisonous smoke.
An OPTIONAL Mini-Boss, who guards one of the optional Items of the game.
In this case, it's the STORM PUFF Item.

Battle
This Mini-Boss can be a little annoying. She he constantly moves around in mid-air.
So he can be a little hard to reach.

His most used attack is his poisonous smoke, that he emits. It has considerable range too.
So when he uses this attack, you better keep your distance.
He also forms small, poisonous clouds and sends them downward. Avoid them!

When he doesn't use any attack and simply flies around, he is vulnerable.
So try your hardest to reach him and give him a good beating.
He is vulnerable to every form of attack. So feel free to unload everything you have.

After he took serious damage, he will start to CHASE you, while he emits smoke. Outrun it!
Use your Monkey-Form, if you have to!
Keep this up and he should fall and turn and into dust before long.

Your reward, as I said already, the STORM PUFF item!


Next...
Frezzard
A mage that specializes in Ice-Magic. The Mini-Boss of the third dungeon.

Battle
This Mini-Boss will constantly teleport around. And during the brief period, where he assumes physical form,he will attack.
He will use one of the following attacks:
- A mass of ice. Can be avoided by ducking or jumping over it.
- A small icey storm, that can freeze Shantae for a moment. Has limited range.
- A pair of big, sharp snowflakes, that will fly around. Watch their movements and avoid them accordingly.
(He will only use the third attack, after he took a certain amount of damage)

Whenever he assumes physical form, he will start dancing and thus charge his attack, before he actually attacks.
During this period, he is vulnerable. Attack him while he does that.
But be quick about it, before his finishes his dance and attacks.
If you think you cannot reach him in time, then it's better to stay away from him.
Since you don't want to face his attacks from point-blank range.
Sometimes he might also appear on spaces that you cannot reach. Just focus on avoiding his attacks then.

If you keep this up, you should be able to defeat him. After he disintegrated, you will be rewarded with another item.
The "Grapple-Hairband"!


And now for another boss.
Ice Colossus
The boss of the third dungeon is a large, icey Titan, with some thick armor.


Battle
The armor of the boss is quite resiliant, even to your fireballs.
But it does have a weakness. It does have four spaces, where your "Grapple-Hairband" can hang on.
Two on the feet and two on the hands.
You can easily reach the two on the feet. Just use the hair-whip with the Hairband equipped and your hair will hang onto the space.
Move backward to pull on it and eventually it will come off.

For the ones on the hands you will need to wait for the boss to use his ground pound. The fist will remain on the ground for a while.
Take your chance to grab onto it and pull it off. Once you did that to all four spaces, the boss will lose it's armor.
You can then attack him with anything, until he falls.

The boss has three attacks.
A Foot-stomp attack. It does serious damage, if he its Shantae with it directly. But it also causes Ice-Spikes to fall from the ceiling.
Then he has a Ground-Pound, where he slams his fist into the ground. It will also do serious damage, if he hits Shantae directly.
It will also causes a shockwave, that can damage Shantae. Jump over it.
And lastly, he has an Ice Breath. Just like in the Mini-Boss battle, Shantae will be frozen for a moment, if hit by it.
But this attack is much bigger and has more range, than the variant of the Mini-Boss.

Either way, once the Colossus dissolves into snow, you can finally get the third and last scroll.


So much for today. I will post more.

You've sure given these bosses a lot of thought! @_@ I've contemplated level designs for hours on end, but never for bosses like that; maybe that's why my first Sonic fan game had such lame original bosses, in-between a few rip-off clones from the official games. xD

The Ice Collossus is the most interesting to me, and I can't really see how he'd be annoying! The only thing that raises my eyebrow in your latest batch of boss ideas is the reward for defeating that gaseous mini-boss. Just a common item I could buy for twenty gems or less at a shop? I think maybe a warp squid or heart piece would be far more worth it, if the official Shantae games ever decide to separate hearts into collectable segments.

.Luke wrote:You've sure given these bosses a lot of thought! @_@ I've contemplated level designs for hours on end, but never for bosses like that; maybe that's why my first Sonic fan game had such lame original bosses, in-between a few rip-off clones from the official games. xD

Well, to be honest, it didn't take that much time to me.
My daily job does that to me. For some reason, I can think best about this stuff while I am working. ^^;
But oh well...

The only thing that raises my eyebrow in your latest batch of boss ideas is the reward for defeating that gaseous mini-boss. Just a common item I could buy for twenty gems or less at a shop? I think maybe a warp squid or heart piece would be far more worth it, if the official Shantae games ever decide to separate hearts into collectable segments.

Apparently you're not familiar with Risky's Revenge yet.
That game introduced a Zelda-esque Magic Meter. And some items are no longer limited by quantity, but by the amount of magic you have.
So I figured some optional (and more powerful) items could be guarded by some mini-bosses.


Anyway, here is another set.


Tinkercrawler
Another boss that you fight outside of dungeons.
Risky is back with another of her hellish machines.
This one isn't nearly as big as the previous one, but just as tough.

Battle
The battle takes place within a U-shaped canyon. Something that plays a vital role later.

Just like her previous incarnation, this boss can and will fire cannonballs at you.
Tinkerbats will also jump off the mech and attack Shantae.
At close range, the boss will attack with its legs.
And lastly, it has a charge-attack, where it advances on you.
Though it clearly telegraphs this attack. And you ought to start running, as soon as you see it coming.
Those are the attacks that you have to worry about, for now.

It will also jump occasionally, to change positions. Just make sure you don't stand underneath it, when it lands.

There is a small, loose hatch on the boss's... forehead? Anyway, use your Grapple-Hairband to grab it and rip it off.
Then simply attack the exposed weak-point, until it is destroyed.
But it's not over yet...

Another weak point will appear at the UNDERSIDE of the boss. But due the legs, it's unreachable.
What to do? What to do?
This is where you freshly obtained "ROLLING BEETLE" TRANSFORMATION comes into play.
(Besides, if you really don't know what to do and enough time has passed, a Mini-Scene occurs where Shantae looks around and gives the player a clear hint on what to do and she briefly exchanges words with Risky, before the action resumes.)

Use your MONKEY-TRANSFORMATION to scale the walls on either the left or the right. Doesn't matter which side...
However, the Tinkercrawler will then use a new attack to hold off Shantae.
It will fire TNT-Barrels that are within a Missile-like contraption and fires them like missiles. Watch out for them!
Once you reach the top, retransform and then transform into the Rolling Beetle. And this is where the fun begins...
Now roll down the cliff. Shantae will build up speed, as she goes down
And she should easily gain maximum speed, before hitting the bottom.
With maximum speed, roll right into the boss's legs.
And enjoy the funny faces of Risky and her Tinkerbats, as the boss tumbles over.
Now where the boss has gone over, you can reach the weak point on it's underside.
So quickly retransform and whip away at it, before the boss gets back on its feet.

Repeat this process two more times and you're victorious.
However, at the last time, the boss tries to be clever, by lifting its legs, before you can hit them.
This will cause you to roll past the boss and up the cliff on the other side.
Break AT THE RIGHT MOMENT and roll back down. If you got the timing right, you will roll into the boss's legs, before it has a chance to react again.
One last whipping at the weak point and the boss is reduced to a hunk of junk.

A pissed off Risky retreats again. Time to move on!



Yuriko (2nd Encounter)
The "Demonic Half-Genie" challenges you again. Though she said that she wouldn't be so merciful this time.
Be prepared for a fight.

Battle
Again, the boss battle is split into two phases.
The first phase plays EXACTLY like last time. And she uses the same attacks as last time.
So once again, wait for her to attack and then while she is open, attack her.
She will still block your hair whip and special attacks and deflect projectiles, when she is not open.
So don't bother.

At the second phase, her hair will again take shape of something. But this time it takes shape of a SPRING (which she only used in the cutscene last time, where she left).
With this, she can do two things.
First she can jump straight into the air and then dive-attack you from above.
Be sure to keep moving while you wait for her to come down, since she comes down so fast...
If you don't move already when you see her, it's already too late.
The second thing she can do with it, is jump TO THE BACKGROUND and then attack from there.
While she is in the background, she will attack with long-range hair whips. and with objects that she will pick up and throw.
But this time, the objects she throws are larger and hurt more.
You cannot do anything to her, while she is in the background. Just keep avoiding her attacks.
Eventually, she will jump back at where you are.

Keep up the usual tactic and you should be able to win this battle.
She will be a little impressed by your progress, but still considered this battle a waste of time.
So she retreats again. Warning Shantae that she will use all of her power next time they meet...



That is all for today.
Once again, feedback is welcomed.

Well, if I ever became part of a gaming organization, I know exactly who I'd be scoping out haha.

Anyway I like the ideas, though because I haven't been looking at this thread often and I haven't given actual boss ideas too much thought, I can't really give any good constructive feedback. To be honest, it all looks good to me.

Haha, thanks a lot.



And here comes another set.

Rocko
The Mini-Boss of the fourth dungeon.
A muscular hermit, who actually has a personality, unlike the other mini-bosses you've fought so far.

Battle
This mini-boss can be a little tricky. Mainly due his rather powerful attacks.
Attack only when he is open. Otherwise he will BLOCK your attacks.

At close-range, he will use punches. They are rather quick, for such a large opponent.
So be prepared for them, as you approach him.
Also at close-range, he has a grab-attack, where he slowly lifts his hand and then try to grab Shantae.
While he is lifting his hand, he leaves himself open.
So feel free to attack him then. If you hit him enough times, he should fall over and thus cancel the attack.
But if he is successful with his grab, he will lift Shantae up, headbutt her a few times and then toss her away.
And this hurts a lot. So be quick about it.

The other attack, where he leaves himself open, is is Body-Slam.
He will first cling onto the wall and then drop down, in an attempt to land on top of Shantae.
Quickly move out of the way. And as soon as he lands, he is briefly open for attacks.
Take the chance and attack!

But there are still two other attacks.
First is his Rock Throw Attack. Where he throws boulders at Shantae at quick succession.
Simply watch on how he throws them, to know how far they will go and move accordingly to avoid them.
The second one, which he will only start using once he took a certain amount of damage, is his Rockshatter attack.
Here he jumps into the air and then smashes his fist into the ground, shattering part of the ground and creating a lot of small boulders, that bounce against Shantae.
This attack is nasty, since you have to estimate on how they will bounce and then try your hardest to move out of the way.
And there are A LOT of boulders you have to deal with. So this can be a real pain.
(At least if you do it the normal way.)

Keep avoiding his attacks and attack while he is open.
You should defeat him eventually. He will surrender and, impressed by Shantae's strength, give her the "Ice Storm" item.
An essential item for the rest of the dungeon...


Gablargh
The boss of the fourth dungeon.
It's essentially a giant, living Lava-Pool. So be prepared for a heated battle (literally... ).

Battle
You will battle within a lava-pool, with a number of rocks swimming on it's surface.
Obviously, you have to stay on the rocks. You will need to jump from one rock to the next.
And, again obviously, DO NOT land in the lava. Unless you want to get yourself a burning butt (and one heart less of health).

This boss has a large array of attacks.
First of all, it will create waves, that will make jumping between the rocks quite difficult.
Sometimes it will also create waves so large, that you're forced to jump away.
Else the wave will overwhelm you AND the rock you're standing on.

When the boss emerges, it will take shape of a blob-like, molten lava creature. Normally only residing in the background
It can fire fireballs. Either to attack Shantae directly or set rocks ablaze for a short amount of time and thus contain her to a certain area.
I can also hurl lava-particles into the air and cause small fire-sparks to rain down.

However, it can also come forth to the same level as Shantae. In that case, any physical contact with it will damage Shantae.
It can also fire fireballs from here.
But it will also try to emerge from underneath Shantae. But bubbles will indicate where it'll emerge.
So quickly jump to safety, when you see it coming.

The boss will also try to chomp down at Shantae. Be sure to avoid that.

You can use to Ice Storm to deal with it's attacks.
Especially useful, when it comes to putting out burning rocks and make them accessible again.
But for this large boss, that small storm is not enough.

There should be a geysir somewhere on the stage. Go for it, while you avoid the lava and the boss's attacks.
And then fire an Ice Storm blast into it, creating a large ice storm, that will completely freeze the boss and reveal it's weak point.
Go over and whip away at the weak point, until it starts melting.
And when it does, quickly jump onto one of the rocks, before the lava melts completely.

Repeat the process, until you defeat it. But the geysir's will become progressively harder to reach, as the battle wages on.
In the end, the boss should fall apart and dissolve, revealing a hidden room at the bottom of the now-empty pool.
Go down there and grab the Fire Gem. The first part of the Element Gem!



That is all for today. I sure have fun writing this.

Urgh, another double-post. D:

Seriously, WHY YOU NO GIVE ME FEEDBACK?!?!?



Anyway, here is another set.


Gutsy
Gutsy is the leader of bandits that reside near Mizu Beach.
Shantae faces her in a Mini-Boss Battle.
However, she almost looks just like Risky... o_O

Battle
Gutsy is very nimble and acrobatic and thus hard to hit.
She is armed with two scimitar swords and know how to handle them.

She moves very quickly. And she can perform frontflips and backflips to either quickly approach Shantae or back away.
On top of that she has great Jumping-capabilities, as well as the ability to BLOCK attacks with her blades.
She can even counter, by jumping over Shantae and then slash her from behind.

Other than that, she attacks with sword slashes, kicks and Flip-Jump Slashes.

Generally, she will ALWAYS jump over items that you throw at her. But some items still work against her.
Find out which attacks work well against her and stick to those.
Otherwise you can only attack her while she is open. And she is only open while she is attacking.
And since her attacks came out FAST, you have to be spot-on with the timing. Or you will be on the receiving end instead.

She might be a tricky adversary. But eventually you should be able to defeat her.
Upon being defeated, she will grant Shantae the means to get to the cove, where she can learn the "Fishgirl-Transformation".
Though I think I refer to this as "Zora-Transformation" from now on. Since it sounds better.


Jellimos
The Mini-Boss of the fifth dungeon. And big, floating Jellyfish, that makes clever use of it's electricity.

Battle
The Jellyfish will often cover itself with an electric shield.
Which not only makes it immune to any form of attack, but also shocks and hurts Shantae at a mere touch.
It will move around a lot. So make sure you stay clear of it, while it is protected with its shocking shield.

It can form small, electric orbs and hurl them at Shantae. And it can also charge it's tentacles with electricity and whip Shantae with them.
But its most dangerous form of attack is WATER! I kid you not.
It will often jump into the water below the platform, where the battle takes place and cause water to swash onto the platform.
It can also utilize a water beam, from below.
Water will stay on the platform for some time, before it evaporates.
Neither of the Water-attacks will do any damage to Shantae.
BUT the Jellyfish can use them as ELECTRIC CURRENTS.
So for example: I can dip an electric tentacle into one wet spot and the electricity will then follow the water.
So it is important to stay clear of water, if you can.

Once it attacked often enough, the electric shield will disappear.
Quickly take the chance and hit the Mini-Boss with everything you've got, before it reforms it's shield.

Eventually, you will defeat it and it'll dissolve. And your reward is the "Megaton-Haircharm".


Armosnapper
A huge, nimble snapper turtle. It's the boss of the fifth dungeon.

Battle
This Boss is HARD! And you will be pitted against this boss in an UNDERWATER-FIGHT!

You will start out with your Zora-Transformation. But since you've just freshly obtained it, you don't have the special medallion for it.
And thus you CANNOT ATTACK.
The room, where you fight in, is completely flooded. Along with the central platform.
There are four switches scattered across the room.
Once all four switches are activated, the water level will be lowered and the central platform will be above water and thus you can properly fight the boss.
So in the first phase, you have to utilize the great swimming-capabilities of your Zora-Transformation to hit the four switches, while avoiding the boss.
Which is easier said than done.

The boss has a variety of nasty attacks. It will shoot bubbles at you, try to ram you or create whirlpools to hinder you.
It's most dangerous attack however, it its SNAPPING-attack, where it tries to snap at you. And if it's successful, you will end up in its mouth for some time and it will chew on you, rapidly draining your health, before spitting you out.
You can Button-Mash to break out faster. But this attack is still devastating.
Watch it's movements and do your best to avoid it's attacks.

But the boss is very fast and nimble in the water. So lower that water-level ASAP.
Once you have done that, quickly jump onto the central platform. Retransform and equip your "Megaton-Haircharm", if you haven't done it already.
Now you need to watch out for it's attack. It will try to knock Shantae off the platform and into the water, by ramming into it.
Jump of the right time, to avoid the shockwave. Otherwise you will be knocked off your feet AND into the water, if you're too close to it.

After some failed attempts, it will climb on top of the platform with it's upper body.
Here is has two attacks.
The first is a mere slap with one of its fins. This one is rather harmless.
But the second attack from this position, is all the more dangerous.
In it's second attack, it will try to snap at Shantae again.
And if it's successful, Shantae will be dragged into the water and then it proceeds just like it's underwater-variant.
When you do end up in the water, GET OUT OF IT ASAP!
Seriously, in the water you stand no chance against the boss. And he will literally rape you.

When the boss does climb on top of the platform, you need to whack its armored head with your "Megaton Hair-Whack".
Which will stun the boss. Then jump on it's head and give the glowing spot also a whack.
The boss then quickly retreats and you have to repeat the process.

If you stay clear of the water and its attack and keep this up, you should defeat the boss in the end.
It will end up crashing into the bottom of the room, creating a rift that completely empties the room of water, before it disintegrates.
Go through the rift. And for your efforts, you will be rewarded with the Water Gem! Only 2 left...


And I am done for today.
What do you think?
Seriously, GIVE ME FEEDBACK!!! >: (

lol'd at the Y U NO guy in there. xD

Don't worry Paragon, I've been reading them, it's just hard to critique some of them, which sound pretty fun on paper; execution is always the real catalyst here. Besides that, it's late where I am, so I'll have to get back to you on typing up some feedback for a lot of these!

Also, I plugged your topic on the SFP Twitter page, if you don't mind! =P And there's a small question that's been bugging me. You've been posting all of these ideas for not just official boss design tweaks, but original bosses too, and what if someone was inspired enough to use your ideas in their own fan game? Would you feel honored that someone else brought your ideas to life, or saddened that you would have to come up with something else for your own fan game to avoid being stale? xD You could probably include permissions info at the end of your original boss ideas, to make things clear at least.

.Luke wrote:lol'd at the Y U NO guy in there. xD

Don't worry Paragon, I've been reading them, it's just hard to critique some of them, which sound pretty fun on paper; execution is always the real catalyst here. Besides that, it's late where I am, so I'll have to get back to you on typing up some feedback for a lot of these!

Of course, I know that execution would be harder. But this is not about execution, but about general ideas.
I am looking forward to see your feedback.

Also, I plugged your topic on the SFP Twitter page, if you don't mind! =P

Not at all. Hope this will get more attention then.

And there's a small question that's been bugging me. You've been posting all of these ideas for not just official boss design tweaks, but original bosses too, and what if someone was inspired enough to use your ideas in their own fan game? Would you feel honored that someone else brought your ideas to life, or saddened that you would have to come up with something else for your own fan game to avoid being stale? xD You could probably include permissions info at the end of your original boss ideas, to make things clear at least.

Of course, I would be honored. Provided that they don't claim it as their own.
(Unless it's WayForward. Then I am willing to let it pass. )

Besides, I don't think I will ever be able to make a solid Shantae game. ^^;



And here are more.

Wood Guardian
A Mini-Boss that Shantae needs to defeat, in order to proceed further to the woods, where the next Gem is.
It's a giant, wooden creature.

Battle
When Shantae first meets the creature, it will be asleep. Blocking the way.
Shantae needs to use one of her special dances, to wake it up.

In the first phase of the battle, the boss will walk away from you. So you need to chase him.
The boss will constantly throw small offsprings of himself at you, as well as some small boulders.
The boulders can be knocked back at him with your Hair Whip. And if you hit him with it, you will briefly stop him in his tracks.
Defeat every enemy in your way and make your way over to the mini-boss, BEFORE he reaches the end of the track.
Otherwise he will escape and you're then forced to leave the area and come back at a later time.
Then he will be back, sleeping again!

When you reach him, hit him with a hair whip. He will get angry and the real battle begins.
He is actually a joke. He is vulnerable to any attack and at all times. So feel free to unload everything.
One thing to note though, is that he NEVER flinches, when you hit him. Thus you cannot intercept his attacks.
(Unless you use one certain special technique)
But they aren't much of a deal. The first attack is a simple punch, that doesn't do much damage.
And the second is a stomp-attack, where he jumps into the air and then tries to stomp you from above.
Simply watch his shadow and run out of the way. Simple!

You should easily defeat him in no time.
He will beg for forgiveness (much to Shantae's embarrassment) and open the gate to the Vampire Woods.


Vampire Queen + Servants
The corrupt Vampire Queen and her two servants.
Definitely the most plot-heavy mini-boss fight in the game.

Premise
Now here, allow me to go the extra mile and explain the general plot about this mini-boss battle.

Put in Spoilers to be safe:

Battle (Servants)
First you need to battle the queens two servants. The queen will sit on her "throne" watching the whole time.
But if you get too close to her, she will kick you back down.

One servant wields a rapier, the other one a Ball and Chain.
The one with a rapier attacks swiftly, while the one with the ball and chain attacks slower but is more powerful.
The servants are actually vulnerable to any attack. BUT, there is a twist to it.
If you keep damaging them, they will eventually fall onto the ground. But after staying there for some time, they will get back up and continue as if nothing happened.

The key to victory are the CURTAINS in the background. Each of them has a switch.
Hit one and the corresponding curtain will open and bath part of the battleground in sunlight.
The servants will stay clear of it. And if standing inside it, they will quickly get out of it.

The key to victory is, attack them until they collapse. And make sure they are in range of one of the curtains.
Then open the curtain BEFORE the servant gets back up and he will burn to ashes.
Deal with them both this way and they're history.

Battle (Queen)
With the servants no more, the Queen will summon and giant Scythe and deal with Shantae herself.
The tactic is the same one as with her servants. Attack her until she is knocked down and then open the right curtain to burn her to ashes.
Problem is, she won't go down so easily as her servants. And she has more attacks and abilities than her servants.

First, she can and will attack by swinging her scythe. Due its size is has great range AND it hurts a lot.
But this is not all.
She will also call Bats and send them against Shantae.
She also has a Teleport-Move, where she turns into a swarm of bats that go to the destination and then turns back to her normal shape.

She also can take a lot more hits than her servants.
After she took a certain amount of damage, she will get angry and call a swarm of bats to cover herself.
While the bats are flying around her, she cannot be damaged by anything.

So you will need to open the curtain and let the light shoo away the bats.
But she isn't stupid and will try to avoid the light-spaces at all times.
Try to get her inside one of those space and then QUICKLY open the curtain, before she gets away.
The bats should then flee, leaving her vulnerable. Go in for the attack, before she calls them back.

When she finally hits the ground, finish her off!
Then you will get the thanks of Bloodylow and her fellows, as well as the key to the next dungeon.
(As well as seeing a funny fight between the spirits of the queen and her servants. )


Tinkergeist
The Mini-Boss of the sixth dungeon.
It's a large ghost, that holds a lantern in one of its hand. It also summons the ghosts of Tinkerbats during the battle.

Battle
The ghost is protected by a strange aura and cannot be damaged while it is there.
It's main ability is the ability to summon Tinkerbat-Ghosts. And it will then send them against you.
It will also scatter fireballs from its lantern. Or take a deep breath and attack with a fire breath.
Lastly, it can swing it's lantern to form a dark cloud and hurl it at Shantae.
If Shantae is hit by it, she will be cursed and all of her controls will be randomized for a short amount of time.

The main objective is to get rid of the protective aura. To do this, you need to attack the lantern.
Eventually, the lantern will be knocked out of its hand. Which will cause the aura, as well as the Tinkerbat-Ghost to disappear.
Now while the Mini-Boss is vulnerable, ATTACK!

Repeat this process and the mini-boss will be defeated in no time.
The mini-boss ends up dissolving and the Tinkerbats are returned to normal.
Shantae will then take the flame of the lantern to IMPROVE HER FIREBALLS!
Now they are faster, stronger and have a much higher range than before. And they even fire in triplets.
NEAT!


Yuriko (3rd Encounter)
Once again, you will face the "Demonic Half-Genie" and battle. And this time, she fights seriously.
She is the boss of the sixth dungeon.

Battle
She still has the same attacks as in the previous encounters.
However, this battle plays out a little differently.

She will now use both her Hand-form and her Spring-form right from the start.
And she even has a new attack now for her hand-form, in which she GRABS Shantae and squeezes health out of her, before she tosses her away.
But you can break out of it, via button-mashing.

The tactic is the same as in the previous battles. BUT there is a new twist to it.
Yuriko will now use her own variants of PIKE BALLS that will float around her at all times.
First it will only levitate in front of her at a set height. Meaning that you either have to stand or to duck while attacking, to get past the defense.
If you hit the Pike Ball instead, it will be destroyed and she INSTANTLY backs away to summons a new one.
So try your best to get past it.

She will still block or deflect your attacks, when she is not open. BUT SHE CAN NO LONGER DEFLECT YOUR FIREBALLS!
Since they have been improved. She will block them instead.
Still, they are an option to damage her this time.

As Yuriko receives more damage, the Pike Balls will behave differently.
First they levitate in front of Yuriko at a set height, then they will move up and down and eventually, they will behave just like Shantae's Pike Balls and fly around Yuriko.
And Yuriko might even summon two, instead of one. As the battle wages on...

Once you damaged her enough, she will form a SPIKE BALL with her hair.
She can whack with it and deal serious damage, though it comes out slow.
But she can and will also hang on the ceiling and then let it swing back and forth.

Fight hard and keep up the pace and she is eventually forced to her knees.
But it's not over yet...


Angered, she will break apart the ground of the battlefield.
And Shantae will end up on a cube-shaped platform, surrounded by a black pit.
The battle then continues.
From now on, Yuriko will no longer stay on the same ground as you. Instead, she will constantly hang from the ceiling and attack from there.
Either to the left or right from you or in the background.
She can perform the usual hair-whip attacks. But she will also try to grab and you toss you over the edge, as well as hitting the ceiling and letting spikes fall onto the ground, etc.
And she can and will use her hair to grab the platform and FLIP it. Making this a really intense fight.
You will need to hit her with your improved fireballs, when she is open. Otherwise, she will block them.
After you've hit her enough times, she will FINALLY fall.

She ends up falling into the pit, apparently to her doom.
So this is the last we've seen of Yuriko... Or is it?

Anyway, a bridge will appear and allow Shantae to reach the Earth Gem.
Now only one left!


This is all for now.
Please, tell me what you think.

Paragon-Yoshi wrote:

Of course, I would be honored. Provided that they don't claim it as their own. ;)
(Unless it's WayForward. Then I am willing to let it pass. ;P)

So does mean I could possibly use a few of them in my own fan game? Because I suck at original, engaging boss designs. xD

Paragon-Yoshi wrote:Apparently you're not familiar with Risky's Revenge yet.
That game introduced a Zelda-esque Magic Meter. And some items are no longer limited by quantity, but by the amount of magic you have.
So I figured some optional (and more powerful) items could be guarded by some mini-bosses. ;)

Ah, now that makes sense! No more wasting gems on pike balls, right? xD

Paragon-Yoshi wrote:And here are more. :D

ER
MAH
GERD!!!!



MURBARSES!!!

Anyway, the Wood Guardian sounds hilarious. Kinda reminds me of the Keaten Captain boss in Majora's Mask. xD A joke to actually fight, but troll-worthy to keep up with, haha! I think it's safe to say that one would work out fairly well without being an annoyance. Not too sure about the boulders it hurls at you, but if you can regain speed easily enough, (Very dependant on a good engine for this one!) it wouldn't slow the fight by much; gotta throw some challenge in there!

And holy crap, the Vampire Queen sounds heavily inspired/influenced by the Ikana King boss, which is also in Majora's Mask, mixed in with the Grim Reaper-looking mini-boss later on in Stone Tower. xD However, the fact that the curtains move up and down (Which doesn't happen in the King's chamber. Once the curtains are burned up by your fire arrows, they stay gone!) does change the pace, and the player's approach to the fight, by a lot. I can imagine it'd be interesting to see in action, and the integration of story-driven elements (Making it a boss fight that you can't just move or copy/paste around into any situation you want in the scenario later on.) only adds to its merits. I'm imagining some pretty smooth animations for the boss and her servants right now, maybe some dark, catchy atmospheric music, and it starts sounding even better by the second. ^^

Heh, Tinkergeist is reminding me of a boss from Paper Mario, but the addition of projectile attacks and ghosts keeps it from being an obvious clone. Should be fun to beat up if its facial expressions are comical to match the boss's obvious lack of any real fighting prowess. xD

Er, I must have missed any previous mention of Yuriko boss fights, so I'll have to get back to you on that one after I glass over the previous two!

The Gutsy battle doesn't sound half bad. There are lot of bosses that need proper timing to strike with an opening, (Like King Hippo, or better yet Bald Bull, in Punch-Out.) so that can't be seen as cheap unless it's poorly executed with a painfully-short time-window in the boss's logic scripts; it can also be bad if the opening lasts too long. Could be more engaging and fun than the fight with Risky in the first Shantae game, if handled properly!

Jellimos reminds of a certain boss in Metroid Fusion, (I don't think it had a name, it was the one that held Samus's gravity suit upgrade.) although your design makes good use of water and electricity elements instead of occasional super gravity. Execution is a huge problem here because of the way that boss I mentioned moved around; the bloody thing can't just float to anywhere it wants without cheaply eating away at the player's health. Fortunately, that freak moved about in an elliptical orbit around Samus, but it wasn't exactly obvious enough and gets a lot of newbie players killed. It might help if there was a way to make the movement patterns slightly more predictable, while still not directly obvious.

I might take my own note above with a grain of salt, though, because 2D games are given a little room to troll players. Some devs just do so more or less in their own level/boss designs, and unfortunately a lot of platformers are too easy from not adding enough "WTF?!" moments in their games.

Armosnapper makes me think of the spider mutant from Metroid Fusion also. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I wanted to blast that thing with a shoop satellite and three nukes! ;_; Your's sounds way more engaging with the active use of water and switches, however, just make sure the Boss doesn't drain too much health each time he catchs players in a bind, Fusion was so cruel when it came to soaking up your energy tanks. D: At least in Shantae you have lives, and it respawns you in boss fights instead of starting over, so I can't see it being as painful to tackle, whereas in Fusion it would return you to a save station whole sections away from the boss itself; quite annoying.



Sorry, but that's how badly I hated that boss in Fusion. xD Once again, given Shantae's use of lives, pulling much of the same cruelty here won't be as severly punishing. You can get away with soaking that much damage without making anyone rage quit. (Unless they were walking into the battle with zero spares, then they're royally screwed. xD)

.Luke wrote:So does mean I could possibly use a few of them in my own fan game? Because I suck at original, engaging boss designs. xD

So you really want to make one? o_O
Well, if you can make those bosses, then go ahead.

Ah, now that makes sense! No more wasting gems on pike balls, right? xD

Actually, Pike Balls would be the kind of items that are limited by quantity. So you might have to restock them by buying more. ^^;
But as a trade off, they are available from the beginning. So you don't need to obtain them first, unlike the Magic-based items.

MURBARSES!!!

LOLWUT?!? oO

Anyway, the Wood Guardian sounds hilarious. Kinda reminds me of the Keaten Captain boss in Majora's Mask. xD A joke to actually fight, but troll-worthy to keep up with, haha! I think it's safe to say that one would work out fairly well without being an annoyance. Not too sure about the boulders it hurls at you, but if you can regain speed easily enough, (Very dependant on a good engine for this one!) it wouldn't slow the fight by much; gotta throw some challenge in there!

Yup, I was inspired by some Zelda bosses. But you could tell already, right? ^^;
Glad you like the concept.
Yeah, I can see your doubts about the boulders.
But since you lack a projectile-item with enough range at this point (unless you got one of the hidden, optional ones), I figured using stuff against the boss would work as a fine substitude.

And holy crap, the Vampire Queen sounds heavily inspired/influenced by the Ikana King boss, which is also in Majora's Mask, mixed in with the Grim Reaper-looking mini-boss later on in Stone Tower. xD However, the fact that the curtains move up and down (Which doesn't happen in the King's chamber. Once the curtains are burned up by your fire arrows, they stay gone!) does change the pace, and the player's approach to the fight, by a lot. I can imagine it'd be interesting to see in action, and the integration of story-driven elements (Making it a boss fight that you can't just move or copy/paste around into any situation you want in the scenario later on.) only adds to its merits. I'm imagining some pretty smooth animations for the boss and her servants right now, maybe some dark, catchy atmospheric music, and it starts sounding even better by the second. ^^

Once again, you got my inspiration right.
But one thing to note: The curtains are not opening and closing all by themselves. You have to hit the switches to open them.

I see you got the same idea for the atmosphere as me.

Heh, Tinkergeist is reminding me of a boss from Paper Mario, but the addition of projectile attacks and ghosts keeps it from being an obvious clone. Should be fun to beat up if its facial expressions are comical to match the boss's obvious lack of any real fighting prowess. xD

I dunno which boss you mean. Then again, I only played the first Paper Mario game. ^^;
Anyways. Good ideas on your own as well.

Er, I must have missed any previous mention of Yuriko boss fights, so I'll have to get back to you on that one after I glass over the previous two!

You do that.

The Gutsy battle doesn't sound half bad. There are lot of bosses that need proper timing to strike with an opening, (Like King Hippo, or better yet Bald Bull, in Punch-Out.) so that can't be seen as cheap unless it's poorly executed with a painfully-short time-window in the boss's logic scripts; it can also be bad if the opening lasts too long. Could be more engaging and fun than the fight with Risky in the first Shantae game, if handled properly!

Nothing much to say here. Good thinking.

Jellimos reminds of a certain boss in Metroid Fusion, (I don't think it had a name, it was the one that held Samus's gravity suit upgrade.) although your design makes good use of water and electricity elements instead of occasional super gravity. Execution is a huge problem here because of the way that boss I mentioned moved around; the bloody thing can't just float to anywhere it wants without cheaply eating away at the player's health. Fortunately, that freak moved about in an elliptical orbit around Samus, but it wasn't exactly obvious enough and gets a lot of newbie players killed. It might help if there was a way to make the movement patterns slightly more predictable, while still not directly obvious.

Eh, I wasn't thinking about any particular boss here. o_O
Okay, maybe about the Dribble Fountain Boss of the original Shantae-game and adjusting it a little.
Still, it'd be smaller.
Just thought I'd point that out.

I might take my own note above with a grain of salt, though, because 2D games are given a little room to troll players. Some devs just do so more or less in their own level/boss designs, and unfortunately a lot of platformers are too easy from not adding enough "WTF?!" moments in their games.

Uh, okay...

Armosnapper makes me think of the spider mutant from Metroid Fusion also. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I wanted to blast that thing with a shoop satellite and three nukes! ;_; Your's sounds way more engaging with the active use of water and switches, however, just make sure the Boss doesn't drain too much health each time he catchs players in a bind, Fusion was so cruel when it came to soaking up your energy tanks. D: At least in Shantae you have lives, and it respawns you in boss fights instead of starting over, so I can't see it being as painful to tackle, whereas in Fusion it would return you to a save station whole sections away from the boss itself; quite annoying.



Sorry, but that's how badly I hated that boss in Fusion. xD Once again, given Shantae's use of lives, pulling much of the same cruelty here won't be as severly punishing. You can get away with soaking that much damage without making anyone rage quit. (Unless they were walking into the battle with zero spares, then they're royally screwed. xD)

Uhm, with Armosnapper, I was more thinking about Gyorg from Majoras Mask. ^^;
But okay...



And while we're at it, MOAR schtuff!

Tinkercopter
A boss that Shantae encounters on her way to the seventh (and probably final) dungeon, shortly after she learned the Harpy-Dance.
Risky rebuilt her machine once more. And this time it is capable of flight.
Thus a crazy air battle ensues...

Battle
Before I get to the actual battle, let me just give you two quick notes about the Harpy-Transformation.
- You have limited Stamina, that you use up each time you swing your wings. Use it all up and you can no longer fly.
- You can pick up objects and then carry them around while flying. As well as dropping them.

This battle takes place high up in the air of the Wind Valley. Make sure you watch the wind currents, since they influence your flying.
Use them wisely to use up as little stamina as possible.
There are also small floating islands that you can land on. Rest on them, if you really need to recover stamina fast and without risks.
(You can also recover stamina in mid-air by not swinging your wings. But it doesn't recover as fast.)
Cuz if you fall out of the screen, you will be punished with a health-loss and then you reappear on one of the floating islands.

Now with that covered, let us finally proceed to the boss.
As usual, it will fire cannonballs and TNT-Barrels at you. And the TNT-"Missiles" also return as attack.
It does lack the physical attacks of the previous forms.
But for that, the Tinkerbats come with a variety of moves. Of course, they will still try to jump into the fight themselves.
But when they are on the deck of the Tinkercopter, they can also do a variety of things.
For instance, the flame-stick throwing Tinkerbats are here now and will try to bring you down, by throwing those sticks of theirs.
Be careful when you get near. Especially when lining up for a good drop.
The other Tinkerbat-variations (meaning other than the regular Tinkerbats) might also show up and try to make your life harder.
Later they will also bring catapults to launch TNT-Barrels at you, when you get close.

They key to victory, is the ability to pick up objects as Harpy.
At first, you will need to avoid the attacks of the Tinkercopter, while flying around, trying to keep the stamina-use as low as possible.
Eventually, one of the TNT-Barrels will land safely on one of the islands, without exploding.
Now this is your chance! Pick it up and fly close and above the Tinkercopter. Avoid the attacks while aiming for the deck and then drop the barrel.
If you hit the deck, the TNT-Barrel should explode and do its damage.

And that is all you need to do. But still, the attacks and the Tinkerbats can be a pain. Especially with what they use at the later stages of the battles, once the boss has taken some damage.
Be careful and keep dropping TNT-Barrels on it and eventually you should bring it out of the sky.

The Tinkercopter will plummet into the deep, along with Risky and her Tinkerbats, allowing Shantae to move on.
But knowing Risky, she will be back eventually... :/


Fighting Twins
The Mini-Boss(es) of the seventh dungeon.
Twins that are very skilled martial artists, dressed like Kickboxers or Thai-Boxers.
Very strong, fast and sporty, they are tough foes.

Battle
Without a doubt the hardest Mini-Boss(es) in the game. And maybe even harder than the actual boss of the dungeon?

They are fast and hit hard. And most importantly, they almost NEVER stop moving.
In fact, they spend most of the time jumping around, very often using flip-jumps, backflips and jump-backflips.
They can and will dodge your attacks or block them.

Their attacks are nasty. Ranging from Punch-Combos, kicks and uppercuts, to anti-air attacks like somersault-kicks or rising uppercuts.
They will also use the "Tiger Knee" attack as well as spinning kicks in mid-air, if you get too close.
And lastly, they can also grab and throw Shantae, if she stays too close to them for too long.

The twins are really hard to defeat. The fact they are fast, constantly moving around and hit fast and hard makes this battle a real pain in the rear end.
Your items won't be able to help you here. Since they are clever and know how to deal with each individual item properly.
So you will be stuck with your Hair Whip and Special Attacks.
But your Hair Whip also can't be able to do much against them. In fact, it is the least useful of the melee-attacks.
Your Martial Arts attacks in the other hand should help a lot against the twins.
Especially the "Somersault Kick" special attack of yours should work real wonders here. Because of their constant jumping.
And all the other attacks that you learned should prove to be quite useful as well. And you should know how all of them work at this point.
Just watch their movements and if you think they are open to one special attack then, ATTACK WITH IT!
But be careful. If you get reckless or don't know what to you, they will punish you hard for this.

And after showing off her own martial arts skills, Shantae should emerge victorious in this 1 vs 2 battle.
As a reward, the twins will give Shantae the "Power Charms". Which allows her to lift even the most heavy objects.
Great!


Aerogon
The Boss of the seventh dungoen.
A dragon with powerful wind-based attacks.

Battle
This dragon is a master of the winds. It will attack with wind-attacks of various forms.
It can swing its wings to generate wind-projectiles that will immediately go their way.
But it can also generate small tornado's, that will briefly imprison Shantae and then do their damage.
Also, it will use the wind to pull objects out of nowhere and send them against her.
It can also swing both of its wings to generate a powerful wind that can push Shantae away, while firing some small wind-projectiles at the same time.
And lastly, it also has some physical attacks.
Namely a "bite" and a "tail-thrust" attack. Especially the latter can be annoying, as it can and will "tail-pogo" around (Ridley-style).

In the first phase, it is protected by a thick armor. To get it off, you first have to keep avoiding its attacks.
Eventually it will use the attack that sends objects flying at you.
The objects of interest are those giant boulders, that will (most likely) end up lying on the battefield, after bouncing around a little.
With the "Power Charms" Shantae can lift them up as if they are nothing. Throw them at the monster to damage it.
Keep it up and you should eventually break the armor.
But it's not over yet...

The dragon will then form a big tornado and fly up high into the sky.
Use the Harpy-dance to transform into a harpy. Fly into the tornado and let it shoot you skyward.
Now it's time to duke it out in the air, in the middle of a tornado.

In this phase, it will use variations of it's wind-based attacks of the first phase.
As well as it's Tail Pogo attack.

Just like in the battle against the Tinkercopter, you have to watch the wind currents to keep the stamina-use at a minimum.
There are small, floating islands in this battle as well. Where you can land on to rest and recover stamina, whenever the need arises.
But this time, they are moving around.

Keep avoiding its attacks and wait for it to use its Tail Pogo attack. After repeatedly thrusting the tail downward, it will tire out for a moment.
The tail-tip with then start glowing, indicating that you can interact with it.
Fly over to it, while the dragon is resting and GRAB it. And then while holding it, press Down repeatedly to pull on it.
Once you pulled on it enough, Shantae will automatically let go of it and send it flying right into the dragon's face..
Repeat it and you will eventually stun the dragon, revealing the weak point on its chest.
Fly over to it and Shantae will automatically retransform and cling onto it.
Now mash the attack-button and give it a good whipping.
Eventually the dragon will end up falling onto the ground, with Shantae safely landing beside it (like a BOSS!).

From here it will briefly battle like in the first phase, without the object-calling attack.
Avoid it's attacks, until it summons the giant tornado again to shoot itself into the sky.
Then transform again, rinse and repeat. And the dragon should fall eventually.

Watch it plummet down and eventually disintegrating.
And then finally you will get your reward. The Wind Gem! Finally you got all the gems.
... unfortunately, your possession of it will be short-lived...


And that is all.

Now the only boss concept I have left for this game idea of mine, as some optional Mini-Bosses and the Final Bosses.
Though I probably won't post the latter ones. And I am not sure about the optional Mini-Bosses either. ^^;