LogFAQs > #949078078

I was listening to the final boss theme for Yoshi's Island (16-bit metal FTW) and I realized why its fight against a colossal beast works while most others don't. In most games where you fight something significantly bigger than you, it's already standing next to you, so you just have to deal with a bunch of slow, blatantly telegraphed attacks. But in YI, the boss starts off far away from you and you have to take it down before it reaches you. Having to do that is way more exciting and tense, especially if it's the only time in the game you have to fight at that distance.

From there, it's just a matter of making a good atmosphere to nail that "don't let this thing reach you" implication, which YI does fantastically. The abrupt shift from kiddie music to a metal song with a slow intro, Bowser slowly rising up while backlit by the moon so he's mostly in shadow, you having to throw eggs into the background for the first time, and Bowser coming toward you with big booming footsteps, with moments where he starts running, forcing you to quickly try and throw an egg at the right trajectory.

I've seen that Nintendo tried reusing the "big Baby Bowser" idea in a couple other Yoshi games, and they did the tired old "giant boss already there" shtick.

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Number of fellow Poets of the Fall fans: 27
Want: Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe, Psychonauts 2, No More Heroes 3, Bully 2, Atomic Heart