The idea for today's post came to me on my way home from work this morning. They are in no particular order. Let the battles commence.

1. Still More Fighting - Final Fantasy VII (PS1)

I say we start off this list with a BANG. There was no doubt in my mind that this theme would make it onto the list. In fact, it consistently makes it onto a list like this whether or not I'm commenting on someone else's similar list in their blog or on the forums, or in course of RL conversation. It's such a great boss theme. You get emotionally involved with the battles. That's primarily because of the excellent story, which pulls you in and makes you feel for the characters. It also helps that the theme is just plain bad***.

2. Force Your Way - Final Fantasy VIII (PS1)

Bad***, a word I can use to describe most of these boss themes. But what's notable is that I can use it to describe yet another FF boss theme. I have to say...this one is even better than the FF7 one because a) it's excellent to drive to and b) the percussion is freakin' addictive to air drum along to, let alone attempt to play on a real set. This song is one of the big reasons why I decided to get the OST, sans internet download.

3. Boss Theme - Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie (SNES)

I wonder how many of you have ever heard this boss theme before now. If not, then I'm glad I got to introduce you to it. This is another excellent song to drive to and another great song to air drum. It makes the boss battles epic, feels like it works with the whole Power Ranger vibe, and best of all, is just plain awesome when it stands alone, out of context. Would you think it came from a Power Ranger game if you heard it coming out of someone's laptop/iPod?

4. Rockin' On - Mega Man ZX (DS)

For years, I'd maintained the impression that the music from Mega Man 7 and Mega Man X was epic beyond imagination, and then I heard this song, from a Mega Man game for the DS released years later after all the mediocre Battle Network games and such, and I could not believe that Capcom was still capable of creating super awesome tracks for their Blue Bomber's primary platforming series. I mean, the entire soundtrack is flawless. I didn't think that would ever happen again for a Mega Man game. This particular track is all kinds of outstanding. It's frenetic and catchy and very much deserving to be on this list, if not simply because it's been played on my iPod like 30 times.

5. Koopa - Yoshi's Island (SNES)

The entire game was stellar. You fought your way through ingenious level designs, defeated eleven creatively clever and challenging bosses, and now you're about to face Bowser Jr., phase two. I don't think anyone could have been prepared for the epicness that was to reveal itself in that final boss battle the first time around. I know that personally I was awed by it. It was the craziest boss fight I'd ever fought in a Mario game, and a few of the bosses that came before it in Yoshi's Island itself had previously taken that title. The music, quite frankly, made me freak out. I was so jumpy. I think I was shaking after the battle a little bit the first time. It was just so overwhelmingly grand, for lack of a better word.

6. Gangplank Galleon - Donkey Kong Country (SNES)

The DKC soundtrack features a lot of outstanding tracks, but none really come close to this one, the song that plays during the final battle against K. Rool aboard his pirate ship. The intro, is awesome. The bass, is awesome. The melody, is awesome. The tone of the song, is awesome. The dropping cannonballs, were really awesome. This song was a shoe-in for the list, hands down. It's impossible to not like this song.

7. The Brink of Death - Chrono Cross (PS1)

I would cl@ssify this boss theme as "subtly outstanding". It serves its purpose well, but isn't something I'd exactly call "addictive" or "epic" or "catchy". However, the sound quality and the instrumental layers make it great. The tribal chanting helps big time, as well. Ever since the game first came out, that's been my favorite part of the boss theme. I would always look forward to it while the song played during an actual boss fight...and shout along with it. My brother also.

8. Non-Impact Boss Theme - Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (N64)

I love this game. How many of you even know about this game? It's always felt like some obscure, massively unpopular game that my brother happened to pick up because he liked the box art (I don't remember renting it or getting interested in it via a spread in an issue of Nintendo Power). But we both grew to absolutely adore this little gem of a game, and its music was a huge part of the growing affection. It's catchy and fun and gets stuck in my head way more than should be considered legal. It's practically invasion of my mental control, haha. :P

9. Level 5-3 Transforming Cube Machine boss - Jumping Flash (PS1)

[FYI, you only need to watch the first three minutes of the video, as the rest of it is the level after that (I apologize for the play-by-play narrations, but I couldn't find any other video of the song).]
I have very fond memories of this game. It's the very first PS1 game I laid my eyes on. I've never officially owned it, though I currently possess my cousin's copy from 1995, the same copy that introduced me to the PS1. The game may be simple and short, but it's fun, and the music is great. Though all the boss themes are good, I feel this one's the best. It's another goodie for the road and it's especially fun to hum along to.

10. All three boss themes from Super Mario RPG (SNES): (Fight Against a Somewhat Stronger Monster, Fight Against an Armed Boss, Fight Against Smithy)

I could not pick just one here. They're all boss themes, after all. Why segregate? SMRPG was my very first RPG. As such, these songs are held dear. I can still vividly remember my frantic search for the calculator each time I entered a boss fight. You see, as I'd never experienced Hit Points before, it was very new and frightening to me. I was used to the life bars of games like MMPR The Movie or OHKO platformers like DKC. As this was my first foray into dealing with HP, I would actually keep track of the bosses' current HP with a calculator. My brother would help. One of us would be playing and shouting out loud how much damage had been dealt that turn while the other would be subtracting the damage on the calculator. This was especially helpful when the boss would begin a new phase or attack pattern after dropping below a certain amount of HP. It sounds absolutely silly and adorable to me now, but it's how I got through SMRPG. When, months later, I was introduced to my second RPG, FFVII, I had already graduated from the calculator HP-monitoring. But now you see why these particular songs from the SMRPG soundtrack possess such sentimentality. Boss battles were a fight against a calculator, a tug of war match where I always hoped the calculator would hit 0 - or some negative number (when I had no idea what a negative number was) - before my three characters did.

And that's all, folks! If you want to bring to light your own favorites, please do so. I'd love to hear about them, and hear them too (Youtube is so great for stuff like this)!