Late Game Repeat Boss Rushes

[excelsior]

I've hit upon three of these very recently and so thought we could compile any games that feature these as a thread. I'm looking for games where we see a repeat of previously defeated bosses as a late game boss rush and not ones with not previously seen encounters. Also, if you have any thoughts on the particular execution or the practice in general. It should go without saying, but this thread will include spoilers.

The three I played through recently are as follows:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III Raidcal Rescue
This one feels very much out of place. You don't really power up in this game besides unlocking further characters and so beating them in a row adds a frustrating level of challenge in order to extend the end game. I feel like it tarnishes an otherwise great game.

Psycho Chaser
A last stage boss rush in this ground-based shmup, but here it kind of works since bosses are brief and there's little filler in between. 

Elemental Master
Another very similar shmup to the one above, again featuring a last stage boss rush. This one really feels long and unnecessary.

[ommadawnyawn2]

I think this happens in most or all Mega Man and Fantasy Zone games.

I wanna say some FF games do it but I forget the details and couldn't find them with google atm

Some more:
TMNT: Hyperstone Heist does it in the level before the last one
GG Shinobi 1-2
Alcahest
Gaiares
Mad Stalker
Strider NES (partial)
Son Son II
Threads of Fate (partial)
Genji Tsuushin Agedama
Gun*Nac (partial)
King of Demons / Majuu Ou
Blaster Master: Blasting Again
Magical Chase
Pepenga Pengo (partial)
JJ Squawkers
Two Crude Dudes
Wonder Boy in Monster World/Monster World III
The Battle of Olympus - can skip all but one here though
Super Genjin 2
Rendering Ranger R2
Illusion of Gaia/Time
Ganpuru: Gunman's Proof/Gunple (partial)
Shinrei Jusatsushi Taromaru
Shin Maou Golvellius - easy since you're healed between each
Holy Umbrella: Dondera no Mubo!
Shatterhand / Solbrain (partial)
Phantom 2040 (partial)
Blazing Lazers (first one is repeated before the actual boss rush)
Seiken Densetsu 3 (partial)

Boss rush with different bosses:
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood - mostly reimagined bosses from the first three games
Gradius II - re-uses some G1 and Life Force bosses
Sorcer Striker/Mahou Daisakusen

I usually don't like these but partial ones can be tolerable, and the second category is fine

[🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀]

For some reason I can't really think of many despite the fact that I feel I've played plenty of games with this. Mega Man is an obvious one. Gradius tends to do this, but they usually have new bosses and/or bosses from previous games, so it's a bit different. You had to re-fight all the gym leaders in Scarlet/Violet but I forgot if that was post-game or before the Elite 4. Didn't Smash Ultimate have something like this in World of Light? Kirby games usually have some sort of arena mode, but that doesn't quite tick the boxes either. Though, come to think of it, there were some unique refights of Forgotten Land's bosses, but I forgot if that was just regular post-game or arena stuff.

[chronotigger65]

Startropics 2 has a boss rush before the final boss. It has most bosses in the except for three for some reason.

[excelsior]

I always really like the boss rushes in Gradius games. Bringing back bosses from past games is a nice way to ensure that content isn't repeated whilst offering the challenge of a boss rush.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land has a rush of original bosses for the last stage, repeated before the initial ending and again for the true ending, so it kind of counts, though they do have some different patterns. The arena mode does have a few unique fights. I tend to think putting boss rushes aside this way as an optional challenge makes more sense most of the time.

A couple more that came to mind for now:

Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - Gannon's Tower
Super Mario Odyssey - The Dark Side of the Moon

[spanky]

Like 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 said, boss rushes are something you see all the time but I struggle to think of a ton of examples.

The original Kirby's Dream Land's final level is almost entirely a boss rush with some very short platforming levels mixed in. The Radical Rescue one that excelsior mentioned is one of the most frustrating ones I've played in recent memory as the bosses are all pretty difficult and the large sprites + small playing area means you'll be eating tons of hits.

I'm sort of mixed on boss rushes as a whole. In a game where you can upgrade your abilities or stats permanently they can be quite satisfying as they can be a way of showing you how far you've come. Being able to easily dispatch a boss that gave you a ton of trouble earlier than the game can be pretty fun!

I'm less enthused about it in arcade style action games and they often feed like padding to me.

[vnisanian2001]

I've always been a believer in ambience music in video games. I like Arcade Gradius 3's boss rush better than SNES'.

Take Care (from Gradius 2) played all through it makes it even more intense. The SNES version just gives each boss its own theme.

[Snake]

Final Fantasy 1
Street Fighter 2010 (partial)
The Guardian Legend/Guardic Densetsu

Final Fantasy 4

X-Men (arcade)

Bonk's Adventure

[spanky]

Oh in Chrono Trigger, if you fight Lavos on foot either in 1999 or through the Black Omen then he goes through several phases where he mimics several previous bosses, right down to the stats. By this point you can nuke most of them in one or two turns.

You can also completely skip this by using the Epoch to challenge Lavos.

[ommadawnyawn2]

In that sense, Link's Awakening's final boss is also a boss rush which references some bosses from Zelda 3.

[lurker]

X-Men: The Arcade Game
Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder

[dr_st]

Prince of Persia (SNES) has a boss-rush in the penultimate level (19) featuring all the intermediate bosses encountered previously, before the final boss fight in level 20.

Rayman Redemption (best fangame of all times?) has Boss Rush (previously encountered bosses) and True Boss Rush (modified and beefed-up bosses) bonus levels. They are not mandatory to defeat "story mode" and require all collectibles of a certain category to unlock.

[ruysan]

There's one level in mega turrican/turrican 3 (the scrapyard) where you fight bosses from previous games in the series. It's great.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (GG) and Tempo Jr. also have partial ones towards the end.

[Mr. Saturn]

House of the Dead 2 does this as well, at least partially.