When you think Disney, your first thought is probably the family-friendly media giant. You think about fun times at Disney World or Disneyland, and exciting movies and TV shows you can watch with fans of all ages. Outside of prices, the company generally tries to make everyone happy. That’s kind of the gimmick. However, when it comes to video games, Disney sometimes goes in a different direction, providing players with some of the toughest boss fights they can find.
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Here are the five hardest boss fights in Disney history.
5) Emperor Zurg – Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command is a mediocre platform shooter from developer Traveller’s Tales. You likely know them from the Lego franchise, but this Dreamcast and PlayStation game came out just before they struck gold with that series. It’s based on the animated spin-off from Toy Story, which means it was a bit of a niche project heading in.
For the most part, it’s a standard platform shooter of the era. That means you can find some fun, but the haphazard camera will likely ruin it for most. Once you get to the final boss fight, things become even more difficult. This two-stage fight begins with you fighting off dozens of Zurg’s minions. Once he joins the fray, you’ll need to somehow track him around the arena while dodging blaster shots and the lightning that moves around the battlefield.
4) Pete – Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mania is a solid platformer that served as an excellent introduction to the genre for younger fans. Mickey controls like a dream, and the visuals are top-notch on most platforms. However, it does ramp up in difficulty as you get into the later stages. That culminates with the showdown against Pete.
This two-phase fight starts with Pete jumping around the incredibly tiny arena. You have to dodge his jumps, as well as the caltrops that fall from the ceiling and Pete’s dagger that he throws intermittently. All the while, you need to bait Pete into jumping on top of movable spikes to deal any damage. Once you’ve finished that, you then need to use Pete’s daggers as a platform to hit him with a wrecking ball. It’s a delicate dance that can feel more like a bullet hell game than a platformer.
3) Scar – The Lion King
In general, The Lion King is a brutally hard platformer. That’s by design, too. Disney didn’t want players to be able to beat it on a rental, so they tuned up the difficulty, hoping players would instead buy The Lion King. While the entire game requires pinpoint precision on your jumps, the final battle is a different animal.
This isn’t just a one-on-one fight with your uncle. Simba does have to slap Scar around quite a bit, but you also have to ascend the dangerous Pride Rock level while you do it. That means fighting off Scar’s hyena minions and completing some of the trickiest jumps in the entire game. It’s a maze of a level, too. When you finally reach the peak and toss Scar off, you’ll breathe a massive sigh of relief after all that work.
2) Ursula – Kingdom Hearts
I could’ve included a few Kingdom Hearts bosses in this list, but I decided to stick with just one. Some will point to characters like Hook or Clayton as the hardest Disney bosses in the sprawling, fan-favorite series, but I’m going to go with Ursula. She has a few boss fights across the series, but her appearance in the first game is certainly the most difficult.
If you don’t know what you’re doing, the fight against Ursula can feel impossible. During the first encounter, her attacks are incredibly unpredictable, so you have to focus on hitting her cauldron, which will eventually explode and stun her. Once you’ve solved that puzzle, you’ll get to her second stage. Only her head is vulnerable during this stage, and you’ll need to spam it with a ton of attacks to whittle down her three health bars.
1) Jafar – Aladdin
This entry can be a little confusing because there are two versions of Disney’s Aladdin, each with its own Jafar boss fight. Virgin Games handled the Sega Genesis version, while Capcom developed and published a separate game with the same title for the Super Nintendo. Both games are side-scrolling platformers, but feature significant differences in storyline and gameplay. That said, both of the Jafar fights are tough to crack.
The SNES fight requires players to carefully jump on Jafar’s eggs after he turns into a giant snake. As you work your way across the eggs, you’ll have a chance to jump on his head to deal damage. This is a tricky platforming fight that requires mastery over the controls. On the Genesis version, you’ll have to perfectly time your jumps to avoid Jafar’s fiery attacks. Finding the time and space to lob attacks of your own isn’t easy. Regardless of the version, Jafar will test even the best platformer players.
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