10 Video Game Boss Battles That Left Us Disappointed

9. Shao Khan €“ Mortal Kombat 9

Down left square. Down left square. Down left square. Repeat, repeat, repeat. For a game that went to great lengths to reinvent and reinvigorate the beat 'em-up genre by providing a surprisingly compelling campaign and storyline, Mortal Kombat really dropped the ball in the final showdown betwee Lui Kang and Shao Khan. Always overpowered and tough as nails, Shao Khan has been a staple of teeth-clashing, controlling-throwing fury for twenty years now, but for a game as well balanced as MK9, this steady difficulty curve amps up from challenging to outright ludicrous. Hence, down left square. So what started as an engaging storyline with a fighting game that forced you to rely on skill, timing and technique but then turned into the senseless button-mashing frenzy of Soul Calibur, I gave up. I lost interest in posing an actual honest, fair fight against Shao Khan, but he sure as hell wasn't going to give one to me. So? Down left square. Lower fireball. In the gonads. Take that Khan you overpowered skull-wearing, thong-sporting fascist.
Contributor

When not writing Chris spends more time thinking about playing videogames than actually playing them and can usually be found reorganizing his Blu Ray and book collections. He owns four different editions of A Song of Ice and Fire and no, it isn't overkill. He's left the neon haze of Tokyo and Seoul for the more sedate streets of Bournemouth.