15 Most Influential Video Game Boss Battles Of All Time

4. Ganondorf - The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

What It Did First: Stages to a battle, and learning to apply past moves/rules to win.

As Nintendo are keen to remind us all by remastering the franchise, The Legend of Zelda might just supercede Mario as their true magnum opus. Ocarina especially withholds one of the most iconic narratives in all of gaming, one spread over multiple timelines that - for anyone growing up in the 90s - gave them memories for life.

As for battling the evil Ganondorf, he was one of the first and most prolific bosses to provide stages to his conflict. Many know of his 'beast form' that you'd eventually tackle if you could thwart his initial appearance, but even doing that required knowledge on how to deflect energy blasts and riposte with specific arrows, before diving in for the kill.

Arkham City might have taken this one step forward by insisting you know your character's entire repertoire, but it was Ocarina that gave us stages, multiple forms and specific attack patterns to contend with at once.