9 Video Game First Boss Battles That Totally Broke You

2. Phantom - Devil May Cry

Rarely thought of as a 'truly difficulty game' alongside the likes of Super Meat Boy, Mega Man etc. Devil May Cry's medium to high settings were real patience-testers.

Case in point, the hulking lava-spewing brute, Phantom. Dropping out the sky and challenging you to a duel, Dante starts talking smack to the creature, before it's over to you to deliver some actual justice. And that... was when things went pear-shaped.

Featuring a bevy of attacks that cut right through your own if you got too close, hanging back and firing off a few rounds from your twin-pistols was quickly scuppered by a screen-filling cannon blast - and that's without mentioning your rounds did minimal damage, as Phantom was encased in armour.

The sort of boss you'll walk straight through on the lower difficulties, crank this one back up and give it another shot - it'll be a whole other story.