Much like its titular character, the Batman: Arkham saga quickly became a symbol. Before it, superhero games rarely managed to make a big impression on fans or be contenders for Game of the Year. However, that all changed when we stepped into the Caped Crusader's shoes and battled our way through countless horrors in Gotham City.
Rocksteady's acclaimed trilogy set a new height for superhero video games, and even to this date, very few have managed to top it. With time, other developers published their own titles set in the beloved franchise, and many received positive critical acclaim. But while there are many things to praise about the saga as a whole, boss fights are rarely one of them.
Granted, there are some amazing exceptions to the rule, like that amazing Mr. Freeze battle in Arkham City or Deathstroke in Arkham: Origins. But for the most part, what were supposed to be some of the most memorable sections across the games turned out to be the most forgettable moments. So, it is time to rank the five worst boss fights in the Arkham franchise as a whole and explain what made them so underwhelming.
5. Firefly
Game: Batman: Arkham Knight
If I had a coin for every time Batman: Arkham Knight featured a boss fight against an enemy that was already featured in Arkham Origins, but the encounter was significantly worse, then I'd have two coins, which isn't a lot but... well, you know.
If you've played through the majority of the Batman: Arkham titles, you'll start to see a recurring problem with the majority of their boss fights: they aren't that different from any regular encounter against a normal, nameless henchmen. Granted, the bosses can be a little bit stronger and have a bit more health, but that's it.
Sometimes, presentation alone is enough for gamers to forgive this flaw. After all, the Mad Hatter boss fight in Batman: Arkham City and the Professor Pyg battle in Arkham: Knight consisted of little more than clearing a room full of henchmen, but at least the atmosphere and level structure were unique. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same about the Firefly boss, which was simply a regular Batmobile chase.
There wasn't a special arena nor a special gameplay mechanic tied to this battle (but hey, at least the music was cool). What makes matters worse is the fact that you have to fight Firefly three times, with little to no difference between encounters. By that point, you'd probably hate how much the game forces you to use the Batmobile anyway, which makes the boss all the more tedious. But the cherry on top? Arkham Origins handled the very same fight much better and two years earlier. There's no denying it, this boss was simply disappointing.
4. Two-Face
Games: Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Knight
The Batman: Arkham franchise is filled with boss fights that aren't really boss fights. There's that time you "fight" Deadshot in Arkham City, but the whole sequence is just getting close to him unnoticed and taking him out in a single move. And who can forget when you're about to battle Electrocutioner in Batman: Arkham Origins, and you defeat him with a single hit before he even gets the chance to strike. Worst of all is when Arkham City sets up Hush as a major antagonist moving forward, and he's defeated during a cutscene in Arkham Knight.
The examples we mentioned above weren't included in this list because they technically aren't boss fights at all. However, you only get so many passes, Rocksteady. So, let's talk about yet another encounter that shouldn't really be categorized as a boss fight... but the Arkham Saga insists it is.
Two-Face is one of the most iconic Batman villains ever created, perhaps only second to the Joker within the antagonists featured on this list. That's why it was such a disappointment to learn that his "boss fight" consists of simply staying out of sight, getting close to him unnoticed by the nameless henchmen in the room, hitting him, and repeating the process again. There's no challenge or learning curve. There are no special mechanics or any sense of urgency.
To make matters worse, you fight against Two-Face in two different games, and both encounters play basically the same. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League aside, you wouldn't think of Rocksteady as a developer that would settle for mediocrity. Unfortunately, these two bosses would make you think otherwise.
What makes this fight so frustrating is that Rocksteady already executed the "hide-and-seek" boss fight formula to perfection with Mr. Freeze. All that's needed is for the developer to craft a special fighting arena tailored to the villain in question and give players unique ways to take them down. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case here, and now we are talking about how Two-Face is one of the worst bosses in the saga as a whole.
3. The Joker
Game: Batman: Arkham Asylum
Listen, I have to give props to Rocksteady for at least trying to do something unique and different for this boss fight. That's more than can be said for some of the other entries in this list. But just because there was an effort doesn't mean it translated into something... you know, great.
Bosses featuring a giant creature as the antagonist are pretty underwhelming more often than not, regardless of the video game they take place in. That's because, most of the time, the boss itself will simply stay in the background, saying menacing lines while they send hordes of regular-sized henchmen to fight the player. Well, that's exactly what happens here.
Bosses of this kind can sometimes make for memorable experiences (like when you fight a giant-sized, five-headed Venom on top of a flying Helicarrier in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows). However, there are some key problems here.
For starters, the Joker isn't that large a creature. He looks like any other Titan we've fought up until that point in the game. Furthermore, the fighting arena isn't particularly memorable or unique (and definitely not as cool as a flying ship suspended in mid-air with an entire city as the backdrop). Besides, if the Joker wasn't going to directly fight Batman, why would he inject himself with the Titan venom in the first place? If anything, it only looks weird seeing such a muscular creature with the Joker's high-pitched voice.
Batman: Arkham Asylum was a fantastic title that completely redefined the genre, which makes it all the more disappointing that its final boss didn't hold up to the rest of the game.
2. Arkham Knight/Jason Todd
Game: Batman: Arkham Knight
Let's start by clarifying the obvious: Batman: Arkham Knight is named that way because it featured an antagonist called Arkham Knight, who has a very significant role. Batman meets this mysterious figure multiple times in the game, and each encounter builds up towards their eventual confrontation. For a moment, it seems the Arkham Knight boss battle would be one for the ages and then... you play through the sequence.
There's a YouTube comment in the Arkham Knight boss fight video above that better describes this encounter: "Boss fight, aka an intense game of hide and go seek". This is a perfect description of how the battle plays out because you just have to hide, get close to the Arkham Knight unnoticed, and press a single button to perform a takedown once you're close enough. Repeat the process three times, and that's the "boss fight" for you. There was no hand-to-hand combat nor unique gameplay abilities.
To make matters worse, players find out the Arkham Knight's true identity before fighting him, and... well, let's just say that prior to the game's release, fans outright discarded Jason Todd as a possible candidate just because of how obvious an option he was. So not only was it disappointing to figure out that Jason was, indeed, the Arkham Knight, but the boss that played out moments later was underwhelming as well. Combine all these aspects together, and it's easy to see why this is one of the saga's worst moments as a whole.
1. Deathstroke
Game: Batman: Arkham Knight
The Deathstroke boss fight in Batman: Arkham Origins wasn't only one of the biggest highlights of the game, but also one of the most memorable sequences in the franchise as a whole. If developer WB Games Montréal could craft something so special while being pressured to release their game as fast as possible, surely Rocksteady could do something even better with Deathstroke... right?
I cannot overstate enough how disappointing it was for Batman fans worldwide to discover that the Deathstroke boss fight in Batman: Arkham Knight was relegated to a simple Batmobile battle. That's right, one of DC's greatest assassins, heavily renowned for his hand-to-hand combat skills, decided to use a tank to fight the Dark Knight. It doesn't even make sense character-wise.
When Deathstroke finally jumps out of the tank, the game makes you think that the true boss fight is about to begin. However, Batman simply knocks the villain out with one punch to the face, and that's it. On a personal level, I would've preferred for Deathstroke not to make an appearance in Batman: Arkham Knight than to have him be a heavily disappointing and underwhelming tank boss.
Rumor has it that Rocksteady is working on a single-player Batman game for the new generation of consoles. If true, maybe the developer could look to rectify one of its biggest mistakes by featuring yet another Deathstroke boss, but making it a hand-to-hand battle this time around. But, for the time being, this is by far the worst fight in the saga as a whole.