Top 25 Nes Games with Underrated Boss Themes, Part 3

Back in November and December (of last year 2022) we continued talking about some very underappreciated boss songs from the NES library, with the first and second parts of a list of 25 games. Today, we are finally finishing the subject of our musical conjecture with part 3 of the Top 25, the grand finale. I present you now song # 5 to # 1 on the list, plus some complementary Honorable Mentions, just before the final one on the list!

Reminder -
* Picks based on:
- Uniqueness of Melodies and Key Usage
- Richness of Sound/Tone
- Lenght of Music Loop
- Tempo/Time Signature Changes
- Sheer Variety (Multiple Boss Songs)

5. Little Nemo: The Dream Master

Capcom rarely missed their targets with NES titles. This might be the first boss theme I ever heard in my life (one of the very first game I rented) besides the one for Mario 3, of course. It shaped up my expectations for great boss themes, an important aspect of any game. With a mysterious prologue, it then soon goes into overdrive speed... twice! The 2 tempos are very fast, but it is as a whole very melodical and upbeat and never gets old, even after multiple repeated listen. The second part of the song has an impressive, super intense "twin guitar esque" section with the 2 leads!

4. Shadow of the Ninja

The pure definition of the word "epic", this piece is very heroic, melodic and a heartfelt hymn to our ninja protagonist! All ninja games need something to motivate you to seal evil... and this is the very precise ninpo we need! This gets stuck in your head and has a fairly long loop too, so it stays engaging, even after hearing it for an extended amount of time! An absolute stealthkill!

3. The Guardian Legend

With 3 different boss battle songs, 2 of them being very catchy, this game is an overall very high quality and polished hybrid Shmup (space shoot em up). "First lifeform" is quite anxious and a brooding song with a sense of paranoia attached to it. Second lifeform is the least good of the 3, having the shorter loop, but still very decent... it feels almost hopeless and fills the job competently. Third lifeform however is where it's at, with the bass and the main melody being in pretty much perfect harmony together. Also featuring some very strong percussion work with the noise channel. Every time a boss has this song, I can feel the rush of energy, as I try to both avoid projectiles and try to aim at the boss.

2. Gun Nac

This legendary Shmup has 2 different boss songs in this game. The first one, very classical influenced, has a low pitched "twin guitar" esque intro, which prepares us for the upcoming onslaught. It then perfectly transitions to the arpeggios; they are wild and virtually out of control, in intensity. It really took me by surprise, on the first listen. Every notes flow in a very elegant and regal way. This song is technically extremely impressive and could easily be transfered to neo-classical metal by a guitar virtuoso, with real instruments. To me, this almost sounds inspired by the likes of Yngwie Malmsteen and such. The second boss song is a bit comical in contrast, but it does bring more musical variety. I didn't have to chance to play this one yet (since it is very rare and expensive) but I'm sure there is a valid reason as to why it sounds this way. I cannot remove (hypothetical) points for that, more musical content is almost always welcome. The 1st boss theme however is phenomenal enough and by itself makes the game reaches number 2 of this list.

Honorable Mentions:

P.O.W. Prisoners of War

The "noise/percussion channel" was used in a brilliant way, it sounds like a helicopter! Unmemorable song, otherwise.

Bad Dudes

If it was not as repetitive, it could've been in the lesser tiers of the list. Not bad though, very decent, I started knowing more about this game thanks to my friend Posty.

Vice - Project Doom

This game has a WHOPPING 4 regular boss themes, but none of them are super memorable, mostly annoying and dissonant.

Panic Restaurant

Weirdly tense (especially for such a "silly" game) it is good, but a tad too short in length of loop, plus very strident main lead.

Gyruss

Extremely tense and stressful, the short musical loop stops it from reaching its full potential.

Felix the Cat

Simple song, but quite good nonetheless, it barely missed the list entry... very chill.

Werewolf The Last Warrior

This got very close to making the list, a catchy and energetic theme (for such an awful platformer)!

Rush'n Attack

Another sad case of a short loop, because wow, what is already here is extremely catchy, including an intense 2 seconds intro.

The Adventures of Bayou Billy

Very bad game, but the boss music is actually very good, we can hear some Konami goodness... this kind of sounds a bit like the Boss Battle theme from TMNT 2: The Arcade game on NES.

Little Samson

This very pricey gem has 4 different regular boss themes, but none of them are really THAT good, so it was a hard decision, but I had to cut this game. Most of them are too strident and repetitive (looking at you, Boss Theme #1) but Boss Theme #3 is the best one and almost made the game get an early spot on the list, truly!

1. Mr. Gimmick!

The crown jewel of this list, the ultimate underrated boss theme (or at the very least, from my personnal musical experience and knowledge). It hugely benefits from the Sunsoft 5B (YM2149F) audio sound chip, which enhances the sound to a phenomenal degree. Grooving SO MUCH, with tones being SO RICH, everything is bouncing and dancing, making you do the same in your chair. The bass bops and complements the main lead melody in genuine perfection. Sunsoft really outdid themselves with this one (and that's saying a lot, especially since they are notoriously well known for their sound quality AND compositional genius).

CONCLUSION:

I had a lot of fun researching and writing this Top 25 most underrated Nes boss theme list! Did you agree with me? If yes, which ones were the ones you liked the most, from the ones I stated?! Did I forget any of your personal favorite songs?! Please let me know in the comments!!

Thank you for reading, farewell!

*Uploading credits go to GBelair, NintendoCompleteVGM explod2A03 and kinbajofire thank you.*

*All songs we talked about in this article are owned by their respective copyright holders and are discussed here for educationnal purposes, counting as fair use.*