A good boss battle can be one of the most immersive video game experiences, testing the player's skill and bringing a climax to any level. Defeating an appropriately difficult boss brings with it a feeling of elation at one's own skill, as well as a nice sense of closure.
On the other hand, if a boss is too easy, it can often bring the player down. They've traversed mountains, fought hordes of enemies, and crossed continents, just to beat a supposed boss in a few hits. It's frustrating because there's no sense of accomplishment or closure when the enemy can barely fight back. Whether due to bad balancing or just as a joke, these bosses make gamers cringe whenever they pop up.
10 Drill Robotnik (Sonic The Hedgehog 2)
As Sonic completes each world in a mainline Sonic game he's thrown into battle with Dr. Robotnik (aka Eggman) piloting one of his machines. In order to beat the area he has to jump on the cockpit a number of times as the good doctor attempts to beat the blue hedgehog down. In most cases this provides some sort of challenge, but the first boss of Sonic 2 is a breeze.
All Drill Robotnik does is drive a vehicle back and forth trying to hit Sonic, which might be effective if it wasn't so easy to jump over or attack. A generically easy boss battle, this form of Sonic's nemesis is dripping with lazy game design.
9 Dracula (Castlevania 2)
Both the first and third games in the Castlevania franchise are classic NES titles, but Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest is infamous for being frustrating and poorly executed. No better example exists than the game's final boss, Dracula.
Not only does the creature look more like a discount grim reaper than a vampire, but it's dispatched far too easily. If the player simply walks up and tosses holy water non-stop, the boss will die in seconds. Compared to the challenging and rewarding final bosses of the other two NES Castlevania entries, this sad excuse for Dracula helps cement Simon's Quest as a truly mediocre game.
8 Pinwheel (Dark Souls)
At the point in the game where the Chosen Undead fights Pinwheel, a large portion of the game is already behind them. Weapon and armor upgrades have come and gone, and the player has mastered the game to some degree. It would only make sense that any boss from this point forward would pose a significant threat to the player, and take a few attempts at least to defeat. Pinwheel does none of these things.
He doesn't do much damage, his clones come out too slowly, and the strange floating creature dies in just a few swipes of the sword. The easiest boss in the entire series, players still struggle to comprehend why developer From Software made Pinwheel so unfortunately weak.
7 Lucien Fairfax (Fable II)
After all of the build-up of the main story, the protagonist comes face to face with the man who killed their family: Lucien Fairfax. The ritual Lucien attempted to put into action has been stopped, and the the villain attempts to reason with the hero in a long-winded speech. It's expected that he'll pull out some trump card and a boss fight will begin, but instead Lucien is shot midway through his speech.
If the player is waiting for the speech to end, not knowing they can pull the trigger, their companion will do it themselves. Not getting a true final boss battle is bad enough, but having a silly ending where the main character doesn't even finish the job is even worse. Lucien Fairfax is truly one of the most pathetic bosses of all time.
6 Dr. Neo Cortex (Crash Bandicoot 2)
The final boss of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is once again the mad scientist and antagonist, Neo Cortex, but unlike the previous series entry, this Cortex is an insultingly easy affair— especially disappointing since the game's title suggests that this is where the villain really comes out swinging.
His entire stage consists of Crash slowly chasing after Cortex through an easy to navigate space obstacle course, and smacking him three times. After that's done— the game ends much to the confusion of players who expected some sort of appropriate climax. This sad excuse for a boss can barely even be called an enemy, as all the doctor does is attempt to flee.
5 Gandohar (Two Worlds)
While the true boss fight against Two Worlds' Gandohar during the endgame isn't so simple, the last boss to the Oblivion competitor can actually be defeated right after the prologue. Gandohar appears right outside the first village to give the player the main quest, but he can be aggro'd by attacking him and led into the village.
After he attacks the player, the splash damage will cause every NPC in the town to gang up on the antagonist, with this aggression not ceasing after the player respawns. After about half a minute, Gandohar will fall at the hands of the villagers, and the game will end. The current world record for Two Worlds sits at just under two minutes.
4 Colonel Autumn (Fallout 3)
Final bosses in Fallout games are fantastic because of how much the player gets to see their influence throughout the course of any given playthrough. These final barriers are usually the heads of an important faction that the player has dealt with in one manner or another as they traveled the nuclear wasteland, so their presence can be felt in every major area of the game.
Colonel Autumn in Fallout 3 is no exception, but when he is eventually fought, he doesn't bring appropriate weapons or armor to fight the Lone Wanderer. With one or two well placed shots to the unarmored leader, the final boss of Fallout 3 will go down with barely a whimper. Autumn's guards pose more of a threat than he does, which is just sad.
3 Golem Overlord (Chrono Trigger)
While the Overlord's overworld sprite emanates an aura of strength, the actual boss fight from the legendary RPG Chrono Trigger is basically a punching bag simulator.
Fought atop the Blackbird, Golem Overlord's countdown to his massive attack is forgotten due to the creature's fear of heights. After he fails to attack the player, the boss will escape if he isn't defeated first. While beating him rewards the player with some nice experience points and tech points, the fact is that this giant monster is completely optional thanks to a very human phobia.
2 Bob The Killer Goldfish (Earthworm Jim 2)
In the first Earthworm Jim game, Bob the Killer goldfish was a simple joke boss. Walking up to the crazed fish and smacking his bowl once will leave the mastermind flopping on the ground for an instant, one-hit win. So when Bob appears again in the second game, unveiled by removing layers of armor, players are expecting something different.
They got their wish. While Jim doesn't smack the fishbowl, he does reach in, pluck out the helpless goldfish, and gulp him down. Yes, Earthworm Jim eats the boss. Funny, sure, but it still proves how pathetic Bob truly is.
1 Cloud N' Candy (Yoshi's Story)
Arguably the easiest boss in video game history that takes more than one hit to take down, Cloud N' Candy is an absolute joke. He's the first boss in Yoshi's Story for the Nintendo 64, which makes the low difficulty understandable, but Cloud N' Candy can barely damage Yoshi at all.
His forward jumps only push the dinosaur back a bit, and after dealing damage he stops moving for a bit, making it nearly impossible to lose. On top of all of that he can be dispatched in seconds with a few quick licks from Mario's companion, even healing Yoshi as he's being slurped away.
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