So lately I have seen a pattern in video games having poor boss design. I don't know what makes developers get it wrong whether it be time constraints are lack of funding but, it is a problem that I think can be remedied by following a few rules.

Bosses as I and Yahtzee believe should be the "exam" that tests what you have learned by playing the game up to that point. The boss should throw you curve balls on the mechanics you have already learned and have you perform them with a little more urgency than usual. However, developers seem to oversimplify the use of the skills you learned to beat the boss. Even in Mega Man that is a pretty difficult game once you have the power that defeats said boss you could destroy them in seconds. Bosses should not become dummies just because you have unlocked their secrets and they shouldn't be so one dimensional. It is the same in The Legend of Zelda where the player can figure out how to defeat the boss with their items without much thought and then the boss is helpless after that.

Bosses should also not have big fat glowing weak points because that doesn't even give the player a chance to use their brain to defeat it. Pokemon for example have learned from its mistakes now with the Gym Leaders having Pokemon with different type combinations rather than the same weakness for all of them. Bosses should also act as a punching bag for all your most powerful attacks. How disappointing is it when you save all your resources for a boss only to find out the boss could not even withstand it? Bosses should be able to take on your best attacks encouraging the player to use them at the right time and play smart. Bosses above all should be difficult requiring a combination of quick reflexes and a sharp mind to defeat them. Bosses should not have set patterns that force the player to wait until it is their turn to hit the boss. Bosses should have dynamic attack patterns and be vulnerable to your attacks most of the time.

A boss should not have a large health bar that further pads the battle. If the boss battle is becoming a routine of attacking the boss then staying away and then attack again the boss probably has too much health. A boss should not make the player play too careful to the point that one mistake is so fatal.The one thing developers seem to always get right is the spectacle of bosses. Bosses are what players look forward to because the boss battle usually is the height of the game's visual effects. The boss battle should be where all the crazy effects and new specific gameplay elements should go. Bosses don't always have to be the traditional "exam" of your learned skills and can sometimes be a time to introduce something new.