Despite only taking up one level per area composed of multiple stages, the boss battles are the make-or-break for Denshattack! Each stage builds towards the upcoming climactic encounter: facing off against the leader's squad, causing havoc to gain their attention, competing in races to show you're even worth their time. The eventual battle constantly looms over you as you jump, grind, and trick your way closer to your grand opponent. And if the fight ends up feeling underwhelming, it can leave a sour taste over the region as a whole. Luckily, every boss proves to be worth praise in their own individual ways, but we thought it'd be fun to go through them and rank them all from worst to best on everything from their gameplay, their spectacle, and of course, that incredible music.
9. Molty and the VACTRAIN
Out of the nine entries on the list, this is the only one that'd be hard to classify as a "boss battle" and I wouldn't have included it at all had the game not specified it as one. Emi's encounter with the VACTRAIN is more of a race than anything else, spanning across the entirety of Japan and utilising the friends Emi has made along the way. It serves well as the game's closing boss fight to put all the skills you've learned to the test, as well as demonstrate just how far Emi has come from delivering ramen back in Beppu.
However, it's hard not to feel this stage would've worked better as a race than a battle. Even though the premise of the encounter is centred around getting all the way to Beppu before Molty does, there's no real incentive to move through the stage particularly quickly. Having a map on the side of the screen that shows how far ahead or behind the VACTRAIN you could've added a much needed sense of urgency, with utilising its magnetic trails to increase your speed being a requirement to keep up as opposed to just a gimmick. That's not to say this stage is bad by any means, just it doesn't function quite as well as a "boss battle" as the other stages do.
8. Shihori Yoneda
Honestly, putting any of the bosses this low feels dishonest to the insane quality Denshattack!'s roster boasts. The primary aspect that hurts this boss is how long it takes to reach the main event, with this battle against Shihori and the Yakuza serving as more of an ensemble affair than a focused duel. The first section is simple enough, with Maiko firing a series of arrows at you which take no more than a simple track switch to avoid. The Hamamoto twins mix things up with a battle atop the clouds in which you trick to switch your train's energy between positive and negative to knock their projectiles back at them, but things get stale pretty quickly and don't take much advantage of the potential mayhem that could've ensued in soaring above the skies.
The showdown with Shihori takes good advantage of the magnetic shifter introduced in the chapter, with moments of gravity-switching madness that made me feel like I was playing a Geometry Dash stage in the best way possible. But overall, this stage lacks in both intricate mechanics and crazy levels of spectacle that put other boss battles above it.
7. Yamagata
Trust me, it pains me just as much to put this one so low as it pains you to read it. Everything about Yamagata exudes Denshattack!: his gritty punk-inspired outfit, his tragic yet triumphant backstory. There's no character more deserving of a great boss fight. But unfortunately, the majority of the battle in Bosozoku doesn't even feature him, which is a running theme for these lower ranked bosses.
The fight opens with a battle against 100 trains which, while an exciting idea, would've worked better as its own individual stage. There's an awkward section in the middle that exists purely for you to build up your Yaoyorozudo meter, and by the time Yamagata finally comes at you with his own train, the fight's already halfway through. I put this one above Shihori for its final section, as riding your way up the Phantom Typhoon stands out as one of the game's most memorable moments. It's all brought together by a phenomenal Lotus Juice cameo on the stage's soundtrack, ramping up the ending's hype to the max. But with Yamagata so underutilised in his own stage, it'd be hard to rank this one much higher.
6. Madoka Sato
It's made clear before you even fight her that Madoka is one of the most dangerous denshattackers in the country, and her belief of her superiority over Emi seeps its way into the fight's design. Before even considering you to be deserving of her presence, Madoka has you face off against the members of Dead Ball as you make your way over to her base: a dilapidated baseball stadium enhanced with cranes to move the track's layout and constantly change the course to maintain Madoka's control.
Madoka's train of choice is fitted with a cannon, which launches massive target-homing baseballs at Emi. With no way to dodge or avoid these, the only course of action is to fire these back at her with a trick. It's a fun enough gimmick, but one the battle doesn't progress any further on from. Madoka cuts the fight short by launching Emi off-track and out of her turf, making it the only fight Emi doesn't win, and a slightly underwhelming one for that matter.
5. Brian Ishida
The battle against the head honcho of the Miraido Task Force just misses out on a spot in the top four due to a slightly slow start. Emi hijacking a Miraido drone is an admittedly cool set-piece, but it quickly slows the gameplay to a crawl in a section that doesn't allow for much skill expression, with no way of performing tricks as the right stick is converted into a flashy missile launcher. Luckily this only serves as a brief intermission before Brian dives in and immediately increases the tension.
The Wretchhound is a perfectly fitting vehicle for the Task Force's leader, a constantly oppressive presence throughout the fight. Brian fires rockets, chomps through tunnels, and attacks from beneath the tracks Emi rides across, never giving you even a moment to catch your breath. After charging up via Niigata's particle accelerator, Emi's train becomes surged with energy, which can be blasted at the Wretchhound by performing tricks. The fight's finale features Emi taking control of Brian's chomping device, chewing through rows of police cars before overloading the power grid and grinding this marathon of a battle to a close.
4. Shin and Fukihimo
This is where things get really good. Every boss from here on out is close to perfect, and I could honestly put these four in any order. The Rocker's design mixes insanity and minacity in absolute harmony, towering over you as it takes its throne at the top of the hill and roams around on mechanical legs. Its destructive capabilities are a sight to behold, opening up the fight by firing giant 8-Balls from its pompadour cannon and slamming the ground to release rings of fire that spread across the mountain's perimeter.
After a quick ride of the Yaoyorozudo, Emi takes the fight to the Rocker's interior, dodging through every defensive measure and mechanical part as she tears it apart from the inside. Even after being heavily weakened, Shin and Fukihimo don't go down without one last hurrah, scampering through Shikoku as Emi pursues them via the moat: quite possibly the game's best use of a half-pipe. After dodging a few more 8-Balls, the time comes to ride atop the Rocker and deconstruct it with a sleek set of air stomps before finally crashing down on to its cannon with a resounding gong, confirming their defeat. No other fight in the game does a better job of providing that David vs. Goliath feel I yearn for in action platformers, all without making any poor design choices for the sake of it.
3. Suzuna Sei
As I worked my way through each Denshattack! region, I had a feeling there'd be at least one fight that would redefine the gameplay and take things completely off the rails. What I didn't expect, however, was a boss that turns the rails themselves into a fretboard for a boss battle wearing its Guitar Hero influences proudly on its sleeve. Sei uses the magnetic currents of the Yaoyorozudo to her advantage, turning the track into her very own concert where too many missed notes will result in your death. The battle grows in complexity as it progresses, introducing a series of parallel tracks as well as grind rails, monorail rides, and a sliding section, switching at exact points of the soundtrack to turn the stage into a musical joyride.
With a battle so heavily focused around music, everything rides on the quality of the accompanying song, and Sean Bialo and Sumika Inoue's "I'm the Music" does not disappoint. The fusion of J-Pop, breakbeat, electronic, and some genres I'm probably not even aware of coalesce to form one of the soundtrack's hardest hits, fitting Denshattack!'s musical style while simultaneously understanding exactly what makes the music of other rhythm games work so well. It serves as such an effective remix of Denshattack!'s gameplay to the point I'm almost disappointed every song in the game can't be played in this style. If Undercoders are looking to release some DLC, this would be an outstanding addition.
2. Madoka Sato (Second Encounter)
If the first fight against Madoka left anything to be desired, this rematch makes up for everything it misses out on a thousand fold. With Madoka now viewing Emi as an opponent more worthy of her respect, she takes things one step further by switching her vehicle to a stolen Sandworm train, diving through dunes and once again firing her signature baseballs at you. It's through this vehicle we see Madoka truly channel her aggressive and ferocious personality, tearing through the abandoned city as she levels entire skyscrapers, giving you free rein to ride across the ruins she leaves behind.
After clearing the city, Madoka takes things to the tunnel with her sandworm, lunging at Emi, firing flame rods from the worm's head and shooting lasers via its eyes. Despite the enormous difference in Emi and Madoka's vehicle sizes, the fight does incredibly well at making it feel like two equally matched opponents going all out, emphasised further by the proceeding joust in which you build up your Yaoyorozudo meter to leap above the worm and smash the tanks on its back. The fight brings things full circle for its grand finale as Madoka throws a final flurry of baseballs at you, but these act as nothing more than a last hail Mary as Emi pierces right through the mouth of the worm, sending it crashing down into the sea. Fantastic.
1. Yoshie Mitsutake
They say it's always good to put your best foot forward, and Denshattack!'s opening boss is as strong an example as you can get. Emi's battle against Yoshie is a no-brakes, no-filler affair that refuses to be boring for even a fraction of a second. Yoshie goes full mecha-anime as her and the Dashing Queens combine their machines to form a glamorous, Y2K-inspired train robot. She swipes train arms at your vehicle, slams the ground to create energy columns, and even uses the treads on the mechas calves to charge towards Emi at high speed.
After crashing into the mecha and breaking out of the glass dome, Yoshie calls for a full-on attack and proceeds to throw anything she can find at you: broken buildings, chunks of highways, and an entire broadcast tower. The chorus of the stage's song, "Fashion Overdrive" kicks in as you grind, jump, and trick over these flying pieces of infrastructure, Alice Peralta's bold vocals soaring alongside you. As if this wasn't enough to give this stage a fair shout for the game's best boss, the fight closes out with Emi parrying and riding one of the mecha's rocket arms, blasting through streets and detonating oil drum stacks as Yoshie's crew desperately try to escape, knocking down buildings to block your path. It's ultimately futile, as Emi rides the rocket punch right into the middle of the mecha, pinning it to the wall and closing the curtains on the best boss fight you'll see all year.
