First game to have boss rush mode?

[kupomogli]

So I'm playing through the CV series again, finished Harmony of Dissonance, and then I'm thinking how this is the first game I've ever noticed having a boss rush mode on any game. The Mega Man series technically has it as you fight all bosses in a row, but not really a specific mode. Is Harmony of Dissonance the first game to have a boss rush mode or are there other games that I just can't think of?

[Blitzwing256]

The original final fantasy makes you refight all the bosses in the temple of fiends.
The guardian legend also has a "Refight the bosses" before the final boss stage

[Alpha2099]

I remember an obscure shmup arcade game from the 80s that had a boss rush as its final stage. Can't remember the name of it, though. It wasn't that great of a game.

[E Nice]

Silpheed The SuperDogfighter had a boss rush stage before you could fight the game's final boss.

[kupomogli]

Not boss rush as in fight all the bosses again like in Mega Man, etc. I explained that in the first post.

When I say boss rush I specifically mean a mode where you only fight the bosses that you can choose at any time.

[Tanooki]

I got what you said and I've been thinking it over for awhile and I can't think of US released game that had an actual menu based boss rush mode before Harmony of Dissonance. As others noted various shooters have it. I know there are Japanese shooters that featured it before that along with their other classic of the 2 or 5min run for the most points.

[gunswordfist]

All I can think of is House Of The Dead 2. We are in need of a video game history.

[FrankSerpico]

If any of you have Ristar, enter MUSEUM at the password screen and go to town :)

[goldenband]

The NES game Xexyz also allows you to enter a password and fight all the bosses in a row, but it's not a specific "mode".

The Golden Axe series on Genesis had "The Duel" mode, which is a rush of various opponents. But it's mostly made up of normal enemy characters and doesn't include the final boss IIRC.

Frankly the idea of being able to take on all of the bosses upfront, i.e. without unlocking it or earning a special password, seems like a weird mechanic to me. But I guess that's why I mostly stick to retrogaming!

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

Kirby's Dreamland on Gameboy has that, but that game shouldn't take u long then 30 minutes to beat ur first try. Ahem, Kirby kicks ass, by the way.

[kupomogli]

^Mentioning Kirby's Dream Land reminds me that Kirby's Adventure also has it. It's called vs. Boss. It's released after Kirby's Dream Land though.

Also yeah, passwords would count too as it's still all the bosses in a row. I think boss rush mode on games is pretty awesome.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

the earliest I can think of that has a selectable boss rush mode via a password is the Guardian Legend. But the actual term "Boss Rush" probably wasn't coined until Koanmi came up with the term in 2002 with the GBA's Castlevania Harmony of Dissidence.

[gunswordfist]

the earliest I can think of that has a selectable boss rush mode via a password is the Guardian Legend. But the actual term "Boss Rush" probably wasn't coined until Koanmi came up with the term in 2002 with the GBA's Castlevania Harmony of Dissidence.

really? I assumed the term was older than that.

[JSoup]

really? I assumed the term was older than that.

Same. I'd seen it in GFAQs guides when I first starting using the site, around 1999. Perhaps it wasn't officially used in games until later, but it was at least a fanterm years before that point.