The Most Intense, Emotionally Draining Boss Battle Evar.

The fight against last boss Giygas in "Earthbound". Not only is he just about the scariest thing ever seen in a Super Nintendo game, with music that sets the mood, but the battle with him is incredibly intense, with the characters calling out through prayer to all of their friends and eventually to the player him/herself to pray for them and their safety.

And the strange dialog Giygas spouts during the battle? It's a reference to a childhood trauma designer Shigesato Itoi experienced as a child, when he went into the wrong theater and saw an exploitation movie called "The Military Policeman And The Dismembered Beauty". The graphic rape scene in the movie horrified him, and the dialog Gigyas speaks is culled from the dialog of that scene.

People swear that as Giygas is dying, he turns into a fetus, which I almost see (keep an eye out around 7:38 in the second video). There's another rumor that there's a voice saying "Let Me Out". I don't really hear it, but keep an ear out at the transitions at 4:38 and 6:53. I think it's just our brains trying to find patterns in the strange sounds.

Well, anyway, that's awesome. Here's that same battle replicated in MUGEN.



And here's Giygas being confronted by Evil Homer.



And here's an excellent 3D rendering of Giygas's lair.