Uematsu is a man who does well to be unleashed. Although his work on the NES Final Fantasy games is great, his genius really started to show off on the SNES with better sound engines. And then the PSX came around and his soundtracks blew the doors off of gamers everywhere. Final Fantasy VIII, which could be considered his best sountrack. The final boss has four stages but contains three original tracks. Each of them is excellent, but Maybe I'm A Lion is a great callback to the final boss sound of FF6's Dancing Mad. And the last boss theme employs a very ambience sound- uncommon for Uematsu's final boss songs.
9. Donkey Kong Country 3
Some soundtracks are against you. Some boss themes want you to lose. The final boss theme to Donkey Kong Country 3 wants you to lose. And it wants you to lose at the most disappointing time. And it wants you to dread the futility of trying to beat K. Rool. It's not laughing at you, but it's taking pleasure in your folly.
8. Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest
I don't rate Mystic Quest too highly in the gameplay department, but I do love the soundtrack and find it pretty stand-out. The final boss theme is even more so, as it sticks in your head. Its composition- you could put this on for a total stranger, and they'd know it's a final boss song. And even though it reuses many of the same elements as the rest of the soundtrack, it's still authentic.
7. Super Metroid
This one is particularily great. There's not a lot of story or character in Super Metroid, so to get a feel for the world you have to rely on atmosphere, like music. With Mother Brain's theme, we get the sense that Mother Brain is a very bad person- tyranical even. I seem to slight favouring for music that's loud and annoying, and Mother Brain's theme might fit under that label. The organ just screeches, just like Mother Brain herself.
6. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
5. Final Fanagay VI
There's no denying that FF6 contained one of the most revolutionary soundtracks for its time, pushing the SNES sound hardware to its limits. The multi-tiered final boss themes was a very ambitious idea. From start to finish, the composition is magnificent. But just when you think the music couldn't get anymore awesome, the final part with Kefka comes and it's the most outstanding utilizing some advanced effects most people were unaware the SNES soundchip could even do. Possibly the best final boss music on the Super Nintendo.
4. Super Mario RPG
Is there anything more villainous sounding than an organ? The answer: not a whole lot. Actually, even after this song's intro, the organ really makes this song. The first part of the final boss theme still sounds like part of the Super Mario RPG soundtrack with its use of several electronic drum beats. The second part of the final boss battle has a much more intense darker theme. Although it uses many instruments frequently featured in the Super Mario RPG score, it's composition is unlike the rest. It's especially charming to hear the marimba in such a tense song. One of the most standout tracks on the soundtrack, for sure.
3. Yoshi's Island
The first stage of Yoshi's Island's final battle reuses an earlier boss theme. Whatever, it's a warm up. But then comes the real boss battle with the real boss music. The song begins with a creeping guitar track echoing across the black abyss as two red eyes appear in the darkness. The beginning of the song is synced up well to Big Bowser's introduction- it's pretty effective and menacing. After the song takes off, you got two electric guitars going- one as rhythm and one as lead- in a fast-past rock anthem. Most importantly, this final boss theme still stands out from the rest of the game's music.
2. EarthBound
When you start the final battle with Giygas, you're treated to a nice little chiptune boss theme. It's a little unsettling when compared to the fullness of the rest of the game's soundtrack. But let that battle go for more fifty seconds and the boss music flipturns into a thrashing metal jam. Not only does the electric guitar sound pretty realistic (compared to the guitar in a Mega Man X game), but it's well-composed and gives off the feeling of menace. It doesn't loop quickly, and really jumps out at you.
Despite EarthBound having a very diverse soundtrack, the ending final boss themes still stand out from the rest of the score, which is very important. Granted, three of the four tracks serve more as noise than music, but it's fitting for Giygas. The first track is really good though. I wouldn't have EarthBound on this list without it.
1. Paper Mario
The first part of Paper Mario's final boss battle is an unwinnable battle. It doesn't seem that way at first, but there's no beating Invincibowser. There's a desperation in the lead horn track that sings for the futility of your struggle. Despite your attempts, Mario falls in battle. It's futile to think you can win.
The second part is a little more typical. The song opens with a lovely organ bit. It then goes into choir vocals, more organ, thrashing drums and some sitar. It's pretty great. But the best part of the song is the four bar-long organ bit at the end of the loop that's quickly echoed with an electric guitar, and then followed up with organ and choir. It completes the song.
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