Final Fantasy VIII is one of the more divisive titles in the entire franchise, and one need only look at the massive success of its predecessor to realize why. With the massive success of Final Fantasy VII, fans were understandably expecting an adventure in its sequel that would be even broader, high-stakes, and just a massive upgrade in general. However, the expectations were so immense that there was no way that Final Fantasy VIII would be able to live up to them.
It would be impossible to talk about the best aspects of Final Fantasy VIII without mentioning its awesome bosses, each of which are memorable in their own right... but that's not always a good thing.
10 AMAZING: Ultima Weapon
The first superboss on this list holds the iconic Ultima Weapon from Final Fantasy VII, and is just a blast to fight in general. Players need to bring their A game into this battle and absorb all of Ultima Weapon's offense in stride. Doing so and emptying the boss' Hit Points will result in the player obtaining the most powerful summon in the game — Eden.
9 WORST: Gerogero
Undead bosses are always a mixed bag in Final Fantasy, and Gerogero — unfortunately enough — falls in the negative side of this spectrum. The idea of a fake president being an Undead monster sounds neat enough, but it's the act of fighting this unforgettable enemy that proves to be a downer, especially since the lead up to this boss was actually quite entertaining. For players that don't want anything to do with this mediocre battle, a Phoenix Down is more than enough to end this bog-standard confrontation.
8 AMAZING: Omega Weapon
Omega Weapon is easily the hardest boss in the game by a country mile, but — contrary to most of the superbosses featured in Final Fantasy — he's actually a blast to fight, especially if the player has optimized their party's junctions to a T.
With the highest strength possible — coupled with a few Auras for good measure — the fight against Omega Weapon becomes a test of how much damage the party can unleash with their limit breaks before Omega Weapon's Terra Break attack completely annihilates them... and even that can be avoided with a Holy War!
7 WORST: Jumbo Cactuar
The Jumbo Cactuar is easily one of the most annoying Guardian Forces that one can recruit in their party, mainly due to the trials and tribulations involved in encountering this GF in the first place. Jumbo Cactuar darts all around the map, making it hard to encounter him in the first place. His 10,000 Needles attack is a guaranteed one-hit KO, and he can even flee from battle if the party doesn't take away all his HP in time, forcing the player to seek the Cactuar out and fight him from square one... again.
6 AMAZING: NORG
The idea that a massive yellow behemoth has been pulling the strings behind the scenes in Balamb Garden sounds like a stretch... but in a series like Final Fantasy, pretty much anything's possible. So, when players finally face off against NORG in an epic confrontation, the boss battle is memorable for all the right reasons. The fight against NORG has enough gimmicks to make it seem more unique from the other cut-and-dry boss encounters, without being too annoying as well. It's a great boss that leads to some substantial story revelations as well.
5 WORST: Tonberry King
The fight against the Tonberry King itself isn't the worst thing in the world — although it's nothing anyone will write home about. However, it's the act of encountering this Guardian Force which is an entirely different beast altogether.
To force the Tonberry King to appear, the player needs to fight a whopping 20 Tonberrys in the starting area of the Centra Ruins before this boss will appear. It's incredibly arduous, especially when one takes into account that these Tonberrys are fought one at a time and even the smallest slip-up can lead to a Game Over, forcing players to start from the beginning all over again.
4 AMAZING: Edea
The two fights against what most people would think is the antagonist of Final Fantasy VIII is as memorable as can be, with Seifer's addition in the first battle making this fight even more epic. Edea poses a massive challenge to players at the end of Disc 2, and only one other sorceress can rival her in terms of toughness.
3 WORST: Abadon
Final Fantasy has a habit of adding random bosses at the end of dungeons just for the sake of it, and this really hurts Abadon's impact as a result. The fact that this is the only boss where Edea can participate with the party makes this encounter all the more frustrating. Was there no other way to show Edea's might against a formidable foe?
2 AMAZING: Ultimecia
The final fight against Ultimecia is easily one of the best final boss rushes in video game history and the perfect way to end the brilliant proceedings of Final Fantasy VIII. Having to fight Ultimecia's base form followed by her Guardian Force is epic enough as is, but the game takes this a step further by fusing Ultimecia and Griever, after which the party needs to fight the true final form of Ultimecia as well! It's the longest final boss rush featured in any Final Fantasy game by a country mile, serving as the perfect send-off to a brilliant game.
1 WORST: Mobile Type 8
The final boss before the point of no return in Final Fantasy VIII is expected to bring a decent challenge, but one might feel that Mobile Type 8 becomes just a bit too overzealous in this regard. From a massively damaging counterattack to some truly powerful abilities that can put the party in a tight spot, fighting Mobile Type 8 can prove to be a ridiculous test of patience at times — something that is not fun in the slightest.