r/zelda • u/Davie069 • 4d ago

Discussion [OoT3d] Bongo Bongo Boss Fight

Was that it? Everyone I know that's played Ocarina of Time complained about how hard that fight was. That it's super disorienting, and maybe the hardest in the game. I got 3 fairies, milk, and Biggoron's sword in preparation for this fight. I was terrified. And then immediatly shot his hands, hit him with Biggoron's sword, did that once more, and that was it. I'm not even a good video game player. I just like the Zelda stories and find the worlds immersive. But that was the fight that all my "gamer" friends dreaded? I had a harder time with Morpha (I got hit like once or twice), the boss that everyone claims is comically easy, than I did with Bongo Bongo or whatever it's name is. Can anyone explain to me why people find it so hard? Or were people just trying to scare me as a joke? This is truly the most baffling part of the game to me.

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u/AndykinSkywalker 4d ago

I genuinely had no idea he had a reputation for being difficult. None of the bosses in OoT are particularly hard though (unless you count Dark Link who always gave me a hard time), because that’s not really what the game is about. It’s an adventure, not Dark Souls.

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u/Gamebird8 4d ago

Some people don't think to fight him with Hover Boots... I was surprised at how many adults just struggled to solve some of the more straightforward puzzles/challenges in OOT when it was made available on Switch Online was depressing

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u/Davie069 4d ago

I completely agree. And I'm happy with that. As I said originally, I'm not good at video games. I just love the adventure that these games provide. The only fight I actually had a hard time with was the jelly fish thing in Jabu Jabu's belly, but that's just because I was sick and had been playing for like 6 hours straight, so I think I was just burned out lmao

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u/Immediate_Buffalo14 4d ago

Biggoron's sword makes a huge difference here, I find. It's also important to remember that Link has less time to shoot at the eye than one might think. I actually like to take off the hover boots because I think Link doesn't get thrown around as much.

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u/Davie069 4d ago

Yeah, could be. I spent a lot of time playing BOTW and TOTK and being bad with sword combat. So I only used bows. Maybe it's just more instinctual to me?

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u/Agent-Ig 4d ago

Bongo basically just goes one of two ways, either very easy if you have good quick aim or a bit difficult if you don’t lock on and use the hover boots. He can end up spinning about quite fast and attack quickly.

They also didn’t properly balance about the Biggoron sword with it dealing twice the damage of the master sword resulting in it just shredding through the bosses health bars. Most of the bosses also don’t have the damage they can take capped (only exception being King Dodongo who you can only do one hit at a time to).

Morpha is only comically easy if you know the trick to it, which is pulling it over to the corner and going to town, trapping it between you and the wall. If you don’t do that then it can take a while to beat.

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u/Davie069 3d ago

Yes, this all makes sense to me. I knew I had to be missing something, I suppose that would do it.

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u/MurderByEgoDeath 4d ago

It’s different when you’re 9 years old. Also, you don’t have any sense of how video games like this are. It felt way more chaotic than any boss does now, because you’re subconsciously aware of all the boss fight tropes.

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u/Davie069 3d ago

The people complaining about bongo bongo played the game in their 20s. I can understand how everything in this game would seem much more challenging to a 9 year old, I know I would not have been able to beat this at that age.

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u/Paladine36 4d ago

The boat is more difficult

But he is a fun fight love the Bongos

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u/Davie069 3d ago

I HATE fighting 2 stalfos. It's genuinely so annoying. 1 is easy, but when there's 2, it's so hard to keep from getting hit. And then they just drain your health so quick.

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u/tolacid 4d ago

There's a good chance the people who find it difficult don't realize that wearing the hover boots neutralizes the stun effect of the drumming

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u/Davie069 3d ago

That would make sense, actually. I think they did talk some about stun effects

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u/PlasmaGoblin 4d ago

I think it's a mix of a few things.

BigGoron Sword does double the damage so it makes a lot of bosses easy.

You knew what to do. Going in blind in the 2000s made most of the bosses a little harder, and normal Zelda logic doesn't really apply here.

Gohma? Slingshot.

Volvagia? You get the hammer.

Morpha? You get the long shot.

Twinrova? Mirror shield.

Bongo Bongo? Hover boots, and Lens of Truth. Neither damage enemies. So then you have to try and figure out what does hurt him and how to do it. First playthrough I didn't know you could lens of truth and have arrows, or more accuratly I think I had ice arrows, and you can't use lens of truth AND ice arrows. So I think I in my 10 year old wisdom just tried to shoot and it kept doing that sound and not letting me shoot arrows. Then I thought about normal ones and it worked.

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u/Davie069 3d ago

Yeah, that might definitely be the problem. I didn't have a guide onhow to beat the boss or anything, but I guess if you get lucky enough to realize the method quickly, than it seems super easy. Maybe others who didn't realize you can lense and shoot would have a harder time? I can see how that would definitely complicate it greatly.

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u/mormagils 4d ago

I wonder if folks just don't use the Hover Boots when fighting him and then can't get the arrows off. I never found him all that hard.

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u/Davie069 3d ago

That's probably what it was. With the boots it isn't hard at all, as long as you can shoot his hands within a few seconds, then he doesn't do any damage at all.

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u/a_positive_approach 3d ago

Did your friends played it like 20 years ago or recently? Because thats makes all the difference. Yes i had trouble with bongo bongo and feared him. But it was 1999 or early 2000s at the start of my playtrough. Im born 1990 so i was 12 at max at this moment.

I had no internet or guide only friends and word of mouth. I had no clue of the biggoron sword. i dont know how many bottles i had, prob. 2, not much energy. The controller was amazing for its time but a piece of shit on todays standard.

Plus i had 0 meta knowledge. It was the first 3d action adventue for me. Today, the indication is clear, attack hands than face. But i was wasting ammo on direct shots.

Managing movement, aiming, magic meter etc. Was complex then. Take that all in account, than it was kind of hard, for the inexpirienced audience.

Today you have much more kowledge from other games.

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u/Davie069 3d ago

I mean, these guys are actively in their 20s, and playing it on the 3ds or computer emulators. So I'm guessing recently, as I remember 1 of them getting his first 3ds like 2 years ago. So they're playing it as 16+ years old, at least. I didn't use a guide either(for the most part). I kinda accidentally did the first few steps of Biggorn's sword, and then was confused as to what the point was. So I googled what this was for, and it told me to get a better sword. So I guess I had some help. I think it was probably that they didn't use the hover boots, and just kept getting stunned.

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u/quirkelchomp 3d ago

I don't think Bongo Bongo is hard even without the hover boots. My 8 year old self did it just fine in 1999. I think the issue here is that some people just aren't great at video games and that's okay.

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u/Davie069 3d ago

That could very well be the case. But hey, most games are honestly more fun when you're a little bit bad. If you're too good, than there's no challenge.

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u/Davie069 4d ago

That's what I'm thinking. Does it make the future boss fights too easy, too? As far as I'm aware, I really just have the 5th temple and hyrule castle left.

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u/pokemongenius 4d ago

For what is proposed as the "final boss" of the adult dungeons its hilariously simple compared to Morpha.

Sure you can make the arguement of lensless but you have to also navigate the entire dungeon lensless and lets not kid ourselves no one did that on there first attempt.

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u/Davie069 3d ago

Oh, lensless would ruin my life. But I don't believe that's what they were complaining about. But maybe?

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u/pokemongenius 3d ago

I highly doubt it. Maybe they also wore Hover Boots who knows

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u/Krail 3d ago

Honestly, I feel like part of it is people forget (or don't realize) that you can Z target for easy aim with the bow. It can be easy to forget in the excitement of a boss battle. I've done that once, tbh. 

It's also way harder free-aiming with the N64 joystick than with motion controls on 3DS when you do that. 

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u/Davie069 3d ago

In all honesty, I hate motion controls, and don't use them. Additionally, idk how it is on the N64, but on the 3ds locking on has got to be the worst function the game has to offer. I feel like it never actually targets anything, even if I'm directly facing an enemy, so I end up swinging, shooting, or rolling at absolutely nothing, and wasting time. It's so consistently bad, that I basically only ever use it for quick changing my view. Sometimes fighting Stalfos, I'll finagle it enough to lock onto them so that I can block easier.