Daily Debate: Would a Flying Mechanic Work in a Boss Fight?

The Zelda series has long been a game with a strong emphasis on travel and exploration on foot. Specifically, boss battles, even those with a heavy emphasis on solving them like a puzzle, are almost always done on foot. Even the Levias/Bilocyte battle in Skyward Sword is only involves flight for half the battle. That said, do you think a complete boss fight sequence with only a flying mechanic could work?

I mentioned before the Levias/Bilocyte boss in Skyward Sword. While it was one of the more interesting aspects of the Loftwing, the battle itself was a pretty standard fare. After taking out some gnarly-looking eyeballs, the rest of the fight against Bilocyte was on foot. It never felt like it took the existing mechanic of flight and innovated it in any way. Instead, the battle felt more like, “Well, you’re already flying. Now fly and kill these mandatory enemies.”

For a game that isn’t reliant on motion-controlled flight, I imagine a mid-air battle could control similarly to fighting on horseback. Since Ocarina of Time, several games have included horseback sequences. Most notable being the fight against King Bulblin in Twilight Princess. A fight that can balance the more straightforward control of horseback with the action of the Loftwing could make a fight that is both exciting and a fresh change of pace for the series.

I’d love to see a boss battle that could be both fresh and familiar. Flight could very easily work for an entire battle, and I’m excited to see if Nintendo revisits the idea of Loftwings in a future game.

What do you think about a flight focused boss battle? Would it work, or did you have enough in Skyward Sword? Let me know in the comments!