Batman's most formidable Boss Fights (Rocksteady)

Mr. Freeze

Mr Freeze is, in my humble opinion, an incredibly interesting character (among the already interesting cast of Batman) and Arkham City really managed to maintain his likeability. I really shared his pain and didn't mind that he betrayed Batman at one point because I could completely understand his actions. Maurice LaMarche lent him his voice which was a perfect decision.

The fight against Freeze is actually quite simple. Approaching head-on will not work because he is too strong for Batman so latter has to think of some surprise attacks. A technique can only be used once because then Freeze obviously knows the drill.
As he is walking around the increasingly freezing room he sends trailing missiles after Batman betweenwhiles.
The atmosphere that is created in this battle is marvelllous. Although you go from strength to strength you still feel more and more desperate as you can see that the temperature is sinking drastically so that parts of Batman's suit begin to turn to ice. The continued stealth gives you the feeling of being hunted down.
Of course, the fight is easy and as a player you are confident because you know exactly how to beat Mr Freeze. But still the whole setting, the sound effects and Freeze's cool voice make it a brilliant bossfight.
It's all about the atmosphere after all! ;)

Killer Croc

Killer Croc's Lair. A place that has attained a more and more threatening status throughout the game as it is the place where the murderous crocodile mutant waits for Batman all this time. He's got his scent and and plans to feast on him as soon as he is in his reach. So one is not really fond of it when it's finally possible to enter the sewers after all the previous death threats.

The sewers are dark and deserted, leaving a claustrophobic atmosphere. Batman has to move on wooden platforms floating on the water as slowly as possible since they radiate sound waves which let Croc know of his position. He has to gather the antidote against the 'Titan Drug' that is spread all across the lair.
Eventually Croc will jump at him from somewhere beneath and you either have to run or throw a Batarang at his shock collar. As soon as all of the antidote is collected Batman has to escape the sewers and Croc once and for all. The battle itself isn't very difficult but it's creepy as hell.
Just this uneasiness and loneliness makes it very scary.
Only you and a him down there. You could be pulled underwater at every moment not knowing where Croc is. Only the echoing sounds of seeping and souging sewage water and the growling of a hungry crocodile can be heard. As a player you know that you will waltz through this but the mood that is evoked is eerie and makes you wish you had never come here in the first place. An impressive effect with so little means.

The one thing left to say is: voice actor Steve Blum makes a very convincing and frightening Croc in the Arkham Games.

Scarecrow

The elaborate Dr. Crane, who is fittingly portrayed by Dino Andrade, appears before Batman in a sort of Freddy Krueger'ish style differing from the comic a lot. But not only once but 3 times Batman has to fight off the Scarecrow in Arkham Asylum who forces him into traumatic illusions over and over again.

The various fights stay the same in their basic principle: averting the gaze of the giant Scarecrow and reaching the only way to escape the nightmare, a floodlight displaying the Batsignal. The whole setting is looking creepy but really cool and inventive. But the best thing about these fights are probably the varying hallucinations that Batman has to go through.

The 1st one involves Commissioner Gordon dying and the revived corpses of his parents in body bags talking to him. At this point the illusionary world is a deformed version of the morgue.

The 2nd time Batman finds himself walking down a never-ending corridor which turns into the scenery of his parents' death. After watching the happenings of the past he shortly turns into his younger self again until he reaches the dreamscape of the destroyed Wayne Manor.

The 3rd and last hallucination assumes the shape of a reversed starting sequence. Batman is brought into Arkham Asylum by the Joker and is then shot by him. In the final dreamscape he crawls out of his own grave and passes by some lunatic Batmen in prison cells and one on the loose. While averting the Scarecrow's gaze again he makes his way through the distorted Intensive Treatment Centre which is occupied with multiple TV screens showing Scarface giving a speech manipulated by the Joker. In this hallucinatory world there are now also skeletons attacking Batman.

These freaky dream sequences make the battles so fascinating and fun to play and the new Scarecrow design contributes a lot to that.

Ra's Al Ghul

The leader of the league of Assassins turns out to be Batman's last hope for survival in Arkham City at a certain point. So he undergoes Ra's' Trial of the Demons on a spiritual sphere and actually succeeds. That leaves the final test of killing Ra's in the flesh after he has been revived with the aid of the Lazarus Pit. And that battle is extremely whacked out.

Taking place in the spiritual, desert-like realm from the Trial of the Demons Ra's unleashes his legion of sand clones on Batman and then summons a giant replica of himself that attacks with super-sized shuriken and blades of a sword while the legion protects his original body by rotating around him. To land a hit on him you have to shoot through the shortly uncovered areas in his barricade with the Remote Electrical Charge.
Then, when he got hit enough, he will disappear and soon after jump at you from underground.
After having understood how it works it is very simple but nevertheless this battle is particularly fun to play. I'm afraid I cannot really pinpoint the reason for that. But besides the entertainment factor it also looks incredibly, convincingly surreal.

Mad Hatter

Let's rather call it a mini-boss fight since Batman faces Tetch in the course of a few side missions. Yet the presentation is as formidable as a real boss fight.

Batman is tricked into unintentionally injecting himself with a hypnotic. When he wakes up he finds himself tied to a chair, surrounded by men with hare masks and the Mad Hatter himself. Latter puts a creepy hare/bat-hybrid mask on Batman in order to control him and the mayhem takes its course.
On top of a ticking clock in endless freefall you have to fight the respawning, masked thugs for a certain amount of time without dying before you can take out Tetch. The battle might be short but it really feels like you are on some kind of drugs and it's disturbing as hell. Yet at the same time it has an impressive effect.

Clayface

Clayface is the final endboss in the game and brings the great and surprsing twist with him; namely that he was disguised as the Joker the whole time. After this revelation him and Batman begin to fight their battle at the Monarch Theatre. By throwing Mr Freeze's explosives at the shapeshifter his movements slow down and Batman can attack him as he is completely icebound. That way he then manages to cut him into pieces with Talia Al Ghul's sword but before the enemy is ultimately defeated the Joker brings about a "change of scenery" and in the chamber of the Lazarus Pit the weakened Clayface commences an attack of his clay clones. Down in the chamber Batman still relies on the ice blast but also continues to use Talia's sword in battle which feels remarkably awesome for the player because Batman usually doesn't use weapons.

That is probably also the most special aspect about the fight. The difficulty level is average if not even a bit hard and the setting is beautiful and atmospheric - it perfectly fits the 'final stage' of the Arkham City Stories.