Mr. Blackhole boss battle guide: tips, tricks, and strategies — No More Heroes 3

In Polygon’s No More Heroes 3 boss battle guide, we’ll show you how to defeat Mr. Blackhole. We’ll demystify each phase of this trippy space battle by explaining each of the boss's attacks, showing you how to avoid taking damage, and sharing general tips, tricks, and strategies.

Mr. Blackhole Part 1: Derelict Planet

The boss battle against Mr. Blackhole in No More Heroes 3 has two distinct phases and locales. The first one is a circular wasteland.

Phase 1

In the first phase of the Mr. Blackhole boss battle, your opponent has a few different attacks to watch out for. You can sidestep most attacks, but if you perfect dodge, you’ll be able to do much more damage.

Throughout this fight, Mr. Blackhole will step into a portal and emerge by performing an array of different attacks.

Grid View

• Image: Grasshopper Manufacture via Polygon
• Image: Grasshopper Manufacture via Polygon
• Image: Grasshopper Manufacture via Polygon
• Image: Grasshopper Manufacture via Polygon

Mr. Blackhole’s main attack is a black hole that shoots out a blue laser, followed by a sphere of black energy. Sidestep this attack as it comes through. While you can perfect dodge this attack, it’s difficult to strike the ball of energy that barrels out of the portal.

The boss will periodically open several black holes at once and punch through them. Dodge the first few. His arm will get stuck during the last strike. Take this opportunity to attack his appendage before he pulls it back through the portal.

If you see black energy falling from the sky, prepare to dodge. After a few moments, Mr. Blackhole will stomp down from above. Afterward, he’ll be vulnerable to a few hits. Sometimes after this attack, the boss will charge up an energy blast that hits in a circle. If you see him powering up this move, just run away then rush back in to attack.

Phase 2

Image: Grasshopper Manufacture via Polygon

Once you whittle Mr. Blackhole down the red portion of his health bar, he creates several blackholes across the battlefield. Falling into one deals a ton of damage, so avoid these.

The rest of the battle is the same, however, dodging his attacks become more challenging with the blackholes littering the ground. The only other difference is that Mr. Blackhole’s ground pound move now causes an expanding circle of energy to flow from him. Jump over this attack.

With Mr. Blackhole’s health nearly gone, you’ll perform a Killer Slash against him. The game isn’t sure if that last blow killed him. It didn’t.

Mr. Blackhole Part 2: Space battle

The second part of the boss battle against Mr. Blackhole in No More Heroes 3 takes place in … a black hole. There is a small puzzle element to this section and a totally different style of battle, too.

Image: Grasshopper Manufacture via Polygon

Before you can finish your battle with Mr. Blackhole, you have to find him. While exploring a vast sea of stars, you’ll find several black holes on the ground. Entering each one spits you out somewhere else in space. Your destination isn’t clear, but you can figure out where to go by following Jeane, your sidekick cat.

Eventually, Jeane falls asleep, and you must use trial and error to find the right black hole. Choose incorrectly, and a series of arms attacks you. Each wrong choice removes that black hole from your potential choices. Pick the right one, and you’ll be face-to-face with Mr. Blackhole’s … face.

Phase 1

Image: Grasshopper Manufacture via Polygon

In phase 2 of this half of the boss fight against Mr. Blackhole, Travis summons a suit of robot armor to defeat his giant space enemy.

Use your cursor to highlight the enemy’s body and the black hole orbs he fires at you. Once you have your targets locked on, press ZR to fire your lasers. After a few moments, you can unleash a powerful attack called the Megadeath Particle Cannon by pressing ZL. When using this ability, aim for Blackhole’s head.

Phase 2

Once you get Mr. Blackhole down to his red health, the battle goes mostly the same with one exception: The boss periodically tries to smash you with two arms that come out of black holes.