Sonic Juice 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 Sonic Juice. We’ll demystify each phase of this JRPG-inspired battle by explaining the boss’s attacks, showing you how to avoid taking damage, and sharing general tips, tricks, and strategies.

Sonic Juice: JRPG Battle

Image: Grasshopper Manufacture via Polygon

In the first phase of the Sonic Juice boss battle in No More Heroes 3, the game turns into a turn-based Japanese role-playing game. Instead of defeating the boss using normal attacks, you must choose your attacks from a menu like a traditional role-playing game.

Even though the game mimics JRPGs like Final Fantasy, most of the commands do not work as expected.

• Fight lets you attack Sonic Juice with your Beam Katana but it barely does damage.
• Magic lists different spells you can cast, but Travis doesn’t have any magic points to cast anything.
• Summon should allow you to summon a companion to help you in your battle, but no one comes to your aid.
• Charge lets you replenish your Beam Katana’s battery as you attack Sonic Juice.
• Item lets you use herbs to replenish your health.
• Run doesn’t let you run away, as you can’t run from boss fights in JRPGs.

As the fight goes on, you can tell that attacking Sonic Juice is futile. You have to think outside the box to move the fight forward.

Image: Grasshopper Manufacture via Polygon

Instead of placing your cursor on Sonic Juice to attack him for next to no damage, you can target other things on the screen including the System Window, Status Window, and Command Window.

Choose the Fight command and attack the Status Window and Command window. After a few hits, both windows get destroyed and the fight then transitions into something more like the rest of the boss battles in No More Heroes 3.

Sonic Juice: Phase 1

Image: Grasshopper Manufacture via Polygon

After destroying the JRPG elements in the first section of the boss fight with Sonic Juice, your opponent starts attacking you like every other boss.

Sonic Juice has several long-range and melee attacks. The boss casts Legendary Water, just like he did in the JRPG section of the fight. Dodge the massive ball of water as it splashes down.

The alien also shoots bird-shaped projectiles from his eyes. This attack spreads out the farther it goes, so run toward the screen to gain space and dodge appropriately.

When you get too close, Sonic Juice either does an overhead punch or a sweeping arm attack. These two attacks are harder to see the closer you are to him, so get ready to block when you see him winding up to attack.

Sonic Juice: Phase 2

Grid View

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

In the second phase of the Sonic Juice boss fight, your opponent uses two new water-based attacks. Each of these fills up the entire battle arena and requires you to constantly move to dodge them.

1. The first is a spinning star of water that covers the ground. Run in a circle or jump over each lane of water to avoid getting hit.
2. The other attack is a vertical spinning wheel of water that slowly moves toward you. Move between the jets of water, and rush forward to attack the boss.

Sonic Juice: Phase 3

Grid View

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

In the final phase of the Sonic Juice boss battle in No More Heroes 3, your enemy adds two more massive attacks.

1. The first is a large wave that covers almost the entire arena. Run to the far corner opposite to where the wave is coming from to steer clear of it.
2. The second attack is a series of three exploding rings of water. Move between the rings before the water explodes upward.