You may love 'em or hate 'em but let's face it, the contributions of bosses to gaming are almost as important as those of the good guys themselves. In this edition of the QuickList, we're honoring the cream of the crop among the bad guys. The criteria? We scrutinized each based on what he had to offer and what he does best. Whether it's style, toughness or infamy, we took them by what they had to offer and we found 10 left standing. Again, this is all subjective and your opinions are as good as ours. Here they are:

10. The Polar Bear (Ice Climber)- After hours of grueling debates on the subject of whether he's even a boss or not, the Ice Climber Polar Bear has eked his way to a cliff-hanging tenth spot on this list. There's not a lot to say about him in terms of difficulty, but gamers from the past know what time it is when they see the hot, red briefs over the off-white fur. It means you're taking too long to climb and he'll force-advance the level with a jumping fart.

Usually, there's no problem getting to his face and pounding his toes with a mallet, but when playing with a friend or sibling, it sparks an unfriendly war of who gets to nail him. The only way to make sure that you do the honors is to sabotage your partner with guerrilla tactics like unorthodox body checks and busting the floors where they stand. We won't be surprised to hear about domestic violence resulting from this scenario.

9. Super Bison (Street Fighter EX2)- This guy doesn't even have a storyline to his name but his arsenal more than makes up for it. Think of a fighter whose special moves damage like super moves, and whose super moves feel like Level 3 finishers, and you'll get an idea of what it's like to fight him. Add to that an unforgiving AI and you'll realize that you'll have to play a darn-near perfect game to come out on top.

7. Celia and Lede (Final Fantasy Tactics)- Don't expect them to win any popularity contests any time soon, but anyone who's ever played the original Final Fantasy Tactics will understand why they're here. Celia and Lede are Marquis Elmdor's twin assassins who have the deadliest abilities put together in one package. What's amazing about these two is that they don't need insanely high HP's or stellar attack damage. What they lack in stats, they make up for in skills.

These girls can Charm, Kill or Stop you with 100 percent accuracy at any given time if you're not wearing the right gear. Chances are that you won't be prepared for your fight against them if you haven't read FAQs in advance. It's not hard to figure out what to do when you've got them scouted but in terms of surprise butt-kicks, they're among the very best.

6. Mike Tyson (Mike Tyson's Punch Out)- His voice in real life sounds cute and he'll even give you a wink or two in the game, but be careful because that doesn't mean he likes you. The wink is actually a sign that your world is about to end with a right hook that floors you faster than you can say "don't bite my ear."