Top 8 Most Memorable Mario Boss Fights

BOWSER – SUPER MARIO 64

Super Mario 64 was the first Mario game to utilize three-dimensional (3D) graphics, which also means that this was the first game to feature a boss fight in a 3D space with the beloved villain that is Bowser. There was such a strong lead-up to this final fight in Super Mario 64. The entrance to Bowser’s ‘”lair” was at the end of a long, long hallway that wouldn’t let you pass through unless you had a certain number of stars. If you didn’t have the required number, Mario would fall through the floor and get pushed back to the front entrance.

Once you get into Bowser’s stage, this is the moment when all of your platforming skills get put to the test. You’ll far-jump, triple-jump, and get through the fiery lava pits to finally reach the Turtle King, Bowser. The big arena is the final face-off between Mario and the monster that kidnapped the beloved Princess Peach. The battle has Mario running behind Bowser and grabbing his pointy little tail, by which he then proceeds to spin Bowser around in a circle attempting to toss his butt into one of the spiky explosive bombs that lie around the edges of the arena (smart design choice, Bowser).

Once you get three hits in, the battle is over and the residents of the Mushroom Kingdom get back to their happy little lives. What makes this Bowser battle in Super Mario 64 so memorable is not the actual fight itself but the entire sequence of events that happen leading up to it.

 HOOKTAIL – PAPER MARIO: THE THOUSAND-YEAR DOOR

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door had tons and tons of boss fights as well as dozens of hours of gameplay. Hooktail is one of the early bosses that Mario faces in the game, and she doesn’t play around. Hooktail had been terrorizing the town of Petalburg as well as actually eating the residents of the town who attempted to slay her. She’s not super strong at the beginning of the battle but once Mario whittles her health down, that’s when things get crazy – especially for a Mario game.

All of the battles in Paper Mario are fought on a stage and there are always audience members watching the fights go on who will sometimes cheer Mario on and even throw some items his way. The people in the crowd range from Bowser’s minions to Toads to other citizens of the world. Once Hooktail is on the ropes, she speaks to Mario and offers him 1,000 coins or a really rare badge for her trust. She also asks if he would like to smell her feet, claiming that people pay good money to do this. All of the options turn out to be traps that leads Hooktail to jump off the stage and then proceed to start gobbling up the audience to gain health. Crazy, right?

The rest of the battle finishes up in the aisles and Mario finds a man trapped inside Hooktail’s stomach who was apparently hiding and never properly digested. This dragon will forever live on as the dragon who swallowed a Koopa’s father and was slayed by a mustachioed plumber.

BOULDERGEIST – SUPER MARIO GALAXY

The final boss of the ghostly galaxy stage in Super Mario Galaxy is no joke. Bouldergeist is a huge rock formation that just so happens to be an evil spirit that has control over two huge fists and black Boo’s. He can throw rocks, make spikes shoot out from the ground, and just really mess with your space adventures. He does have one weakness that makes this fight especially fun – you can grab the Boo’s from their red tongues and swing them around like a barbarian to knock off the Bouldergeist’s protective armor, leaving him open to an attack from Nintendo’s mustachioed hero. Not only does he have a really cool design that hasn’t been seen in the Mario universe before, but the boss battle can be quite tricky to beat during a Daredevil run, which tasks you with defeating bosses with one life point.

BOWSER AND BOWSER JR. – NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. DS

You thought fighting Bowser on his own was tough? Well, think again. At the end of New Super Mario Bros. DS, you end up fighting not only Bowser Jr., but his big daddy Bowser joins the party as well. Mario gets through the last stage of the game to finally reach his Princess but Bowser Jr. is there waiting for him, waiting to unleash his final trap. Throwing the bones of his father into a big ol’ cauldron causes Bowser to come back to life for one more fight. Trying to avoid Bowser’s fire attacks while also jumping over Jr’s shell spin move is a task that requires quick thinking and fast reflexes. But once Jr. is gone, it’s all smooth sailing from there – running under Bowser as he super-jumps into the air is the last thing to do to finally get Peach back from his clutches. Fighting two turtle/dragon baddies in a lava-filled castle makes for a great ending to a pretty great DS game.

 SMITHY – SUPER MARIO RPG: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN STARS

This strange collaboration between Nintendo and Square made for an epic adventure that paired Mario with his fellow Mushroom Kingdom buddies, even Bowser, to defeat the final boss, Smithy, and ultimately save the world. Smithy is the worst kind of guy simply because he wants to rid the world of wishes and fill it with nothing but weapons. He’s the leader of the Smithy gang but he somehow resembles an evil version of Santa Claus.

During the final battle, Smithy uses a variety of very powerful physical and magical attacks that range from sledgehammers, to guns, to meteor showers. Eventually, the floor collapses – leaving Mario and the gang falling into a graveyard that has tons of creepy robot heads in it. Smithy gets even more upset and powerful as the battle continues, causing him to change forms that give him specific stat boosts, making him extremely tough to finish off, but leaves players experiencing one of the most satisfying endings to a Mario game.

ELDER PRINCESS SHROOB – MARIO & LUIGI: PARTNERS IN TIME

Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time brings Mario and Luigi together again, but this time with their baby selves. Even having these four heroes together would still make the final boss fight hard as heck. The Elder Princess Shroob is the true main antagonist of the game and she just wants to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom, and will stop at nothing to accomplish her goal.

You better have a whole lot of copy flowers and red shells, because this purple shroob princess is no pushover. She has tons of health and requires players to be extremely precise when it comes attacking and dodging. One wrong move, and this fight can be over quite quickly. Not only will she attack you herself, but she commands a fleet of U.F.O.’s that will drop down from the top screen and crash right on top of the Bros. She can also use the U.F.O.’s to heal herself, which is never a good sign in an RPG. As the battle comes to a close, she’ll change into her huge final form that is just really ugly. This long showdown will eventually come to a close and mark the end of Partners in Time.

BOWSER JR. – SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2

Bowser Jr. continues to follow in his fathers footsteps by trying to take down Mario and make Bowser the happiest dad ever. Bowser Jr.’s Boomsday Machine is a new invention that is meant to stop Mario from collecting yet another Star, built with a cockpit for Jr. to sit back and relax in. This machine is super tall and only gets bigger as Mario damages it. It shoots fireballs and fire ropes that aren’t fun to play double-dutch with at all! There are conveniently placed wind tunnels that let Mario use his cloud ability to get to the top of the machine and perform his famous ground-pound move over the cockpit, bothering Jr. in the process. This boss battle is insanely fun and hectic at the same time. While damaging the machine isn’t too difficult, it’s always a good time when you get to make Bowser Jr. cry. 

PHANTAMANTA – SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE

Super Mario Sunshine is a game that is not shy of having pretty tropical themed boss fights. One of those boss fights just happens to be an electrified, ghostly version of a manta ray that is appropriately named ‘Phantamanta.’ He approaches Mario as soon as he is about to enter a haunted hotel which makes this level even more creepy. He’s covered the front of the hotel with this disgusting, neon goop that our favorite plumber has to clean up while defeating Phantamanta. Spraying it with water causes it to divide into mini Phantamanta’s, which is just a big messy nightmare.

This is where Mario’s water jetpack comes in handy; using FLUDD, you must literally spray everywhere until the goop is gone while dodging all of the electric creatures that are always coming after you. It’ll take a minute to get the hang of it, but this fight against Phantamanta is really unique and very much utilizes the water, jet-pack gimmick of Super Mario Sunshine, making it one of the most memorable boss encounters in the entire franchise.