Wednesday, November 22, 2006
new super mario bros ds boss faq
New Super Mario Bros. Boss Guide - Version 1.02 (7/30/06)Author: Matt SokolEmail: WlokosFAQ@hotmail.comAIM: Wlokos7
All information in this guide has been confirmed by multiple playthroughs ofeach boss, by me. If you notice any incorrect information, let me know.
BASICS
Welcome to this New Super Mario Bros. boss guide. The purpose of this guide,as you can probably guess, is to provide information about and strategies todefeat each of the bosses in the game. There are a few things that you shouldknow before you read any further, though. This guide's mostly selfexplanatory, so there's no need for an explanation of the format. However,rather than mention techniques such as stomping on bosses or using megamushrooms in every single boss's strategy, I'm going to explain them quicklyhere.
Stomping: In NSMB, similarly to some past Mario Bros games, Mario can stomp onthe ground from above for extra force. By using this stomp, you can do twiceas much damage to a boss as one jump would accomplish. I've written this guideassuming that you're going to jump on the bosses, for the sake of simplicity.I highly suggest, however, that you instead stomp on them all. If you do that,you'll only need to get two hits to kill each one. Don't stomp on the firsthit, though. Stomp on the second hit. This way, you avoid the extraspeed/attacks that some bosses gain when they only need one more hit to die.
Mega Mushrooms: Mega Mushrooms are the mushrooms that make Mario grow huge, tothe point of being able to destroy pipes and end of level flags. They alsomake him much stronger than any boss in the game, including the last one. Ifyou don't want to have to deal with a certain boss, just get a mega mushroom inyour item storage slot. Using the mushroom will allow you to jump on and killanything with one hit.
Fireballs / Jumps: I'll tell you how to kill each boss both by jumping and byusing fireballs. Each boss dies after a certain amount of fireballs; one thirdof that amount is how many it takes to register one hit. If you do one hit'sworth of them, then start jumping, it'll only take two jumps to kill the boss.---Without any further ado, here's the guide:---World 1 Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Difficulty: 1/10
Tactics: Run towards you / Hide in shell.
Remember those miniboss koopas from Super Mario Bros. 3? This is the exactsame thing. When the battle starts up, he'll start running towards you. Justjump on his head, then wait a second while he dives into his shell. After hegets back up and starts running again, jump on him again. He'll return to hisshell once more, before getting back out and starting to run for the last time.This time, he runs faster, but it still shouldn't be an issue for you - jump onhis head again, and you win.
Alternative method: You can also kill him as fire mario by shooting 9fireballs at him. Each 3 fireballs that he's hit with is the equivalent of 1jump on his head, so after 6 fireballs he'll start to run faster. If you wantto kill him with fireballs, it's incredibly easy - as soon as you get into theroom, start shooting fireballs right at him, as fast as possible. You don'thave to even move, he'll die before he reaches you.
If you've got a blue shell, you can slide into Bowser Jr. and he'll be knockedon his back, making it easy for you to jump on him and hurt him. This'll workfor all Bowser Jr. fights in the game.
One last thing: When you jump on him and he hides in his shell, don't try totime a jump to land on him just as he's emerging from the shell. He will notleave his shell if you're above him, so you'll only end up hurting yourself.
SUMMARY:
-Jump on him three times.-Stay away when he's hiding in his shell. ---World 1 Castle:
Boss: Bowser
Difficulty: 4/10
Tactics: Walk towards you, Spit fire/jump, and run towards you (once you'vegotten behind him).
The first miniboss was from SMB3, and now the first boss is from the very firstSuper Mario Bros. game. You probably figured that out as soon as you ran intothe boss area for this one. Anyway, this is another easy one. If you've atleast got mushroom power, this is an incredibly easy boss - you can just runright through him, take the damage and hit the switch. However, let's assumethat you're small mario or just don't want to take the damage. This bowser'sgoing to do three things: Walk towards you, spit fire at you, and jump.Sometimes he'll combine the jumping and the fire-spitting, so watch out. Whatyou should do is jump onto that platform that's on the left side of the screen,and let him come close to you. Once he gets near, jump right over him(preferrably when the platform you're on is towards the top of the screen), butbe sure to do it when he isn't about to jump up into the air. Once you'vegotten past him, he'll start to run at you at full speed, so hit that switch asfast as you can. After you hit the switch, you win!
Alternative method: You can kill bowser with fireballs, too. I think it mightactually be easier this way, but it's pretty tough to keep Mario with firepower all the way into the boss room. If you do, though, you can just keephitting y until Bowser dies, and he won't reach you in time to do any damage.Bowser, just like Bowser Jr., only takes 9 fireballs to kill.
Summary:
-Wait on the platform.-Jump over him when he gets close.-Watch out for his jump.-If you're fire Mario, just shoot fireballs as fast as you can.---World 2 Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Difficulty: 2/10
Tactics: Run towards you / Hide in shell.
This is the same thing as the first miniboss. The only real difference in thestage: Rather than being a normal room, this time you're on a long platformabove quicksand. It's possible to run off of either edge into the quicksand,so be careful. Even if you fall, though, you can jump back out and onto theplatform, so it's not a huge issue. Just follow the same advice as last time.Three jumps on his head, and he's gone.
Alternative method: Just like the first battle with Bowser Jr., you only need9 fireballs to kill him. If you're fire Mario, you can shoot fireballs as fastas possible from the very start of the fight, and he'll die just before he cantouch you. This is the easiest method to kill him, but both methods present noreal challenge.
Summary
-Stay on platform-Jump on head three times---WORLD 2 Castle:
BOSS: Mummy Pokey
Difficulty: 5/10
Tactics - Spit rock / Dive underground
Finally, the first boss that isn't the same as a fight from a previous game.This time, you're up against a mummified Sand Pokey guy. He's not toodifficult, but it's a step up from the first few bosses, so be prepared. Whenyou start out, stay to the left. Don't try to hurt him when he's at fullheight. Sure, it's possible, (you can use a wall jump to get high enough), butit's much harder to jump on him when he's that tall. He'll spit a rock at you.Jump to dodge it, then wait for him to dive underground. When he comes back upabove ground, he should only be half as tall as he was. Now's your chance!Run up to him, and jump on his head. He'll dive back down. Be sure to watchfor the dirt that shoots up where he's about to appear - get to the side of thescreen that's furthest from that. He'll be back at full height, so dodge thenext rock and keep waiting. Repeat this method until, after three hits, he'sdead. One thing to watch out for: Sometimes, he'll come up above the dirt,but only his head will be showing. Don't bother trying to jump on him whenthat happens, he'll be back underground too fast for you to get him.
Alternative method: If you're fire Mario, you can use fireballs to kill MummyPokey, but it's not nearly as easy as with the first three bosses. This time,you can't just stand and shoot them as fast as possible. It'll take 15 to killhim (5 = one hit), which gives him plenty of time to move around the stage andspit rocks at you. If you're going to try this method, start out by shootingas many fireballs as possible. You should get 4 or 5 in before you have tojump to dodge a rock. After that, he'll dive underground. Just stay to theleft of the screen and wait for him to re-emerge. As soon as he does, startshooting fireballs at him. Jump over the next rock he spits, and keeprepeating the process until, 15 fireballs later, you win. It's not too tough,but it might be easier to try the normal method.
Summary:
-Jump on head when it's at half height.-Jump over rocks.-Keep your distance.---World 3 Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Difficulty: 2/10
Tactics: Run at you / Hide in shell.
This is the exact same battle as the World 2 fortress. The only difference isthat, rather than your platform being above sand, it's above water. If youfall into the water, just jump right back out. You may have trouble not takinga hit when getting back onto the main platform, though, so avoid jumping intothe water if you can. Jump on his head three times or hit him with 9 fireballsto win. If you need a more detailed explanation, refer back to the Bowser Jr.boss of world 1 and 2.
Summary:-Jump on his head three times.-Stay away when he's hiding in his shell.---World 3 Castle:
Boss: Cheepskipper
Difficulty: 5/10
Tactics: Swim / Jump
This boss is a giant purple cheep-cheep. You're on a platform above water,where he and normal cheep-cheeps are swimming around. Occasionally, they'lljump up above the platform. When they do, that's your chance to strike. Feelfree to attack the normal sized cheep-cheeps if you want, but there's no need.Wait for the boss to jump up (you'll know he's about to, because he dips downin the water for a moment beforehand), then jump as he's leaving the water. Ifyou time it right, you can land right on his head as he comes up above thebridge. He'll go away for a second, then return to the water below. When hejumps again, so do you, and after another two hits, you win. The challenge tothis one is avoiding the small cheep-cheeps, which can be tricky. It may takea few tries, but you'll be able to beat this boss without too much hassle.
Alternate method: There is none. Don't even think about trying to use firepower to kill this guy. It's not going to happen. I spent a while trying tofind out how many fireballs it'd take, but I couldn't do it. If anybody hasthat info, feel free to IM it to me and I'll credit you for it.
Update: He takes 9 hits to kill. Thanks to HaXXeR for the info.
What? You really want an alternate method? Well, you can always go for theblue shell method. Turn into Shell-Mario, and as soon as the battle begins,gain enough momentum to start sliding in the shell. Just keep sliding until,eventually, you get lucky and hit Cheepskipper. Repeat two more times, and youwin. This is actually easier than the normal method, so I'd suggest it ifyou've got a blue shell.
Summary:-Avoid the normal cheep-cheeps.-When Cheepskipper jumps, jump on his head.-Mario + Blue Shell = Instant Win---World 4 Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Difficulty: 4/10
Tactics: Run / Hide in shell / Throw shell.
You enter the boss room, to find the same basic platform setup as the lastthree bosses. Bowser Jr. runs at you, and you jump onto him.. Only this time,he hides in his shell as you're falling. You die. :(
Yeah, this boss is different from the last three Bowser Jr. fights. It'sharder, but not too much harder. When it starts out, he'll run at you likebefore, and then hide in his shell when he gets close. You should just jumpover him and run to the other side of the platform. Do that until, after he'shidden in his shell twice, and then he'll throw a koopa shell at you. Whenthat happens, jump on the shell to stop it. Hold B to grab the shell, andthrow it at him. He'll be knocked on his back, and now's your chance tostrike. Jump on him. He'll go back into his shell, then get back up, and thewhole thing repeats. If you haven't read my introduction section on stompingon the bosses, I suggest you look at it now, because it's pretty useful here.
Alternate method: This time, he may be using different tactics, but Bowser Jr.still only takes 9 fireballs to kill. However, because of the fact that he'lldive into his shell too quickly, you can't just shoot as fast as possible fromthe start of the fight to win. Shoot 2 or 3 fireballs, jump over him, shoot afew more, and keep going until he's dead. Remember, he'll throw a shell afterhiding in his own shell twice, so be sure to dodge it.
Summary:-Don't jump on him right away.-Toss his shells back at him.-Jump (or stomp) when he's on his back.---World 4 Castle:
Boss: Giant Goomba
Difficulty: 5/10
Tactics: Walk / Run
The boss is, as you'd expect by the name, a very large goomba. That's allthere is to it. At first, all he does is walk towards you. After two hits,he'll start to run around. That's the full extent of his attacking power.With that said, there's two ways to go about beating this guy: The wayNintendo intended for it to beaten, and the easier way. The first way workslike this: Run away from the goomba, towards a wall. When he gets near, use awall jump to jump over him, and hit the switch. Two green platforms willappear, one on each side of the screen. Step on one, let it being you up intothe air, and then jump onto the goomba's head. You'll bounce off with a normaljump, so you've got to use a stomp. He'll get squashed, you'll bounce off, andby the time you've got a chance to hit him again, the platforms are gone. Hitthe switch again, stomp on him again, he's hurt again. The last hit will bethe same, except he's running now, which makes it a bit harder. That's how they expected you to do it, it seems. However, there's anotherway that makes a lot more sense. You'll start out the same way; run to aside, and wall jump above him when he gets close. However, rather than walljumping all the way over him, just stomp on his head instead. It makes muchmore sense to do it that way than to jump over him to get to the switch,doesn't it? Three hits, and he's dead.
Alternate method: He'll take 27 fireballs to kill. You can just stand in thelefthand corner of the screen and shoot fireballs until he dies, and he'llnever hit you. Thanks to Jonoman Loewen for that strategy.
Summary:-His attack list: Walking!-Wall jump over him, then stomp on his head.-Don't bother with fireballs---World 5 Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Difficulty: 5/10
Tactics: Run towards you / Hide in shell / Jump around.
We're back to the original Bowser Jr. strategy, no koopa shells involved. Ofcourse, the difficulty's 5/10, so something's got to be different, right?Right. The room that you're fighting in is basically the same type of room asthe last few. You're on the main floor, with two holes on each side. However,this time, there's no floor under your main one. Plus, the stage you're on ispure ice. If you run too fast, you'll slide right off. At first, this seemslike it's going to be very annoying. However, it's not so bad. Stand whereyou are when the battle starts, and Bowser Jr. will run towards you. When hegets close, jump. If you time your jump well, you'll land right on him. Afteryou land back onto the ground, be sure to move to the right to avoid being hurtby his shell. Be careful that you don't slide off of the stage, though. Whenhe's back to running around, let him come to you and jump on him again. Thelast time's a bit trickier, because he starts jumping around. You'll want torun underneath him once, taking care not to run too fast, then jump on him whenhe runs at you.
Alternate method: It'll take 9 fireballs, as per the usual. Now that we'reback to Bowser Jr.'s usual tactics, you can start shooting as soon as you hitthe ground, and you'll win before he reaches you.
Summary:-Be careful on the ice.-Three hits, as usual.---World 5 Castle:
Boss: Petey Piranha
Difficulty: 6/10
Tactics: Fly / Slam into ground / Jump around.
It's Petey Piranha, from Super Mario Sunshine! Luckily, he's not nearly asannoying as when we last had to deal with him. Run into the room, and wait forthe fight to begin. When it does, he'll fly up into air and start moving fromside to side. Run in the opposite direction that he moves, so that you'realways as far from him as possible Eventually, he'll slam down into theground. As long as you've been staying away from him, he shouldn't hit you,but if he's going to land where you are, you'd better get out of the way fast.Once he hits the ground, he'll fall onto his back, which is your cue to jump onhim. Once you do that, he'll fly back into the air. Continue to run to theside of the room he's not on until he slams back down into the ground. Again,he'll fall on his back, and again you jump on him. As soon as you do, run asfar away from him as possible. This time, when he gets up, he won't fly.Instead, he starts jumping up and down, moving from one wall to the other andback. Stand up against a wall, and as he gets close, run under him when he'sin the air. Once he starts to fly again, it's the same thing as before. Waituntil he's on the ground, and jump on him for the last time.
Alternate method: Unlike a lot of the non-Bowser Jr. bosses, Petey only takes 9fireballs to kill. As soon as the fight starts, shoot a fireball or two, thenstart running away from him until he hits the ground. Once he does, go back toshooting. It'll take at least 2 rounds of flying/ground cycles before you killhim, because you don't get enough time to hit him with many fireballs beforehe's back into the air. I think that it's easier just to jump on him, althoughit's nice to not have to deal with him jumping around after two hits (assumingyou get the last few fireballs in a row). Either way, it should only take youa few tries to beat this boss.
Summary:-Stay away while he's in the air.-Once he's on the ground, jump on him.-Be very careful when he starts jumping---World 6, First Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Difficulty: 3/10
Tactics: Run at you / Hide In shell.
This is exactly like all the other Bowser Jr. fights, but now you're on aplatform that tilts from side to side as you run around. There's reallynothing new to say, other than to be careful to not fall off of the edge. Trynot to move too much, and just jump on his head when he approaches. Threehits, and he's defeated yet again. You'd think that he'd just give up by now,wouldn't you?
Alternate method: 9 fireballs, as always. Start shooting as soon as possible,and you'll win before he hits you. No new surprises for you to worry about.
Summary:-Avoid running, you'll fall off the platform-Jump on his head three times---World 6, Second Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Difficulty: 4/10
Tactics: Run at you / Hide in shell / Throw koopa shell.
This is my seventh Bowser Jr. strategy write-up, and I'm getting quite tiredof them. I'm sure you are, too. At any rate, this is the same as the firstfortress, stage-wise. The difference is that now Bowser's back to his koopashell tossing ways, along with ducking into his own shell if you try to jump onhim. Just like the other times he's tried these techniques, you've just got tojump over him when he slides at you under his shell, until he throws a koopashell at you. Jump on it, grab it, throw it at him. He'll fall on his back,and you can jump on him. Do that three times, and he's gone. It's no harderthan any of the other times.
Alternate method: 9 fireballs'll kill him again. Start shooting as soon asthe battle starts, and when he gets close, jump over him. Run to the otherside of the platform, and start shooting again. Keep doing that, along withdodging any koopa shells he throws, until he's dead.
Summary:-Don't try to jump on him at first.-Throw his koopa shells back at him.-Jump on him when he's on his back.---World 6 Castle.
Boss: Monty Mole + Tank
Tactics: Move around / Shoot bullets / Spin rapidly / Throw bomb-ombs.
Difficulty: 6/10
This can be really easy, but it can also be really frustrating. Basically,here's how it works. When the fight starts out, Monty's in his tank, andthere's no way for you to hurt him. He'll shoot a bullet bill or two, whichyou should just jump on/over. It shouldn't be too long before he sticks hishead out of the top of the tank to throw a bomb-omb at you. Now's your chance- quickly, before he can throw it, jump right on him. He'll take damage andfall back into his tank. After that, the tank will spin around, moving fromside to side, shooting bullet-bills everywhere. Just run to the left corner ofthe room and duck, and you'll dodge all of the attacks. After he's donespinning around, continue dodging bullets until hedecides to poke his head out of the tank again. Once again, jump up onto thetop of the tank, and onto his head. He'll dive back into his tank, and yetanother cannon will grow onto the top of it. It'll do the spinning/shootingthing again, but now that it's got three cannons, it's very annoying. Try tobounce off of a bullet bill, because they'll send you pretty far into the airand you can miss a little of the attack. Other than that, just keep trying tojump over/onto those bullet bills and eventually it'll stop. He'll return tohis slow shooting method, and when he gets back out of the tank, you can hithim the last time. You'll probably want to use a bullet bill to propell youabove the tank for the last hit, because it's a bit tougher to reach him thattime. (Thanks to Thaer J. for info on dodging the spinning/bullet shootingattack)
Alternate method: You can kill him using his own bomb-ombs, if you try. It'svery difficult, though, especially when there are three cannons. I don't havea strategy for this method yet, as I haven't personally done it. I'll try toadd one in a future update, though. (Thanks to Thaer J. for this info)
Other things of note: Don't stand on top of the tank when he's inside. If youdo that, rather than him getting out to throw a bomb-omb, the tank will do thatspinning/shooting attack that it normally does after being hit.
Summary:-Be ready for an onslaught of bullets each time you hit him.-Wait until he pops his head above the tank before trying to get him.-Dodge those bullet bills!---Ignore this sentence. This is an anti-plagiarism thing, in case somebody triesto steal the whole guide without giving me credit. This guide was written byWlokos, of the GameFAQs message boards.---World 7 Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Tactics: Run at you / Hide in shell / Throw Koopa shells.
Difficulty: 4/10
The platform's moving, this time, but it doesn't really matter. There's enoughspace to fall off either side if you're not careful, but that's all you have towatch out for. Bowser Jr. will run at you, so jump over him. He'll hide inhis shell when he's nearby, so don't try to jump onto him yet. It shouldn'ttake too long before he stops running around and throws a koopa shell at you.When that happens, jump on it and throw it at him. He'll be knocked onto hisback, and you can jump on him to do some damage. He'll go back into his shell,then come out and repeat the process. Do it two more times (he runs faster thelast time), and you win. You're almost done with these Bowser Jr. fights,don't worry.
Summary:-Wait for him to throw a koopa shell-Throw it back at him-Hit him when he's down---World 7 Castle:
Boss: Lakithunder
Tactics: Fly above you / Shoot lightning / Throw spinys / Swoop down.
Difficulty: 6/10
This boss is a Lakitu, but as you probably guessed from the title, this one'sgot lightning powers. The key to this fight is to keep moving. The only timeyou should stop running around is when he's swooping towards the ground. Otherthan that, the one thing that will help you with dodging everything - thespinys he throws, the lightning he shoots - is to not stop moving. When thebattle starts, he'll immediately swoop towards the ground. Jump so that youland on his head as he passes underneath you. He'll fly up into the air andthrow two spinies at you. Run out of their path as they fall, using a walljump if needed to avoid them. Now, if you're lucky, they'll fall into one ofthe two holes in the stage pretty quickly, but if not, be sure to watch out forthem as the battle continues, as they'll be walking around for a little while.After all that, he'll swoop down again. Try to jump on him on the first swoop,because if you don't, he might throw more spinies at you. After the secondhit, he'll start to shoot lightning at you. The lightning shoots straight downfrom him towards the ground, so keep moving away from him to avoid beingdirectly undernearth him when he's shooting lightning. Try to avoid goingagainst the walls though, as he might trap you. After he's done threelightning attacks, he'll swoop down again. Jump on him for the third time toend the fight. If you miss on the swoop, he might swoop again, but he alsomight shoot lightning or throw spinies, so try to get him on the first one.
Alternate method: I know that I said this for world 6, too, but there's notreally a way to kill him with fire. I tried for a while, but if you hit hiscloud, it doesn't hurt him, and the only way to hit his body is to line up yourjump so that you land on his head. If anybody has a good strategy for thismethod, feel free to email it to me and I'll give you credit.
Extra note: If you're fire mario, you can kill those spinies with yourfireballs. It's a small advantage, but it does help.
Lakithunder is the only boss in the game that you cannot kill with a megamushroom. He's too tall to be jumped on when you're giant mario. Thanks toGroudon199 for the info.
Summary:-Hit him on the first swoop as much as possible.-Motion is key-Stay away from the walls.---World 8, First Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Tactics: Run at you / Hide in shell / Throw koopa shell.
Difficulty: 6/10
It's Bowser Jr. again, but this time it's quite a bit more difficult thanbefore. The stage is what makes it hard. You're on a small platform, with twomoving platforms on either side, but fire constantly shoots up, blocking themfrom you. Here's what you do: Stand there, and wait for him to dive into hisshell, sliding towards you. As he does that, jump over him, landing on theother side of the small platform. You're going to want to avoid the movingplatforms, as they're more likely to make it harder for you to avoid fallingthan they are to help you avoid Bowser Jr. After a jump or two, he'll throw ashell at you. Jump on it, and knock it back towards him. Once he's on hisback, jump on him, then get back to a side of the platform. He'll run back atyou, and you jump again. After the next shell, he'll start to run faster.Also, he might jump - if he does, be sure to run underneath him. After hethrows the next shell, knock it back at him and jump on him for the win.
Alternate method: He takes nine fireballs. Shoot at him until he dives intohis shell, then jump over him and onto the other side of the platform. Dodgethe koopa shell, and shoot some more until he slides back at you. After threeor four rounds of shooting, he'll be dead. You're probably going to have aneasier time using this method if you can.
Extra note: Because of the moving platforms, when you jump over a koopa shell,it could bounce off of the wall behind you and come back. Watch out for that,and jump over it again if it does.
Summary:-This room'll make the fight harder.-Hit him with his own koopa shells.-Jump on him three times.---World 8, First Castle:
Boss: Skeleton Bowser
Tactics: Walk/Run / Throw Bones / Jump / Spit Fire
Difficulty: As small Mario: 7/10 As big Mario: 1/10
This is the same as the first world's boss, except that he can throw bones nowand you don't get an extra platform to stand on. If you're big mario, just runthrough him, take the hit, and jump on the switch for an incredibly easy win.If you're small Mario, then unfortunately you're going to have a much moredifficult job. Stay to the left of the screen, and wait while he does somefire attacks and bone throwing. You've now got two options. One is to try tofind an opening in between attacks and do a running jump over his head (andthen another jump onto the switch). A second method is to get as close to himas you can without dying, so that when he jumps, you can run right underneathhim and then to the switch. I personally prefer method 2, but either wayworks. It may take a few tries, because there's a lot of luck involved - ifyou're about to jump over him, and he decides to do a jump at the last second,you're dead. Just keep trying, and eventually you'll get it. Of course,there's two power-up blocks in the very last portion of the fortress, after theflag, so you'll probably have an easier time just getting at least one of thoseso you can run right through him.
Alternate method: Nope. He's immune to fire now. Sorry.
Summary:-If you're big, run through him.-Stay back until you're ready to go for the switch.-Run under him when he jumps or running jump over him when he's not attacking-Fireballs aren't going to work this time.---World 8, Second Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Tactics: Run / Hide in shell / Throw Koopa shell / Jump.
Difficulty: 5/10
This is it. The last solo Bower Jr. fight in the game. It's about time, I'mtired of writing up the same old strategies for each one. At any rate, this iseasier than the last fight. You're on a medium sized platform, and fireballsshoot up and down through the holes on the side. Bowser Jr.'ll run towardsyou, then slide at you in his shell, so jump over him and get on the other sideof the platform. He'll throw a koopa shell at you, which you should jump onand and throw back at him. Jump on him, and then get back to the other side ofthe platform. He'll either throw another shell or run at you again. Jump overhim if he does run, then jump on/throw back the next shell he tosses. Afteryou've jumped on him for the second time, get as far away as possible from him.If he jumps, wait until he's near you and almost at the ground, then jump overhim. If he runs, just jump over him like usual. If he throws a shell, stop itand kick it at him. Once he's on back for the last time, you get to do thefinal hit. Congratulations, you've defeated the last miniboss. You're almostdone.
Alternative method: It may be the final miniboss, but it still only takes 9fireballs. Shoot a few at him, jump over him when he slides at you in hisshell, then turn around and finish him off with a few more fireballs to win thematch.
Summary:-Just like all the others.-Stay away from those fireballs on either side of the screen.-Kick his shells back.-Jump on him 3 times.---World 8, Final Castle:
Boss: Bowser + Bowser Jr.
Tactics: Bowser Jr.: Run / Hide in shell / Throw koopa shell. Bowser: Spitblue flame / Spit several red flames / Spit several blue flames / Jump.
Difficulty: 9/10
Here we are. The final boss fight. Unlike most of the other bosses in thegame, this one can provide a decent challenge. Still, if you're the sort ofperson who plays a ton of videogames, this'll seem a bit too easy. At anyrate, this battle has two parts: Defeating Bowser. Jr., and then actuallydefeating Bowser himself. Don't bother trying to run through Bowser to hit theswitch, because you'll just fly back when you hit him, and also take damage.As soon as the fight starts, run all the way to the left of the screen. BowserJr. uses his hide in shell / throw shells at you technique, so do what you'vebeen doing for a large portion of the miniboss fights. Let him run towardsyou, jump over him when he gets too close, and when he throws a koopa shell atyou, jump on it. Kick it back at him, and then jump on him. Repeat thatprocess, kicking another shell at him and hitting him again. He'll run fasterthe third time, but it's no big deal. Just wait for the shell, and kick it.Jump on him for the last time, and he's gone. I should note here that Bowser'sgoing to be spitting blue homing fire at you this whole time, but it's easy tododge because it moves so slow. If it goes over you, run under it, if it goesunder you, jump over it. If you stay towards the left side of the screen, itmay never reach you anyway. So, after you defeat Bowser Jr. for the absolutely last time in the game,it's on to your third and final confrontation with Bowser. After Jr.'s death,he gets angry. He'll spit five red fires at you, which you can dodge byjumping over the second one from the bottom and under the middle one, oncethey've had a chance to spread out a bit. For the blue fires, jump in betweenthe middle and top one when they're all as far apart from each other as theyget. When you do jump through either attack, run up reasonably close toBowser. If he starts to make the motion of jumping, start to run, so thatyou'll make it past him and can hit the switch. If he doesn't, run back to theleft side of the screen before you get hit with fire. Keep getting close tohim after each fire attack, and when he eventually does jump, you can get theswitch, and thereby defeat the final boss. Congratulations, you have nowbeaten New Super Mario Bros. Sit back and enjoy the credits.
Note: It's hard to distinguish the pre-jump motion and the fire motion. Ifyou start to run and then realize he's shooting fire, you should be able toturn around in time to avoid getting hurt.
Alternate method: If you really want to use fireballs to kill him, you can, butit's harder than the normal method. Start out by defeating Bowser Jr. Startshooting as soon as the fight begins, and you'll get in 4 or 5 shots before heslides at you in his shell. Run all the way to the left of the screen, thenshoot a few more to finish him off. With Bowser Jr. taken care of, now you getto face Bowser. He'll take a massive 30 fireballs to defeat, which is no smalltask. It doesn't help that his fire attacks block your own. Keep shooting asBowser Jr. dies, and don't stop until Bowser does a fire attack. No matterwhich one it is, jump through two of the flames (see above strategy forspecific dodge pattern), and start shooting him. Keep enough of a distance tobe able to dodge his attacks, but close enough to get be able to get hits inafter each one. I'd suggest staying around half a screen's length apart. Ifhe jumps, just keep shooting and wait for him to come down. This'll repeat fora while, until eventually you hit him for the 30th time. When that happens,he'll fall off of the screen, and you get 4000 points. Jump on the switch totrigger the end cutscene and win the game.
Summary:-Kill Bowser Jr. first.-Jump on Jr.'s koopa shells, throw them back at him.-Jump on Jr. when he's on his back.-Bowser'll start much stronger attacks when Jr. dies.-Jump in between the 2nd and 3rd flames of the blue flame attack.-Stay back until the spaces between flames are big enough to jump through forred attack.-When he jumps, run underneath him and hit the switch.-You win!---Well, that's it. I hope the guide was useful. Again, I'd appreciate youemailing any questions/comments/missing info you have to my email account, atWlokosFAQ@hotmail.com.---Special thanks to:Gamefaqs, for posting this guide.The FAQ writers' boards at the GameFAQs forum, for inspiring me to write this.BSulpher, because I looked up some boss names in his FAQ.And then myself, of course, for writing the whole thing.
If you want to upload this guide onto your site, please just send me an emailor IM me to ask for permission. I'll let just about anybody take it, as longas I get credit. As of 7/30/06, the following sites have permission to usethis guide:
www.gamefaqs.comwww.supercheats.com
All information in this guide has been confirmed by multiple playthroughs ofeach boss, by me. If you notice any incorrect information, let me know.
BASICS
Welcome to this New Super Mario Bros. boss guide. The purpose of this guide,as you can probably guess, is to provide information about and strategies todefeat each of the bosses in the game. There are a few things that you shouldknow before you read any further, though. This guide's mostly selfexplanatory, so there's no need for an explanation of the format. However,rather than mention techniques such as stomping on bosses or using megamushrooms in every single boss's strategy, I'm going to explain them quicklyhere.
Stomping: In NSMB, similarly to some past Mario Bros games, Mario can stomp onthe ground from above for extra force. By using this stomp, you can do twiceas much damage to a boss as one jump would accomplish. I've written this guideassuming that you're going to jump on the bosses, for the sake of simplicity.I highly suggest, however, that you instead stomp on them all. If you do that,you'll only need to get two hits to kill each one. Don't stomp on the firsthit, though. Stomp on the second hit. This way, you avoid the extraspeed/attacks that some bosses gain when they only need one more hit to die.
Mega Mushrooms: Mega Mushrooms are the mushrooms that make Mario grow huge, tothe point of being able to destroy pipes and end of level flags. They alsomake him much stronger than any boss in the game, including the last one. Ifyou don't want to have to deal with a certain boss, just get a mega mushroom inyour item storage slot. Using the mushroom will allow you to jump on and killanything with one hit.
Fireballs / Jumps: I'll tell you how to kill each boss both by jumping and byusing fireballs. Each boss dies after a certain amount of fireballs; one thirdof that amount is how many it takes to register one hit. If you do one hit'sworth of them, then start jumping, it'll only take two jumps to kill the boss.---Without any further ado, here's the guide:---World 1 Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Difficulty: 1/10
Tactics: Run towards you / Hide in shell.
Remember those miniboss koopas from Super Mario Bros. 3? This is the exactsame thing. When the battle starts up, he'll start running towards you. Justjump on his head, then wait a second while he dives into his shell. After hegets back up and starts running again, jump on him again. He'll return to hisshell once more, before getting back out and starting to run for the last time.This time, he runs faster, but it still shouldn't be an issue for you - jump onhis head again, and you win.
Alternative method: You can also kill him as fire mario by shooting 9fireballs at him. Each 3 fireballs that he's hit with is the equivalent of 1jump on his head, so after 6 fireballs he'll start to run faster. If you wantto kill him with fireballs, it's incredibly easy - as soon as you get into theroom, start shooting fireballs right at him, as fast as possible. You don'thave to even move, he'll die before he reaches you.
If you've got a blue shell, you can slide into Bowser Jr. and he'll be knockedon his back, making it easy for you to jump on him and hurt him. This'll workfor all Bowser Jr. fights in the game.
One last thing: When you jump on him and he hides in his shell, don't try totime a jump to land on him just as he's emerging from the shell. He will notleave his shell if you're above him, so you'll only end up hurting yourself.
SUMMARY:
-Jump on him three times.-Stay away when he's hiding in his shell. ---World 1 Castle:
Boss: Bowser
Difficulty: 4/10
Tactics: Walk towards you, Spit fire/jump, and run towards you (once you'vegotten behind him).
The first miniboss was from SMB3, and now the first boss is from the very firstSuper Mario Bros. game. You probably figured that out as soon as you ran intothe boss area for this one. Anyway, this is another easy one. If you've atleast got mushroom power, this is an incredibly easy boss - you can just runright through him, take the damage and hit the switch. However, let's assumethat you're small mario or just don't want to take the damage. This bowser'sgoing to do three things: Walk towards you, spit fire at you, and jump.Sometimes he'll combine the jumping and the fire-spitting, so watch out. Whatyou should do is jump onto that platform that's on the left side of the screen,and let him come close to you. Once he gets near, jump right over him(preferrably when the platform you're on is towards the top of the screen), butbe sure to do it when he isn't about to jump up into the air. Once you'vegotten past him, he'll start to run at you at full speed, so hit that switch asfast as you can. After you hit the switch, you win!
Alternative method: You can kill bowser with fireballs, too. I think it mightactually be easier this way, but it's pretty tough to keep Mario with firepower all the way into the boss room. If you do, though, you can just keephitting y until Bowser dies, and he won't reach you in time to do any damage.Bowser, just like Bowser Jr., only takes 9 fireballs to kill.
Summary:
-Wait on the platform.-Jump over him when he gets close.-Watch out for his jump.-If you're fire Mario, just shoot fireballs as fast as you can.---World 2 Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Difficulty: 2/10
Tactics: Run towards you / Hide in shell.
This is the same thing as the first miniboss. The only real difference in thestage: Rather than being a normal room, this time you're on a long platformabove quicksand. It's possible to run off of either edge into the quicksand,so be careful. Even if you fall, though, you can jump back out and onto theplatform, so it's not a huge issue. Just follow the same advice as last time.Three jumps on his head, and he's gone.
Alternative method: Just like the first battle with Bowser Jr., you only need9 fireballs to kill him. If you're fire Mario, you can shoot fireballs as fastas possible from the very start of the fight, and he'll die just before he cantouch you. This is the easiest method to kill him, but both methods present noreal challenge.
Summary
-Stay on platform-Jump on head three times---WORLD 2 Castle:
BOSS: Mummy Pokey
Difficulty: 5/10
Tactics - Spit rock / Dive underground
Finally, the first boss that isn't the same as a fight from a previous game.This time, you're up against a mummified Sand Pokey guy. He's not toodifficult, but it's a step up from the first few bosses, so be prepared. Whenyou start out, stay to the left. Don't try to hurt him when he's at fullheight. Sure, it's possible, (you can use a wall jump to get high enough), butit's much harder to jump on him when he's that tall. He'll spit a rock at you.Jump to dodge it, then wait for him to dive underground. When he comes back upabove ground, he should only be half as tall as he was. Now's your chance!Run up to him, and jump on his head. He'll dive back down. Be sure to watchfor the dirt that shoots up where he's about to appear - get to the side of thescreen that's furthest from that. He'll be back at full height, so dodge thenext rock and keep waiting. Repeat this method until, after three hits, he'sdead. One thing to watch out for: Sometimes, he'll come up above the dirt,but only his head will be showing. Don't bother trying to jump on him whenthat happens, he'll be back underground too fast for you to get him.
Alternative method: If you're fire Mario, you can use fireballs to kill MummyPokey, but it's not nearly as easy as with the first three bosses. This time,you can't just stand and shoot them as fast as possible. It'll take 15 to killhim (5 = one hit), which gives him plenty of time to move around the stage andspit rocks at you. If you're going to try this method, start out by shootingas many fireballs as possible. You should get 4 or 5 in before you have tojump to dodge a rock. After that, he'll dive underground. Just stay to theleft of the screen and wait for him to re-emerge. As soon as he does, startshooting fireballs at him. Jump over the next rock he spits, and keeprepeating the process until, 15 fireballs later, you win. It's not too tough,but it might be easier to try the normal method.
Summary:
-Jump on head when it's at half height.-Jump over rocks.-Keep your distance.---World 3 Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Difficulty: 2/10
Tactics: Run at you / Hide in shell.
This is the exact same battle as the World 2 fortress. The only difference isthat, rather than your platform being above sand, it's above water. If youfall into the water, just jump right back out. You may have trouble not takinga hit when getting back onto the main platform, though, so avoid jumping intothe water if you can. Jump on his head three times or hit him with 9 fireballsto win. If you need a more detailed explanation, refer back to the Bowser Jr.boss of world 1 and 2.
Summary:-Jump on his head three times.-Stay away when he's hiding in his shell.---World 3 Castle:
Boss: Cheepskipper
Difficulty: 5/10
Tactics: Swim / Jump
This boss is a giant purple cheep-cheep. You're on a platform above water,where he and normal cheep-cheeps are swimming around. Occasionally, they'lljump up above the platform. When they do, that's your chance to strike. Feelfree to attack the normal sized cheep-cheeps if you want, but there's no need.Wait for the boss to jump up (you'll know he's about to, because he dips downin the water for a moment beforehand), then jump as he's leaving the water. Ifyou time it right, you can land right on his head as he comes up above thebridge. He'll go away for a second, then return to the water below. When hejumps again, so do you, and after another two hits, you win. The challenge tothis one is avoiding the small cheep-cheeps, which can be tricky. It may takea few tries, but you'll be able to beat this boss without too much hassle.
Alternate method: There is none. Don't even think about trying to use firepower to kill this guy. It's not going to happen. I spent a while trying tofind out how many fireballs it'd take, but I couldn't do it. If anybody hasthat info, feel free to IM it to me and I'll credit you for it.
Update: He takes 9 hits to kill. Thanks to HaXXeR for the info.
What? You really want an alternate method? Well, you can always go for theblue shell method. Turn into Shell-Mario, and as soon as the battle begins,gain enough momentum to start sliding in the shell. Just keep sliding until,eventually, you get lucky and hit Cheepskipper. Repeat two more times, and youwin. This is actually easier than the normal method, so I'd suggest it ifyou've got a blue shell.
Summary:-Avoid the normal cheep-cheeps.-When Cheepskipper jumps, jump on his head.-Mario + Blue Shell = Instant Win---World 4 Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Difficulty: 4/10
Tactics: Run / Hide in shell / Throw shell.
You enter the boss room, to find the same basic platform setup as the lastthree bosses. Bowser Jr. runs at you, and you jump onto him.. Only this time,he hides in his shell as you're falling. You die. :(
Yeah, this boss is different from the last three Bowser Jr. fights. It'sharder, but not too much harder. When it starts out, he'll run at you likebefore, and then hide in his shell when he gets close. You should just jumpover him and run to the other side of the platform. Do that until, after he'shidden in his shell twice, and then he'll throw a koopa shell at you. Whenthat happens, jump on the shell to stop it. Hold B to grab the shell, andthrow it at him. He'll be knocked on his back, and now's your chance tostrike. Jump on him. He'll go back into his shell, then get back up, and thewhole thing repeats. If you haven't read my introduction section on stompingon the bosses, I suggest you look at it now, because it's pretty useful here.
Alternate method: This time, he may be using different tactics, but Bowser Jr.still only takes 9 fireballs to kill. However, because of the fact that he'lldive into his shell too quickly, you can't just shoot as fast as possible fromthe start of the fight to win. Shoot 2 or 3 fireballs, jump over him, shoot afew more, and keep going until he's dead. Remember, he'll throw a shell afterhiding in his own shell twice, so be sure to dodge it.
Summary:-Don't jump on him right away.-Toss his shells back at him.-Jump (or stomp) when he's on his back.---World 4 Castle:
Boss: Giant Goomba
Difficulty: 5/10
Tactics: Walk / Run
The boss is, as you'd expect by the name, a very large goomba. That's allthere is to it. At first, all he does is walk towards you. After two hits,he'll start to run around. That's the full extent of his attacking power.With that said, there's two ways to go about beating this guy: The wayNintendo intended for it to beaten, and the easier way. The first way workslike this: Run away from the goomba, towards a wall. When he gets near, use awall jump to jump over him, and hit the switch. Two green platforms willappear, one on each side of the screen. Step on one, let it being you up intothe air, and then jump onto the goomba's head. You'll bounce off with a normaljump, so you've got to use a stomp. He'll get squashed, you'll bounce off, andby the time you've got a chance to hit him again, the platforms are gone. Hitthe switch again, stomp on him again, he's hurt again. The last hit will bethe same, except he's running now, which makes it a bit harder. That's how they expected you to do it, it seems. However, there's anotherway that makes a lot more sense. You'll start out the same way; run to aside, and wall jump above him when he gets close. However, rather than walljumping all the way over him, just stomp on his head instead. It makes muchmore sense to do it that way than to jump over him to get to the switch,doesn't it? Three hits, and he's dead.
Alternate method: He'll take 27 fireballs to kill. You can just stand in thelefthand corner of the screen and shoot fireballs until he dies, and he'llnever hit you. Thanks to Jonoman Loewen for that strategy.
Summary:-His attack list: Walking!-Wall jump over him, then stomp on his head.-Don't bother with fireballs---World 5 Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Difficulty: 5/10
Tactics: Run towards you / Hide in shell / Jump around.
We're back to the original Bowser Jr. strategy, no koopa shells involved. Ofcourse, the difficulty's 5/10, so something's got to be different, right?Right. The room that you're fighting in is basically the same type of room asthe last few. You're on the main floor, with two holes on each side. However,this time, there's no floor under your main one. Plus, the stage you're on ispure ice. If you run too fast, you'll slide right off. At first, this seemslike it's going to be very annoying. However, it's not so bad. Stand whereyou are when the battle starts, and Bowser Jr. will run towards you. When hegets close, jump. If you time your jump well, you'll land right on him. Afteryou land back onto the ground, be sure to move to the right to avoid being hurtby his shell. Be careful that you don't slide off of the stage, though. Whenhe's back to running around, let him come to you and jump on him again. Thelast time's a bit trickier, because he starts jumping around. You'll want torun underneath him once, taking care not to run too fast, then jump on him whenhe runs at you.
Alternate method: It'll take 9 fireballs, as per the usual. Now that we'reback to Bowser Jr.'s usual tactics, you can start shooting as soon as you hitthe ground, and you'll win before he reaches you.
Summary:-Be careful on the ice.-Three hits, as usual.---World 5 Castle:
Boss: Petey Piranha
Difficulty: 6/10
Tactics: Fly / Slam into ground / Jump around.
It's Petey Piranha, from Super Mario Sunshine! Luckily, he's not nearly asannoying as when we last had to deal with him. Run into the room, and wait forthe fight to begin. When it does, he'll fly up into air and start moving fromside to side. Run in the opposite direction that he moves, so that you'realways as far from him as possible Eventually, he'll slam down into theground. As long as you've been staying away from him, he shouldn't hit you,but if he's going to land where you are, you'd better get out of the way fast.Once he hits the ground, he'll fall onto his back, which is your cue to jump onhim. Once you do that, he'll fly back into the air. Continue to run to theside of the room he's not on until he slams back down into the ground. Again,he'll fall on his back, and again you jump on him. As soon as you do, run asfar away from him as possible. This time, when he gets up, he won't fly.Instead, he starts jumping up and down, moving from one wall to the other andback. Stand up against a wall, and as he gets close, run under him when he'sin the air. Once he starts to fly again, it's the same thing as before. Waituntil he's on the ground, and jump on him for the last time.
Alternate method: Unlike a lot of the non-Bowser Jr. bosses, Petey only takes 9fireballs to kill. As soon as the fight starts, shoot a fireball or two, thenstart running away from him until he hits the ground. Once he does, go back toshooting. It'll take at least 2 rounds of flying/ground cycles before you killhim, because you don't get enough time to hit him with many fireballs beforehe's back into the air. I think that it's easier just to jump on him, althoughit's nice to not have to deal with him jumping around after two hits (assumingyou get the last few fireballs in a row). Either way, it should only take youa few tries to beat this boss.
Summary:-Stay away while he's in the air.-Once he's on the ground, jump on him.-Be very careful when he starts jumping---World 6, First Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Difficulty: 3/10
Tactics: Run at you / Hide In shell.
This is exactly like all the other Bowser Jr. fights, but now you're on aplatform that tilts from side to side as you run around. There's reallynothing new to say, other than to be careful to not fall off of the edge. Trynot to move too much, and just jump on his head when he approaches. Threehits, and he's defeated yet again. You'd think that he'd just give up by now,wouldn't you?
Alternate method: 9 fireballs, as always. Start shooting as soon as possible,and you'll win before he hits you. No new surprises for you to worry about.
Summary:-Avoid running, you'll fall off the platform-Jump on his head three times---World 6, Second Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Difficulty: 4/10
Tactics: Run at you / Hide in shell / Throw koopa shell.
This is my seventh Bowser Jr. strategy write-up, and I'm getting quite tiredof them. I'm sure you are, too. At any rate, this is the same as the firstfortress, stage-wise. The difference is that now Bowser's back to his koopashell tossing ways, along with ducking into his own shell if you try to jump onhim. Just like the other times he's tried these techniques, you've just got tojump over him when he slides at you under his shell, until he throws a koopashell at you. Jump on it, grab it, throw it at him. He'll fall on his back,and you can jump on him. Do that three times, and he's gone. It's no harderthan any of the other times.
Alternate method: 9 fireballs'll kill him again. Start shooting as soon asthe battle starts, and when he gets close, jump over him. Run to the otherside of the platform, and start shooting again. Keep doing that, along withdodging any koopa shells he throws, until he's dead.
Summary:-Don't try to jump on him at first.-Throw his koopa shells back at him.-Jump on him when he's on his back.---World 6 Castle.
Boss: Monty Mole + Tank
Tactics: Move around / Shoot bullets / Spin rapidly / Throw bomb-ombs.
Difficulty: 6/10
This can be really easy, but it can also be really frustrating. Basically,here's how it works. When the fight starts out, Monty's in his tank, andthere's no way for you to hurt him. He'll shoot a bullet bill or two, whichyou should just jump on/over. It shouldn't be too long before he sticks hishead out of the top of the tank to throw a bomb-omb at you. Now's your chance- quickly, before he can throw it, jump right on him. He'll take damage andfall back into his tank. After that, the tank will spin around, moving fromside to side, shooting bullet-bills everywhere. Just run to the left corner ofthe room and duck, and you'll dodge all of the attacks. After he's donespinning around, continue dodging bullets until hedecides to poke his head out of the tank again. Once again, jump up onto thetop of the tank, and onto his head. He'll dive back into his tank, and yetanother cannon will grow onto the top of it. It'll do the spinning/shootingthing again, but now that it's got three cannons, it's very annoying. Try tobounce off of a bullet bill, because they'll send you pretty far into the airand you can miss a little of the attack. Other than that, just keep trying tojump over/onto those bullet bills and eventually it'll stop. He'll return tohis slow shooting method, and when he gets back out of the tank, you can hithim the last time. You'll probably want to use a bullet bill to propell youabove the tank for the last hit, because it's a bit tougher to reach him thattime. (Thanks to Thaer J. for info on dodging the spinning/bullet shootingattack)
Alternate method: You can kill him using his own bomb-ombs, if you try. It'svery difficult, though, especially when there are three cannons. I don't havea strategy for this method yet, as I haven't personally done it. I'll try toadd one in a future update, though. (Thanks to Thaer J. for this info)
Other things of note: Don't stand on top of the tank when he's inside. If youdo that, rather than him getting out to throw a bomb-omb, the tank will do thatspinning/shooting attack that it normally does after being hit.
Summary:-Be ready for an onslaught of bullets each time you hit him.-Wait until he pops his head above the tank before trying to get him.-Dodge those bullet bills!---Ignore this sentence. This is an anti-plagiarism thing, in case somebody triesto steal the whole guide without giving me credit. This guide was written byWlokos, of the GameFAQs message boards.---World 7 Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Tactics: Run at you / Hide in shell / Throw Koopa shells.
Difficulty: 4/10
The platform's moving, this time, but it doesn't really matter. There's enoughspace to fall off either side if you're not careful, but that's all you have towatch out for. Bowser Jr. will run at you, so jump over him. He'll hide inhis shell when he's nearby, so don't try to jump onto him yet. It shouldn'ttake too long before he stops running around and throws a koopa shell at you.When that happens, jump on it and throw it at him. He'll be knocked onto hisback, and you can jump on him to do some damage. He'll go back into his shell,then come out and repeat the process. Do it two more times (he runs faster thelast time), and you win. You're almost done with these Bowser Jr. fights,don't worry.
Summary:-Wait for him to throw a koopa shell-Throw it back at him-Hit him when he's down---World 7 Castle:
Boss: Lakithunder
Tactics: Fly above you / Shoot lightning / Throw spinys / Swoop down.
Difficulty: 6/10
This boss is a Lakitu, but as you probably guessed from the title, this one'sgot lightning powers. The key to this fight is to keep moving. The only timeyou should stop running around is when he's swooping towards the ground. Otherthan that, the one thing that will help you with dodging everything - thespinys he throws, the lightning he shoots - is to not stop moving. When thebattle starts, he'll immediately swoop towards the ground. Jump so that youland on his head as he passes underneath you. He'll fly up into the air andthrow two spinies at you. Run out of their path as they fall, using a walljump if needed to avoid them. Now, if you're lucky, they'll fall into one ofthe two holes in the stage pretty quickly, but if not, be sure to watch out forthem as the battle continues, as they'll be walking around for a little while.After all that, he'll swoop down again. Try to jump on him on the first swoop,because if you don't, he might throw more spinies at you. After the secondhit, he'll start to shoot lightning at you. The lightning shoots straight downfrom him towards the ground, so keep moving away from him to avoid beingdirectly undernearth him when he's shooting lightning. Try to avoid goingagainst the walls though, as he might trap you. After he's done threelightning attacks, he'll swoop down again. Jump on him for the third time toend the fight. If you miss on the swoop, he might swoop again, but he alsomight shoot lightning or throw spinies, so try to get him on the first one.
Alternate method: I know that I said this for world 6, too, but there's notreally a way to kill him with fire. I tried for a while, but if you hit hiscloud, it doesn't hurt him, and the only way to hit his body is to line up yourjump so that you land on his head. If anybody has a good strategy for thismethod, feel free to email it to me and I'll give you credit.
Extra note: If you're fire mario, you can kill those spinies with yourfireballs. It's a small advantage, but it does help.
Lakithunder is the only boss in the game that you cannot kill with a megamushroom. He's too tall to be jumped on when you're giant mario. Thanks toGroudon199 for the info.
Summary:-Hit him on the first swoop as much as possible.-Motion is key-Stay away from the walls.---World 8, First Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Tactics: Run at you / Hide in shell / Throw koopa shell.
Difficulty: 6/10
It's Bowser Jr. again, but this time it's quite a bit more difficult thanbefore. The stage is what makes it hard. You're on a small platform, with twomoving platforms on either side, but fire constantly shoots up, blocking themfrom you. Here's what you do: Stand there, and wait for him to dive into hisshell, sliding towards you. As he does that, jump over him, landing on theother side of the small platform. You're going to want to avoid the movingplatforms, as they're more likely to make it harder for you to avoid fallingthan they are to help you avoid Bowser Jr. After a jump or two, he'll throw ashell at you. Jump on it, and knock it back towards him. Once he's on hisback, jump on him, then get back to a side of the platform. He'll run back atyou, and you jump again. After the next shell, he'll start to run faster.Also, he might jump - if he does, be sure to run underneath him. After hethrows the next shell, knock it back at him and jump on him for the win.
Alternate method: He takes nine fireballs. Shoot at him until he dives intohis shell, then jump over him and onto the other side of the platform. Dodgethe koopa shell, and shoot some more until he slides back at you. After threeor four rounds of shooting, he'll be dead. You're probably going to have aneasier time using this method if you can.
Extra note: Because of the moving platforms, when you jump over a koopa shell,it could bounce off of the wall behind you and come back. Watch out for that,and jump over it again if it does.
Summary:-This room'll make the fight harder.-Hit him with his own koopa shells.-Jump on him three times.---World 8, First Castle:
Boss: Skeleton Bowser
Tactics: Walk/Run / Throw Bones / Jump / Spit Fire
Difficulty: As small Mario: 7/10 As big Mario: 1/10
This is the same as the first world's boss, except that he can throw bones nowand you don't get an extra platform to stand on. If you're big mario, just runthrough him, take the hit, and jump on the switch for an incredibly easy win.If you're small Mario, then unfortunately you're going to have a much moredifficult job. Stay to the left of the screen, and wait while he does somefire attacks and bone throwing. You've now got two options. One is to try tofind an opening in between attacks and do a running jump over his head (andthen another jump onto the switch). A second method is to get as close to himas you can without dying, so that when he jumps, you can run right underneathhim and then to the switch. I personally prefer method 2, but either wayworks. It may take a few tries, because there's a lot of luck involved - ifyou're about to jump over him, and he decides to do a jump at the last second,you're dead. Just keep trying, and eventually you'll get it. Of course,there's two power-up blocks in the very last portion of the fortress, after theflag, so you'll probably have an easier time just getting at least one of thoseso you can run right through him.
Alternate method: Nope. He's immune to fire now. Sorry.
Summary:-If you're big, run through him.-Stay back until you're ready to go for the switch.-Run under him when he jumps or running jump over him when he's not attacking-Fireballs aren't going to work this time.---World 8, Second Fortress:
Boss: Bowser Jr.
Tactics: Run / Hide in shell / Throw Koopa shell / Jump.
Difficulty: 5/10
This is it. The last solo Bower Jr. fight in the game. It's about time, I'mtired of writing up the same old strategies for each one. At any rate, this iseasier than the last fight. You're on a medium sized platform, and fireballsshoot up and down through the holes on the side. Bowser Jr.'ll run towardsyou, then slide at you in his shell, so jump over him and get on the other sideof the platform. He'll throw a koopa shell at you, which you should jump onand and throw back at him. Jump on him, and then get back to the other side ofthe platform. He'll either throw another shell or run at you again. Jump overhim if he does run, then jump on/throw back the next shell he tosses. Afteryou've jumped on him for the second time, get as far away as possible from him.If he jumps, wait until he's near you and almost at the ground, then jump overhim. If he runs, just jump over him like usual. If he throws a shell, stop itand kick it at him. Once he's on back for the last time, you get to do thefinal hit. Congratulations, you've defeated the last miniboss. You're almostdone.
Alternative method: It may be the final miniboss, but it still only takes 9fireballs. Shoot a few at him, jump over him when he slides at you in hisshell, then turn around and finish him off with a few more fireballs to win thematch.
Summary:-Just like all the others.-Stay away from those fireballs on either side of the screen.-Kick his shells back.-Jump on him 3 times.---World 8, Final Castle:
Boss: Bowser + Bowser Jr.
Tactics: Bowser Jr.: Run / Hide in shell / Throw koopa shell. Bowser: Spitblue flame / Spit several red flames / Spit several blue flames / Jump.
Difficulty: 9/10
Here we are. The final boss fight. Unlike most of the other bosses in thegame, this one can provide a decent challenge. Still, if you're the sort ofperson who plays a ton of videogames, this'll seem a bit too easy. At anyrate, this battle has two parts: Defeating Bowser. Jr., and then actuallydefeating Bowser himself. Don't bother trying to run through Bowser to hit theswitch, because you'll just fly back when you hit him, and also take damage.As soon as the fight starts, run all the way to the left of the screen. BowserJr. uses his hide in shell / throw shells at you technique, so do what you'vebeen doing for a large portion of the miniboss fights. Let him run towardsyou, jump over him when he gets too close, and when he throws a koopa shell atyou, jump on it. Kick it back at him, and then jump on him. Repeat thatprocess, kicking another shell at him and hitting him again. He'll run fasterthe third time, but it's no big deal. Just wait for the shell, and kick it.Jump on him for the last time, and he's gone. I should note here that Bowser'sgoing to be spitting blue homing fire at you this whole time, but it's easy tododge because it moves so slow. If it goes over you, run under it, if it goesunder you, jump over it. If you stay towards the left side of the screen, itmay never reach you anyway. So, after you defeat Bowser Jr. for the absolutely last time in the game,it's on to your third and final confrontation with Bowser. After Jr.'s death,he gets angry. He'll spit five red fires at you, which you can dodge byjumping over the second one from the bottom and under the middle one, oncethey've had a chance to spread out a bit. For the blue fires, jump in betweenthe middle and top one when they're all as far apart from each other as theyget. When you do jump through either attack, run up reasonably close toBowser. If he starts to make the motion of jumping, start to run, so thatyou'll make it past him and can hit the switch. If he doesn't, run back to theleft side of the screen before you get hit with fire. Keep getting close tohim after each fire attack, and when he eventually does jump, you can get theswitch, and thereby defeat the final boss. Congratulations, you have nowbeaten New Super Mario Bros. Sit back and enjoy the credits.
Note: It's hard to distinguish the pre-jump motion and the fire motion. Ifyou start to run and then realize he's shooting fire, you should be able toturn around in time to avoid getting hurt.
Alternate method: If you really want to use fireballs to kill him, you can, butit's harder than the normal method. Start out by defeating Bowser Jr. Startshooting as soon as the fight begins, and you'll get in 4 or 5 shots before heslides at you in his shell. Run all the way to the left of the screen, thenshoot a few more to finish him off. With Bowser Jr. taken care of, now you getto face Bowser. He'll take a massive 30 fireballs to defeat, which is no smalltask. It doesn't help that his fire attacks block your own. Keep shooting asBowser Jr. dies, and don't stop until Bowser does a fire attack. No matterwhich one it is, jump through two of the flames (see above strategy forspecific dodge pattern), and start shooting him. Keep enough of a distance tobe able to dodge his attacks, but close enough to get be able to get hits inafter each one. I'd suggest staying around half a screen's length apart. Ifhe jumps, just keep shooting and wait for him to come down. This'll repeat fora while, until eventually you hit him for the 30th time. When that happens,he'll fall off of the screen, and you get 4000 points. Jump on the switch totrigger the end cutscene and win the game.
Summary:-Kill Bowser Jr. first.-Jump on Jr.'s koopa shells, throw them back at him.-Jump on Jr. when he's on his back.-Bowser'll start much stronger attacks when Jr. dies.-Jump in between the 2nd and 3rd flames of the blue flame attack.-Stay back until the spaces between flames are big enough to jump through forred attack.-When he jumps, run underneath him and hit the switch.-You win!---Well, that's it. I hope the guide was useful. Again, I'd appreciate youemailing any questions/comments/missing info you have to my email account, atWlokosFAQ@hotmail.com.---Special thanks to:Gamefaqs, for posting this guide.The FAQ writers' boards at the GameFAQs forum, for inspiring me to write this.BSulpher, because I looked up some boss names in his FAQ.And then myself, of course, for writing the whole thing.
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