Boss appreciation/criticism thread

Having a boss fight that does throw all sorts of powerups at you would make for an interesting fight, just as long as they balance the powerup you get with a gauntlet of foes. Bowser can be hiding behind a wall where you have to throw frozen enemies to hit him or something. Or Bowser's in a spot where you have to use a Propeller Shroom to hit him.

I need to play Newer Super Mario Bros. DS in general though, but Newer Wii took me by surprise. Only bad thing is that friends don't respawn if they die, but I can't fault the dev team for not trying. It's impressive given how difficult it is to ASM hack.

I also prefer Newer's fights over the original too.
 
LeftyGreenMario said:
I don't see why not talk about unofficial mods. They sometimes come up with way better than the original.
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I've always found that whenever people say "What's the best X in video game series Y" it's assumed that we only include X's from official, unmodded, installations of Y unless otherwise stated.

Baby Luigi Rescuing Mario said:
Sorry about that, I've put that under a tab. I didn't know you were interested in playing the game at some point in the future nor did I know you have yet to play it. You should play it.

Though there is a lot of spoiler material in this thread so...
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Yeah I do want to but with my 3DS that I got recently (my old DS was so worn out that it was hardly playable) there's a lot of games I have in line for it and with PIT having been generally been considered the worst Mario RPG before SPM/SS (opinions on the former were obviously very split) and still one of the less popular ones, it's not my highest priority. And again my life is very busy rn.

Basically the Mario games I have played are here (aside from PM64, which I very strongly want to try, and Mini-Land Mayhem which I have sadly lost) and those I want to play are here.
 
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You know what boss was cool?

The Bowser jr fight in World 6 of NSMBWII. You get clown cars and you have to push him in the lasers. That was fun, wish it lasted longer tho.

If I want to criticize, though, BoneChill from SPM is really, really badly done. I like his design a lot, he looks intimidating, he's also got a nice entrance, and his theme's good, but Luigi wrecks the guy in two seconds, and trying to prolong the fight by using Thoreau is just kinda uninteresting.
 
MiracleDinner said:
Yeah I do want to but with my 3DS that I got recently (my old DS was so worn out that it was hardly playable) there's a lot of games I have in line for it and with PIT having been generally been considered the worst Mario RPG before SPM/SS (opinions on the former were obviously very split) and still one of the less popular ones, it's not my highest priority. And again my life is very busy rn.
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I went in with that mindset too, and yet I was taken by surprise how much fun I ended up having. Remember that weakest =/= bad, and even if you end up liking PiT the least, you will still enjoy it. A lot.

However you should play Dream Team because yada yada my favorite game of all time yada yada yada.
 
PiT is the best RPG ever made. It has the Mario Franchise's Best Character in it.
 
Fiora said:
You know what boss was cool?

The Bowser jr fight in World 6 of NSMBWII. You get clown cars and you have to push him in the lasers. That was fun, wish it lasted longer tho.

If I want to criticize, though, BoneChill from SPM is really, really badly done. I like his design a lot, he looks intimidating, he's also got a nice entrance, and his theme's good, but Luigi wrecks the guy in two seconds, and trying to prolong the fight by using Thoreau is just kinda uninteresting.
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Yeah I liked that Bowser Jr fight to

Sure Bonechill was broken gameplay-wise, but his design was epic and it was really interesting how closely he parodied Satan, and e.g. the thing about the prison being furtherst from the Sun so has the least warmth, so was icy, which is why Bonechill has ice etc.

It's alright if you just use Thoreau and Mario. Personally I was nine years old on my first playthrough (as I imagine were many players, which you'd expect for the first Mario game on the Wii not counting WarioWare smooth moves) so the broken battle system etc. wasn't really a problem which affected me the first time round.

As I said earlier Super Dimentio's my favourite boss. People like to knock him down for his easiness, but I love everything else about that final boss so much that I just forgive that and still put it at number one.

He's thirty-first on my Mario Chars fav list https://www.thetoptens.com/l/#333397/MiracleDinner though I sadly haven't put a comment for him there.

I hope they fix this fight if this game ever gets remade. But idk Nintendo doesn't seem to like SPM all that much if you get what I mean so I'm not very confident for that, but I'd obviously appreciate it extremely greatly.

YoshiFlutterJump said:
However you should play Dream Team because yada yada my favorite game of all time yada yada yada.
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Have you seen my userpage?
 
Mind you, easy bosses are ok. But braindead bosses aren't. I enjoy some mild difficulty here and there, just not when it's literally impossible to lose.
 
Fiora said:
Mind you, easy bosses are ok. But braindead bosses aren't. I enjoy some mild difficulty here and there, just not when it's literally impossible to lose.
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Oh come on Bonechill wasn't that bad.

Look at this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FtlgOR2y5w

That had several failed attempts!

I know it requires a cheat code but eh they're not that hard to use especially if you can load SPM on Dolphin. Or you could just do a low level run or grind negative points (never tried the latter before.)

And that was with Luigi not Thoreau!

And even if he was braindead easy I'd still love him for said reasons. I'd easily pick him over any Koopaling fight from NSMBW.
 
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I like him too, believe me. I just wish his battle was better. Major disappointment, and you don't even get to hear the boss theme all that much.

You gotta agree that it's the worst one in the game at least. Come on, you can't call THAT a boss fight when you can literally break it so much that even his death animation seems like more effort was put into it than the actual fight. (Oh yeah, I love the death animation btw)
 
I'd be hard pressed to name any good boss fights in SPM. They are too easy to stunlock and they die too quickly.
 
Fiora said:
I like him too, believe me. I just wish his battle was better. Major disappointment, and you don't even get to hear the boss theme all that much.

You gotta agree that it's the worst one in the game at least. Come on, you can't call THAT a boss fight when you can literally break it so much that even his death animation seems like more effort was put into it than the actual fight. (Oh yeah, I love the death animation btw)
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Well if you give me a boss fight which is way too easy and bad in most other ways (cough cough Koopalings) and a boss fight which is way way too easy but still great in many other ways like Bonechill, I'd take the latter. Difficulty isn't everything, and as Super Dimentio proves to me, even the most braindead bosses can be forgiven if they're good enough in other ways.

I preferred it to that Big Blooper fight in 3-2, probably End Boss as well.

Mcmadness said:
I'd be hard pressed to name any good boss fights in SPM. They are too easy to stunlock and they die too quickly.
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Just as I said, difficulty isn't everything. If I wanted to I could jump on that rock shooting thing with Peach and get to level 99 by chapter 2 then wreck the whole game if I wanted. But that doesn't mean the bosses are bad. Just too easy.

And as I said again, you have to appreciate that it was significantly aimed at children. My 9-year old self didn't find Super Dimentio too easy on her first playthrough.
 
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I mean yeah, when you put it that way, having it way too hard would kinda be a blod move considering kids also play this game. Kids who may just not be as good at games as we are.

Difficulty definitely isn't everything that makes a boss. Some bosses can be easy but really fun to fight. BoneChill's battle isn't fun. Even if you like everything else about him, the fight in on itself on its own merits, without context, is hot garbage.

But hey, it's my opinion. I got different opinions than most people when it comes to Mario games.
 
Fiora said:
BoneChill's battle isn't fun. Even if you like everything else about him, the fight in on itself on its own merits, without context, is hot garbage.
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I found it alright with the Thoreau tactic, but that's about all I can say for it.

Luigi, on the other hand - 😤

Idk the OP doesn't clarify whether this threads is about our liking for the boss in general or just the actual fight gameplay-wise.
 
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No, but in all honesty, from the bosses I've seen, here's some of my favorites and some of the least favorite bosses (mainline games only):
Wart - Why on earth is throwing healthy vegetables at a frog the final boss battle in a game? Least Favorite
Boom Boom (Super Mario Bros 3) - In my opinion the best series of boss battles with Boom Boom in all those games. Favorite
Iggy Koopa (Super Mario World) - This is, umm, too easy? I've always felt like this one is a shame compared to his other boss fights in Wii and Wii U. Least Favorite
Bowser (Super Mario 64) - This game has nine bosses. Bowser is with my three least favorite. That's poor, Nintendo. Least Favorite
Mecha Bowser (Super Mario Sunshine) - I love roller coasters. Favorite
King Boo (Super Mario Sunshine) - Who even likes this boss? Least Favorite
Monty Tank (New Super Mario Bros.) - This game deserves so much praise. This was a very fun and creative concept. Creative, while sticking with an already existing enemy. Favorite
Lakithunder (New Super Mario Bros.) - Read Monty Tank. Favorite
Bouldergeist (Super Mario Galaxy) - This is everything a boss needs to have: Good amount of difficulty, giving kids the creeps, inventive way of defeating him. Only thing I would have loved more is a bit more of a setting. Same goes with the boss with the same song, Kingfin. Favorite
Baron Brrr (Super Mario Galaxy) - Fuck Baron Brrr. Least Favorite
Lemmy Koopa (New Super Mario Bros. WII) - New Super Mario Bros WII in general did so well with boss battles. The second battle with Lemmy is no exception. Favorite
Ludwig von Koopa (New Super Mario Bros. WII) - Both battles are lovely, but the final battle with Ludwig takes the cake for my favorite boss battle of this game. Favorite
Morton Koopa Jr. (New Super Mario Bros. WII) - The first battle was good. Whatever went wrong from thereon, including the two sequels we got, I am puzzled by. Least Favorite
Digga-Leg (Super Mario Galaxy 2) - As good as Megaleg was in Super Mario Galaxy, this is... uhh... not so much? Others seem to like it, but I hated this. The boss area sucked too. Least Favorite
Giga Lakitu (Super Mario Galaxy 2) - I love Lakitu bosses. Favorite
Prince Pikante (Super Mario Galaxy 2) - Everything great about King Kaliente, but 10 times better. This guy should be the king. Favorite
Bowser (Super Mario 3D Land) - Criminally underrated Bowser boss battle. Probably my favorite Bowser battle out of all the mainline games. Favorite
Roy Koopa (New Super Mario Bros. 2) - Oh my, what went wrong here? Everything about him that was so good got a complete overhaul into rubbish. Thank god U set this straight again. Least Favorite
Reznor (New Super Mario Bros. 2) - Just Reznor. Least Favorite
Bowser (Super Mario 3D World) - Remember how I said earlier that 3D Land had the favorite Bowser battle? Forget about that. Bowser in a hot rod is a gamer's wet dream. Favorite
King Ka-Thunk (Super Mario 3D World) - What even is this boss? He's... a piece of metal. And it's not really a robot, sooo... Least Favorite
Bowser (Super Mario Run) - Step 1. Beeg Mario. Step 2. Run forwards. You beat Bowser. Least Favorite
Knucklotec (Super Mario Odyssey) - Underrated as fk. This is the Eyerok but much much better. It's the only boss with a unique capture. "Why are you hitting yourself in the face?" Favorite
Ruined Dragon (Super Mario Odyssey) - I expected so much more of you, and this kingdom as a whole. Least Favorite

Long lists ftw.
 
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vizIIsto said:
Digga-Leg (Super Mario Galaxy 2) - As good as Megaleg was in Super Mario Galaxy, this is... uhh... not so much? Others seem to like it, but I hated this. The boss area sucked too. Least Favorite
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but the music was jammin' :new:

vizIIsto said:
Bowser (Super Mario 3D Land) - Criminally underrated Bowser boss battle. Probably my favorite Bowser battle out of all the mainline games. Favorite
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People actually liked that one a lot too. I myself just found it to be a glorified obstacle course, so it's not that much of a "battle".
 
Bowser II said:
Yeah, it's a bit disappointing. Bowser deserved more from that fight in general. The whole game is primarily about Bowser and his adventures, and then the final boss seems almost entirely up to Mario and Luigi once you inhale spidey boi. I know it's a Mario & Luigi game to begin with, but I just can't help but feel cheated out of good Bowser action. But hey, I'll take what I can get. Other than that personal grievance, it's a damn good fight.
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To be fair, at least Bowser got a pretty snazzy finisher in the form of the KO Punch.
 
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