Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story spoilers below
25. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story – The Final Battle
So I think this battle has gotten a mention on all three lists now. I mentioned it during my character writeup for Bowser, my game writeup for Bowser’s Inside Story, and now here. But it keeps getting mentioned because it’s awesome! Like Bowser says right before the battle begins, “Seriously, perfect backdrop for an awesome final battle!” I apologize for the poor video quality in the links, by the way. There was one that was much better quality, but the dude was so overleveled that he destroyed this fight, so you couldn’t even see what was so good about it. I dunno if any of you even view the links I provide, but just in case!
Anyway, the fight itself is divided into two parts. There’s Bowser vs. Dark Bowser, which is basically “Whittle down the boss’s HP so he’ll cough up Fawful/The Dark Star so Bowser can swallow it up and Mario and Luigi can pound on it,” which is what the second part of the fight is. After a certain number of turns, Fawful will automatically come out of Bowser’s body and regenerate Dark Bowser, and then you start all over. Once you completely wipe out Fawful’s HP, the Dark Star will rupture and Dark Bowser will weaken enough to the point that Bowser can defeat him for good. I enjoy the way this fight is broken up like that.
But it’s the atmosphere that sells this fight for me (If you haven’t noticed by this point, atmosphere is a big thing with me). The backdrop, the music, and the various moves the bosses throw at you just make this fight “feel” like a final battle. One of the great things about the Mario & Luigi games is how interactive the battle system is, despite being turn-based. Almost every attack by you can be timed to cause more damage, and almost every enemy attack can be defended to reduce or avoid damage. This final battle has some really cool-looking attacks from the bosses. My favorite is when Dark Bowser pushes Bowser really far back, and as Bowser marches back toward the battle, he has to defend against Dark Bowser’s version of his various special attacks, such as the Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Bullet Bills, Thwomps, etc. I thought that was a really nice touch. But most importantly, this fight is just fun. I play video games to have fun, and I had a blast playing this part of the game.
I know this isn’t strictly related to the final battle, but I also enjoy the ending where Princess Peach sends Bowser a cake as thanks for helping rescue the kingdom as he’s all lying in bed recovering from yet another beating Mario and Luigi gave him. He pretends like he doesn’t want it while his minions are around, but after they leave, Bowser checks to make sure nobody’s still in the room and peeks inside the box to see what’s in there. The sprite of him leaning in to look made it obvious that he was curious what Peach sent him, and it almost makes you think that maybe Bowser’s not all that bad sometimes. Maybe.
Bonus Question: What is your favorite final boss battle theme?
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"The great GF...Bahamut."
"...GF? I...? Using my powers...It is you humans...I fear..."