RTA Guide/Bowser Battles
Each Bowser fight is located at the end of its respective stage: Bowser in the Dark World, Bowser in the Fire Sea, and Bowser in the Sky.
Tips
- Avoid letting Bowser make more than three full rotations before throwing him; afterwards, he will spin too fast and become more difficult to aim.
- In order to trigger the text after Bowser is defeated, Mario must be facing towards and be within a short distance of him.
- The "whoosh" sound that plays while spinning Bowser plays when he faces north, and is not indicative of whether he is pointing towards a bomb. Try to focus more on aiming visually.
- It is highly recommended that runners who play using the original Nintendo 64 controller switch to a different controller for Bowser fights, as rapidly spinning the N64 controller's stick will wear it down. Recommended controllers include the Hori Pad Mini, a Retro-Bit Tribute 64, or a GameCube controller via a Raphnet adapter.
Bowser in the Dark World
Standard
To avoid a high throw and save time, let the stick go neutral right before pressing B to throw.
Advanced (3/4 Spin)
Bowser Dance
Bowser has a ~10% chance to "dance" in place at the beginning of the fight; this allows you to grab his tail earlier and thus throw him quicker. Grabbing the tail near the tip places you closer to the bomb and can make this throw easier.
Bowser in the Fire Sea
In this battle, Mario cannot grab Bowser until the platform stops teetering. Avoid groundpounding around Bowser's side of the platform during this period, otherwise Mario may clip through and fall into the lava underneath.
Standard
Advanced (3/4 Spin)
As shown in these examples, you can delay your dive and let Bowser rotate longer if you need more room to spin; if you can spin faster, you can dive earlier to save more time.
Expert (1/2 Spin)
Bowser in the Sky
This fight requires three hits to defeat Bowser instead of one like in the first two fights; it's strongly advised to practice a bomb order and stick to it for consistency.
Bomb Order 1
Bomb Order 2
Bomb Order 3 (Expert)
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