Mario and Luigi Bowser's Inside Story Boss Guide

Want to know about the bosses in Mario and Luigi RPG 3? Need a guide on how to beat them? Well this guide will eventually offer just that, as illustrated by exclusive ripped sprites of each and every boss!

Wisdurm

A strange version of Durmite, who is apparently some kind of sage, it's a strange two part boss battle with a clever gimmick. You have a meter to the right, above the boss's head, and it shows two forms of the boss, the weaker, tiny worm form to the left, and the sage form to the right. It starts as it's weaker form, and gets to it's stronger form after various attacks fill up the bar (to the right).

In it's weak form, Wisdurm is extremely easy, and has one real basic attack; swinging from the ceiling, which has to be hammered away by Mario or Luigi. It's a weak attack, and doesn't do a whole lot in terms of damage.

However, it will soon enough (unless you are an excellent player, or in more specific turns, are really, really skilled with Magic Window or another such attack) turn into it's bright green, gigantic sage form. Here, it adds some new attacks to it's collection.

First and most annoyingly, it can fire a green ray of light at Mario or Luigi and make them tiny. Then, the boss chases them off the screen, and you have to carefully time your hammer countering to hit the boss three times. Fail, and you get trampled on, which has the likely consequence of a kill at standard stats.

It's other major attack is it's star beam attack, where it fires a beam of stars at Mario and Luigi, and they have to jump as it approaches them. Fairly simple... except it can switch their places around, so Mario ends up where Luigi is, and vice versa. This is not mere visual trick, getting hit here hurts the brother shown, and you need to use the standard controls to jump the beam. It will usually sweep across the arena roughly about four times.

Alpha Kretin

A bizarre creature found in the Flab Zone, you fight this boss after saving Princess Peach from it (first time you save Peach from an antagonist in the game). It has two forms, making it take at least two turns to defeat and being one of the more annoying puzzle bosses in the process.

First things first, note the colours of it's segments. If they're red, only Mario can damage them. If they're green, only Luigi can. As for Special Attacks, it depends on which character uses the special attack, and works based on who they are, not who the individual attacker is. So if Mario uses Magic Window, then both Mario and Luigi can attack only the red parts during the attack. The boss can technically make this attack go forever, because they still won't end the attack until the last (force field protected) element is dead.

Here, it's main attack will be to fire lasers, which can be predicted based on the order the spark goes through each segment. Every time it goes through a red segment, that part of the attack is aimed at Mario, and respectively green segments for Luigi. Thus each section killed means one less energy ball being fired at Mario or Luigi to hammer away.

After all sections are turned blue, it'll collapse and become multiple creatures. Watch the real one carefully, and attack that. It'll also use another laser type attack here, sending a laser between each of the small sections as they surround Mario and Luigi. Jump the attacks to dodge.

All in all, multi hit air attacks work best in the Gauntlet version (Magic Window, Mighty Meteor), while in the original fight, you'll have to just last out the battle.

Bowser's Memory ML/MLX

Fought in the Memory Banks part of Bowser's body, these strange clones of Mario and Luigi, based on Bowser's past memories of them are sometimes a tough boss to defeat.

First things first, they have a variety of attacks, most of which reference the classic Super Mario Bros game. Bowser's Memory M (the Mario clone) has his first attack as the Super Star/Starman from the 2D games. He charges at Mario or Luigi while invincible, and you have to jump over him (don't land on him either). It's easy to dodge, he usually goes straight, but if you see a coin in front of the other brother, he'll go after it and head for the other character. If there's a coin just behind their head, he'll jump over them, in which cause you need to not jump/move.

He also breaks bricks and throws them. First he becomes Super Mario, then breaks multiple bricks. Red bricks head for Mario, green for Luigi. Hammer them away as they near the characters.

Bowser's Memory L, who's obviously a Luigi clone has some different attacks. One is his Boo chase attack, where he's chased by a Boo at the Mario brothers. To dodge this, only jump when the Boo is near, since the main boss will automatically jump over Mario or Luigi. It's a tough attack to avoid, but can be stopped if you, by some far away chance manage to land on the Boo as the attack is in progress.

Finally, he throws Hammers. Hammer them away as they're about to hit Mario or Luigi.

To damage them, that's another whole problem. If one dies before the other, he'll be revived in about two turns by the non defeated brother throwing a 1up Mushroom to him. Not that he respawns with much HP left, but it's a problem. Because of this, concentrate on dealing roughly equal damage, or use multi enemy hitting items.

It's also interesting to note that sometimes, Bowser's Memory L will run from battle for a few times, although he'll return if Bowser's Memory M gets defeated while he's gone.

Junker/Junker X

A pretty tough boss when fought in the Gauntlet and easy when fought in Peach's Castle, this boss has a few tricky attacks, but should go down to your attacks fairly easily. First of all, don't worry about attacking the bins surrounding him, concentrate all your attacks on the main boss. There is one exception here however that will be explained in a short while.

His attacks are often the aggravating aspect about this guy. First off, his Thwomp based attack, which was very much inspired by the obscure game 'Mario and Wario'. He throws a bucket on one of the brother's heads, then they wander left and right automatically. You have to jump with good timing to not be under a Thwomp when it falls. Best advice? Keep jumping, one will appear above you, then move.

Another attack is when he vacuums up Luigi, and throws him into one of the bins/trash cans. Remember which one Luigi is in, and attack it as much as possible to free him. He'll sometimes also wave to indicate where he is (Luigi), and sometimes, Luigi will be thrown incorrectly, miss the rubbish bin, bounce off the lid and fly back to where he usually stands in battle.

A third attack used is where Junker picks up a bin, and shakes the content out. Normal rubbish is harmless, you don't need to do anything. If a Bob-omb appears and races towards any character, jump over it. Same with the bugs. If a Cheep Cheep (fish) is released, just stand still and it will bounce over either Mario or Luigi's head.

For the smaller enemies, they'll sometimes charge. In this situation, wait until they get near, and Hammer them away. It's far easier to dodge in practice than it is to explain.

Finally, when these smaller enemies are defeated, a normal monster will appear, and will attack the Mario Bros. For Chain Chomps, Hammer them away when they get close. For Fishbones, wait until they're in front of Mario or Luigi, then hammer them off screen. For those chicken like enemies that fly up, wait until they're about to hit Mario or Luigi and hammer them away. Remember that in this circumstance, these enemies will pretty much only ever attack the character that dealt the final blow against them, so if your last attack vs them was with Mario, make sure Mario is prepared, and vice versa.

Attack wise, Mighty Meteor is a good bet here.

Midbus

Dark Fawful

When you finally catch up to Fawful for the obligatory epic boss battle, he's found in Princess Peach's Castle, and has quite a few interesting attacks due to him having absorbed the power of the dark star.

First of all, he swings from the ceiling on the arm of his head gear, so punch him away (or duck) as he gets close. You'll want to eventually vacuum in this head gear and let Mario and Luigi defeat it, because it will heal Fawful of 300 health per turn otherwise.

He'll also do a strange attack involving portals, dropping energy into them. If he drops it through a portal downwards, I think Bowser has to duck, and if sidewards, he has to punch it away. Eventually, at enough damage, this pattern will reverse, so watch out.

He'll also fire energy orbs, and one of Bowser's Goomba minions will appear and say his regiment can be sacrificed or such like. Punch the Goombas at him to destroy the energy balls and hurt Dark Fawful.

He'll also fire an energy beam, which you must punch or duck depending on whether one stars fired is bigger than the others.

His head gear, as fought by Mario and Luigi also has some unique attacks. For one thing, it can absorb either their item blocks or special blocks, stopping them using items and special attacks respectively (very like Bowser X this).

It can also shoot energy balls which have to be dodged, and capture one brother, swinging him at the other. In the latter case, you have to jump on it as it swings or the captured bro will take steady damage.

Dark Bowser/Dark Fawful Bug

The final boss of the entire game, it's actually a tad easier than Cackletta in Superstar Saga or Elder Princess Shroob in Partners in Time. However, the battle is incredibly long, with two totally different kinds of bosses fought in semi unison, and hence many people may die before realising the actual strategy required to win.

Dark Bowser

The main form, he's fought only by Bowser. Now, first things first, he's got few attacks, he auto heals after taking 1000 damage, and this is key to defeating him. His first attack is to shoot fire at a rock in the sky, which fallls down. So duck in your shell to dodge many pieces, but when one falls in front of Bowser, punch it at Dark Bowser to damage him and end the attack, or he'll follow up with an undodgeable and extremely powerful fire breath attack.

He can also try to punch you about three times, so counter by punching him at around the same time.

At 1000 damage, he'll be healed by the Dark Fawful bug, and grow gigantic. He'll then throw a whole bunch of dark enemies, which you have to defeat on the way back to the arena. Punch dark Goombas and low Bullet Bills, duck to avoid high Bullet Bills and Thwomps, and punch away shells and Bob-ombs which can also take out other dark enemies. He'll then fall on you in his shell, so duck and punch him when he lands.

Next, aim to attack his stomach with a powerful attack, which will cause Dark Bowser to spit out the Dark Fawful Bug and return to normal size. Use Bowser's vacuum ability to suck it up, which sends it to Mario and Luigi and starts the next phase.

Dark Fawful Bug

The dangerous one winged angel form of the battle, this is a Fawful type core powered by the Dark Star. It's a massive creature, and has a wide variety of attacks that are used.

One attack used is picking up both Mario and Luigi, and shooting rings of stars at them. He'll hold them at different levels of height here, so watch carefully. When they're both the same height, make both Mario and Luigi jump the attack. When one is higher and he aims high, make only that bro jump. When one is lower than the other and is aimed at, only make that character jump.

He can also fire energy balls at Mario and Luigi, which have to be hit away with the hammer.

An incredibly cool looking but easy to dodge attack is where the bug falls down like a Chain Chomp shark, and chases Mario and Luigi across the screen. The Dark Star will be trying to attack them here, so jump it when it comes. If the star flashes red, it'll attack Mario, and if green, it'll attack Luigi.

It also shares an attack with the Dark Star and Bowser X, where it fires a giant laser at Mario and Luigi, doing incredibly high damage. Jump and hang on to Starlow when it flies over and stay on the top screen to dodge this attack.

Finally, it'll summon a massive dark spear or clock hand, which spins around. Don't do anything at first, but when it reaches the floor, make Mario and Luigi jump over it as it passes.

With that all said, how to damage it... well, you first have to defeat the eyes, otherwise they'll make the legs pull themselves up and avoid damage. Mighty Meteor is good for this.

You then have to attack and take all out three legs. Once this is done, the bug will be vulnerable to attack for three or so turns, so use everything you have to do damage. Eventually, the Dark Star will revive the core and exit Bowser's body, starting the battle from the Bowser stage. Repeat as said.

End

After it's defeated, Bowser will punch Dark Bowser multiple times, causing him to explore in melt

Dark Star/Dark Star X

An extremely annoying boss, albeit one which has in most cases very easy to avoid attacks. The first thing you'll notice here is that your attacks are doing absolutely no damage whatsoever, and that there's some kind of force field stopping the attacks doing more than zero damage. Don't worry, this is perfectly normal, and the battle is definitely NOT a hopeless boss fight, it just requires a clever strategy to make Dark Star/Dark Star X lower it's defence.

First things first, the one annoying attack this guy has. He splits into about five (sometimes seven) clones, and charges at Mario or Luigi (you can see which extremely easily). You have to hammer away each clone as they approach. However, he also turns completely invisible as he approaches Mario or Luigi, which makes the matter far, far more complicated, and the amount of times a clone charges at one character is practically random itself. Good luck, this attack is also powerful enough that messing up can kill both Mario and Luigi extremely quickly.

Another attack is a giant laser. Here, before it fires, Starlow (that star thing that helps you through the game, also known as Chippy by Bowser) will circle around the brothers, so jump to grab onto said character, and be pulled to the top screen. It is extremely important you do this, the beam is near enough one hit kill power, albeit slightly survival if you're at a high enough stat, especially defense. However, the Dark Star will then charge at Starlow, so as soon as the beam is fired, let go, since his charge is about as powerful as the deadly laser beam would have been if it had hit Mario/Luigi.

His third attack, and the easiest to dodge by far, is where he summons four shadow versions of Mario and Luigi, and they start running around the Dark Star in a circle. The boss will then show a crosshair above one of them, and fire a laser at them, hurting the corresponding brother, which you have to dodge by making the individual brother or both characters jump at the same time. My personal advice? Make Mario and Luigi jump at the same time, and have the jump exactly when the beam is fired. Works every time for me.

A final, albeit extremely rarely used attack is where the Dark Star goes to the top screen, and four orbs appear. Each has a colour (red for Mario, green for Luigi), and he fires them at the corresponding character. Simply make the right character jump when each orb is fired.

Now, for a strategy, he will summon two Satellmites, small creatures looking like the Dark Star on a spider's body. You have to damage both of these until they're defeated/stunned, and the Dark Star will then throw them a bomb. This is followed by the enemies jumping in the air and the bomb going to one brother and the enemy to the other. Usually, both will cleanly miss, so hammer the Satellmite back at the Dark Star. This causes damage. Then, hammer back the other one, and not only is damaged caused, but the Dark Star lowers it's guard for about two turns. Now, you can damage it as much as you want with special attacks.

However, an extra level of complexity comes from how these Dark Satellmite enemies have their own attack. It's extremely simple to avoid, and is a straight laser beam aimed at either Mario or Luigi. Jump when the edge of the beam is visible to dodge the attack. If the enemy jumps in the air and fires, don't jump, the shot will cleanly sail right overhead.

The Dark Star, although only while attackable also has a basic counterattack. An exclamation mark will appear, it'll float in the air, and fire a laser at the character who attacked it. Extremely easy to dodge, aims roughly at the feet level, and can be dodged by jumping at the right time (although damage is incredibly low anyway).

Finally, just before it dies, it'll try taking out the Mario brothers with it by turning into a black hole. Hammer A and B at the same time to run away (extremely easily done, you have to be trying deliberately to actually get sucked in) and the battle is over (in about two seconds after Mario and Luigi leave the screen, they'll return, boss will explode, battle over). Note that even if you do get sucked into the vortex, you can survive, although damage can be in the 250-350 range.

Shroobs

Incredibly easy boss battle, especially after the whole mess of trying to find the entry code to the preservation chamber where they await. Heck, I killed them in practically the first attack, and moves like Mighty Meteor work perfectly in this battle.

However, if you need to dodge their attacks, it's a simple laser to dodge aimed at one of the Mario brothers. Jump to avoid it.

You get a great special attack for beating them though, Magic Window!