Mario & Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story is the third game of the Mario & Luigi series. This took on a completely different style because instead of fighting as Mario and Luigi (or their baby counterparts) the entire time, you got to play as Bowser, who had a higher health pool, attack stat, but also tougher enemies.
This game is the best in the series and has bosses that challenge both the Mario Brothers as well as the Koopa King himself. These are just 10 of the trickiest bosses in the game, as well as tips on how to best them in combat.
10 Sea Pipe Statue
This fight is the first where Bowser unknowingly works with Mario and Luigi to beat a boss. The statue will attack by shooting itself at Bowser, who will need to counter with a punch. When he does, Bowser will punch him straight into his statue, getting him stuck. Bowser can then inhale and bring the Blooper into his body.
Inside his body, every turn, the Stone Blooper will lodge himself into the floor and spin around, damaging Bowser a little. Mario and Luigi will have to dodge him launching himself at them. If the Stone Blooper is knocked away by a hammer counter-attack, Bowser will spit him out, letting him get stuck in the statue. Bowser will get two to three free hits on him at that point.
9 Midbus
Midbus is fought multiple times in the game, with one being a tutorial fight and the other inside Bower’s Castle. In that fight, Midbus uses his body mostly to do damage, jumping into the air to body slam. If he is falling in front of Bowser, you’ll have to punch him before he lands.
If Midbus lands on top of Bowser, you’ll need to use your shell to act as a barrier, dealing him damage. He also has an attack where he flexes his belly, slowly approaching Bowser. Bowser will need to punch Midbus a lot before the boss reaches and smacks him. Shy Guy Squad is the best special move to use against Midbus, doing massive damage every turn.
8 Kretin
The fight between Kretin and the Mario brothers can be a tricky one. Each node of Kretin will have a different color, either red or green. Mario can only attack red and Luigi can only attack green. When all the nodes are defeated, the main unit will crumble into one enemy Kretin. It will summon clones of itself that will use electric attacks.
They will also jump around, shuffling themselves to hide the real one. But if you pay attention, it will be easy to spot the real Kretin. When you do, the best item to use to take the boss down is the Jump Helmet, which is a great ability to use against single enemies.
7 Bowser Memory ML
This fight is against Mario and Luigi in Bowser’s memory banks. They will act similar to the Mario Brothers, except that they’ll commonly help each other out by healing. Bowser Memory M will use attacks involving his Super Star, running around to try to hit the Bros. If a coin appears above one’s head, jumping will cause you to take damage because he will run into you.
Bowser Memory L will run away from Boos or even run off-screen to attack. If Bowser Memory M falls while the other is not there, he will revive him, making him a top priority to finish off quickly. Both bros will need to be defeated for you to win.
6 Junker
Junker is a fight inside Peach’s Castle. This battle is pretty difficult, with this boss having a variety of different moves to attack the Bros with. He’ll sometimes throw a can over a Bro’s head, throwing Thwomps over them to try to land on them. You’ll have to use your jumps to stop them from wandering under a Thwomp and taking damage.
He can also use his minions to shake contents out of them, summoning either Bob-ombs or Cheep-Cheeps that will jump out and damage a Bro. He can also capture Luigi, trapping him in a can. This will render Mario unable to use his Bros. attacks until he frees him by defeating the enemy. Falling Star and Snack Basket are the best Bros. moves to use to defeat the boss and his minions.
5 Wisdurm
Fought by Mario and Luigi, Wisdurm uses magic to protect herself and attack. At first, she is very small, using string to swing herself around to deal damage. As Mario and Luigi damage her, she’ll gain power in her rod to transform into her true form, utilizing her real power.
In that state, Wisdurm can summon a crystal heart that will have a picture of a Bro on it, landing on whoever it showed, or shoot stars out of her mouth that can lower defense. She can also shrink a Bro down and chase them, who must swing at her before they are trampled. You’ll have to attack the rod to drain the magic and return her to her weaker form to make the battle a lot easier.
4 Dark Fawful
Bowser fights Dark Fawful in Peach’s Castle, finally wanting to put an end to the one who caused the entire mess. Fawful’s headgear will make things tricky, allowing the boss to dodge punches, attack, and heal. It will detach from Fawful eventually, allowing Bowser to inhale it so Mario & Luigi can take it down inside his body.
Without his headgear, Fawful is no slouch. He can summon portals to shoot energy blasts, making Bowser either have to duck or punch them. He can also use a ray gun to shoot stars that must be hit in the front to be destroyed, or else Bowser will take damage. He will summon orbs at one point, needing Bowser to use Goombas to hit Fawful before his attack completes.
3 Blizzard Midbus
This fight is the final one Bowser has against Midbus, though, this is a more powerful form of him, thanks to Fawful. Bowser has a big risk of being inflicted with sickness in this fight. One of his common attacks is rolling in with a snowball that has a Bob-omb in it. Bowser will have to punch it before Midbus rolls into him.
Later in the fight, this move becomes more difficult when he steps on the Bob-omb, hiding it inside the snowball and forcing Bowser to remember where it is. He can summon minions that Bowser must inhale or else they will heal Midbus. When Mario and Luigi defeat those minions inside him, Bowser will exhale frozen air that will send a crystal to Midbus, stopping him from creating more enemies.
2 Dark Bowser/Dark Star Core
The final boss of the game, Dark Bowser is the hardest fight for both Bowser and the Mario Bros. Dark Bowser is similar to the real one, using dark-powered versions of his moves. He can trap Bowser in a cage, forcing him to tilt it a certain direction with his punches in order to break free before he is hit with a blast.
The boss can also use a mixed version of Bowser’s special moves, forcing him to walk through a gauntlet of ducking and punching minions away. After taking enough damage, Dark Bowser will heal and grow larger. When Bowser punches him, he’ll spit out the core, letting Bowser inhale it for Mario and Luigi to fight. Inside, it will attack with dark arrows and rings, needing the Snack Basket to break its legs to lower it down. Follow up with Falling Star for a one-two punch.
1 Bowser X
Deep into the gauntlet of boss fights in the Challenge Node, Bowser X easily is the hardest fight in the game. He will use his attacks that he has learned in battle, but all of them acting a bit different from when the player uses them. Most notably, Shy Guy Squad becomes a hammer-fest, hammering back and forth while his speed in his ball form increases.
Getting hit will deal massive damage, to the point where you’ll have to heal. Goomba Storm is a two-part attack, with the first part being to dodge Goombas, and the next being hammering flaming ones away, or else the Bros. will fall quite easily. Use Falling Star in an attempt to lower his defense to make the fight a little easier.