Bowser in the Sky

Now that we've gotten almost all of the Stars, it's now time for the final battle!
N64
The Star Door at the top of the double stairs on the third floor leads to the final battle. If we don't have enough Stars when we go through the door, the top of the stairs will be dark and the stairs will infinitely cycle so you don't get beyond the middle stairs. If we do, we can reach the top without difficulty. There are paintings of Bowser and Peach on the sides of the stairs, and a Bowser painting at the top, in front of a hole. We drop through the hole to enter the area.

We land on a rock shaped like an arrow, pointing us in the direction we should go. On the next platform is a Red Coin. We need to push a nearby block to reach it easily with a double jump. Next is a tilting squiggly platform followed by an arrow ramp. It turns, and we see an Amp circling a circular platform. Then, there is a Red Coin in the corner near the small Piranha Plant. Past it is a tilting platform leading to a ferris wheel. Drop down here for the often missed third Red Coin to the right on a small ledge just off the edge. I had to return to get it after I missed it. We backflip up to the next area from the ferris wheel, step on the switch to create yellow and green stairs, and go up the ramp. The fourth Red Coin is at the top. Be sure to dodge the three sets of flames on the ramp. We board an arrow platform past the Piranha Plant that takes us to through an area with rectangular blocks. The fifth Red Coin is on top of one of the high blocks. Time your jump so you don't slide off, but the area below will catch you. Once you get off, you see two spinning discs. The first one has a Red Coin behind the point in the center.

The second one has a pole. We climb it and find some moving magenta platforms, with a pole in the middle with a Red Coin. Past it are some Bob-ombs and two ferris wheels. They take you to the top of the level, which looks like an altar. There are Goombas up there, as well as a strong wind. Behind the back left pillar is a 1-up. At the top of the stairs is a pipe to the battle arena. The last Red Coin is under the stairs. Just go up the stairs, go to one side near the stairs, and jump down towards the wall, not going over it. There is a ledge to catch you. Then walk under the stairs for the last Red Coin. The Star appears behind the pipe.
Star Get #120, 38 Coins, 5 Lives

It took me six tries to reach Bowser and thirteen to beat him. When we land in the arena, we hear organ music and see Bowser, who is more colorful than in previous battles, giving him the nickname "Rainbow Bowser". He says "Mario! You again! Well, that's just fine -- I've been looking for something to fry with my fire breath! Your Star Power is useless against me! Your friends are all trapped within the walls... And you'll never see the Princess again! Bwa ha ha ha!"

The battle strategy is the same as the others: throw Bowser into the bombs. This time, we have to throw him into bombs three times and there are five bombs. This is not an easy battle. Bowser may jump, creating two sets of shockwaves, breathe fire, which may turn into coins, and charging you, doing two bars of damage and potentially pushing you off the arena. We inch him to the bombs so we don't miss. If we do miss and throw him off the arena, he'll knock off a chunk of the arena. After we get in two hits, he waves his arms around, which knocks off any remaining chunks to make the arena star-shaped. This is a great opportunity to grab his tail. On my final take, I closed my eyes, rotated the joystick, and let go of Bowser randomly. He went a little wide of the bomb, so I kept saying "No! No! No!" until he came close to the bomb and set it off. "Yeah!" He flies back to the center of the arena and says, "Noooo! You've really beaten me this time, Mario! I can't stand losing to you! My troops... worthless! They've turned over all the Power Stars! What?! There are 120 in all??? Amazing! There were some in the castle that I missed??!! Now I see peace returning to the world.... Oooo! I really hate that! I can't watch -- I'm outta here! Just you wait until next time. Until then, keep that Control Stick smokin' Buwaa ha ha!"

He fades into a large Star and the music stops. I had three bars of health left. Phew! Finally done!


Nintendo DS
The entrance to the final battle is in the same place. If we do not have enough Stars, we will get the endless stairs beyond the Star Door. If we go in as anyone other than Mario, we get a message from Bowser: "Grr. Even though I've lost this many Power Stars, Mario is the only one I can call my rival. No one else matters. Now scram! Gwa ha ha!!" However, this does not stop the door from opening, but we get the endless stairs. As Mario, we do not encounter any problems. At the top of the stairs are a painting of Bowser and the hole that is the entrance to the final battle.

The area is set up the same way as in the N64 version. We push the block on one of the platforms to get the first Red Coin. We go up a ramp with arrows. Past the Amp and the circling platform with a Star Sphere, indicating that there's a Star Switch around here, we find a Red Coin in a corner near a Piranha Plant. The third Red Coin is in the same place, below the tilting platform to the right off the ledge. Also on the ledge is the Star Switch. We long jump to the other side of the ledge, climb up to where the Piranha Plant is, and jump to the Star Sphere for the Star.
Star Get #149, 36 Coins, 5 Lives
That's the last Star!

We backflip up from the ferris wheel to a switch that creates green and yellow stairs to a yellow ramp with the fourth Red Coin. There are three sets of flames on the ramp. We pass another Piranha Plant and get on an arrow platform that will take us through an obstacle course of rectangular blocks. I got the fifth Red Coin on a high block, but slid off and landed on before the green and yellow stairs. Once you get off the platform, we find the sixth Red Coin just behind the point in the center of the first spinning disc. The second one has a pole.

At the top of the pole, we find two magenta moving platforms with a pole in the middle. At the top of the pole is a Red Coin. We pass some Bob-ombs and reach two ferris wheels. This takes us to the top of the level. The 1-up and last Red Coin are in the same places as in the N64 version. The Star appears behind the pipe.
Star Get #150, 48 Coins, 5 Lives
That's the last Star!

We jump into the pipe. We land on a green octangonal platform and some organ music plays. Bowser appears, with a regular sprite. (No rainbow Bowser in this version.) He says "That's just fine -- I've been looking for someone to fry with my fire breath! Your Star Power is useless against me! Your friends are all trapped in the walls... And you'll never see the princess again! Gwa ha ha ha!"

I tried to inch him closer to a bomb, but I dove off the arena.
Take 2- He breathes red and green flames, which may turn into coins when they disappear. We inched him to a bomb and got in one hit. You do not want to miss and throw him off the arena because he will knock a triangular chunk out of the arena. This change is not reflected in the Touch Screen Map. After running into him twice, we inch him towards another bomb and get in the second hit. I used two adjacent bombs. Immediately move towards the center, as Bowser will make any remaining chunks fall away so that the arena is star-shaped (the map won't change, but you can always see a star outlined on the map). This is a great opportunity to grab his tail, but it won't stop the pieces from falling away. The bombs are now between the star's points, so inching him closer won't do you as much good. You have to aim now. We now have three bombs in a row, in case our throw is off when aiming for one bomb in particular. We may throw him into another. You need a full-powered throw for this part. When he lands, he sends out two sets of shock waves. Jump to dodge them. He will also charge us. He ran into me twice, and I ran out of health.
Take 3- I got in one hit and fell off.
Take 4- I got in the first two hits, then decided to swing wildly and let go randomly. I kept missing and ran out of health.
Take 5- I was knocked off by a Goomba, making me start the level over. I fell off once more
Take 7- I got in two hits. I ran into him too many times.
Take 8- I got in two hits. It took several throws, but I finally got in the third hit. Bowser flies back into the center of the arena and says "Noooo! You've really beaten me this time, Mario! I can't stand always losing to you! My troops...worthless! They've turned over all the Power Stars! Wait, say that again. There are 150 Stars in all??? What?! There were some in the castle that I missed??!! Now I see peace returning to the world... I really hate that! It's so horrible I can't watch. I'm outta here! Just you wait until next time. Until then, keep that Touch Screen smokin'! Gwa ha haaaaaaa!" He dissolves into smoke and a large Power Star. It's over! It's finally over!