New Super Mario Bros. Boss Guide - Version 1 (7/4/06)
Author:  Matt Sokol
Email:  [email protected]
AIM:  Wlokos7 (easier to contact me through AIM)

All information in this guide has been confirmed by multiple playthroughs of
each boss, by me.  If you notice any incorrect information, let me know.

BASICS

Welcome to this New Super Mario Bros. boss guide.  The purpose of this guide,
as you can probably guess, is to provide information about and strategies to
defeat each of the bosses in the game.  There are a few things that you should
know before you read any further, though.  This guide's mostly self
explanatory, so there's no need for an explanation of the format.  However,
rather than mention techniques such as stomping on bosses or using mega
mushrooms in every single boss's strategy, I'm going to explain them quickly
here.

Stomping:  In NSMB, similarly to some past Mario Bros games, mario can stomp on
the ground from above for extra force.  By using this stomp, you can do twice
as much damage to a boss as one jump would accomplish.  I've written this guide
assuming that you're going to jump on the bosses, for the sake of simplicity. 
I highly suggest, however, that you instead stomp on them all.  If you do that,
you'll only need to get two hits to kill each one.  Don't stomp on the first
hit, though.  Stomp on the second hit.  This way, you avoid the extra
speed/attacks that some bosses gain when they only need one more hit to die.

Mega Mushrooms:  Mega Mushrooms are the mushrooms that make Mario grow huge, to
the point of being able to destroy pipes and end of level flags.  They also
make him much stronger than any boss in the game, including the last one.  If
you don't want to have to deal with a certain boss, just get a mega mushroom in
your item storage slot.  Using the mushroom will allow you to jump on and kill
anything with one hit.

Fireballs / Jumps:  I'll tell you how to kill each boss both by jumping and by
using fireballs.  Each boss dies after a certain amount of fireballs; one third
of that amount is how many it takes to register one hit.  If you do one hit's
worth of them, then start jumping, it'll only take two jumps to kill the boss.
---
Without any further ado, here's the guide:
---
World 1 Fortress:

Boss:  Bowser Jr.

Difficulty:  1/10

Tactics:  Run towards you / Hide in shell.

Remember those miniboss koopas from Super Mario Bros. 3?  This is the exact
same thing.  When the battle starts up, he'll start running towards you.  Just
jump on his head, then wait a second while he dives into his shell.  After he
gets back up and starts running again, jump on him again.  He'll return to his
shell once more, before getting back out and starting to run for the last time. 
This time, he runs faster, but it still shouldn't be an issue for you - jump on
his head again, and you win.

Alternative method:  You can also kill him as fire mario by shooting 9
fireballs at him.  Each 3 fireballs that he's hit with is the equivalent of 1
jump on his head, so after 6 fireballs he'll start to run faster.  If you want
to kill him with fireballs, it's incredibly easy - as soon as you get into the
room, start shooting fireballs right at him, as fast as possible.  You don't
have to even move, he'll die before he reaches you. 

If you've got a blue shell, you can slide into Bowser Jr. and he'll be knocked
on his back, making it easy for you to jump on him and hurt him.  This'll work
for all Bowser Jr. fights in the game.

One last thing:  When you jump on him and he hides in his shell, don't try to
time a jump to land on him just as he's emerging from the shell.  He will not
leave his shell if you're above him, so you'll only end up hurting yourself.

SUMMARY:

-Jump on him three times.
-Stay away when he's hiding in his shell.
 ---
World 1 Castle:

Boss: Bowser

Difficulty: 4/10

Tactics:  Walk towards you, Spit fire/jump, and run towards you (once you've
gotten behind him).

The first miniboss was from SMB3, and now the first boss is from the very first
Super Mario Bros. game.   You probably figured that out as soon as you ran into
the boss area for this one.  Anyway, this is another easy one.  If you've at
least got mushroom power, this is an incredibly easy boss - you can just run
right through him, take the damage and hit the switch.  However, let's assume
that you're small mario or just don't want to take the damage.  This bowser's
going to do three things:  Walk towards you, spit fire at you, and jump. 
Sometimes he'll combine the jumping and the fire-spitting, so watch out.  What
you should do is jump onto that platform that's on the left side of the screen,
and let him come close to you.  Once he gets near, jump right over him
(preferrably when the platform you're on is towards the top of the screen), but
be sure to do it when he isn't about to jump up into the air.  Once you've
gotten past him, he'll start to run at you at full speed, so hit that switch as
fast as you can.  After you hit the switch, you win!

Alternative method:  You can kill bowser with fireballs, too.  I think it might
actually be easier this way, but it's pretty tough to keep Mario with fire
power all the way into the boss room.  If you do, though, you can just keep
hitting y until Bowser dies, and he won't reach you in time to do any damage. 
Bowser, just like Bowser Jr., only takes 9 fireballs to kill.

Summary:

-Wait on the platform.
-Jump over him when he gets close.
-Watch out for his jump.
-If you're fire Mario, just shoot fireballs as fast as you can.
---
World 2 Fortress:

Boss:  Bowser Jr.

Difficulty:  2/10

Tactics:  Run towards you / Hide in shell.

This is the same thing as the first miniboss.  The only real difference in the
stage:  Rather than being a normal room, this time you're on a long platform
above quicksand.  It's possible to run off of either edge into the quicksand,
so be careful.  Even if you fall, though, you can jump back out and onto the
platform, so it's not a huge issue.  Just follow the same advice as last time. 
Three jumps on his head, and he's gone.

Alternative method:  Just like the first battle with Bowser Jr., you only need
9 fireballs to kill him.  If you're fire Mario, you can shoot fireballs as fast
as possible from the very start of the fight, and he'll die just before he can
touch you.  This is the easiest method to kill him, but both methods present no
real challenge.

Summary

-Stay on platform
-Jump on head three times
---
WORLD 2 Castle:

BOSS:  Mummy Pokey

Difficulty:  5/10

Tactics - Spit rock / Dive underground

Finally, the first boss that isn't the same as a fight from a previous game. 
This time, you're up against a mummified Sand Pokey guy.  He's not too
difficult, but it's a step up from the first few bosses, so be prepared.  When
you start out, stay to the left.  Don't try to hurt him when he's at full
height.  Sure, it's possible, (you can use a wall jump to get high enough), but
it's much harder to jump on him when he's that tall.  He'll spit a rock at you. 
Jump to dodge it, then wait for him to dive underground.  When he comes back up
above ground, he should only be half as tall as he was.  Now's your chance! 
Run up to him, and jump on his head.  He'll dive back down.  Be sure to watch
for the dirt that shoots up where he's about to appear - get to the side of the
screen that's furthest from that.  He'll be back at full height, so dodge the
next rock and keep waiting.  Repeat this method until, after three hits, he's
dead.  One thing to watch out for:   Sometimes, he'll come up above the dirt,
but only his head will be showing.  Don't bother trying to jump on him when
that happens, he'll be back underground too fast for you to get him.

Alternative method:  If you're fire Mario, you can use fireballs to kill Mummy
Pokey, but it's not nearly as easy as with the first three bosses.  This time,
you can't just stand and shoot them as fast as possible.  It'll take 15 to kill
him (5 = one hit), which gives him plenty of time to move around the stage and
spit rocks at you.  If you're going to try this method, start out by shooting
as many fireballs as possible.  You should get 4 or 5 in before you have to
jump to dodge a rock.  After that, he'll dive underground.  Just stay to the
left of the screen and wait for him to re-emerge.  As soon as he does, start
shooting fireballs at him.  Jump over the next rock he spits, and keep
repeating the process until, 15 fireballs later, you win.  It's not too tough,
but it might be easier to try the normal method.

Summary:

-Jump on head when it's at half height.
-Jump over rocks.
-Keep your distance.
---
World 3 Fortress:

Boss: Bowser Jr.

Difficulty: 2/10

Tactics:  Run at you / Hide in shell.

This is the exact same battle as the World 2 fortress.  The only difference is
that, rather than your platform being above sand, it's above water.  If you
fall into the water, just jump right back out.  You may have trouble not taking
a hit when getting back onto the main platform, though, so avoid jumping into
the water if you can.  Jump on his head three times or hit him with 9 fireballs
to win.  If you need a more detailed explanation, refer back to the Bowser Jr.
boss of world 1 and 2.

Summary:
-Jump on his head three times.
-Stay away when he's hiding in his shell.
---
World 3 Castle:

Boss:  Cheepskipper

Difficulty:  5/10

Tactics:  Swim / Jump

This boss is a giant purple cheep-cheep.  You're on a platform above water,
where he and normal cheep-cheeps are swimming around.  Occasionally, they'll
jump up above the platform.  When they do, that's your chance to strike.  Feel
free to attack the normal sized cheep-cheeps if you want, but there's no need. 
Wait for the boss to jump up (you'll know he's about to, because he dips down
in the water for a moment beforehand), then jump as he's leaving the water.  If
you time it right, you can land right on his head as he comes up above the
bridge.  He'll go away for a second, then return to the water below.  When he
jumps again, so do you, and after another two hits, you win.  The challenge to
this one is avoiding the small cheep-cheeps, which can be tricky.  It may take
a few tries, but you'll be able to beat this boss without too much hassle.

Alternate method:  There is none.  Don't even think about trying to use fire
power to kill this guy.  It's not going to happen.  I spent a while trying to
find out how many fireballs it'd take, but I couldn't do it.  If anybody has
that info, feel free to IM it to me and I'll credit you for it.

What?  You really want an alternate method?  Well, you can always go for the
blue shell method.  Turn into Shell-Mario, and as soon as the battle begins,
gain enough momentum to start sliding in the shell.  Just keep sliding until,
eventually, you get lucky and hit Cheepskipper.  Repeat two more times, and you
win.  This is actually easier than the normal method, so I'd suggest it if
you've got a blue shell.

Summary:
-Avoid the normal cheep-cheeps.
-When Cheepskipper jumps, jump on his head.
-Mario + Blue Shell = Instant Win
---
World 4 Fortress:

Boss:  Bowser Jr.

Difficulty:  4/10

Tactics:  Run / Hide in shell / Throw shell.

You enter the boss room, to find the same basic platform setup as the last
three bosses.  Bowser Jr. runs at you, and you jump onto him..  Only this time,
he hides in his shell as you're falling.  You die.  :(

Yeah, this boss is different from the last three Bowser Jr. fights.  It's
harder, but not too much harder.  When it starts out, he'll run at you like
before, and then hide in his shell when he gets close.  You should just jump
over him and run to the other side of the platform.  Do that until, after he's
hidden in his shell twice, and then he'll throw a koopa shell at you.  When
that happens, jump on the shell to stop it.  Hold B to grab the shell, and
throw it at him.  He'll be knocked on his back, and now's your chance to
strike.  Jump on him.  He'll go back into his shell, then get back up, and the
whole thing repeats.  If you haven't read my introduction section on stomping
on the bosses, I suggest you look at it now, because it's pretty useful here.

Alternate method:  This time, he may be using different tactics, but Bowser Jr.
still only takes 9 fireballs to kill.  However, because of the fact that he'll
dive into his shell too quickly, you can't just shoot as fast as possible from
the start of the fight to win.  Shoot 2 or 3 fireballs, jump over him, shoot a
few more, and keep going until he's dead.  Remember, he'll throw a shell after
hiding in his own shell twice, so be sure to dodge it.

Summary:
-Don't jump on him right away.
-Toss his shells back at him.
-Jump (or stomp) when he's on his back.
---
World 4 Castle:

Boss:  Giant Goomba

Difficulty:  5/10

Tactics:  Walk / Run

The boss is, as you'd expect by the name, a very large goomba.  That's all
there is to it.  At first, all he does is walk towards you.  After two hits,
he'll start to run around.  That's the full extent of his attacking power. 
With that said, there's two ways to go about beating this guy:  The way
Nintendo intended for it to beaten, and the easier way.  The first way works
like this:  Run away from the goomba, towards a wall.  When he gets near, use a
wall jump to jump over him, and hit the switch.  Two green platforms will
appear, one on each side of the screen.  Step on one, let it being you up into
the air, and then jump onto the goomba's head.  You'll bounce off with a normal
jump, so you've got to use a stomp.  He'll get squashed, you'll bounce off, and
by the time you've got a chance to hit him again, the platforms are gone.  Hit
the switch again, stomp on him again, he's hurt again.  The last hit will be
the same, except he's running now, which makes it a bit harder.
	That's how they expected you to do it, it seems.  However, there's another
way that makes a lot more sense.  You'll start out the same way;  run to a
side, and wall jump above him when he gets close.  However, rather than wall
jumping all the way over him, just stomp on his head instead.  It makes much
more sense to do it that way than to jump over him to get to the switch,
doesn't it?  Three hits, and he's dead.

Alternate method:  If you want to use fireballs, it'll take 27 fireballs (!) to
kill him.  That's right, 27.  I'd suggest just doing it the normal way, because
using fireballs is tough.  The large amount that it takes is bad enough, but
the stage's setup makes it even harder.  If you really want to, just keep
shooting him with the fireballs and wall jumping over his head when he gets
close.  It'll take a few minutes.

Summary: 
-His attack list:  Walking!
-Wall jump over him, then stomp on his head.
-Don't bother with fireballs
---
World 5 Fortress:

Boss:  Bowser Jr.

Difficulty:  5/10

Tactics:  Run towards you / Hide in shell / Jump around.

We're back to the original Bowser Jr. strategy, no koopa shells involved.  Of
course, the difficulty's 5/10, so something's got to be different, right? 
Right.  The room that you're fighting in is basically the same type of room as
the last few.  You're on the main floor, with two holes on each side.  However,
this time, there's no floor under your main one.  Plus, the stage you're on is
pure ice.  If you run too fast, you'll slide right off.  At first, this seems
like it's going to be very annoying.  However, it's not so bad.  Stand where
you are when the battle starts, and Bowser Jr. will run towards you.  When he
gets close, jump.  If you time your jump well, you'll land right on him.  After
you land back onto the ground, be sure to move to the right to avoid being hurt
by his shell.  Be careful that you don't slide off of the stage, though. When
he's back to running around, let him come to you and jump on him again.  The
last time's a bit trickier, because he starts jumping around.  You'll want to
run underneath him once, taking care not to run too fast, then jump on him when
he runs at you.

Alternate method:  It'll take 9 fireballs, as per the usual.  Now that we're
back to Bowser Jr.'s usual tactics, you can start shooting as soon as you hit
the ground, and you'll win before he reaches you.

Summary:
-Be careful on the ice.
-Three hits, as usual.
---
World 5 Castle:

Boss: Petey Piranha

Difficulty:  6/10

Tactics:  Fly / Slam into ground / Jump around.

It's Petey Piranha, from Super Mario Sunshine!  Luckily, he's not nearly as
annoying as when we last had to deal with him.  Run into the room, and wait for
the fight to begin.  When it does, he'll fly up into air and start moving from
side to side.  Run in the opposite direction that he moves, so that you're
always as far from him as possible  Eventually, he'll slam down into the
ground.  As long as you've been staying away from him, he shouldn't hit you,
but if he's going to land where you are, you'd better get out of the way fast. 
Once he hits the ground, he'll fall onto his back, which is your cue to jump on
him.  Once you do that, he'll fly back into the air.  Continue to run to the
side of the room he's not on until he slams back down into the ground.  Again,
he'll fall on his back, and again you jump on him.  As soon as you do, run as
far away from him as possible.  This time, when he gets up, he won't fly. 
Instead, he starts jumping up and down, moving from one wall to the other and
back.  Stand up against a wall, and as he gets close, run under him when he's
in the air.  Once he starts to fly again, it's the same thing as before.  Wait
until he's on the ground, and jump on him for the last time.

Alternate method: Unlike a lot of the non-Bowser Jr. bosses, Petey only takes 9
fireballs to kill.  As soon as the fight starts, shoot a fireball or two, then
start running away from him until he hits the ground.  Once he does, go back to
shooting.  It'll take at least 2 rounds of flying/ground cycles before you kill
him, because you don't get enough time to hit him with many fireballs before
he's back into the air.  I think that it's easier just to jump on him, although
it's nice to not have to deal with him jumping around after two hits (assuming
you get the last few fireballs in a row).  Either way, it should only take you
a few tries to beat this boss.

Summary:
-Stay away while he's in the air.
-Once he's on the ground, jump on him.
-Be very careful when he starts jumping
---
World 6, First Fortress:

Boss:  Bowser Jr.

Difficulty:  3/10

Tactics:  Run at you / Hide In shell.

This is exactly like all the other Bowser Jr. fights, but now you're on a
platform that tilts from side to side as you run around.  There's really
nothing new to say, other than to be careful to not fall off of the edge.  Try
not to move too much, and just jump on his head when he approaches.  Three
hits, and he's defeated yet again.  You'd think that he'd just give up by now,
wouldn't you?

Alternate method:  9 fireballs, as always.  Start shooting as soon as possible,
and you'll win before he hits you.  No new surprises for you to worry about.

Summary:
-Avoid running, you'll fall off the platform
-Jump on his head three times
---
World 6, Second Fortress:

Boss:  Bowser Jr.

Difficulty:  4/10

Tactics:  Run at you / Hide in shell / Throw koopa shell.

This is my seventh Bowser Jr.  strategy write-up, and I'm getting quite tired
of them.  I'm sure you are, too.  At any rate, this is the same as the first
fortress, stage-wise.  The difference is that now Bowser's back to his koopa
shell tossing ways, along with ducking into his own shell if you try to jump on
him.  Just like the other times he's tried these techniques, you've just got to
jump over him when he slides at you under his shell, until he throws a koopa
shell at you.  Jump on it, grab it, throw it at him.  He'll fall on his back,
and you can jump on him.  Do that three times, and he's gone.  It's no harder
than any of the other times.

Alternate method:  9 fireballs'll kill him again.  Start shooting as soon as
the battle starts, and when he gets close, jump over him.  Run to the other
side of the platform, and start shooting again.  Keep doing that, along with
dodging any koopa shells he throws, until he's dead.

Summary:
-Don't try to jump on him at first.
-Throw his koopa shells back at him.
-Jump on him when he's on his back.
---
World 6 Castle.

Boss:  Monty Mole + Tank

Tactics:  Move around / Shoot bullets / Spin rapidly / Throw bomb-ombs.

Difficulty:  6/10

This can be really easy, but it can also be really frustrating.  Basically,
here's how it works.  When the fight starts out, Monty's in his tank, and
there's no way for you to hurt him.  He'll shoot a bullet bill or two, which
you should just jump on/over.  It shouldn't be too long before he sticks his
head out of the top of the tank to throw a bomb-omb at you.  Now's your chance
- quickly, before he can throw it, jump right on him.  He'll take damage and
fall back into his tank.  After that, the tank will spin around, moving from
side to side, shooting bullet-bills everywhere.  This is the hardest part to
not get hurt at, if you're big mario.  I suggest trying to stay to one side of
the tank, so that you've got less bullets to dodge, but it could take a few
tries before you can not get hurt.  Of course, if you're small mario, you can
run all the way to one side of the screen and duck to dodge every single
bullet.  After he's done spinning around, continue dodging bullets until he
decides to poke his head out of the tank again.  Once again, jump up onto the
top of the tank, and onto his head.  He'll dive back into his tank, and yet
another cannon will grow onto the top of it.  It'll do the spinning/shooting
thing again, but now that it's got three cannons, it's very annoying.  Try to
bounce off of a bullet bill, because they'll send you pretty far into the air
and you can miss a little of the attack.  Other than that, just keep trying to
jump over/onto those bullet bills and eventually it'll stop.  He'll return to
his slow shooting method, and when he gets back out of the tank, you can hit
him the last time.  You'll probably want to use a bullet bill to propell you
above the tank for the last hit, because it's a bit tougher to reach him that
time.

Alternate method:  You can't use fireballs to kill him.  If you try, you'll
accidentally land on his head in the attempts to line up your shot.  Don't
bother trying for this one.

Other things of note:  Don't stand on top of the tank when he's inside.  If you
do that, rather than him getting out to throw a bomb-omb, the tank will do that
spinning/shooting attack that it normally does after being hit.

Summary: 
-Be ready for an onslaught of bullets each time you hit him.
-Wait until he pops his head above the tank before trying to get him.
-Dodge those bullet bills!
---
Ignore this sentence.  This is an anti-plagiarism thing, in case somebody tries
to steal the whole guide without giving me credit.  This guide was written by
Wlokos, of the GameFAQs message boards.
---
World 7 Fortress:

Boss:  Bowser Jr.

Tactics:  Run at you / Hide in shell / Throw Koopa shells.

Difficulty:  4/10

The platform's moving, this time, but it doesn't really matter.  There's enough
space to fall off either side if you're not careful, but that's all you have to
watch out for.  Bowser Jr. will run at you, so jump over him.  He'll hide in
his shell when he's nearby, so don't try to jump onto him yet.  It shouldn't
take too long before he stops running around and throws a koopa shell at you. 
When that happens, jump on it and throw it at him.  He'll be knocked onto his
back, and you can jump on him to do some damage.  He'll go back into his shell,
then come out and repeat the process.  Do it two more times (he runs faster the
last time), and you win.  You're almost done with these Bowser Jr. fights,
don't worry.

Summary:
-Wait for him to throw a koopa shell
-Throw it back at him
-Hit him when he's down
---
World 7 Castle:

Boss:  Lakithunder

Tactics:  Fly above you / Shoot lightning / Throw spinys / Swoop down.

Difficulty:  6/10

This boss is a Lakitu, but as you probably guessed from the title, this one's
got lightning powers.  The key to this fight is to keep moving.  The only time
you should stop running around is when he's swooping towards the ground.  Other
than that, the one thing that will help you with dodging everything - the
spinys he throws, the lightning he shoots - is to not stop moving.  When the
battle starts, he'll immediately swoop towards the ground.  Jump so that you
land on his head as he passes underneath you.  He'll fly up into the air and
throw two spinies at you.  Run out of their path as they fall, using a wall
jump if needed to avoid them.  Now, if you're lucky, they'll fall into one of
the two holes in the stage pretty quickly, but if not, be sure to watch out for
them as the battle continues, as they'll be walking around for a little while. 
After all that, he'll swoop down again.  Try to jump on him on the first swoop,
because if you don't, he might throw more spinies at you.  After the second
hit, he'll start to shoot lightning at you.  The lightning shoots straight down
from him towards the ground, so keep moving away from him to avoid being
directly undernearth him when he's shooting lightning.  Try to avoid going
against the walls though, as he might trap you.  After he's done three
lightning attacks, he'll swoop down again.  Jump on him for the third time to
end the fight.  If you miss on the swoop, he might swoop again, but he also
might shoot lightning or throw spinies, so try to get him on the first one.

Alternate method:  I know that I said this for world 6, too, but there's not
really a way to kill him with fire.  I tried for a while, but if you hit his
cloud, it doesn't hurt him, and the only way to hit his body is to line up your
jump so that you land on his head.  If anybody has a good strategy for this
method, feel free to email it to me and I'll give you credit.

Extra note:  If you're fire mario, you can kill those spinies with your
fireballs.  It's a small advantage, but it does help.

Summary:
-Hit him on the first swoop as much as possible.
-Motion is key
-Stay away from the walls.
---
World 8, First Fortress:

Boss:  Bowser Jr.

Tactics:  Run at you / Hide in shell / Throw koopa shell.

Difficulty: 6/10

It's Bowser Jr. again, but this time it's quite a bit more difficult than
before.  The stage is what makes it hard.  You're on a small platform, with two
moving platforms on either side, but fire constantly shoots up, blocking them
from you.  Here's what you do:  Stand there, and wait for him to dive into his
shell, sliding towards you.  As he does that, jump over him, landing on the
other side of the small platform.  You're going to want to avoid the moving
platforms, as they're more likely to make it harder for you to avoid falling
than they are to help you avoid Bowser Jr.  After a jump or two, he'll throw a
shell at you.  Jump on it, and knock it back towards him.  Once he's on his
back, jump on him, then get back to a side of the platform.  He'll run back at
you, and you jump again.  After the next shell, he'll start to run faster. 
Also, he might jump - if he does, be sure to run underneath him.  After he
throws the next shell, knock it back at him and jump on him for the win.

Alternate method:  He takes nine fireballs.  Shoot at him until he dives into
his shell, then jump over him and onto the other side of the platform.  Dodge
the koopa shell, and shoot some more until he slides back at you.  After three
or four rounds of shooting, he'll be dead.  You're probably going to have an
easier time using this method if you can.

Extra note:  Because of the moving platforms, when you jump over a koopa shell,
it could bounce off of the wall behind you and come back.  Watch out for that,
and jump over it again if it does.

Summary:
-This room'll make the fight harder.
-Hit him with his own koopa shells.
-Jump on him three times.
---
World 8, First Castle:

Boss:  Skeleton Bowser

Tactics:  Walk/Run / Throw Bones / Jump / Spit Fire

Difficulty:  As small Mario:  7/10  As big Mario:  1/10

This is the same as the first world's boss, except that he can throw bones now
and you don't get an extra platform to stand on.  If you're big mario, just run
through him, take the hit, and jump on the switch for an incredibly easy win. 
If you're small Mario, then unfortunately you're going to have a much more
difficult job.  Stay to the left of the screen, and wait while he does some
fire attacks and bone throwing.  You've now got two options.  One is to try to
find an opening in between attacks and do a running jump over his head (and
then another jump onto the switch).  A second method is to get as close to him
as you can without dying, so that when he jumps, you can run right underneath
him and then to the switch.  I personally prefer method 2, but either way
works.  It may take a few tries, because there's a lot of luck involved - if
you're about to jump over him, and he decides to do a jump at the last second,
you're dead.  Just keep trying, and eventually you'll get it.  Of course,
there's two power-up blocks in the very last portion of the fortress, after the
flag, so you'll probably have an easier time just getting at least one of those
so you can run right through him.

Alternate method:  Nope.  He's immune to fire now.  Sorry.

Summary:
-If you're big, run through him.
-Stay back until you're ready to go for the switch.
-Run under him when he jumps or running jump over him when he's not attacking
-Fireballs aren't going to work this time.
---
World 8, Second Fortress:

Boss:  Bowser Jr.

Tactics:  Run / Hide in shell / Throw Koopa shell / Jump.

Difficulty:  5/10

This is it.  The last solo Bower Jr. fight in the game.  It's about time, I'm
tired of writing up the same old strategies for each one.  At any rate, this is
easier than the last fight.  You're on a medium sized platform, and fireballs
shoot up and down through the holes on the side.  Bowser Jr.'ll run towards
you, then slide at you in his shell, so jump over him and get on the other side
of the platform.  He'll throw a koopa shell at you, which you should jump on
and and throw back at him.  Jump on him, and then get back to the other side of
the platform.  He'll either throw another shell or run at you again.  Jump over
him if he does run, then jump on/throw back the next shell he tosses.  After
you've jumped on him for the second time, get as far away as possible from him. 
If he jumps, wait until he's near you and almost at the ground, then jump over
him.  If he runs, just jump over him like usual.  If he throws a shell, stop it
and kick it at him.  Once he's on back for the last time, you get to do the
final hit.  Congratulations, you've defeated the last miniboss.  You're almost
done.

Alternative method:  It may be the final miniboss, but it still only takes 9
fireballs.  Shoot a few at him, jump over him when he slides at you in his
shell, then turn around and finish him off with a few more fireballs to win the
match.

Summary:
-Just like all the others.
-Stay away from those fireballs on either side of the screen.
-Kick his shells back.
-Jump on him 3 times.
---
World 8, Final Castle:

Boss:  Bowser + Bowser Jr.

Tactics:  Bowser Jr.:  Run / Hide in shell / Throw koopa shell.   Bowser:  Spit
blue flame / Spit several red flames / Spit several blue flames / Jump.

Difficulty:  9/10

Here we are.  The final boss fight.  Unlike most of the other bosses in the
game, this one can provide a decent challenge.  Still, if you're the sort of
person who plays a ton of videogames, this'll seem a bit too easy.  At any
rate, this battle has two parts:  Defeating Bowser. Jr., and then actually
defeating Bowser himself.  Don't bother trying to run through Bowser to hit the
switch, because you'll just fly back when you hit him, and also take damage. 
As soon as the fight starts, run all the way to the left of the screen.  Bowser
Jr. uses his hide in shell / throw shells at you technique, so do what you've
been doing for a large portion of the miniboss fights.  Let him run towards
you, jump over him when he gets too close, and when he throws a koopa shell at
you, jump on it.  Kick it back at him, and then jump on him.  Repeat that
process, kicking another shell at him and hitting him again.  He'll run faster
the third time, but it's no big deal.  Just wait for the shell, and kick it. 
Jump on him for the last time, and he's gone.  I should note here that Bowser's
going to be spitting blue homing fire at you this whole time, but it's easy to
dodge because it moves so slow.  If it goes over you, run under it, if it goes
under you, jump over it.  If you stay towards the left side of the screen, it
may never reach you anyway. 
	So, after you defeat Bowser Jr. for the absolutely last time in the game,
it's on to your third and final confrontation with Bowser.  After Jr.'s death,
he gets angry.  He'll spit five red fires at you, which you can dodge by
jumping over the second one from the bottom and under the middle one, once
they've had a chance to spread out a bit.  For the blue fires, jump in between
the middle and top one when they're all as far apart from each other as they
get.  When you do jump through either attack, run up reasonably close to
Bowser.  If he starts to make the motion of jumping, start to run, so that
you'll make it past him and can hit the switch.  If he doesn't, run back to the
left side of the screen before you get hit with fire.  Keep getting close to
him after each fire attack, and when he eventually does jump, you can get the
switch, and thereby defeat the final boss.  Congratulations, you have now
beaten New Super Mario Bros.  Sit back and enjoy the credits.

Note:  It's hard to distinguish the pre-jump motion and the fire motion.  If
you start to run and then realize he's shooting fire, you should be able to
turn around in time to avoid getting hurt.

Alternate method: If you really want to use fireballs to kill him, you can, but
it's harder than the normal method.  Start out by defeating Bowser Jr.  Start
shooting as soon as the fight begins, and you'll get in 4 or 5 shots before he
slides at you in his shell.  Run all the way to the left of the screen, then
shoot a few more to finish him off.  With Bowser Jr. taken care of, now you get
to face Bowser.  He'll take a massive 30 fireballs to defeat, which is no small
task.  It doesn't help that his fire attacks block your own.  Keep shooting as
Bowser Jr. dies, and don't stop until Bowser does a fire attack.  No matter
which one it is, jump through two of the flames (see above strategy for
specific dodge pattern), and start shooting him.  Keep enough of a distance to
be able to dodge his attacks, but close enough to get be able to get hits in
after each one.  I'd suggest staying around half a screen's length apart.  If
he jumps, just keep shooting and wait for him to come down.  This'll repeat for
a while, until eventually you hit him for the 30th time.  When that happens,
he'll fall off of the screen, and you get 4000 points.  Jump on the switch to
trigger the end cutscene and win the game.

Summary:
-Kill Bowser Jr. first.
-Jump on Jr.'s koopa shells, throw them back at him.
-Jump on Jr. when he's on his back.
-Bowser'll start much stronger attacks when Jr. dies.
-Jump in between the 2nd and 3rd flames of the blue flame attack.
-Stay back until the spaces between flames are big enough to jump through for
red attack.
-When he jumps, run underneath him and hit the switch.
-You win!
---
Well, that's it.  I hope the guide was useful.  Again, I'd appreciate you
emailing any questions/comments/missing info you have to my email acccout, at
[email protected]. 
---
Special thanks to:
Gamefaqs, for posting this guide.
The FAQ writers' boards at the GameFAQs forum, for inspiring me to write this.
BSulpher, because I looked up some boss names in his FAQ.
And then myself, of course, for writing the whole thing.

If you want to upload this guide onto your site, please just send me an email
or IM me to ask for permission.  I'll let just about anybody take it, as long
as I get credit.  As of 7/4/06, GameFAQs is the only site that has permission
to use this guide.