LogFAQs > #938649121

Mario Party 5 - Nerfed a bit from his heyday, but some chaos is absolutely possible due to the Bowser Capsule. At any point, Bowser might just wreck a player getting an item and toss a Bowser Space on the board. These are especially fearsome, as Bowser will just sometimes take a star from players who land on his space. With more mobility options than ever, a player shouldnt have MUCH of a problem avoiding Bowser spaces but they instill such a fear by existing, ESPECIALLY if Bowser (who has taken over hosting Last Five Turns permanently by this point) decides to just turn EVERY Red Space into a Bowser space. His boss fight is weaker in this game due to a lack of the threat of instant death, but still enjoyable. Plus hes a sweet guy, he drives around with Peachs heart body in Super Duel Mode - what a nice guy.

Mario Party Advance - https://twitter.com/SuperMarioFact/status/1252357877114650624

Mario Party 6 - Bowser stealing your star is now reworked into Bowser rolling a dice block with the chance of stealing a star, a callback to the Mario Party 1 days thats VERY welcome. Bowser Revolution is changed to be a Last 5 Turns only event as well, which is disappointing. However, Bowser gets significantly more board presence in this game, able to reprise his Mario Party 1 gimmick of rotating with Toad in Castaway Bay, and his Mario Party 2 gimmick of walking around and mugging people in Clockwork Castle. Its more a Bowser nostalgia tour, as hes regulated just to the Night cycle to prop up his rivalry with Donkey Kong, and he doesnt even get a boss fight. Probably Bowsers weakest appearance overall.

Mario Party DS - Okay I lied this is his weakest appearance. Bowser Revolution is renamed to Gimme Equality!, Gimme Stars! is back without a roulette, and he turns himself into a weird cube for his boss fight. This is the worst Bowsers been but I mean, its still better than most of his contemporaries in other games.

Mario Party 7 - Bowser gets an ENTIRE MECHANIC every 5 turns in order to screw with everyone. How effective this is depends on the board - Windmillville Bowser is total bullshit, while Enchanted Inferno Bowser is a constant who makes the board significantly more interesting. On most boards, hes simply just the life of the party, pettily photobombing pictures that he set up and charging a fee for it, then stealing the photo for himself. Bowsers Lovely Lift is a BIT too easy, but an excellent concept for a duel mode boss fight and really fun to play casually. This is a FUN Bowser who makes his presence known. Single-Player Bowser mini-games suck in this game, though, most of the fun options get relegated to Koopa Kid spaces.

Mario Party 8 - Bowser continues to directly counter Donkey Kongs actions. Bowsers Bad-Breath Express is perhaps the most dastardly version of the Rainbow Castle concept, baiting players with a free star from DK before someone lands on a Bowser space and replaces it with the Koopa King ready to steal a star. His boss fight is disappointing, but so are a lot of Mario Party 8s mechanics.

Mario Party 9 - Bowser introduces Reverse Minigames to the series, where you have to be the first player to be eliminated from a mini-game in order to win. Bowser is paying you to mutilate yourself at this point. Beautiful. His boss fight is a remix of all the other bosses where he rolls dice to attack you with dungeon dice monsters. Flavor for days.

Mario Party 10 - Bowser is FINALLY playable in more than just Beach Volleyball. Controlling Bowser is an absolute joy, destroying everything in your path in order to pursue your targets. Only Bowsers Bad Breath feels particularly bad to control, as blowing is never a great input, but every other Bowser game makes you feel like the oppressive force Bowser has been for almost two decades at this point. The build-up to playable Mario Party Bowser is palpable due to everything thats come before him, and he pays off in spades. His Amiibo Board is, likewise, incredibly dickish, all of his good points from Mario Party 9 are still present, and he even has the most fun, competitive, and fair boss fight in the game with his Dry Bowser transformation.

Super Mario Party - Depending on who you ask, Bowser is the best or second best character in the entire game, and thats not up for debate. Bowser and DK are so far ahead of the rest of the pack with their custom blocks that its scary. Bowser guarantees either a HUGE roll, a stall, or a 1. No one has a 50% chance to dominate movement every single turn like Bowser does, and as his natural rolls STACK with movement options. Due to his high rolls being so common, as well, hes not entirely snakebit by the ally system like DK or Wario might be if theyre trying to target a specific space. If youre playing to win, youre playing as Bowser. And after years of him being the strongest force in Mario Party, that just feels RIGHT.

Bowser is, quite simply, the best thing about Mario Party. It wouldnt be much of a stretch to say that Bowser IS Mario Party, trying to utterly dominate everyone with a combination of luck, skill, and utter dickery. The series elevates him as much as he elevates it. The reason why its called Bowser Tier at the top is because he deserves it. He is the peak of the series, and NOTHING comes close to what hes brought to the table.

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