Can I say just how genius this boss fight is? You start off at the bottom, and have to work your way up *chasing* Bowser. All the while, he's trying to keep you away, be it by throwing barrels, shooting fire, and destroying the very ground beneath your feet. It's a race to the first bridge that he wins, but still, you triumph, running under him when his guard is down to rush to the button and press it. The bridge collapses. You keep running through the ruins, and soon the tables turn; Bowser is now the one chasing *you.* Since he's fallen behind, he can't play keep away, and instead has to try to slow you down. The lead he held is now yours, and it's a perilous journey to the end. And then the last bridge. Oh, *man*, the last bridge. Bowser doesn't pull any tricks this time; he knows that if you reach the end, you'll press the button again and his plans are thwarted once more. He's not going to let that happen. His answer? He runs at you with wild desperation and abandon; no fire, no magic, just his own brute strength in one last-minute push. Everything he's worked to accomplish all comes down to one last race to the finish, and he doesn't look like he's going to accept last place. Edit: I'd like to add that I personally wish the final bridge was MUCH longer. It was one of the most exhilarating parts of the game, seeing Bowser get closer as a result of my own slip ups.
I really love the fact you said "Desperation and Abandon" it just shows that Bowser is a living, breathing entity that has thoughts and feelings and even he can be desperate even though his big and tough
If you go back to the castle after fighting him the first time the fire balls are even faster, trying to dodge the purple ones in that state is impossible. You often have to rely on weird hitboxes just to survive
@@Wower292 Actually that part isn't completly original. It's a reference to Mario Sunshine. In it, we meet Petey Piranha on top of a building and before the fight begins, the ceiling starts cracking and then completly breaks. After falling, the fight begins. And the animation of the ceiling cracking and of Mario and Petey Piranha's reactions are EXACTLY the same as in 3d Land.
0:48 I remember I got to the final bridge where Bowser is chasing you on this exact moment and by then I was maxed out on tension and anxiety thanks to this song. This is definitely one of the best boss battle themes in the series if not the best
It feels like it’s the end of the world when this tune is playing. Other final boss themes are great but this, adventures end and bowsers inside story final boss are fantastic and feel like end of the world music themes
I agree. The general community dismisses it for being “too linear” or whatever. I don’t think linearity is a bad thing at all honestly. This game has some high quality levels, and I think 3D land has probably the best final boss in the 3D Mario series.
When I was 6 or 7 this was my second ever game I played. Hearing this now that I'm 16 years old I'm on the verge of crying. This was one of the only games I actually beated when I was a kid. So much fun playing it at school with my classmates, and with this soundtrack? We were always dancing with it and always screamed at the final bridge part. One of the best Mario games ever created and I thank Nintendo for creating this masterpiece that made my childhood a lot better. Thank you Nintendo.
Bru this the only game u beat as a kid? U missed out on a lot of other mario games then don’t get me wrong this game is fucking amazing and one of my first 3ds games and will always go down as one of my fav childhood games but there’s also the galaxy games, mario bros games, and 3d world but imo 3d land is better lol
my favorite part is how even 5 years after i played this level (8th grade now) the memories of the final battle still come back to me now. best final level in a mario game
honestly I think this theme tops the other mario bowser themes by a fair margin even if the others are good, the atmosphere and sense of desperation is just unmatched
proud to say i grew up with these kind of mario games instead of the new ones, they don’t make the soundtrack like how they use too, you can feel the tension and seriousness with the old songs
At first it starts off like a semi-traditional Bowser fight, then the boss music keeps playing, and then you know it's going to be different when a giant purple fireball comes screaming past you making a sound like a jet engine.
Deadass one of the best bowser themes, and boss fights. It's not some super flashy intense boss fight, it's just a 1v1 while bowsers empire crumbles beneath your feet, no gimmicks, no special powerups on either side, no special gravity, no cloning, just you and bowser, trying to end eachother while everything falls into the lava below.
Years later and this is still my ALL TIME FAVORITE boss fight. I love how you must navigate through a HUGE obstacle course to defeat Bowser and the music is so epic! I can play this level over and over...and in fact I did when I was a little kid, just to listen to the awesome music and have fun rushing through the course as good as I could. it doesnt even matter that I like Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 more, Super Mario 3D Land still has the greatest final boss and my favorite final boss theme too! (Even Galaxy just cant beat it!) I really wish the Galaxy games and other 3D Mario games involved a huge obstacle course when fighting Bowser too, it would've added so much to the final boss!
@@archerbrown8733 i feel like it was done 3 times in the series 1 3D land 2 3D world 3 Bowser's fury (after you deafeat fury bowser five times giant bowser shows up and ytou have to fight him with plessie while chasing him, you must avoid his fire his spines and not miss the ramps
Yeah this level was very replayable, it was my most replayed level to the point that I had essentially applied the entire level to muscle memory, it's just that good
Well you got all the decoys which don't really count, the first time you go against bowser himself is the castle right before the final one in the main worlds, then you go against Dry Bowser throughout the special worlds so there's actually like 2 "final bowsers" lol
This song gives me so many memories... I still remember how I tryharded around 5-10 only to beat Bowser without the white golden tanooki power-up and I was so happy when I finally did it for the first time xD
Still the best Bowser fight in the series IMO. The music, atmosphere,and story felt so out of character that I had to question if Nintendo had actually been the ones behind it.
I would probably call this theme THE best Bowser theme, not counting In The Final from Bowser's Inside Story. And no, not the remake on 3DS. That version sucks compared to the original
Can’t believe it’s been so long ago I would replay this battle over and over just for the music and my parents would check on how loud it was cause I had headphones on the memories man , also the music in this game is underrated holy shit I’m the special world was so good
This game, as well as Hoops 3 on 3 (which NO ONE seems to remember) has some of the best themes I've heard in a Mario game, yet they're overshadowed so badly by other games (I'm lookin' at you, Galaxy 1 and 2. Those games have great themes, mind you, but damn are the overrated, at least IMO) and it's kinda sad if you ask me
@@Eden_M0rganit’s because 3d land(and 3d world I guess) use the 2d and 3d concept meaning like there linear levels but just has 3d in it. For the Mario Galaxy games they fully developed and utilized the 3d, like the planets and gravity gimmicks. The same can be said with Mario sunshine and Mario odyssey as those are open world. And not to mention that the 3ds was fully marketed towards the younger audience.
Not only the fight but the action leading up to it is amazing. Mario running up the deserted castle steps in dead silence as the storm rages around him, only to find the princess safe in the tower. Then to have bowser, having learned from previous encounters, ambush from above and them both fall into the chaos below. Then the final music kicks in and you know it’s serious. No games, no tricks, just two intertwined enemies fighting for their life as the world literally crumbles from their feet. This is the only Nintendo game where it feels Mario could actually die.
This is just absolutely stunning. I love this Mario game so much. This final boss means a lot even though I'm not a Mario fan. Maybe I'll play this again...
Nostalgia is not how I describe this,because I COME BACK TO THIS FIGHT SO MANY TIMES TO HEAR THIS EPIC THEME and i mean C'mon,you guys can't blame me for hyping this thing up while your reading this comment and listening to this theme at the same time amiright???
This game was one of my favorites when I was little, and this boss fight was and still is one of my all time favorites. As soon as I hear it, I can picture myself running up the crumbling buildings chasing bowser dodging bowser's fire, and especially the part where he falls off and you think you're safe and then he comes back stronger and chasing you. One of the best boss fights of all time.
Yo tengo la teoría de que el otro Bowser que viene es el goomba y kamek del inicio sus bolas de fuego son rosadas como la magia de kamek enton mi teoría es que kamek convirtio a ese goomba en un monstruo sin tanooki.
This game was underrated as hell, I hope one day it gets a switch port or something so more people can acknowledge just how great most of this game was, it took me over a year to complete every single level and get every star coin when I was younger
this theme is,,, really underrated,,, i like it a lot better than all of new supers music,,, and this style is a lot more unique then what we’ve gotten as far as “not full fledge 3d games but kinda sorta 3d games”
Ima be honest but when I hit the first switch, bowser coming out of no where and shoots a giant fireball actually scared me. I do have to say even if a lot of people may not enjoying this fight or song I do for just how different it is. Remember the only other chase fight we had with bowser was in NSMBW, so this one is gonna be in my heart forever, also the last bridge, man such a good way to end the battle/chase. (Ok nvm theres also the NSM3DW chase, but I prefer this one instead.)
This was my second mario game i played new super mario bros for the ds but never truly played the game i only did the minigames so this was the first mario game i truly played.
This was my first ever 3DS video game, and both my 3DS and this game will always hold a special place in my heart, may my 3DS rest in peace, I dropped it and it snapped in half. Thank you for this, this brings back so many memories from when I was under the office room table, home alone, with my sister who was on world seven, and I was at the final boss battle, and I was so excited to show her. I can remember every second so clearly. Thank you, I really mean it.
@@greenxclips1733 I don't think Nintendo will remix or reuse this theme again. But then again, I'm not sure if it's in Bowser's Fury since I played it only for a bit
I really like this theme a lot, and same with the fight, but if the fight was longer. Seems too short. 3d world fixed that, sort of. Ehh, maybe if the fight was like 5 minutes longer, then this would be the perfect 3ds Mario final battle!
I think the logic is that Bowser ate a magic wand, so he can use it's power to fire different projectiles, instead of just plain fire. The reason Dry Bowser has blue fire is because Bowser can't digest anything, so now he just uses pure fire magic.
You want a theme that went even harder? Give Sherbet Land (CD) from Mario Hoops 3 on 3/Mario Slam Basketball a listen and tell me it isn't a whole vibe
playing this while trying to clear check my mario maker 2 final boss makes the climb extremely intense, as bowser chases you up, using different utilities you have used throughout the game, to lead up to this, one last escape with one last goal... run and survive Edit: The final boss in the bonus world is way harder
I remember when I was a first grader, I used to die in this game so much and think that this was the hardest game ever. After playing it again I can safely say that this is probably one of the easiest mario games.
I always come back to this final boss. It's by far the most fun one I have ever played. Being a whole level while trying to avoid Bowser at all costs. And, of course, the music is amazing. Honestly, makes me wished we had a 3D Land style in Mario Maker. (I know 3D World is too similar, but even just mixing the two with separate final boss themes would be fine by me)
@@novustalks7525 oh don't get me wrong I love this game, and I *love* this final battle. Probably one of my favorit bowser fights. I just think there isn't to much new. But thats what I like about it. Just a plain awsome bowser chase.
This music fits the feeling of you facing up to the final challenge. You finally meet the person who has been causing chaos and you chase him down but then it turns around and now he is chasing you and firing purple fireballs and finally after so much jumping and avoiding mario is tired but keeps going as he is chased down by bowser and reach the button finally ending this madness. Not to mention the theme slaps
My favorite Mario boss fight AND my favorite theme for it. It just makes me cry every fucking time. One for nostalgia and one for how good its composed
Second best Bowser theme, for sure. And that’s only if the Grand Finale counts as a “Bowser” theme, cuz it’s technically a Dark Bowser theme. So yeah, in that case, best Bowser theme ever, great job Nintendo.
Bro I remember playing so much of this game on my 3Ds XL and man was it fun, just hearing this theme alone gives me so much nostalgia I love it so much.
Coming back here after a long time not playing this game... The nostalgia, man me and my DS has SO much fun together. Staying up all night beating Mario 3D Land, (only to stop playing it at world 7 due to school) finally finishing it after school, finding out about the special world and spending 100+ hours beating one random special world level, figuring out how to unlock the final level without searching up how to, dropping my DS in the toilet, still being able to play the game despite no sound, then dropping it on the floor only for the bottom screen to break making it unusable, then never touching it again... Sweet sweet memories. :) Still my most favorite Mario game to this day!
