Bowser

Bowser is the king of the koopa clan. Also known as King Koopa, Bowser has been one of Mario Mario's oldest nemesis. He first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 1 as the boss character at the end of each world. While American audiences witnessed a brief interruption by one time foe Wart in Super Mario Bros. 2, Bowser became the main villain in all subsequent Super Mario Bros. games. He is featured as the final boss in each of the following Super Mario games:

Key Franchise Moments:

Super Mario Bros. 1

Super Mario Bros. 3

Super Mario World

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Super Mario 64

Super Mario Sunshine

New Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Galaxy

Historical Fighting Style:

The manner in which Bowser fights really depends on the system and style of game which he is featured. In the NES games Bowser simply jumps around and spits flames out with the occasional hammer toss to boot. Mario would simply run under him to achieve victory. This is also the case in the throw back game New Super Mario Bros. In the SNES games Bowser does his fighting from the Koopa Clown Car, a hilariously designed machine that looks like a giant flying tea cup with a clown face painted on it. In the case of the 3D games, Bowser usually fights Mario on a large size circular or spherical arena. Keeping with the vacation theme of Super Mario Sunshine, Bowser fights from a hot tub. His moves in these 3D arenas are typically dashing directly at Mario or ground pounding to alter the arena.

Diversions:

Besides bothering Mario in these titles, Bowser has enjoyed participating in all sorts of other activities in the Mushroom Kingdom. His activities include go kart racing, tennis, partying, and golfing to name a few. However, Bowser truly earns his place in the Smash Bros. series with his appearances as Mario's main nemesis.

Smash King's Opinion:

Bowser was first introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee and earned an invite to compete in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. As a heavy weight character there aren't many others like him melee. He is considerably slower than his heavyweight counterparts DK and Ganondorf. Making things worse his wave dash is extremely hard to perform and essentially useless. However that doesn't mean Bowser should be passed on by smashers. He simply needs to be used by a veteran player, someone who will know what his adversaries will try to do against him.

Moves and Strategies:

Super Smash Bros. Melee (Gamcube):

The keys to mastering Bowser are similar to those of mastering any character. First and foremost you must know what all his move's do. The real strategy comes from performing L cancel on all of his aerial moves as well as establishing his tilt attacks. Bowsers down tilt will create some space in front of you to work with. His forward tilt is a great move for edge guarding. These two moves need to be utilized on a regular basis. Try mixing these with L canceled forward aerial attacks for extreme effectiveness. Bowsers up B must be used regularly as well. This move when done of the ground is one of the fastest ways to get Bowser moving. It can be followed easily by and up tilt to up aerial combo. Start using these strategies to create a workable Bowser game and make sure that you remember you can never use enough varieties of attack.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii):