Mario franchise strategy guide/Locations/Bowser's Castle

Bowser's Castle is the abode of Bowser, arch villain of the Super Mario videogames. The castle has often been destroyed and rebuilt, and appears different in each game that it appears in. It is usually filled with lava pits, booby traps, and Bowser's minions, and always includes a room where Bowser holds residence. Sometimes it is turned into a racetrack, tennis court, soccer field, or baseball field. It is typically located to the north-west of the Mushroom Kingdom, in the Koopa Kingdom, but has frequently moved. In several of the storylines, Princess Peach is held captive there.

Appearances

Super Mario Bros./Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

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Mario confronting Bowser in his castle in Super Mario Bros.

In Mario's first and second platforming adventures, Bowser's Castle is located in the eighth world as the last course. It is built similarly to the seven previous castles before it (all those contained "fake" Bowsers), but takes advantage of several labyrinthine elements unique to this castle.

Super Mario Bros. 3

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Castle Koopa as seen on The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3.

In this game, not only was Bowser's Castle the final destination once again, but an entire world was built around it, called "Castle of Koopa" ("Dark Land" in the English NES re-release, or simply "Bowser's Castle" in the English GBA version). This eighth and final world was a subterranean valley reminiscent of the classical image of hell: with lava, floating skulls, and intermittent darkness. Thanks to the addition of an overworld map screen, Bowser's Castle also had a defined exterior structure: it was built similar to a medieval fort, with a likeness of Bowser sculpted onto the front entrance. The castle itself is guarded by a massive military tank in the courtyard. The architectural style of the castle's interior is unique in that it features enormous lava pits and statues of Bowser that emit laser beams upon the approach of an intruder. The castle is also constructed of bricks not found in any of the other fortresses; these bricks play a major role in Bowser's eventual defeat in his chamber.

This version of Bowser's Castle also appeared in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3.

Super Mario World

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The Neon Castle on the Super Mario World cartoon.

In Dinosaur Land, Bowser's Castle is located in the heart of the archipelago, directly underneath the sea. The entire area is named the Valley of Bowser for this reason. The castle itself is located to the north. It had changed appearance yet again, this time resembling Windsor Castle, but noteworthy for the massive sign positioned directly over the entrance which reads "Bowser" (or "Koopa" in the Japanese version as well as the cartoon) in bright neon lights. Bowser himself is seen hovering over the topmost spire in his flying Koopa Clown Car. There are actually two entrances to the castle: a front door and a back door (actually a separate tower beside the castle). If the player goes through the front door, he must first go through two of eight doors, each one featuring different challenges, before reaching the dark hallway leading to the rooftop. The back door goes straight to the dark hallway.

This same castle was also featured in the cartoon based on the game Super Mario World. There, it was known as the Neon Castle, and sarcastically referred to once by Mario as Koopa's "Coney Island Disco Palace." In the cartoon, the back door was a warp pipe not far from the castle itself.

A similar castle also appears in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Bowser's Castle rendered in 3-D for the first time, it was large and imposing consisting of large towers and rooms. The castle was stationed on a mountain carved in Bowser's image which is oddly extremely close to Mario's own house. The castle was filled with minions and lava pits along with dark twisting corridors. There were also rooms containing challenges such as navigating across an invisible bridge suspended over lava, and jumping over barrels thrown by a gorilla (in homage to Donkey Kong).

Paper Mario

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Bowser's castle as seen in Paper Mario.

Bowser used the power of the Star Rod to transport his castle directly underneath Princess Peach's Castle. He then flew his castle above the clouds, taking Peach's Castle with it. Outside there is a statue of Bowser's head which is actually a garage in the middle of the castle. Atop of the statue is a large tower and perched atop this is Peach's castle. Below the statue is a giant sphere which has the same clown face as Bowser's Koopa Clown Car. To the left and right of that are two spiked balls attached to chains. At the bottom of the whole castle is one of the spiked bands Bowser wears on his arms and neck, but far larger; it seems to make the castle stay in the air. Inside are dungeons, lava pits, halls, foyers, and loop rooms. The castle suffers damage as a result of the events in the game. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario, Bowser's Castle has been revamped, now a standard, medieval castle on the ground. This version of Bowser's Castle makes a cameo appearance in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, on the track Rainbow Road.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Unlike all previous Mario RPGs, Mario never actually goes to Bowser's castle. The player briefly takes control of Bowser to move him around during a cut-scene, and even then only one room is shown. However, the castle is depicted in a mountainous region with lava surrounding it.

Super Paper Mario

Once again, Bowser's castle plays a minor role. In the beginning of the game, Bowser addresses his troops as he plans to capture the princess, but is interrupted by the Mario Bros. and Count Bleck.

Later, after being transported to The Bitlands with several of his troops, Bowser, upon finding several Super Mario Bros.-esque fortresses, takes them as his own, with him inhabiting the largest of them. Mario, however, manages to destroy that one.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

One would suppose that since the game takes place in the Beanbean Kingdom, Bowser's Castle would not be in the game. However, in this game Bowser's Castle turns into a flying airship which is actually owned by Bowletta. Inside are traps, guards, lava pits, the seven Koopalings' room, Bowser's room, and Bowser's/Bowletta's throne room. Just as soon as Cackletta deposseses Bowser, his castle is destroyed

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time

In the present, Bowser's Castle is walled by a 2 story wall and a tower with two side towers that resemble hands connected to the main tower. The main tower has the same collar as Bowser, and the top part of the tower is a likeness of Bowser's head. Inside it looks exactly like his castle in Superstar Saga. In the past, Baby Bowser's castle is almost exactly like that of his older self, except with a likeness of Baby Bowser's head. However, inside the castle, Baby Bowser's room has toys, happy faces, and flower paintings; the Koopalings' rooms are not here as well because Bowser did not have children at the time.

New Super Mario Bros.

Like almost every other game, Bowser's Castle is at the end of World 8. It is on a mountain which is surrounded by lava. The castle itself has many towers either with flat or triangular roofs, except the center tower which has a Bowser shell for the roof. The front two towers on both the left and right have Bowser statues, and the entrance has flamed torches. The entrance door is under a large carving of Bowser's head. Inside the castle are lava traps, switches that flip rooms upside down, flamethrowers, guards, loop rooms, and Bowser's Room.Two of the towers also have sad faces.

Yoshi Island DS

In Yoshi's Island DS a strange castle has appeared in the clouds. Bowser travels back in time and kidnaps the babies in order to find the seven Star Children to take over the world. This castle is the final castle of Yoshi's Island DS, and is located in world five. All the babies (including Baby Wario and Baby Bowser) are able to ride Yoshi's back in this level. Like in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, this castle has a unique level design. The player is able to take five different routes in the castle, one route for each baby. It doesn't matter which route you take, as you'll end up in the same room before the final boss. If you enter the boss door with Baby Bowser on your back however, you'll end up with Baby Mario due to Baby Bowser being the first of three bosses of the final castle. The other two bosses are Bowser and, like its Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island counterpart, a bigger version of Bowser.

Mario Kart

Every game in the Mario Kart series has featured one or more courses dubbed "Bowser [or Bowser's] Castle". Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart: Super Circuit feature multiple, numbered Bowser Castle courses with jumps over lava, Thwomps and other hazards. These courses are entirely confined within a castle's interior. In the true three-dimensional games (Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart Arcade GP and Mario Kart DS), the Bowser's Castle courses are more clearly defined as castles, with the racetrack extending outside the castle walls. The hazards typically include Thwomps, lava, and flamethrowers/fireballs.

Other appearances

Bowser's Castle appears in various Mario sports games, such Mario Power Tennis, Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Hoops 3-on-3, where it is often depicted as having such obstacles as Thwomps, lava and stray fireballs. Bowser's Castle can be unlocked as a monument by entering the code "Hanafuda" in the monument screen in SimCity DS.

In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, King Koopa was shown to own a variety of castles, with a different one appearing in almost every episode; these castles often varied from being simple fortresses to such things as ice palaces and tall towers. Bowser's Castle also appeared in both Nintendo Comics System and Nintendo Adventure Books.

In the Super Mario Bros. film, in place of a castle, King Koopa inhabited a parallel Earth version of Lower Manhattan's World Trade Center, though much more decayed and run-down in appearance.