The best bosses in Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood

Key conclusions

• The boss fights in Mario & Luigi Brotherhood are unique and challenging with twists and turns that keep you in the mood.

• Gorombula, Pipegunk, and Extension Corps are great bosses that offer exciting game mechanics.

• Each boss encounter requires strategic thinking and timing to win, providing rewards.

The unique turn-based combat from the Mario & Luigi series is a big part of what helps this Mario spin-off stand out, and this aspect shines during the boss encounters. Mario & Luigi Brotherhood is no exception with some of the best bosses in the series.

While there isn't a huge selection of bosses compared to how often they can appear in other turn-based RPGs, the ones that are present are fantastic. With the Luigi Logic mechanic, many of these bosses also have twists to liven up the encounter, so which ones are the best?

7

Horombula

Vandal violence

The first proper boss you'll encounter during Mario & Luigi Brotherhood is Garombula, the leader of a gang that destroys all the artwork and statues on Rumble Island. Once you finally track him down, you'll quickly notice that there's more to this boss than meets the eye, but you won't have to think about it for long before the fight begins.

He is much higher in difficulty compared to all previous standard enemy encounters, but it won't take you long to learn how to counter the projectiles he throws at you. The battle turns in your favor when Luigi learns how to launch his own boulder projectiles at him, making him much easier to destroy.

6

Mega Snaptor

Back to earth

In the second quarter of Mario & Luigi Brotherhood, you will constantly encounter Snaptors, cover many different islands and always help the villainous Extension Corps to move. It's only fitting that near the end of this section of the game you'll have to face Mega Snaptor atop the rooftops of Lottocoins Island.

This monstrous bird has the same moves as its standard counterparts, but they are more aggressive and harder to dodge. And because he flies, he's immune to several attacks in his brother's arsenal. Luckily, Luigi figures out how to trap the bird in time, leaving it vulnerable to a series of one-turn attacks.

5

Bowser

A classic rivalry

As the brothers travel to the land of Concordia, most of the friends and enemies they encounter are original characters. However, as you progress, you'll realize that Mario and Luigi were far from the only Mushroom Kingdom locals being dragged into this alternate world.

While you'll ally with characters like Peach, Dory, and Starlove, you'll eventually run into less-than-friendly faces like King Koopa himself; Bowser. Unlike some of your other encounters with the royal thief in previous Mario and Luigi adventures, he is not alliance-minded and will throw his full force against you during your boss encounter.

4

Goblick

After reaching the end of the first large lighthouse, the Extension Corps will not be ready to confront the Mario brothers, and will instead choose Goblick to do their dirty work for them. While Garombula is the first boss in the game, Gobblick is probably the first enemy to pose a real threat.

This voracious plant creature will use its vines to try and attack its brothers with skill and is even willing to regurgitate its previous meals to use as makeshift projectiles. Fortunately, during the mid-boss battle, Luigi will have the smart idea to take advantage of the unique terrain to use the fans to knock the Goblick off course, giving you an advantage on your next turn.

3

Pipegunk

Triple threat

When you get close to finally getting into a proper fight with the Extension Corps near the end of the game, you'll face another huge enemy again, this time a Pipegunk.

The boss doesn't stand out too much at first, feeling like a standard but still fairly challenging encounter, but that all changes when Shun enters the fray, manipulating the platform you're fighting on to give Pipegunk new elemental attachments. However, if Luigi manages to wrestle the remote from Shun in a short wrestling minigame, you can switch Pipegunk back, dealing significant damage in the process.

2

A sharp barrel

The barrel from Donkey Kong is back with a vengeance

At the end of the second grand beacon, after you've finally made your way through a brutal factory full of obstacles, you'll finally come face to face with Sharpkask, the barrel-shaped boss of the area.

As you can imagine, with such a sturdy construction, this boss boasts high defense, and at certain points in the battle, he even hides inside the hull, making him virtually invincible. However, thanks to the power of Luigi's Logic, you can stack huge crates on top of a hulking boss, squeezing him, and then, when he's weak, drop him down a series of platforms, causing him to take massive damage.

1

Body expansion

Switching things up

While there are more menacing villains at work behind the scenes, the Extension Corps (made up of members Ecks, Ten, and Shun) is the main force of villains you'll be up against for most of Mario & Luigi Brotherhood. You'll fight them individually at various points throughout the game (whether they're hiding behind big bosses or not), but later on you'll finally face the clumsy trio head-on.

It's a frenetic battle where all members attack in their own unique pattern, and it's even harder to keep track of as they're constantly expanding their capabilities with different stubs. These plugins change at almost every turn of the fight, but some of them have weaknesses that are easy to exploit, making this fun boss fight a lot easier if you know exactly what to do.