Seeking Advice on Designing Engaging Boss Battles for a Mario Fangame

[Delilah]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently working on a Mario fangame and I want to make sure the boss battles feel fun, challenging, and unique. I've played a lot of Mario games over the years, and I've noticed that the best boss fights tend to have patterns, creative attack phases, and some sort of player interaction beyond just jumping on the boss three times.

I'd love to hear from the community:

1. What makes a boss battle memorable for you in a Mario game? Do you prefer classic three-hit fights, multi-phase battles, or something more puzzle-based?
   
2. Are there any Mario fangames that have particularly well-designed bosses? I'd love to check out some examples for inspiration.
   
3. What are some common mistakes to avoid when designing a boss fight? I want to make sure my bosses are fun rather than frustrating.
   
4. Any recommendations on balancing difficulty? I don't want the fights to feel too easy or too overwhelming.
   

Right now, I'm toying with the idea of a Koopa alchemist who throws potions that alter the battlefield and temporarily change Mario's abilities. I'm thinking of giving the boss different potion effects depending on how the player interacts with them (e.g., dodging versus hitting back). Do you think this could work, or would it be too complex?

Any feedback, ideas, or examples would be greatly appreciated! Looking forward to hearing what you all think.

Thanks! 😊

Delilah
Golang

[DJ Coco]

Boss fights are fun when you are constantly engaged in the fight.
Try to avoid waiting games where the player needs to wait for their turn to attack. A good example for a boss fight are the ones in Super Mario Odyssey - most boss attacks can be interrupted by the player if they are skilled enough, which allows speedrunners to take them out very quickly.

EDIT: To answer your questions

What makes a boss battle memorable for you in a Mario game?

A great boss fight has an interesting attack pattern, is satisfying to deal damage to, and delivers on the spectacle scale as well. Sometimes people use "perceived danger" in boss fights, which is something that looks intimidating and scary, but usually has little way of hurting the player. This helps make even simpler and easier fights feel memorable and cool. (For instance, adding lava to a bottomless pit does not change how the fight plays out, but it might feel more climactic.)

Are there any Mario fangames that have particularly well-designed bosses?

Unfortunately it's been so long I played fangames that my memory is hazy at best, but I remember Psycho Waluigi was quite creative with its fights. In my own fangame "Paper Mario 3D Land", Chaoxys had helped me create the boss fights, and I think the most well-designed one might be "Loco Poco" from World 2. Instead of waiting for an opening in the boss's attack pattern, the player needs to hit three POW blocks. If the player has the mole power-up equipped the player can deal double damage to quickly take him out once he's vulnerable.

What are some common mistakes to avoid when designing a boss fight?

Common mistakes include having hitboxes that are too big and poorly telegraphed attacks, which might lead to the player taking hits that they feel are unfair.
For instance, if a boss attacks with a sword, there should be a wind up animation, so the player knows "Oh, now I should get out of the way!". It's not fun if the boss starts an attack out of nowhere, and it's similarly not fun if the player feels like he dodged the attack, but still took damage. Make sure hitboxes are always smaller than the sprite!

Any recommendations on balancing difficulty?

Try to have playtesters that tell you their thoughts! A general rule of thumb is that if it feels slightly too easy for you, the developer, it usually is just right.
As a developer we naturally get very good at our own game, and something that really tests our skills might be fun to us, but usually is too overwhelming for the player.

If you want to provide a real challenge for those who mastered the game, put it in an extra mode, but try to keep the difficulty moderately low for those who just want to continue through the story.

[VinnyVideo]

I like it when fangames put effort into creating interesting, original boss fights, regardless of the specific format. It's a disappointment when a fangame tries to reproduce, say, an SMB3 Boom-Boom or Koopaling fight without trying to put a fresh spin on it.

Toadette Strikes, Toad Strikes Back, Midas Machine, Mario Land: Minigame Mayhem, and Late Night Mario 3 have some interesting boss fights.

Consider putting a power-up before the entrance to the boss fight so you can fight the boss at full health. Think about putting a checkpoint before the boss, or making the boss a stand-alone level. And get multiple people to test your boss fights to make sure they're fair.

The Koopa alchemist idea sounds fun! Designing a boss can take considerably longer than building a long regular level, so keep that in mind when planning complex boss logic.

Course clear! You got a card.

[KrystalPhantasm]

Ok so; please take these with a grain of salt since I have never gotten to the point of implementing a proper boss in a Mario fangame that's a platformer and not an arcade-y one, nor am I that good at analysis, but here's my two cents on this (kinda biased obviously)

1. Honestly, something with a striking design and gimmick! Doesn't matter what it is, as long as its memorable by itself and does something cool. Preference feels like a different topic to this: but it depends case-by-case for me personally.
   
2. Wario Destroys a Glass of Milk is the only recent example in memory that I can think of with pretty cool and well designed bosses, though they lean more Megaman-y of course. Psycho Waluigi and Toad/Toadette Strikes Back have some great bosses too
   
3. Please, PLEASE do not let the player wait around too long. It really gets under my nerves when I have to wait in a safe spot and sit around for an opening for faarrr too long, and I'm pretty sure a lot of people feel the same way. Pretty sure Sonic Superstars is REALLY guilty of this from what I hear, even though I haven't played it because I don't have the hardware for it ^^;
   Same goes for way too much health leading to slugfest bosses, or too little where the boss barely has any impact. Another is un-telegraphed attacks which just suck 100% of the time imo
   
4. Always playtest with people and get feedback when possible for that kinda thing! Aim for a sweet spot from what you gather depending on how hard you want the boss to be for that section in the game, and what kind of difficulty and audience you're aiming for in general with your fangame :>
   

Your boss idea sounds fun I'd say! Though of course your executions gotta be good as the idea, and that idea will get refined in said execution; so good luck

ddr mario mix

[VinnyVideo]

@KrystalPhantasm I feel bad that I neglected to mention Wario Destroys a Glass of Milk! That might have my favorite set of bosses in any fangame - though those are more Mega Man-y than the bosses in most Mario fangames, of course.

Course clear! You got a card.

[KrystalPhantasm]

@KrystalPhantasm I feel bad that I neglected to mention Wario Destroys a Glass of Milk! That might have my favorite set of bosses in any fangame - though those are more Mega Man-y than the bosses in most Mario fangames, of course.

To be fair, I did mull it over if I should mention it or not because they're more Mega Man-y than Mario, but they're still really fun and well designed bosses, in my opinion atleast :3

ddr mario mix