All Mario & Luigi: Brothership Bosses, Ranked By Difficulty

Bosses in Mario & Luigi: Brothership can be extremely challenging, particularly in the later stages of this RPG adventure. Some of these powerful enemies even come back for a rematch later in the game, with some extra strong Glohm attacks and shields. The power of Glohm can cause havoc on even the kindest of individuals, so when used on one of these anger-filled bosses, it can get intense. Mario and Luigi can conquer anything when they work together, however, and that includes these strange evildoers in the land of Concordia.

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Mario & Luigi: Brothership.While the early levels of Mario & Luigi: Brothership aren’t all that difficult, later in the game some of these battles can ramp up significantly. The use of Mario and Luigi’s special Bros Attacks become crucial to defeating these massive enemies, so it is important to not ignore practicing these abilities when they come. Several of these boss battles also allow Luigi to flex his logic skills to come up with creative solutions that can add a fun level of skill and mix things up a little.

16 Gorumbla Leads Some Bullies In A Tantrum

Found During The Story Campaign On Rumbla Island

Rumbla Island is home to many creative artists, but Gorumbla’s ego doesn’t seem to be able to handle the attention not being on him. Before getting access to the island’s lighthouse, Mario and Luigi find themselves needing to step in to help Willma in teaching Gorumbla a lesson.

The fight against Gorumbla is fairly straightforward, but is the first opportunity for players to use Luigi Logic in battle when Luigi notices a large boulder on a teetering statue nearby. Using his skills to catapult the boulder onto Gorumbla, and then use Mario to bat it back again, can quickly take down Gorumbla’s health bar.

15 Gobblick Is A Hungry Plant That Wants To Eat Mario And Luigi

Boss Battle At The Lushgreen Sea Great Lighthouse Island

In the bottom of the Great Lighthouse in the Lushgreen Sea, Mario and Luigi find the Extension Corps eager to show off their new monster, Gobblick. Gobblick’s strengths come in eating the brothers and spitting them back out again, but its vine attacks are not to be taken lightly either.

Once again, Luigi uses special logic to defeat the overgrown plant, by grabbing Gobblick’s tongue and throwing it into a nearby cyclone that is triggered by three floor fans turning on during the fight. Timing counterstrikes just right on Gobblick’s vines can also deal some effective damage, but the timing can be hard to nail down.

14 Ten Fights Without His Two Friends

Found With His Own Hideout Lab On Desolatt Island

It is rare to see one member of the Extension Corps without the other two, but after Zokket tells the trio to get rid of Mario and Luigi, Ten is left alone to fight the brothers. Ten is a level 14 boss who makes use of large purple balls of energy to attack with, along with calling in some assistance from a couple of Snaptors.

After the fight seems to be over, Ten makes a comeback after dropping the Power Tap and Battle Plug that players get access to in Mario & Luigi: Brothership. His return allows players to experiment with using the Battle Plugs game mechanic, and it is a pretty easy second round of the fight because of it.

13 Mega Snaptor Falls Prey To Luigi Logic

Located On The Roof At Lottacoins Island

The trio known as the Extension Corps make their getaway yet again while leaving Mario and Luigi to face off against the Mega Snaptor. This giant bird can pack a heavy punch with its spring-loaded neck. Timing defensive hammer strikes just right are crucial to blocking damage, but Mega Snaptor also has other tricks up its sleeve to throw at the boys.

Luigi Logic in this battle utilizes very obvious water pipes with green L buttons in the background. By connecting the pipes together just right, Luigi can temporarily knock out Mega Snaptor with the flood of water that rains down on the bird. Once the bird is out of commission for a bit, Mario and Luigi are free to beat it up as much as they can before it gets up again.

12 The Great Conductor Is More Of A Test Than A Battle

Located On Conductor Island

Facing off against the Great Conductor comes closer to the end of Mario & Luigi: Brothership, but is lower on this list due to it not being that difficult of a fight. Really, this isn’t much of a battle at all, with the Great Conductor putting Mario and Luigi through some tests to ensure they are strong enough.

The Great Conductor tests players’ memory of Mario and Luigi by making them pick out the correct one from several fakes, with the penalty of choosing wrong being instant death. He also tests the ability of the brothers to work together by making them perform Bros. Attacks on him, with only the Excellent quality attacks being accepted. Players cannot do the same Bros. Attack twice for this, so practicing these skills beforehand can make a difference.

11 Sharpcask Chooses Poor Places To Stand

Located At The Color-Full Sea Great Lighthouse Island

Zokket’s nefarious plans in the basement of the Color-Full Sea Great Lighthouse are interrupted when Mario and Luigi barge in on Zokket and the Extension Corps. They seem to have been prepared, with a large metal Sharpcask monster who had been created to guard the lighthouse.

Sharpcask is much stronger than Gobblick was, but in typical video game logic, he is placed on a pointless conveyor belt that is very useful for players. During the fight, Luigi Logic inspires Luigi to use the controls for the belt to move Sharpcask left and right to get hit by large crates that are falling from the ceiling and crush him. A couple of these logical tactics, and Sharpcask is finished, at least for now.

10 Pipegunk Makes Use Of Hot And Cold Skills

Located At The Brrrning Sea Great Lighthouse Island

Pipegunk has a very fitting name, as a large pile of gunk with glowing eyeballs and a few dripping pipes. Guarding the Brrrning Sea Great Lighthouse, Pipegunk is perfectly situated to make use of the hot and cold theme of the environment. While its original form is simply purple gunk, that quickly changes when Shun uses a controller to move the fight into a lava-filled area or an ice area.

Luigi Logic helps players be able to steal Shun’s controller to change the weather patterns themselves, hurting Pipegunk whenever the lava monster is frozen or the ice monster is melted.

9 Glohm Gorumbla Loses Control After Being Infected

Returning To Rumbla Island Brings Unexpected Combat

Gorumbla had been making good progress since Mario and Luigi’s last fight with him. He had been trying to create his own art and reconnecting with his aunt Willma. Unfortunately, after Zokket begins spreading Glohm around Concordia, Gorumbla becomes infected with this negative energy and lashes out.

Glohm often makes characters simply want to be left alone. However, in Gorumbla’s case, the anger inside him takes over and he becomes violent. Though stronger now, the fight is much the same as the original, but with the added difficulty of Gorumbla using Glohm shields and occasionally infecting one of the brothers with Glohm.

8 Bowser Makes Use Of His Many Minions

Located At His Temporary Home On Wayaway Island

There simply can’t be a Mario game of any variety without some form of altercation between Mario and his arch-nemesis, Bowser. In Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Bowser was also teleported from the Mushroom Kingdom to Concordia and has set up a new castle home on Wayaway Island. When Mario and Luigi need some of the fruit that only comes from Wayaway Island, Bowser is not happy with their intrusion.

Most of this fight involves Bowser calling upon numerous minions to fight alongside him, although he does plenty of damage with his fire breathing. Focusing attacks on Bowser and not taking out all the minions is best, as once the minions are gone, Bowser will just keep summoning more.

7 Glohm Gobblick Spreads The Glohm Easily

Returning To The Lushgreen Sea Great Lighthouse Island

When a monster fighter and researcher comes to Shipshape Island, he tells Mario and Luigi about how Gobblick has become infected with the Glohm and is more powerful than ever back at the Lushgreen Sea Great Lighthouse. This gives Mario and Luigi a side quest to see what’s going on and take out Gobblick, once again.

Defeating these Glohm infected versions of the Great Lighthouse monsters is not necessary for the completion of
Mario & Luigi: Brothership
.

As was the case with Glohm Gorumbla, the battle plays out pretty similar to the non-Glohm version of Gobblick. This time, when Gobblick swallows one of the brothers, they will become infected with Glohm, and Gobblick has gained a substantial amount of levels and strength.

6 Glohm Bowser Was Only Trying To Rescue Bowser Jr.

Located Confronting Zokket And The Extension Corps In Fortress Zokket

Bowser was only looking to rescue the kidnapped Bowser Jr. from Zokket and the Extension Corps, but his timing proved unfortunate as Zokket was ready to test his powerful new method of spreading Glohm. Once infected, he sees Mario and Luigi have, coincidentally, shown up behind him. Bowser’s new Glohm abilities are deadly, and he spreads an ever-widening pool of Glohm under his feet, infecting all minions who come to help him as well.

When minions fly in on a miniature airship to shoot at the brothers, Luigi Logic lets Luigi steal the ship and fire on Bowser in a fun attack. This only manages to work when Bowser is temporarily incapacitated, however, so players shouldn’t waste their time trying to use Luigi Logic when Bowser can instantly stop them.

5 Extension Corps Can Use Battle Plugs In Their Fight

The Trio Is Found Inside Fortress Zokket

Finally, Mario and Luigi are able to face off against all three of the Extension Corps and teach them a lesson inside Fortress Zokket. This is the only time an enemy can also utilize Battle Plugs during fights, which makes sense as they are who the player got the Battle Plugs from originally.

Ecks, Ten, and Shun each use different attack styles, which can make for a difficult fight. Finally, the battle is decided after Shun uses the Invincible Plug, which comes with the side effect of blowing all three of them up after a couple of turns.

4 Glohm Sharpcask Is Stronger And Likes Using Spiked Shields

Returning To The Color-Full Sea Great Lighthouse Island

Glohm Sharpcask, like the other Glohm versions of the Lighthouse bosses is essentially a much stronger version of the same fight that Mario and Luigi already did. Besides being a much higher level and being able to spread Glohm to the brothers, Sharpcask also makes effective use of the new shield ability it obtains.

The two-layered shield of energy not only protects Sharpcask from attack, but also features spikes on top, effectively stopping any jump attacks from being successful. Utilizing Bros Attacks that will hit multiple times in one round, such as Bomb Derby, is the best strategy.

3 Mario And Luigi Finally Face Zokket In Battle

Located Within The Inner Portion Of Fortress Zokket

Zokket is the big villain that is seen throughout much of this RPG’s story, but is not actually the final boss, or the hardest. Zokket finally battles against Mario and Luigi shortly after the brothers have taken out the Extension Corps in Fortress Zokket, where Zokket’s main goal of a rebirth is about to come to fruition.

The battle against Zokket is a fun one, if a bit frustrating at times. Zokket’s special set of powers allow for some room changing effects, such as turning the entire screen upside down or swapping Mario and Luigi’s locations. From the player perspective, this can make blocking attacks a challenge while they try to remember which button will block which side.

2 Glohm Pipegunk Requires Some Expert Combat Tactics

Returning To The Brrrning Sea Great Lighthouse Island

Pipegunk was a difficult battle the first time Mario and Luigi faced it, but coming back to a Glohm-infected version of the monstrosity is even worse. Thankfully, defeating Glohm Pipegunk is not necessary for winning the game, as players will need to be a very high level to take on this boss fight.

The battle strategy is similar, with a strange shadow Shun operating a control like before and Luigi being able to steal it to change the environment between lava, ice, and normal. The only true difference this time is Pipegunk’s strength is so heavily increased with the Glohm that players need to be skilled at counterattacks and blocking.

1 Reclusa Takes On Several Forms In An Epic Final Battle

Located Deep Inside The Soli-Tree Fortress

The final boss in the game is many battles. Reclusa, the ultimate villain behind all of Concordia’s problems, has several stages. The first time that players actually get to go into a combat screen against Reclusa is in a flying battle with Mario and Luigi riding a large pink plug. While flying, players must dodge obstacles while shooting fire and ice balls.

Just when they think they have won, Reclusa comes back as the gigantic Weeping Reclusa and immediately knocks out everyone with a gaseous form of Glohm. Connie manages to revive the brothers with the power of Bonds before she collapses. A fight then takes place between the brothers and Weeping Reclusa. Even after that fight, Reclusa still won’t give up, and enters a new form as the Weeping Core, a giant spiked ball that memorizes Mario and Luigi’s attacks to defend better against them. This makes players have to switch up tactics often.

Upon defeating the Weeping Core, Mario and Luigi battle Reclusa in his main form, which can be a tough battle, particularly after having gone through so many iterations of Reclusa already. Finally, Reclusa makes one last attempt and Mario and Luigi chase him down in a freefall where they can beat him with their hammers while the three fall through the air. Ultimately, defeating Reclusa and saving the day in Mario & Luigi: Brothership.