In Bowser’s Fury, the new game that comes packaged with Super Mario 3D World for Nintendo Switch, Fury Bowser is ever-present — waiting to unleash his deadly attacks on you at any moment. This can interrupt your game, as fireballs rain down upon you, while enemies become enraged and harder to take out. However, Fury Bowser’s appearance isn’t random, and there are a few things you can do to get rid of him throughout your journey.
In this guide, we’ll show you everything there is to know about Fury Bowser, from how often he appears to the steps for getting past him and more. Here’s how to get rid of Bowser in Bowser’s Fury.
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How often does Fury Bowser appear?
Similar to an enemy like Nemesis from the Resident Evil series, Fury Bowser can appear as a formidable foe throughout your adventure in Bowser’s Fury — seemingly at any time. Though, in actuality, Fury Bowser appears every 5-6 minutes and is set to a timer rather than an in-game activity that triggers his appearance.
While Fury Bowser is present, the world around you becomes much darker and deadlier, as all your enemies are enhanced and can cause extra damage. Even non-hostile creatures like the cats become enemies during this phase. Being aware of the 5- to 6-minute timer can be a great way to plan your route across the open world, so always try to remember how long it’s been since Bowser last appeared.
How to get rid of Fury Bowser
Once Bowser interrupts your game, you’ll probably be wondering how to get rid of him. Thankfully, there are a few key steps you can take to ensure the creature goes away, allowing you to go back to the blissful platforming and exploring. Which step you take can sometimes depend on your surroundings and skill level, and we’ll detail all of the methods to getting rid of Fury Bowser below.
Fight him
The first and most straightforward method for getting rid of Fury Bowser is to fight him. Though, there are a couple of things you need to know about initiating in battle. In order to trigger a fight, you must visit a Giga Bell (shown in the image above) while Fury Bowser is present. After you’ve collected enough Cat Shines, you’ll unlock a Giga Bell at a particular island, so approach it and you’ll grow to gargantuan size — perfect for taking down Bowser.
During battle, your goal is to attack Bowser while he’s vulnerable. There are a couple of ways to do this, but the safest means is to wait for Bowser to use his spinning shell attack, jump over the blast, and then do a jumping pound attack while the shell is flipped over. This can take a while, and if you aren’t fast enough, the battle will end before you can fully deplete Bowser’s health bar. While in cat form, you can actually slash Bowser to deal minimal damage — but it’s still effective if you attack often.
Eventually, after you’ve lowered Bowser’s health to zero, or after a few minutes, the fight will end and the creature will disappear — for a little while.
Collect a Cat Shine
The main driving forces of Bowser’s Fury are the Cat Shines, which are similar to the green stars from the main game. As you collect them, more of the map is revealed, as well as the ability to use the aforementioned Giga Bells. Cat Shines (pictured above) are awarded from certain tasks and can be found simply by exploring each island. As a rule of thumb, you should always be on the lookout for new platforms that spawn while Bowser is present, as this can help you reach previously inaccessible Cat Shines. Collect one and it’ll send Bowser away temporarily.
Wait for him to leave
During the early stages of the game, you can actually get Bowser to retreat after around a minute and a half. That’s right, you can simply avoid him and he’ll eventually go away. But it’s important to keep in mind that after you’ve collected enough Cat Shines, Bowser will appear and the sky will turn red, indicating that you cannot simply wait to get him to go away. During these instances, you must collect a Cat Shine to get Bowser to flee.
How to break Fury Bowser blocks
All around the world are sets of gray blocks with a Bowser icon on them known as Fury Bowser blocks. These are indestructible during normal play but can be broken while Bowser is raining his attacks upon you. The best way to break them is to get Bowser to use his fire breath on you, and if positioned correctly, he’ll shoot the attack toward the blocks, breaking them instantly. For best results, we advise standing directly behind the blocks so you can avoid taking damage.
There are also some Fury Bowser blocks that are placed within a wall — and those you cannot hide behind. Depending on the Mario costume you have, you might be able to stand in front of the block, bait Bowser into unleashing the fire attack, and then quickly fly up into the air to avoid it. This can still be tough, though, and most of the time, we ended up just taking damage. That’s not the end of the world, as it’s quite easy to find various costumes around the map. Either way, get Bowser to attack the blocks to break them open.
These Fury Bowser blocks typically contain goodies like a Cat Shine or will allow you to unlock a Cat Shine later on, so always be on the lookout for them while Bowser is around. Even though some might not seem useful, they usually are tied into the collection of a Cat Shine in some way. Also keep in mind, you can actually spawn Bowser in at will if you utilize the Bowser amiibo — any of the variants will do. This will make destroying the blocks much easier.