Thanks to Hamada for helping with edits.
Since my first duel with the boastful, brawny Bowser in Super Mario 64, I’ve adored him. That affection extends to many of his alternate versions, too. The demonic Giga Bowser is one of Super Smash Bros. Melee’s fun shockers, a topic I plan to tackle another day, and Super Mario 3D World‘s Meowser is wild and charming. Sadly, though, not every variation of Bowser is endearing, something proven by my babysitting stints.
Baby Bowser, seen in 1995’s Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (Image: Nintendo)
Tales of good triumphing over evil harbor a timeless appeal. Countless video games embody that, pitting their heroes against recurring villains. Klonoa humors Joka, Sonic the Hedgehog cracks Dr. Eggman, and Mario, of course, fights Bowser. Nintendo’s merry mascot isn’t the only hero who falls in the Koopa King’s crosshairs, however — a certain dinosaur has been another bugbear of his for decades…
Baby Bowser’s History
When making Super Mario World’s followup, the team was enchanted by a “relay-race style” premise where Mario is carried by the Yoshi clan. Since it’d be strange if the athletic hero couldn’t walk on his own, they made him a baby, informing Yoshi’s Island‘s story. A prequel to the greater Mario canon, Island starts when a Magikoopa named Kamek foresees the many defeats Bowser will suffer at the Mario Bros.’ hands. Seeking to secure a better future for the toddler, Kamek tries abducting the twins while a stork is delivering them to their parents. However, he misses Baby Mario, who plummets towards the Yoshi’s titular home. Ultimately, the altruistic dinosaurs agree to help him, taking the newborn to Bowser’s Castle — where they meet and defeat Baby Bowser.
Kamek uses his magic to empower his minions and this spoiled brat, giving the latter a wild makeover. (Image: Nintendo)
Yoshi’s Story came a few years later, showing a slightly older Baby Bowser antagonize the eponymous dinosaurs without Kamek’s aid. The thief pilfers their Super Happy Tree, turning Yoshi’s Island into a joyless pop-up book. Things would quiet down for the turtle afterwards, taking until 2005’s Nintendo DS spin-off Yoshi’s Touch & Go to reintroduce him. That same year, the budding overlord returned in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. Here, Baby Bowser tries kidnapping Baby Peach, bonds with his older self (though both Bowsers are too dense to recognize each other as their time displaced selves), unwittingly helps advance the sinister Shroob’s schemes, and yells at Kamek.
Another two years later, Yoshi’s Island DS gave Baby Bowser his dual-screen encore. A wave of baby abductions is causing panic, with little Bowser being among the victims. Surprisingly, the perpetrators are Bowser and Kamek of the present day, who traveled back in time to locate and harness the power hidden within the seven fabled Star Children — one of whom actually is Baby Bowser, who escapes and briefly teams up with the heroes. Old habits die hard, however, and Baby Bowser eventually double crosses them, fearing they’re after his treasure. So he fights Yoshi, loses, adult Bowser steps in, loses twice, and Baby Bowser argues with Baby Wario during the credits.
Partners in Time tweaks Baby Bowser’s design to more closely resemble that of his future son, Bowser Jr. The subtle differences between them — Baby’s lack of horns and more produced snout, namely — would gradually be phased out. (Image: Nintendo)
After another seven-year lacuna, Yoshi’s New Island, an interquel set directly after the original, hit. An unimaginative Kamek attempts abducting the Baby Mario Bros. again (who the stork accidentally delivered to the wrong home) but misses Mario, who lands on Egg Island. Incidentally, Baby Bowser seeks to renovate this scenic islet into his vacation home. Yoshi ultimately bests the brat once again. In Yoshi’s Woolly World and Crafted World, the series’ next outings, Baby Bowser continues to cause mischief alongside Kamek. Caety Sagoian, Jr.’s voice actress, portrays the young’un in these titles, making him the one baby character with a different voice actor than their adult counterpart.
Technically, the concept of a baby Bowser was coined by the DiC cartoons The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. A few comic publications incorporate the little king. Bowser’s toddler incarnation cameos as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Spirit in Ultimate. Also of note are the Koopa Kids of Mario Party fame, who physically resemble Baby Bowser and briefly bore his name.
So, what’re my thoughts on Baby Bowser?
Crafted World emphasizes Baby Bowser and the beleaguered Kamek’s relationship, showing them chat before boss fights. It’s one of the game’s bright spots. (Image: Nintendo)
Countless Mario spin-offs include baby characters among their rosters, a practice that draws criticism. Personally, a few of them — Baby Mario, maybe Luigi or Peach — are fine, but seeing five enter Mario Kart 8 (one of whom was invented for it, no less) isn’t exactly exciting. Still, the Mario baby I dislike most isn’t one the star has ever invited to one of his shindigs, nor is he likely to. I’d argue Baby Bowser is the franchise’s most obnoxious infant.
No, not because of his bratty personality. That’s actually a boon; it’s easy to see how the entitled tyke grew up into the tyrannical Koopa King. In fact, Yoshi’s Island introduces and handles the young Bowser wonderfully. From the get-go, you know he’s lurking somewhere. After a long, harrowing journey, you confront Kamek in his castle, leaving him nowhere left to run. He braces himself, preparing to finally fight Yoshi personally…only for his surrogate son to start whining that it’s “too noisy.” Then Kamek panics, suggesting this isn’t Bowser’s first violent tantrum, and endures a brutal pummeling. Though it is a little deflating we never properly confront Kamek, it doesn’t matter — his whole scheme was about protecting Bowser, whose discarding of his guardian is funny while effectively establishing his own strength.
I actually burst out laughing seeing this my first time playing through Yoshi’s Island. Had the youngling only been fought here, his résumé would be sterling. (Image: Nintendo)
Seeing Yoshi — a “gween donkey,” Bowser calls him — fascinates him, beginning their skuffle. It spans two phases, the first of which is basically just a quick breather. Bowser tries Ground Pounding Yoshi, mirroring his adult self’s Super Mario Bros. 3 strategy and one of Yoshi’s own techniques. If the bully lands on Yoshi, he’ll sit atop the dinosaur as a smug smile spreads across his face, displacing Mario.
After a few hits, the ever-patient Kamek returns, using his magic to make the monster grow. This metamorphosis takes full advantage of the game’s Super FX chip, too. The castle gets partially demolished, with rubble descending from the blackened sky. Then…a giant Bowser emerges from afar, and begins slowly walking towards you. All Yoshi can do is grab and throw giant eggs at him, preventing the titanic turtle from getting close — that’s an instant game over. Altogether, this is one of my favorite final boss fights; it has a fantastic score (one that’s also a noteworthy break from Island’s mostly cheery tunes), shockingly dark aesthetic, and tests us on a core gameplay mechanic we’ve used since the first stage. Closing this Mario game with such a grandiose brawl against Bowser, furthermore, is satisfying, showing the birth of the medium’s most iconic feud.
When riding Yoshi in Island DS, Baby Bowser can shoot fireballs. It’s not as engaging a mechanic as tossing Yoshi’s eggs, but using it feels powerful. (Image: Nintendo)
Unfortunately, nothing Baby Bowser’s ever done since has approached those lofty heights. Story kindly matures him a bit, making him more articulate and even giving him a different (though not great, admittedly) boss fight. Crafted World, likewise, at least prefaces his obligatory growth spurt with a mech fight (one that’s also underwhelming, regrettably). Still, Yoshi’s Island DS, New Island, and the otherwise solid Woolly World never manage any such ambition; if anything, they regress him. And the adult Bowser’s intrusion in the former two (something New notoriously doesn’t even bother explaining) adds nothing. Old or young, you’ll be chucking eggs at an oversized Koopa King.
But that’s just a symptom of those games’ fundamental issue: they’re Yoshi’s Island retreads. When the first Super Smash Bros. hit, seeing it consider Yoshi its own franchise felt…encouraging, like it was destined to evolve into its own thing. Story was mediocre and retained too much Mario iconography (and its stylistic successor, Topsy-Turvy, is entirely forgettable), but any nudges it made towards individually were heartedly abandoned in subsequent years. Island DS fully embraces Yoshi as a Muppet Babies-esque addendum to Mario. Yoshi’s next three side-scrollers also keep Baby Bowser around, doing little to interrogate him or Yoshi’s status quo.
I groaned seeing this the first and only time I went through New Island. The “New” in its title feels like false advertising. (Image: Nintendo)
And yes, retaining the babies as part of Yoshi’s identity isn’t a de facto mistake, but it’s limiting. Wario and Donkey Kong are also intrinsically tied to Mario, but their headliners have supporting casts and lives independent of the plumber and his arch-enemy. I’d still like to see Yoshi get that courtesy — or, at the very least, to see him get another game where some form of Bowser doesn’t get bigger during the climax.
Still, Baby Bowser will always shine in Yoshi’s Island. It’s among the tightest platformers Nintendo’s published, and its final boss concludes it perfectly. And even if Yoshi’s humble sub-series has duds and suffers from irregular releases, they do give this pain a reliable home. If you’re a fan of Bowser and enjoy watching him harass neon herbivores, you’ll never be out of options.
Congratulations, Baby Bowser! I hope you felt honored to be shot down by me!
Speaking of Mario’s babies, perhaps one day I’ll chronicle another one… (Image: Nintendo)
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