Bowser's Last Stand

Bowser's Last Stand is an e-Reader level for Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. The level contains five Advance Coins. This card was released in Series 2 in Japan. Its official difficulty rating is ★★★★★. Originally available only in Japan, it was eventually included along with every other e-Reader level in the Wii U Virtual Console release of the game in 2016 for the first time. The key art featured Bowser.

Level synopsis
This level takes place within Bowser's castle. Its entrance room contains some Bowser Statues and a short lava pool with two Podoboos. A Hot Foot and a Door are found at the end of this room. The door takes Mario to a vertical area divided into three sections. Mario must choose one of them and drop down via its Donut Lift to enter the corresponding door.


 * Left door: a room guarded by Boomerang Brothers, Hammer Brothers, Fire Brothers, and a Sledge Brother. The Hammer Brothers guard an Advance Coin.
 * Middle door: a corridor over lava filled with Podoboos. An Advance Coin is found above a moving platform.
 * Right door: a lava pool with jumping Cheep-Cheeps. There is an Advance Coin after the platform rails.

They all contain a Warp Pipe that takes Mario to a longer corridor, where Hot Foots, Bony Beetles and Dry Bones are found. Upward Donut Lifts appear here as well, and can be used to collect another Advance Coin.

The next area is constantly attacked by a Magikoopa. An Advance Coin is stuck inside a Brick Block cage, which the Magikoopa can destroy (Mario can get it using a boomerang too). After that, Mario faces fire-breathing gray Bowser Statues and jumping gold Bowser Statues on falling spike platforms. There is another Advance Coin before the door.

The next room features Bowser's incoming fireballs. The upper route is made of falling platforms and has more fireballs. However, Mario can get an Advance Coin that only appears inside this route's arena. The lower route is made of stationary blocks, has Podoboos and a few fireballs, but the player cannot get the Advance Coin. Both routes lead to a fight with Bowser, which plays out similarly to the one featured in World 8 of the main game.