The Final Battle! (minigame)

The Final Battle! is a boss minigame in Mario Party 4 and a Special minigame in Mario Party: The Top 100.

Gameplay
Once a player becomes the superstar of every board in Story Mode of Mario Party 4, Bowser will steal all of the presents. The player then enters the Final Battle Cube, Bowser's version of the Party Cube. The objective of the cube is to chase Bowser and retrieve the player's stolen presents.

The player starts with ten hearts, which serve as a Health Meter. Every time the player gets hit, one heart is removed. If all hearts are lost or the timer runs out, the player loses.

The first and third sides of the cube involve hopping on platforms, some of which have fire jets. The cube also has lava into which the player has to be careful not to fall. Falling into the lava will result in an instant loss. The first side has a path of four platforms, while the third side has two paths with six platforms overall. If they can complete it within 60 seconds, then the player will move on.

The second and fourth sides involve solving a puzzle similar to the one found in Lethal Lava Land in Super Mario 64. The first has three pieces of a 2×2 puzzle, which the player must ground-pound to move. Two Koopa Kids try to hinder the player's progress by dropping flaming cannonballs and mini-tornadoes. The second puzzle has eight pieces of a 3×3 puzzle, and Bowser himself will appear, wielding a fiery boomerang.

The fifth side involves a battle with Bowser. Five buttons are located around the perimeter of the area. By ground-pounding three, an ephemeral triangle appears, lightning striking anything in it a few seconds later. The goal is to surround Bowser with the triangle, lead him into it, and cause him to get shocked. Bowser can retaliate with his boomerang and flame breath. Later on, he will move while shooting flames and charge at the player. It takes five shocks to defeat Bowser. The player can be damaged by the lightning shock as well.

Once defeated, Bowser will return the player's presents and give them another present depicted in Bowser's likeness.

In Mario Party: The Top 100, The Final Battle! is an unlockable Special minigame, with Bowser Jr. replacing the Koopa Kids and the player starting out with seven hit points instead of ten. During the Bowser battle, the camera rotates to follow the player, rather than staying fixed. There is also no time limit on the first and third sides. Assuming the player does not lose all of their health, the minigame announcer calls out "Finish!" only after the player defeats Bowser instead of clearing every side. Bowser no longer speaks; instead, all of his pieces of text are replaced by roars. Lastly, falling into the lava now takes away only one hit point (or none during post-hit invincibility) rather than making the player lose instantly.

Mario Party: The Top 100

 * Move
 * Jump
 * in the air: Ground Pound

Mario Party: The Top 100

 * Description – "Overcome the obstacles to defeat Bowser!"
 * On-screen (Bowser Jr. and Bowser Platform) – "Jump from platform to platform to chase Bowser Jr./Bowser!"
 * On-screen (Bowser Jr. and Bowser Puzzle) – "Ground Pound the tiles to solve the puzzle!"
 * On-screen (Bowser Battle) – "Ground Pound 3 switches to defeat Bowser!"