Bowser in the Sky

Bowser in the Sky is the final Bowser level in Super Mario 64, in which Mario would travel through platforms in the sky until he reached a Warp Pipe leading to a fight against Bowser to save Princess Peach and the Toads in Princess Peach's Castle. Mario would have to avoid enemies such as Chuckyas and Goombas. Bowser in the Sky is the one of the hardest levels in the game, and Mario will need seventy Power Stars (eighty in Super Mario 64 DS) to reach the top of the endless stairs. Otherwise, the staircase will repeat itself. There is, however, a glitch that can be used to get up the stairs without enough Power Stars.

The battle against Bowser is pretty similar to the last few fights, except there are five mines around the arena instead of eight and Bowser also adds some new twists. When Bowser slams the ground, shock waves will appear, and they'll damage Mario if he touches them. Bowser will also breathe fire that'll spread all around the battlefield. The last difference is that Bowser has to take damage from three mines before admitting defeat. On a side note, when Bowser takes damage from two mines, he'll shake the battlefield, causing it to form a star-like shape, making the third throw require much more power and timing than the first two.

Stars
There were two hidden stars in this level, like all Bowser levels in Super Mario 64 DS; one for collecting all eight Red Coins, and one which is a Switch Star. However, because Star Switches did not exist in the original, only the red coin star could be obtained in the original N64 version.

Secrets

 * Before the player goes in the pipe at the end, he/she should look at the statues. It shows Mario jumping over a Fireball near Bowser, in the old Super Mario Bros. style. It's very blurry and poor quality yet unmistakable.
 * Before running near the Whomp, stay on the revolving platform and backjump onto the nearby ledge. This skips the Whomp and a Chuckya.
 * Like the other Bowser trap stars, the secret stars in this level are shown under the "Castle Secret Star" count.