Boom Boom

Boom Boom and Pom Pom in Super Mario 3D Land.
Boom Boom
Species	Koopa
Eye color	Black
Voiced by	Lani Minella (2011-Present)
Debut	Super Mario Bros. 3

Boom Boom is a recurring miniboss from the Super Mario series who was originally featured in Super Mario Bros. 3. He made a return appearance in Super Mario 3D Land, which introduced a female counterpart known as Pom Pom, and has since appeared in more games. Boom Boom is represented as both a character and a species.

Background

Boom Boom has merely been described as a loyal servant of Bowser. In Super Mario Bros. 3, he appeared as the boss of every fortress level. Boom Boom used a simple attack pattern of sidestepping in both directions while swinging both of his arms around in attempt to strike Mario or Luigi. Jumping on his head three times would defeat him in all instances, although Boom Boom would become faster every time he is hit. He could alternately be defeated through power-ups, but with more hits. Boom Boom did have several variations on his attack pattern, as he would sometimes duck down to expose the spikes on his back, which would harm whoever tried to jump on him at that time. Boom Boom would also jump high sometimes after being hit, and as the game progressed he would eventually be shown using wings on his arms to temporarily fly.

Once Boom Boom was defeated, he would leave behind a ? Ball which would destroy the fortress and forge the way forward on the map. Being the boss faced in each fortress essentially made him the overall mini-boss for each world. Boom Boom had a much more frequent presence in Dark Land, where he was faced at the end of every tank, battleship and airship level, with the only exception being the first tank level. Boom Boom was also faced in several of the extra levels from the e-world in Super Mario Advance 4, including one level where two Boom Booms appeared as the boss.

Super Mario 3D Land

Boom Boom made a return appearance in Super Mario 3D Land, where his shell was no longer spiked, and he was featured as the boss for airship levels. Boom Boom still focused on his fists for attacks, but instead of flailing them, he spun them around while moving after Mario or Luigi. Boom Boom would soon get dizzy from this, leaving him temporarily vulnerable to attack. After being hit, Boom Boom withdrew into his shell and would roll around the room. He once again took only three hits to defeat. His battle pattern had no variations throughout the game (with the exception of World S-Crown), but instead the floor usually featured different obstacles which hampered the player's progress. His female counterpart, Pom Pom, also was introduced as the boss of some levels.

During the initial quest, Boom Boom was the boss of the airship in the second and third worlds, and he worked together with Pom Pom in the seventh world's airship. Within the Special Worlds, Boom Boom appeared as the boss of the third world's airship (where Pom Pom is fought subsequently in the next area) and in an optional room of the fifth world's airship. He and Pom Pom were featured in another another dual boss fight in S-8 Crown, only partway through the level. This fight was the only one where Boom Boom's attack was enhanced, as he left behind a trail of flames while spinning around. Boom Boom could also appear at random in one of the Mystery Boxes within the Special Worlds, and in this case he could be defeated with just one hit.

Later Games

In New Super Mario Bros. U, Boom Boom appeared as the boss of most of the game's towers and once again, and he was depicted with a spiked shell again. This time, Kamek appeared at the beginning of every battle after the first one to use his magic to strengthen the Boom Boom in different ways. These magical effects included a spin-jump attack at Layer-Cake Desert, a jumping ability at Sparkling Waters and Frosted Glacier, making him larger at Soda Jungle and granting him wings on his arms at the Rock-Candy Mines.

In Super Mario Run, Boom Boom was featured as the boss of three different airship levels, where he attacked by running at Mario and also jumping in the last fight. Boom Booms could also appear in some of Remix 10's airships, and two Boom Booms worked together as the boss of an airship in World Star. One of those Boom Booms was a golden one that left coins behind as it moved. Boom Boom also appeared in Super Mario 3D World, where he commanded tanks instead of airships. He was faced as the boss of the first world and was also faced within the sixth world, as well as within the Boss Blitz Level that acted as the last level of World Flower. In this appearance, Boom Boom used tactics similar to Super Mario 3D Land, except that he also displayed the abilities to temporarily turn invisible and produce copies of his shells. In the game's ending, Boom Boom was shown to be distraught by Bowser being trapped in a bottle, but Pom Pom cheered him up.

Boom Boom later appeared in Super Mario Maker 2 as one of the enemies that could be placed in levels, with a limit of five Boom Booms per level. He was available in every style, including those of some of his past appearances (Super Mario Bros. 3, New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 3D World) as well as new sprites of him in the style of Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World. In Dr. Mario World, Boom Boom appeared as an Assistant character.

Sports and Party Spin-Offs

Boom Booms appeared as teammates for Rugby events in the Wii U version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. In Mario Sports Superstars, Boom Booms and Pom Poms made their first playable appearance as teammates for soccer (as goalies only) and baseball. Boom Booms would later return to the goalie role in Mario Strikers: Battle League.

In Mario Tennis Aces, Boom Boom appeared as a rival who was faced at Inferno Island in Adventure Mode. He was later made available as a playable character as part of the game's free DLC. He could be unlocked by taking part in an online tournament during the month of February 2019 or through an update in the following month.

Boom Boom also made a cameo appearance in Super Mario Party where his image could be displayed in the minigame called Absent Minded. Notably, Pom Pom made a playable appearance in the same game, marking her first appearance without Boom Boom having a similar role.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Puzzles & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, Boom Booms appeared as bosses of most of the game's tower courses, and they would also replaced Bowser and Bowser Jr. after the player unlocked them.
• Within Nintendo editions of Minecraft, Boom Boom was available as a playable skin as part of the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack.
• In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Boom Boom appears as an Advanced-rank Primary Spirit. When fought in a Spirit battle, he possesses a giant Squirtle with super armor and focuses on dash attacks. If his Spirit is obtained and leveled up to Level 99, it can then be enhanced into a combined Ace-rank Spirit of Boom Boom & Pom Pom, which is stronger than the original Spirit and has the added effect of enabling Hyper Smash Attacks.

Other Media

• Boom Boom appeared in several episodes of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, where he mostly functioned as a silent muscle.
• Although he had no actual presence in the Super Mario Bros. live-action film, he was referenced by one club being called the Boom Boom Bar.

Trivia

• Boom Boom notably went 23 years without a new appearance between Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario 3D Land.
• Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World are their only appearances where their shells lack spikes.
• In Super Paper Mario, one of the Sammer Guys is named Flailing Boom Boom in reference to him.