Boom Boom

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

Boom Boom is a recurring miniboss from the Mario series who was primarily 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.

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 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

New Super Mario Bros. U, Super Mario 3D World

Sports

Boom Booms appeared as teammates for Rugby events in the Wii U version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. In Mario Sports Superstars, Boom Booms and Pom Poms made their first playable appearance as teammates for soccer (as goalies only) and baseball.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Boom Boom appeared in several episodes of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, where he mostly functioned as 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

• In Super Paper Mario, one of the Sammer Guys is named Flailing Boom Boom in reference to him.