Beating Bowser
Dodge the mechakoopas. Soon after the boss fight begins, Bowser will toss a pair of mechakoopas out of his clown car. These will hurt Mario if they touch him.
Jump on a mechakoopa to stun it. Unlike a normal koopa, a mechakoopa will become frozen and squished when you jump on it. It won't stay in this state forever, so move fast. Spin jumping (the A button) will destroy the mechakoopa. If you do this, you'll have to wait for Bowser to release more mechakoopas.
Throw the mechakoopa up at Bowser. Pick up the stunned mechakoopa, aim upward while Bowser is approaching, and throw it. This will hurt Bowser only if the mechakoopa lands on him from above. Hitting the clown car is not good enough.
Hit Bowser a second time. Repeat the same steps to throw a second mechakoopa at Bowser. This will trigger the next phase of the fight.
Dodge the fireballs. Bowser will fly away, then fireballs will fall from the sky. Stay on the ground so you can see them coming and get out of their way. Two lines of fireballs will fall before Bowser returns.
Grab the power-up from the princess. Bowser's clown car will return to the screen, but the princess will pop her head out and throw a super mushroom to the left. Pick this up if you need it.
Jump over the bowling balls. Bowser's car will float over you, turn upside down, and drop a large bowling ball (a "Big Steely") that rolls toward you. Get out of the car's way when it turns over, and spin jump with A to leap over the ball. Use the same tactic to avoid the second bowling ball. You can jump over the ball with a regular jump, but spin jumping allows you to touch the top of the ball without getting damaged.
Hit Bowser with two more mechakoopas. Stun and throw the mechakoopas just as you did before. Bowser will fly away again after the second hit. The clown car will return and give you a second super mushroom.
Avoid Bowser. Bowser will now follow you around and stomp on the floor, trying to crush you. Since Bowser bounces off the edge of the stage, it's usually impossible for him to reach you if you run to the left edge and duck until he stops stomping. This does not work in the Gameboy Advance version of the game, so you'll need to dodge his jumps instead. Bowser jumps in a steady rhythm, so it's not too hard to time it correctly. The moment after he starts an upward jump is a good time to run under him. Keep running after you're through, as Bowser changes direction quickly. Avoid the propeller of the clown car, which can damage you.
Finish the fight using the same tactics. Bowser will drop another bowling ball, then toss out more mechakoopas. Throw two more mechakoopas at Bowser to win the game. This time, Bowser will keep stomping on the ground while the mechakoopas are around. This is the toughest part of the fight, so it may take a few attempts. Bowser will destroy stunned mechakoopas if he bounces too near them. If you can, grab a mechakoopa when you're at the opposite side of the screen from browser.
Defeating Bowser with a Cape
Get the cape power-up. The easiest place to do this is level 2-1, the first level of Donut Plains. Jump on the "super koopa" with a flashing cape at the very start of the level. Collect the feather that pops out to get the cape. The cape win is usually used for speedruns or just for fun. Since you need to keep the cape power-up the whole time on your way to Bowser, the normal method above is usually easier.
Practice flying. When you have the cape, you can launch yourself into the air by pressing B while Mario is running. The more speed Mario picks up, the higher you'll go. To keep flying, hold the B button and alternate hitting the left and right arrows of the D-pad to rock Mario back and forth. Press forward on the D-pad to make Mario dive and pick up speed, then press back to use this speed to ascend higher again. Practice this until you can stay in the air for any length of time without falling. You can also use these moves: Use X or Y to spin around, knocking objects and enemies next to you with the cape. Spin jump with A while Mario is running at maximum speed to launch yourself very high. Glide down slowly by holding A or B.
Enter 7-2. This is the second level in the Valley of Bowser, and it contains a secret that lets you skip most of Bowser's Castle. (This will make keeping the cape power-up easier.) Play through the first two screens as usual, until you enter the second pipe. If you lose the cape early on, you can get it back. Right after you enter the second screen, jump up the steps to your left and look for a hidden block up near the top left corner of the stage.
Unlock Valley Fortress. On the third screen, the pipe spits you out in the middle of the moving yellow "maze." Jump through this quickly, and you'll soon reach a gap with a mole in it. At this point, use your cape to fly up through the top of the screen, and go left. Walk left across the top of the stage, and you'll fall into a room with a secret door leading to a secret level, Valley Fortress.
Beat Valley Fortress to unlock the Back Door. Most of this level involves timed jumps or movement to run through skewers, or to avoid spikes that fall from the ceiling (which are a slightly different color from normal spikes). Once you beat this level, and the familiar fortress boss at the end (Reznors), you'll unlock the secret Back Door level. You can get a cape here as well. Hit the green block right after the first set of skewers. You do not need to keep your cape to beat this level.
Beat the Back Door to reach Bowser. The Back Door skips over most of Bowser's Castle, and does not add any new challenges. Just make sure to keep your cape throughout this whole level if you want to use it for the boss fight.
Defeat Bowser using the cape. The cape makes it easy to avoid most of Bowser's attacks by flying over him, and allows you to spin the cape to stun the mechakoopas. The fastest way to defeat Bowser using a cape involves jumping on him from above, timing it so you land on a mechakoopa right as he releases it. This can take quite a bit of practice and precise timing.
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