Bowser and the Horrible Nightmare by Soopakoopa
Bowser in the Horrible Nightmare is a 2-D action platformer made by soopakoopa. This is one of the small number of fangames to star Bowser, the King of the Koopas himself! Instead of trying to snatch away the Princess and thwart the Mario Brothers' efforts to save her, Bowser is actually the protagonist for a change. In this game, Wart has taken over Subcon again, and Bowser's unconscious mind has been trapped in said world. Bowser must get himself into Wart's fortress and defeat Wart in order to free himself from Subcon and prevent Wart from taking over both the world of dreams and the real world! There are four worlds of six levels apiece, so there's quite a bit to do in this game. Two levels in each world conclude with a boss fight. Although these battles are difficult to get through, the foes can be quite fun to fight against, and their concepts are some of the most innovative we've seen in a fangame. When you defeat a boss, you get to choose one out of three special powers, which are inspired by certain aspects of the boss fight. These powers include a mix of attacks or passive abilities, and these help boost the replay value by enabling you to customize Bowser's abilities. The sound selection is quite groovy, and the graphics are wonderful. While it won't be easy getting through the dangers of Subcon, this game will keep you entertained for quite a while!
Kudos to Q-Nova for making the banner and screenshot and for writing most of this topic.