Miyamoto says Super Mario Bros. Bowser fight was a solution to hardware limits

Shigeru Miyamoto says the original Super Mario Bros. lacks a traditional boss battle because the development team struggled to create one given the limited hardware capabilities of the NES. Miyamoto explained at a press conference for his Japan Order of Culture award that since the game focused on running to the right, he decided the player should simply jump over Bowser to win. This mechanic allows players to defeat Bowser by jumping over him or by using fireballs as Fire Mario. Miyamoto says that after trying the jumping mechanic during development, it felt surprisingly fun. While the first game uses this method, Miyamoto says Mario began having proper battles with Bowser in the second and third games.