Imagine that you had a 2D Mario game and the Koopaling battles were made actuall

Masaladosa

Goomba
Banned User
Let's face it, the Koopalings aren't exactly known for being tough to take down. You just jump on them once, wait for them to finish their shell-spinning routine, and then land on them again as they come out of it. Kinda easy once you get the hang of platforming.

Now, imagine we were to make a Koopaling battle where they're actually hard to beat. Not "Ninja Gaiden" hard, but enough that experienced platformers might have their work cut out for them. How would you design them?

Have a battle where you are constantly chasing the Koopaling down an endless hallway, and have to slowly catch up to them before you can lay down a stomping. After each stomp, however, you get knocked back to the opposite end of the screen and have to repeat the process. During the chase, the Koopaling will fling spells and other projectiles at you, and you'll occasionally have to jump over bottomless pits.

Also, in any static room battle, give them some short-term invulnerability after they come out of their shell, so you can't stomp them as they come out of their shell spin (trying will cause you to get hit).
 
It can be like the fights in Rayman, where you have to endure platforming gauntlets before you can attack the weak points. I'd love a fight like Luchador from Rayman Legends, except you're pummeling a giant Koopaling instead, lol.
 
Maybe just make them faster to make the fights more challenging. Their attacks are really slow tbh. And that's what makes them easy.
 
One way to make the Koopaling fights a bit tougher would be to have them leap out of Mario's jumping range before popping their heads out of their shells. It wouldn't necessarily raise the difficulty too much, but it would require you to get past their attack methods again before you can land another jump attack.
 
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