A Goomba's Shoe (previously known as Kuribo's Shoe) is a large, green-colored boot with a wind-up key sticking out of the back of it; it is also one of the rarest of all the power-ups in all of the Mario series.
The first and only appearance of Goomba's Shoes was in Super Mario Bros. 3, in Level 5-3 of Sky Land. The Goombas of this level would hop around aimlessly in Goomba's Shoes and if jumped on by Mario, would be defeated; however, if Mario was to attack a Goomba's Shoe-shod Goomba from below, the Goomba will be knocked from the shoe and Mario will be able to ride in it. In Super Mario Advance 4, there is an unreleased Level that uses the Goomba's Shoe and adds it coming out of blocks in that level.
Once wearing a Goomba's Shoe, Mario will be able to easily hop across spikes and sharp-toothed or spiky enemies, such as Spinies and Piranha Plants. Once the end of the level is reached, though, Mario will lose the Goomba's Shoe.
Appearances in Other Media
Goomba's Shoes only appeared in the episode "Super Koopa" of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, despite also appearing in the show's opening sequence. During the episode, they were referred to as Karoobi's Shoes.
The Thwomp Stompers of the Super Mario Bros. movie may be loosely based on the Goomba's Shoes.
Trivia
- "Kuribo" is the Japanese name for Goomba; thus, when translated, Kuribo's Shoe means "Goomba's Shoe". This translation is now in remakes and later versions of Super Mario Bros. 3.
- In several of the unused levels of Super Mario Bros. 3, Goomba's Shoes can be found and used. Using a certain cheat code available only in some copies of Super Mario Bros. 3 and its Super Mario All-Stars remake can also trigger usable Goomba's Shoes, although they appear as garbled symbols unless the level they are used in features Spinies or Buzzy Beetles.
- In Super Paper Mario, one Sammer Guy is called Shoe of Kuribo. Also, the ability of the Super Paper Mario Pixl Carrie can be thought of as vaguely similar to that of the Goomba's Shoe, as Carrie, too, allows players to stomp on spiked enemies such as Piranha Plants and Spinies and allows them to glide over spikes.