Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Goombas in other media

In the 1989 television cartoon The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Goombas are loyal soldiers in King Koopa's army. The general appearance of the Goomba resembles the sprites found in the Mario video games. In many of the episodes, the Goombas appear as zombies, pirates, or other thematical variations in accordance with the plot. (One episode, ironically, had both of the Mario Bros. fleeing like cowards from a single Goomba.) When the show spun off into The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, they continued their job as soldiers in the Koopa army in a few episodes. However, the Super Mario World cartoon only featured them twice. Sometime the Goombas would talk.

In 1990, a few Mario characters became part of a series of McDonald's Happy Meal's toys, as part of a way to promote the release of Super Mario Bros. 3. The Mario toy set featured Mario (in his Raccoon form), Luigi, Paratroopa, and Little Goomba. The Goomba toy is spring loaded and has a hinge between its head and feet. There is a small suction cup at the front of the Goomba's head and sticks to the top of its feet when pressed down. Once pressed down, the toy backflips a few moments later by way of a compressed spring inside the casing of Goomba's head.

In the film Super Mario Bros., (1993), the term Goomba refers to someone who de-evolves after being hit by King Koopa's de-evolution ray. As with most of the characters in the film, the Goombas are drastically different in appearance in comparison to their video game counterparts, represented as large (about seven feet tall) reptiles with extremely disproportionate bodies (tiny heads, and large bodies). They also, inexplicably, wear trench coats. There are two types of Goomba, one resembling a Koopa Troopa and the other resembling a Mushroom Goomba by the shape of their heads. The "goomba" Goomba has a rounded head, whereas the "koopa" goomba has a more reptilian shape (in addition to the obvious reptilian features upon their) head. They are played by human actors in costume and do not resemble the small Goombas seen in the video games at all.