Galoomba

The Goombas of Dinosaur Land (known as Kuribon in Japan) are the Goomba variety featured in Super Mario World. During the Koopa Troop's invasion of Dinosaur Land, these spherical-shaped Goombas are deployed in large numbers. However, these creatures do not appear in masses as do their mushroom-shaped brethren (known as "Kuribō" in Japanese) during the events of Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3. Instead of Goombas, Koopa Troopas fill the role of common soldiers for the Koopa Troop. Interestingly, while some Goombas are stationed in certain locations as guards, others are dropped from the sky in droves. These Goombas either parachute from above or float down in bubbles (which burst upon coming into contact with any object).

In the Super Mario World Game Boy Advance remake, Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2, after the player beats the Special World and finds all of the exits, the Goombas are colored yellow and wear sunglasses.

The Goombas that appear in Super Mario World are dramatically different than those seen in previous games. Although these creatures walk in straight paths to attack, like previous Goombas, these new baddies do not resemble the older ones. These Goombas do not have mushroom-shaped heads but spherical ones, like a chestnut. They also lack a stem: the Goomba’s two feet are attached directly to the bottom of the head. As such, they resemble angry chestnuts more than scowling mushrooms.

These spherical Goombas are also much more resilient than previous Goombas; only the powerful Spin Jump can destroy these Goombas in one hit. Both Yoshi's fire-spitting attack (after eating a Red Shell) and a fireball strike transform a Goomba into a coin. A normal jump only flips the creature over, rendering it immobile. Mario or Luigi can actually pick up an immobile Goomba and kick the fungus at other enemies to destroy them. However, the immobile Goombas eventually right themselves and hurt Mario upon being revived (if the creature is not thrown in enough time). The same thing happens with shelled enemies (such as Koopa Troopas and Buzzy Beetles) in this game and in previous Mario titles.



Trivia

 * An interesting note is that these spherical Goombas look like (peeled) chestnuts with fangs, hence their Japanese name. The original Goombas look rather like Mushrooms.
 * In Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, yellow and round Kuribon-like Goombas appear in certain galaxies.
 * After completing all 96 goals in the Game Boy Advance version, Goombas begin wearing sunglasses. This style first appeared in All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.