This was how Goombas hurt Mario in the original NES game, according to Mario’s daddy
Back in the day, you might have wondered: Hey, why does Mario take damage when he bumps into a Goomba in the original Super Mario Bros.? Turns out, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto had an answer: The enemies were biting you. We just never actually saw that happen. Well, that changes in the soon-to-be-released Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
According to Wonder’s art director, Masanobu Sato, he once heard someone explain that when Miyamoto was asked why Mario takes damage after bumping into a Goomba in the original game, he answered, “It’s because the Goombas bite him.” However, as pointed out by Wonder’s director, Shiro Mouri, even if that was what was happening, due to “hardware limitations” back then the game couldn’t show that detail. Super Mario Bros.