#goombas bunting

[lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom]

Goombas Bite And Bunt

There is apparently an old interview with Miyamoto that talks about how when you bump into a Goomba in Super Mario Bros. and take damage, you are being bitten by the Goomba. The reason you don't see it is because of sprite limitation. The reason other games don't show it is basically they simply didn't animate it, and nobody was enforcing the depiction of this. However, there is some media that does depict this.

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, one of the attacks Goombas use is to bite you. While not canon to the games there is a scene in The Super Mario Bros. Movie where Goomba is biting on another Goomba, a reference to this characteristic. Finally most recently in Super Mario Bros. Wonder when you run into Goombas an animation of them biting you plays.

Also, Goombas don't just try to bite Mario and friends, Goombas also charge at you as well. This can be seen in any 3D Mario game, and even in Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser. Bowser's Minions actually calls attention to this. Captain Goomba: "I'm used to fighting Mario! For now...I'll just keep bashing!"

This is also why hypotheses that have Mario as evil and Goombas as completely harmless don't work, it contradicts was is established in canon.