You know something is beloved when, after 18 years and only one appearance in one level, people still remember it vividly. Kuribo's Shoe, an oversized boot found in World 5-3 in Super Mario Bros. 3, commands such a following. It's just a green boot with a wind up key. Mario jumps around in it, just like he always does. There's barely any use for it at all other than safely traversing spikes.

Yet here we are, in 2008, and just about anyone who played SMB3 will admit an irrational fondness for Kuribo's Shoe. Part of its allure is its rarity - we've played through the game more than once just to hop in the lifeless, meaningless shoe, and we're sure plenty of other gamers have too. It has this intangible, novel feeling that etches a little piece of your brain away and replaces it with green boot. Plus, whose boot is this? Why haven't we seen the true owner of this mammoth piece of footware? How many other 18-year-old, one-game, one-level items have affected people this much?

A PixelBlock creation by NeoGaf user keiichi.

The same, only created with beads. See foglera's many other creations here.

Some Kuribo fan art, as seen on Tyler Ohlew's blog.

An adorable stocking sent in to Kotaku.

You know the shoe is big time when people use it as the basis of an entire video. It's stuck in everyone's mind and has become one of the few things that every single gamer can agree on: Kuribo's Shoe rocks, and that's that.

Want more misty-eyed recollections about the past? We've got plenty of other Top 7 lists for your nostalgia-devouring mind. And if that's not enough to keep you busy, head on over to our forums for exciting good times.

Apr 7, 2008