It’s essentially Vampire Weekend’s version of the Mario theme, comprising elements of Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’, stop-start melodies, calypso basslines and steel drums. Speaking of redo’s of older themes – the original Mario ‘Overworld’ theme gets a remix to accompany the game’s title screen – you know, where you get to mess with Mario’s face. ‘Haunted House’ may not be as creative as the juxtaposition bared when the carousel waltz of ‘Merry-Go Round’ is heard, but it certainly is ghostly if not forgettable ‘Cave Dungeon’ does well to reel the first Mario game’s ‘Underground’ theme into a new era with some Hindustani influence, and ‘Lethal Lava Land’ contains the atmospheric breaths one may associate with a volcano, alongside some stinging, ‘Tomorrow Never Comes’-esque sitars. And then, ‘Road to Bowser’, as it’s known to English-speaking players, is the concerning piece necessary to fit the squeezes of tension that grow with each dodge of fire and each difficult platform leap, adding sitar sprinkles for more drama and discomfort, while also wrestling with the thought that you’re about to take on the boss – it’s Hell… in D Minor.įair enough, the other main level themes don’t pack as great a punch, but they still fit the scenery of the stages. Firstly, ‘Dire, Dire Docks’ and all its underwater bliss, ignoring the waltz-y expectations of Mario water levels, instead opting for Rhodes piano-style atmosphere, producing a piece that most video game-loving musicians will end up wanting to learn – ahem, including me. In fact, said standout features one of my favourite musical passages in any video game the final section that follows the whistle solo and banjo break, leading us back into the first section a weird harmonica melody that seems to rely on being as nuts as possible so that it both does and doesn’t make musical sense.īut while ‘Slide’ easily makes a case for most dazzling tune in the game, it has two huge rivals. There are three pieces that share a compositional backbone the bouncier ‘Bob-Omb Battlefield’, which explodes with a spring in its step, via melodic merriment that produces a similar sound to that of the in-game bob-omb buddies, alongside some bitching horn arrangements the ‘Slide’ theme, which occurs often when there is a minigame involved, but also on the likes of ‘Tick Tock Clock’ and ‘Rainbow Ride’, working as manic, hillbilly chase music and ‘Snow Mountain’, which attempts no secret regarding its beta-style ‘Slide’ blueprint it’s almost the same tune, it’s almost as good a tune, but obviously, ‘Slide’ is a tad more standout. His level themes are sublime, and many exchange musical motifs. As Jumpman made the jump to 64-bit, so did Kondo, as he created a vaster soundtrack to suit a vaster game, rivalling his past iconic works in the process and perhaps bettering ‘Super Mario World’ for the Super Nintendo. The historic 1996 platformer recently received a rerelease on the Nintendo Switch as part of ‘Super Mario 3D All-Stars’, alongside ‘Super Mario Sunshine’ and ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ – and, say what you want, despite the gratingly-fallible camera, despite the unpolished wall jump mechanic, despite everything, the game has still aged better than your parents’ marriage.Īnd what was always sure to age like a fine wine was Koji Kondo’s soundtrack, which is essentially as beloved as the game itself. Celebrating the franchise’s thirtieth anniversary with perhaps Koji Kondo’s Mario best.
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