It was September 13th, 1985 when Super Mario Bros. debuted alongside Nintendo’s Famicom in Japan. From there Mario has gone on to star in seemingly innumerable sequels and spin-offs with cameo appearances all over the place. As fun and memorable as the games are to play, the music is even more special to many of us. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. I thought I’d highlight a few new and noteworthy musical tributes to the game and the series.
First up is a whole new album from Shiryu, Super Mario Bros. The 30th, a collection of twelve tracks providing “vintage electronic reinterpretations” of some of his favorite themes. Each track is a medley of familiar tunes from a single Mario game and each has its own unique synth styling.
Slightly older is Marc Lovallo’s “Super Mario 30th Anniversary Medley” which was posted last September in anticipation for this year’s official 30th anniversary. It’s a mighty piece that fuses mainline Mario, Super Mario Land and Yoshi’s Island themes into a nearly nine minute medley. The consistency he keeps across fifteen different games is really impressive.
Want an even more comprehensive audio/visual history of Mario? Check out Super Mario Ceremony, an immense eighteen minute presentation from Japanese composer, Hapinano. This one is from 2011 and was designed to celebrate ALL of Mario’s history (not just Super Mario Bros.) but it’s so thorough and such a great remix medley that I couldn’t pass up including it. Everything from Donkey Kong to Mario’s sporting and RPG adventures are represented with choreographed gameplay footage and animations that represent the work of some forty Japanese collaborators.
You know it wouldn’t be a post from me if I didn’t somehow work in a little jazz, so here’s a track from the manouche jazz group La Orquesta Inestable. A bonus track on their album Bambalinas, the “gypsy jazz” treatment gives the Super Mario Bros. themes a fun new feel. It reminds me of similar acoustic arrangements from James Hill and the Mario & Zelda Big Band Live album and —
You know what? I could do this all day so let’s just trade favorite tracks, remixes and arrangements in the comments and celebrate the incredible legacy of Mario.
