The Super Mario Bros. theme, also known as the “ground theme,” “overworld theme,” or perhaps just “da-da-da-dada-da-da!” is arguably the most well-known piece of video game music in the world. First recorded for the NES game in 1985 by Nintendo’s in-house musician Koji Kondo, the track was designed to fit the action and pacing of the platformer, and added a light, whimsical accompaniment to gameplay that might otherwise have felt entirely different without it.
Thousands of people have attempted to tweak and cover this iconic track over the years, tackling it with a variety of instruments. More often than not, the result is the same – a great track is a great track regardless of the person playing it, after all – but occasionally someone with real talent comes along and blow us all away with a rendition that we almost wish Nintendo would include in their next Mario adventure.
Russian guitarist Igor Presnyakov’s cover of the overworld theme is one such rendition.
When I write, I often like to listen to have some kind of white noise in the background or listen to music at a low level, so when I’m at my computer I’m usually wearing headphones. What few of the RocketNews24 staff realise, though, is that, because I’m an enormous nerd, more often than not I’m listening to either tracks from a video game soundtrack or some guitar or piano cover of a classic video game tune.
Gustavo Santaolalla’s soundtrack to The Last of Us can be a little bit grim at times, but its main theme continues to give me the shivers nearly 18 months after hearing it for the first time. Similarly, throw some jazz beats onto the underworld theme from Super Mario Bros. or blast out tracks from Yoshi’s Island on electric guitar and I’m tapping my foot and drumming on my desk like a fool. Like I said: big nerd.
I’ve listened to an enormous number of covers of video game theme tunes over the last few years, but the following is by far one of the best acoustic renditions of Koji Kondo’s Super Mario Bros. theme I’ve ever come across.
Before we listen to the cover that rules them all, lest any of you have forgotten what the original theme sounded like, here it is in all its rickety 8-bit beauty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGX4obVl64w
And now, here’s Igor Presnyakov’s rendition. Hold on to your butts.
Smooth isn’t the word.
This video was actually uploaded last year, but it has recently caught the attention of Japanese netizens, who apparently can’t get enough of it. We also absolutely loved it, and I personally got a huge kick out of Igor’s cheeky riff on the underground theme around 1:40. That’s pure musical talent right there.
Let us know what you thought of this one in the comments section below. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a replay button to click on. Then I have to go and listen to this again before I get back to writing. And this.
Oh, who am I kidding; the afternoon’s a write-off. Curse you, catchy game tunes!
Update: As luck would have it, the folks at Supergiant Games have just released the full soundtrack to their new (frankly superb) game for PS4 and PC, Transistor. Be sure to check it out on YouTube.
Source/feature image: YouTube