Video Roundup: Super Mario Bros Music

Super Mario Bros is one of the definitive titles for retro gamers.  Since the game was included with the Nintendo Entertainment System it was a game that nearly every single person who has ever played the system has played.  Over 40 million copies were sold, which makes it the second to Wii Sports for the best selling video game of all time.

Super Mario Bros is fondly remembered for being one of the first truly good platforming titles.  It's clean controls, and addictive game play was unlike anything that came before it.  However one of the lasting memories of the game is its music.

Video game composer Koji Kondo

The music for Super Mario Brothers was composed by Japanese composer Koji Kondo.  While Kondo had done music for arcade games like Punch Out!!, the Super Mario Bros soundtrack was his first big hit.  While Kondo is responsible for the music for most of the Super Mario and Legend of Zelda games, the original Mario theme is still his most popular.  Even Nobuo Uematsu, the composer of much of the Final Fantasy series praised the music so much, he was quoted saying that the Super Mario Bros theme should be the Japanese national anthem.

For you trivia buffs the theme does have an official name, "Ground Theme."  And the theme still lives on today.  The Super Mario Bros theme has been tackled by scores of unique musicians.  Many examples are found right here on the internet, and one quick trip through YouTube will find some gems.

The first video is an impromptu performance by Jean Baudin on his 11 string bass guitar.  It is an impressive performance, on a very unique instrument.

The second video is by Japanese beatboxer HIKAKIN.  It is yet another extremely unique take on the theme song.  And if anyone can inform me how exactly he does this please let me know.

The final video in this roundup is a strange one.  While the song is dedicated to Marty B's love for Captain Crunch, it uses the theme from the second Super Mario Bros theme interchanged with many of the famous sound effects from the game.

   

Video Roundup: Glitch edition

Whenever you find yourself truly immersed into a video game it is easy to forget the amount of coding that was involved into the games creation.  It really is the ultimate goal for a developer to create a world for gamers that allows them to forget that they are simply using a piece of software.  For a few moments a person can transform themselves into warriors, adventurers, pro athletes, fighter pilots, plumbers trying to save princesses, and countless other things.

Occasionally there are things that happen in these adventures that immediately remind us that we are using software.  These things are called glitches.  With all of the code that is needed to create these games, there are bound to be some mistakes along the line.  Some have funny consequences, other can completely ruin the gaming experience.  Here are some examples. 

One of the first games to really showcase an array of glitches was Super Mario Brothers for the NES.  The most commonly known of the glitches shown in the REARN49 video below is a specific jump you can execute in world 1-2.  If executed properly you jumped through the brick wall and into the warp zone.  At that point you had to use the warp zone.  But instead of warping to worlds 1,2,or 3 you went to world -1, a never ending water level that you could never beat.

Since baseball season has just started here is a horrible example of glitches from more recent times.  MLB 2K9 is the source, and EDDIEGGG27 vents a bit of frustration in this complilation.  (Not work friendly audio in this video)

Street Fighter 2 houses several interesting glitches.  But this one is noteworthy due to something horrible happening to E. Honda's gentleman's region.  This one is not for the faint at heart, watch with caution.

From the Vaults of YouTube

This week's YouTube review starts with the amazing Chuck Norris vs Super Mario Bros video.  Chuck has earned the reputation for being a brutally awesome individual.  You can see that implanting him into Super Mario Brothers drastically changes the game play options.  Thank you daneboe for this video.

Who knew that John Madden was into video games way before the EA Sports annual football game that bears his name.  Considering that Madden on really had to work on Sundays, I guess this commercial proves that he spent his off time commentating video game competitions.  I will admit, I would have liked to see Madden analyze the kids' gameplay with the overuse of a telestrator and the word "Boom"

It's hard to believe that it has been 10 years since Red vs Blue first came out.  The fellas at roosterteeth.com are a true success story.  Using the multiplayer mode of the original Halo game for the Xbox they created an animated series about a blue team of inept solders facing off against a red team of inept soldiers in the middle of Blood Gulch Canyon.  When the videos quickly became popular and when Bungie studios contacted Rooster Teeth about the videos it appeared that they would be putting them to an end.  But Bungie gave Rooster Teeth their blessing to continue the series, and even have used them to create commercials for their Halo games.  This is the very first episode titled "Why Are We Here"