Behind the legendary soundtrack of the game Super Mario Bros lies a story of a groundbreaking invention that transcended the limits of technology and physics.
In the latest music collection preserved by the Library of Congress, it’s not hard to find a series of hits beloved by music fans of all generations, such as “Imagine” by John Lennon, “Like a Virgin” by Madonna, “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin, or “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey.
However, one of the most recognizable melodies comes from a piece that many may not have even heard of, despite billions of people being familiar with it.
This is the unmistakable sound of the legendary game Super Mario Bros, released in 1985, which continues to endure and has sold over 40 million copies.
The legendary game Super Mario Bros, released in 1985, continues to endure and has sold over 40 million copies.
“The Mozart of Video Game Music”
Nintendo’s composer, Koji Kondo, is the mastermind behind the iconic soundtrack of Super Mario Bros.
The piece, officially titled Ground Theme, is widely recognized as the opening melody of the first level in the beloved mushroom-collecting game.
Given the game’s influence and popularity, Ground Theme has quickly become one of the most recognizable video game soundtracks ever recorded.
The soundtrack titled Ground Theme from Super Mario Bros has been voted as one of the most recognizable video game soundtracks ever recorded. (Photo: WSJ).
In fact, Kondo’s work even made it onto the Billboard ringtones chart and has been performed multiple times at concerts by major symphony orchestras.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t until 2023 that Ground Theme gained significant attention. This may partly be due to the appeal of the The Super Mario Bros. Movie, an animated project that kicked off the summer film season in 2023 and is taking the global box office by storm.
To truly understand the classic melody crafted by the “Mozart of video game music,” the WSJ reached out to Ben Kidd, a Canadian jazz drummer and the host of the YouTube channel 8-bit Music Theory, which specializes in analyzing the intricacies of this music genre.
In reality, very few people can accurately assess Koji Kondo’s genius, especially in terms of how he addressed fundamental issues in the field of video game music.
Koji Kondo’s genius lies in how he tackled fundamental issues in the field of video game music. (Photo: Equipboard).
“Composers need to find ways to make the sound resemble real music rather than like a computer trying to create music. Mr. Kondo is part of the first generation to solve this problem. Almost everything he does is innovative because there weren’t many video game soundtracks before Koji Kondo’s time,” Kidd remarked.
Innovation Beyond the Limits of Technology and Physics
The WSJ notes that the soundtrack of Super Mario Bros is not only catchy but also a breakthrough. Behind the music of Ground Theme lies a tale of great invention that transcended the limits of technology, physics, and human psychology at the time.
“The amount of data we could use for music and sound effects was very limited. Therefore, I had to be very creative to maximize the capabilities of the music and programming we had at that time,” the 61-year-old composer recounted about the process of creating the track.
Koji Kondo’s entry into the gaming industry was also a coincidence. In his final year at art school in Osaka, Kondo was unexpectedly hired by Nintendo to join the sound team. This was the first and only job he applied for.
Kondo’s relentless efforts and groundbreaking inventions contributed to making Super Mario a cultural icon. (Photo: Interlochen Public Radio).
Kondo joined the company in 1984 and quickly learned something important: Writing music for games is entirely different from writing regular songs.
Before working at Nintendo, this composer had some basic knowledge of programming. However, the company required him to learn assembly language as it would be deeply intertwined with game design and needed to understand how to compress data without affecting sound quality.
Simply put, Kondo’s job at the time was a crossover between a composer and a programmer.
Initially, Kondo thought it was a very exciting opportunity. However, the challenges were not small. At that time, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was limited in terms of music capabilities. This made Kondo feel like he was playing the piano with one hand tied behind his back.
The system could only produce three notes at a time. Moreover, the quality of memory chips at that time was too low, leading to computational power and data storage limitations, which made the sound produced overly mechanical.
Nevertheless, the composer was undeterred. With a computer and keyboard, Kondo began experimenting, searching for ways to turn the minimal into the maximal.
He broke conventions with sound effects and syncopation while drawing inspiration from jazz, Latin music, and Japanese fusion bands. By tinkering with chord mechanics, Kondo created auditory illusions.
Instead of creating a major chord from closely spaced notes, he spread it out by placing notes an octave apart, a “hack” that resulted in a clearer, richer, and fuller sound than what games of that era could achieve. In gamer terminology, Kondo used cheat codes to play the game better.
“I wanted to create something special that sounded as natural as possible with the limitations while ensuring it was fun by only using exactly three sounds,” Kondo recalled.
The three creators of Super Mario Bros, including Takumi Kawagoe, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Koji Kondo, at the ceremony honoring the Ground Theme soundtrack, which made it to the top 25 songs that significantly contributed to American history. (Photo: Polygon).
Kondo’s opportunity finally arrived when Nintendo launched a game about a hero with a background as a plumber whose goal was to rescue a princess (Princess Peach).
The first version of Super Mario released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) became the best-selling game in the Super Mario franchise, with 40.24 million copies sold to customers.
According to Andrew Schartmann, a professor of music theory and interdisciplinary studies at the New England Conservatory, the impressive aspect of Kondo’s work that ordinary people might not perceive lies in its simplicity.
“There’s a lot of repetition inside by reusing similar small segments but arranged in different orders to create variety. He knew people would play this game for hours, so he needed to do as much as possible without driving the players crazy,” Schartmann explained the appeal of the seemingly simple soundtrack of Super Mario Bros.
