Though far from the most recognized composition of the early Super Mario games, the SMB2 overworld theme shows inspiration from a range of genres while evoking a variety of feelings to players.
Despite the original Super Mario Bros. hitting North American shelves nearly 41 years ago, it’s undeniable that the most recognizable music in video game history remains the title’s overworld theme, which has been adapted into just about every musical style while being used in dozens of games since then.
Beyond the original SMB theme serving as the de facto theme song of video games, the Super Mario series has gone on to offer some of the most ubiquitous compositions in video game history, with themes from Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World and Super Mario 64 all likely to sound at least a little familiar to the general public – even to those who have never held a controller.
Yet overlooked for both its gameplay and its music is Super Mario Bros. 2 – or at least, the American version of the game.
Following the smashing success of the original Super Mario Bros., the title’s original intended sequel was deemed to be too difficult and frustrating for the North American audience – instead getting a Japan-only release with the game functioning as a harder expansion of the first game.
While this game, largely indistinguishable in gameplay from the original title, would eventually see the light of day in North America thanks to the 1993 release of Super Mario All-Stars, North American Mario fanatics were still given their own version of a sequel.
North America’s Super Mario Bros. 2 hit store shelves in October 1988, with radically different themes and gameplay from both the original SMB and the Japanese sequel that was released in 1986,
These drastic differences were the result of developers adapting a Japanese exclusive game known as Doki Doki Panic to the Mario series, swapping out the title’s four playable characters for Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Peach while introducing a swath of elements that would later become commonplace in Mario games, such as the POW block, turnips and the character of Birdo.
The game’s differences from every other title in the series are conspicuous from the start and never go away, with SMB2 giving players a choice between four playable characters that all have noticeably different attributes, with a health system based on hearts as opposed to the mushrooms and fire flowers players had grown acquainted to from the first game.
Yet what spelled out these differences from the get-go more than anything else was the game’s overworld theme – which was actually unchanged from the overworld theme to Doki Doki Panic, the blueprint to the North American SMB2.
A noted departure from the majestic, universally appealing sound of the original overworld theme, the SMB2 theme features a faster tempo and a much greater amount of musical variation, with the theme breaking up into three distinct sections.
While there’s only so much one can take from an 8-bit composition, the differences between this and the theme music players heard on the first game are immense. The tune includes a steady walking bassline throughout, drawing some inspiration from the ragtime genre that the piece surprisingly works incredibly well with.
That’s perhaps what has always struck me the most about this piece in particular – sure, other Mario compositions have been covered into oblivion under every possible musical style there is, but it’s hard to pinpoint another piece from any video game that is able to transform into a totally different mood and tone color with nothing other than a different arrangement.
Though the themes from SMB1 and SMB3 paint a picture of a sunny day in the fictional Mushroom Kingdom, there seems to be a bit more baggage behind the music in the SMB2 theme, which perhaps can tie around well to the overall theme of the game itself.
Departing from the typical formula seen in SMB1, SMB3 and most of its predecessors, SMB2 is not a tale of Mario embarking on a journey to defeat Bowser and save Princess Peach – it’s rather a collaborative journey traversing through seven distinct worlds throughout a dream world named Subcon in an effort to save the world from Wart, the game’s primary antagonist.
Obviously, none of this makes the slightest bit of sense when placed next to other Mario games, which is why the title concludes with the revelation that the entire journey was merely a dream from Mario – which suddenly adds another layer of mystique to the game’s theme.
While an 8-bit composition can only do so much, a classical guitar arrangement of this piece helps bring out the uniquely mystical and fantasy-like feelings that the theme was perhaps meant to evoke on some level:
Beyond how insanely difficult this piece looks to play on guitar and how impressive this particular rendition is, there’s something to be said about the added element of musicality that this arrangement provides to the original piece, adding a bit of the emotion and depth that wasn’t fully possible with 8-bit music.
This arrangement also helps punctuate how notable of a departure this composition was from the original SMB theme, and also was perhaps a foreshadowing of the incredible, timeless pieces that Koji Kondo would continue to compose for Nintendo over the ensuing decades.
Yet listening to the classical guitar adaptation of this theme, it’s hard to not imagine oneself walking through a magical set of landscapes in an unfamiliar, yet comforting environment – the same feelings that our dreams can often leave us with.
While music is undoubtedly a universal language, there’s no way to really know if my interpretation of this piece is either correct or shared by other people who have come across it through their gaming journeys over the years. There are no words to spell out what Kondo means, and players are left to use the game itself to help fill in the void of what emotions are meant to be conveyed through the composition.
Though new, different arrangements such as Sam Griffin’s on classical guitar can help bring new perspective on old video game pieces, it’s also helpful seeing where the inspiration may have come from – with ragtime and jazz clearly serving as a blueprint for Kondo on this composition, with the two genres going on to influence plenty of Kondo’s work in later games.
A ragtime arrangement of this piece perfectly illustrates both the influence it had on Kondo and how much the tune, at its bare bones, could have fit in at a music hall 70-80 years before players heard an 8-bit adaptation for the first time.
Though this arrangement comes with much more finesse than was initially possible on the 8-bit or 16-bit versions, the bare bones of influence are still prevalent – an upbeat, musically varied melody that alters at three different occasions on top of a steady, moving bassline that anchors the piece, offering a degree of complexity that would only serve as great influence for video game composers of the future.
Super Mario Bros. 2 is far from my favorite Super Mario game, and one I personally find quite frustrating when I play it – yet there’s no denying that the overworld theme is not only an overlooked masterpiece, but one that perfectly fits the theme and atmosphere of the game it wasn’t even composed to accompany.
Koji Kondo has gifted gamers with a plethora of masterpieces over the years – this is one that gamers and musicians alike should look back on with gratitude and amazement.
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