Dem Yoshi Bongos!
One of the most instantly recognizable – and most lovable – video game soundtracks of all-time belongs to Nintendo’s 1990 smash hitSuper Mario World. And the jolly SNES OST is about to get a whole new reappraisal, thanks to the stellar work performed by The Super Mario Restored Project.
As spotted byDigital Eclipse’s Chris Kohler,the restoration team identified the samples featured in theSuper Mario Worldsoundtrack, and thenrebuilt the themesusing fully uncompressed versions of said samples. This presents the soundtrack with a style akin to that of a full digital orchestra, adding a richness to the harmonies that wasn’t there before. Check out the “Overworld” theme below for an example.
Now obviously, SNES cartridge limitations would have prevented these fully-formed themes from being presented through the console’s humble hardware. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the music we hear when playingSuper Mario Worldisn’texactlywhat producer Shigeru Miyamoto and composer Koji Kondo had planned. These are smart developers who understood the medium, so it’s very likely the teamknewhow the samples would sound through the SNES channels, and pre-adjusted the themes to fit.
Summarized, it may be a bit of a misnomer to suggest these restored versions can be confirmed as the “true” sound of theSuper Mario Worldsoundtrack. Regardless, they sound glorious, and kudos toThe Bricksterand theSuper MarioRestoration Team for their painstaking work in putting a brand new spin on some of the most wonderful and most indelible 16-bits hits of all-time.
They also made me want to playSuper Mario Worldfor the 3,000th time. Star Road awaits.
