Super Mario Bros. theme
The Super Mario Bros. theme, officially known as the "Ground Theme" or "Overworld Theme", is a musical theme originally heard in the first stage of the 1985 Nintendo Entertainment System video game Super Mario Bros. It was one of six themes composed for the game by Nintendo sound designer Koji Kondo, who found it to be the most difficult track to compose for it. The theme is set in the key of C major and features a swung rhythm with prominent use of syncopation. While the original theme is composed within the sound limitations of the NES's 8-bit hardware, in later installments with more powerful sound hardware, it is often scored as a calypso song led by steel drums.
| "Super Mario Bros. theme" | |
|---|---|
| Instrumental by Koji Kondo | |
| Released | September 13, 1985 |
| Genre | Video game music |
| Length | 1:22 |
| Label | Nintendo |
| Composer(s) | Koji Kondo |
| Audio sample | |
The first three bars of the theme in its original appearance from Super Mario Bros. (1985)
| |
After Super Mario Bros., it went on to become the theme of the series, and has been a fixture in most of its titles. It has been reused and remixed in other Nintendo-published games, including Tetris DS, Nintendogs: Chihuahua and Friends, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!, and every entry in the Super Smash Bros. series.
In 2023, the Super Mario Bros. theme was chosen by the U.S. Library of Congress as the first ever video game recording selected for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.