
Matthew Belinkie, in his article “Video Game Music: Not Just Kid Stuff,” claimed that as many as 66% of college students in 1999 could hum the Super Mario Bros. soundtrack when considering Mario music, with understandable reason: its popularity. Past literature on “retro” game music tends to focus on the first Super Mario Bros.

3, in comparison to the first Super Mario Bros., three main ways will be considered in which musical style developed: its attempt to emulate real musical genres, its increasing soundtrack-wide diversity, and the thematic unity it provided both within the game’s music and within that of the Super Mario Bros.

Exploring the ways in which musical style evolved in Super Mario Bros. 3 This soundtrack took Mario music to a new level of vibrancy and diversity. 1, 2 Along with the updated gameplay and aesthetics came a new original soundtrack by Koji Kondo, composer for the first Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was an exciting evolution in the Mario series from the experience of the first Super Mario Bros. With new graphics, levels, mini-games, and cut-scenes, Super Mario Bros.
