Skip to main content

Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
TagsGame Engines
A jam submission

Koopas undergroundsView project page

An alternative track for the Super Mario Bros underground levels
Submitted by Aurélien Castel — 18 hours, 27 minutes before the deadline
Add to collection

Play soundtrack

Koopas undergrounds's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Credibility#73.8423.842
Overall#93.5583.558
Composition#123.5263.526
Impression#133.3163.316
Sound quality#153.5263.526
Creativity#163.5793.579

Ranked from 19 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Streaming link
https://soundcloud.com/aurelien_castel/alternative-soundtrack-3-super-mario-bros

Track description | Creative process
I tried to match the original NES sound by using the classic 8bit || 4 monophonic channels.
Even if I could have used the 1bit sample channel (probably for bass or drums),
I decided not to in order to keep an even more "bare-chip" sound quality.

To me 2D Mario games are:

Lore wise: Flashy colors, funny ennemies, cartony world, naive plot
Gameplay wise: fast paced, straight to the point
Because of this its hard to imagine any sad, aggresive or very dramatic music fit this game without at least beeing toned down by a jazzy or goofy touch.

With this in mind I wanted the underground theme to be spooky / uncanny and a bit dark but with a jazzy feeling and a fairly strong rythmic momentum.

The piece mood comes mainly from the use of Messian's third mode, altered here and there.

Leave a comment

Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.

Comments

Submitted

Very fun and goofy piece, with a mysterious character fits perfectly the theme of this jam. Good job!

Submitted

The progression is really cool. Reminds me of the Zelda Oracle games. Nice work!

Submitted

I like the slightly goofy sound that this has, it reminds me of story levels in other mario games! The rolled chords and simulated reverb/delay add a nice movement to the music, the rhythm really helps too.

The intro section of the piece reminds me a lot of the more spooky/dangerous parts of the original pokemon games, which does fit the vibe of the underground too!

Submitted

Great way to make a jazzy Mario piece!

Submitted

Nicely done, respecting the 8 bit with an overall "percussive" track. I like the use of vibrato on the main lead, it gives a bit more character to it.

Submitted

Wow, you suprised my ears here ! Totally loved the  kinda goofy/strange felling you gave to it, reminds me a lot of the original track, in the sense that you don't know where it is going, suprised all the way through. Great Job ! (And thanks for hosting this jam btw :D )

Submitted

Those rolled chords were a really cool move! The slightly kooky vibe fits pretty nicely to the game.