Super Mario Bros. theme becomes first gaming track in the Library of Congress
Posted on April 12, 2023 by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News
It’s a first for the Library of Congress today, as the Super Mario Bros. theme by Koji Kondo is the first piece of video game music to enter the registry. It will be joined by other songs like Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, and more.
Regarding the selection, the Super Mario Bros. theme has been selected due to its international recognition and staying power over the past few decades. It’s also featured in the just-released Mario movie, which Kondo also contributed to.
Kondo said of the news:
“The amount of data that we could use for music and sound effects was extremely small, so I really had to be very innovative and make full use of the musical and programming ingenuity that we had at the time. I used all sorts of genres that matched what was happening on screen. We had jingles to encourage players to try again after getting a ‘game over,’ fanfares to congratulate them for reaching goals and pieces that sped up when the time remaining grew short.”
The Library of Congress is essentially the national library of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution.
