SG Choice: The Nintendo Songs We Want the Next Super Smash Bros. to Remix

EDIT 1:19 PM: Added the header image.

We at Source Gaming love ourselves some Smash. We talk about the characters in it, the characters we want to be in it, occasionally things that don’t involve the characters. But there’s another side of the crossover fighting game: the music. Smash’s musical selection is legendary, from exquisite remixes of Nintendo’s best music to straight rips of their legendary soundtracks. But let’s focus on the remixes. Every Smash entry provides dozens of new arrangements of Nintendo music, straight from Japan’s largest collection of video game composers. Many of them reinterpret classic songs (some of which end up in Smash as they are separately), a few play with more obscure pieces, but there’s a problem. It turns out that Nintendo and its various Smash partners have just way too much dang music! There are a lot of snubs, just because there’s only so much time to rearrange a song and only so much space for them. Now, that’s true for both new remixes and songs just ported in as they are, with no changes, but let’s focus on the remixes. Maybe we’ll do original pieces in a follow-up installment.

Here is a list we have made of songs we’d like for the next installment of Super Smash Bros., whenever it may be, to cover. Many of them are from classic Nintendo, while some come from modern games but could still deserve a fresh take. Most often, it’s a song that is famous or memorable or satisfying, but not necessarily great as something to play over four video game characters hitting each other. Many of the best Smash songs cover just those kinds of pieces. We’ll also try to suggest some directions the arrangement can take.

When we talk about Smash soundtrack snubs, the ones I often think of first are songs that are iconic but admittedly ill-suited for a zany fighting game. Like the themes for hub areas, and there’s no video game hub like Peach’s Castle in Super Mario 64, an area that’s already gotten two stages in Smash! Those could use a grand, orchestral remix of “Inside the Castle Walls,” the castle theme so iconic that it greets every tourist who enters Super Nintendo World. The soft melody is really strong, as Nintendo’s various composers know; it’s been remixed several times for other games, even getting darker and more ominous arrangements in stuff like New Super Mario Bros. U. Keep the lightness, but give it a bit more “oomph” (and maybe pipe in a riff of “Bob-Omb Battlefield” or “Dire Dire Docks”) and you’d have yourself a perfect accompaniment for any Mario stage.

But some N64-era games barely get any music to begin with! That’s true of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, which has a lot of stuff—an Assist Trophy, a stage—but only two versions of its overworld music, itself a riff on the classic Zelda theme. And while I’d be choosing another hub world, I like the idea of remixing “Clock Town, First Day,” the town theme you hear the moment you jump back to the past. It’s iconic, it would fit alongside other more joyous Zelda pieces, but if you wanted something a bit in line with the original game’s creepiness, maybe incorporate the faster paced “Second Day” and more unsettling “Final Day” versions? You could have it speed up, get intense, and then play a bit of the “Song of Time” to bring us back to the beginning.

It’s not just old games that could deserve a remix. Metroid Dread, for instance, has a great ambient soundtrack whose qualities don’t fit Smash’s style at all. It deserves a few remixes of its own, and I think the final boss’s music should be up first. A medley of “Raven Beak (First Phase)” and “Raven Beak (Second Phase)” could be interesting, but one alternative idea could be to remix both of them separately, but have the second song start playing when the match is down to one minute or one stock. It’s fun on Suzaku Castle and Moray Towers; let’s spread it out to other series! I imagine that’d be fun with Fire Emblem’s normal and “Storm” / “Thunder” battle themes as well.

Another kind of Smash remix is one that arranges some extremely minor track from the past, because that’s what you can do with a soundtrack larger than many mainstream game franchises. One I’d personally love is “Forest Theme” from Donkey Kong ‘94, an ostensible Game Boy remake of Donkey Kong that wildly expanded the number of levels, mechanics, and even added a charming chiptune score. A bumpy new take, even one that kept the chiptune aesthetic, would be just lovely to hear on 75m. But it’d also be a great way to homage a beloved game that otherwise has no place in Smash. Some referenced games can give fighters or stages or spirits, but some have only music. This should be one of them.

Ooh, and what about K.K. Slider? Animal Crossing’s resident scatting hippie guitarist drifter DJ dalmatian has a few of his songs in already, like “Go K.K. Rider!” and “Bubblegum K.K.” As he should! Slider’s one of the best Nintendo characters, and his mastery of dozens of styles is worth including. After all, while it’s easy to get a rock or metal remix in, why not do other genres—ones Smash composers never touch? Ragtime! Mariachi! Chorinho! But… I’m gonna go with “K.K. Soul,” a track that’s graced every Animal Crossing game. I don’t think Smash has ever touched any kind of that sweet soul music, and giving this take on southern soul just a little oomph and some extra instrumentation would be great for a nighttime match on Town & City.

As a note, the linked song is the Aircheck version, not Slider’s acoustic original. It’s tonally closer to what I’m imagining, even if I’d of course want to include his lyrics.

Many of my entries have been from Nineties games, but there are reasons for that. The decade was great for Nintendo’s creativity, that translated into catchy and memorable music, but they were made to fit severe audio limitations and don’t sound as good as modern tracks. You can tell with the tracks lifted straight from Banjo-Kazooie, for instance. This combination of excellent composition and weaker hardware makes them perfect for getting remixes. For instance: “Route 26,” the heroic Pokémon Gold & Silver theme that brought us back to the Kanto region. Smash tends to ignore Pokémon music that isn’t battle themes, but this big bit of audio—from a game with only one song in Smash as it is!—would be great. I’d say it should start by following the anime’s sumptuous arrangement, but then go even further.

One solution for adding remixes to Smash is to use ready-made ones; after all, plenty of Nintendo games remix songs. You can take arrangements from Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Pokémon Let’s Go, and the Link’s Awakening remake without doing anything (c’mon, papa needs that new cover of “Tal Tal Heights!”). But some of those new versions aren’t great, like Metroid: Samus Returns’ overproduced take on “Surface of SR388.” The original overworld theme of Metroid II: Return of Samus is excellent—to be honest, I think you could add it in as-is, even accounting for the scratchy limitations of the Game Boy’s audio. But, it would also do great with a remix. It could harken back to the classic, atmospheric “Planet Zebes” theme from Smash 64. Hell, do both. But I think we could leave the remake’s version out and be alright.

We don’t get a lot of Pokémon spinoff junk in Smash, maybe due to rights issues or the disinterest of the composers. But, that makes the time just right for a “Pokémon Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness Medley!” For the most part, the Orre games’ music isn’t really Smash suitable, but as a giant musical tribute it could be really great. We start setting the stage with a few seconds of “Outskirt Stand” harmonica, then segue into “Pyrite Town,” “Cipher Peon Battle,” and “Krabby Klub.” Then, we switch to “Mt. Battle,” “The Under” from Pokémon Colosseum, and end with “Cipher Admin Battle.” This would show off XD’s “Pokémon western / neo-noir” vibe, maybe better than if one song got its own remix.

Historically, the problem with WarioWare and Smash music has been that it’s somewhat hard to expand five-second songs to two minutes, the typical length of time for a remix (and none of those songs are as iconic as the Donkey Kong and Pac-Man jingles). So we’ve gotten arrangements of some of the lyrical themes. Some of the ones that aren’t yet in—”Tomorrow Hill,” “Body Rock”—would work fine just added as-is. The same is true of “Wario de Mambo” from WarioWare: Twisted, but I think we could give this one a new remix. Bringing out the extra instruments is a given, but you know, “Mike’s Song” and “Ashley’s Song” are very different in Smash from their own games. What if “Wario de Mambo” went through the same transformation and became a richer, even slightly darker bit of mambo? It wouldn’t need to go full Tito Puente or anything, but adding just a bit extra juice to this iconic song would give Smash something it’s never had before.

You know, there’s this joke about Smash being a greatest hits video game music album that also comes with a game. But there are still a lot of great tunes missing, so here is my selection: Pokémon Stadium had a really nice soundtrack, and it’s a shame that we have never got any of its original songs despite having stages named after them. Listening to them really takes me back to the times this was the only way to see your Pokémon in 3D. I can’t wait for this game to be added to the NSO [NOTE: this article has been in the pipe for a while, before Stadium had released on NSO].

There are a whole lot of songs from Persona in Smash. It’s great that they didn’t just focus on Persona 5, but what irks me about the song selection is that they only included songs from 3 onwards. And don’t tell me ‘Aria of the Soul’ is a song from the original Persona game! It uses the Persona 5 theme and is clearly rearranged in the style of that game’s music! I’ve often lamented the fact that the first three Persona games aren’t represented at all in Smash Bros. (there are two Persona 2 games, for those unaware), and one of the most iconic songs from pre-3 is the ‘Maya Theme’. As the title would suggest, it is the theme for a character named Maya Amano, who is a main party member in Persona 2: Innocent Sin, and the player character in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. That’s a pretty good reason to include it, don’t you think? If you need any more convincing, the song was even in Persona 3, as one of the selectable songs you could play while exploring Tartarus. It received a sad variation in that game, but the remix I’d want for Smash would be more upbeat, fitting of Maya’s “Let’s think positive!” attitude.

The Super Mario series has a ton of remixes already and several from the main line of platforming games – both 2D and 3D. Yet, the Super Mario Land games are criminally underserved in this department. In the entire history of Super Smash Bros. there is a single song from Super Mario Land and it is a remix of the underground theme, which was made to serve as a Subspace Emissary level theme. This is a real shame because across both Super Mario Land titles there are some banger tracks, with my two personal highlights / desires being the Chai Kingdom and Star Maze. The former is a very culturally chinese sounding track that would work amazingly with real instruments, perhaps performed with traditional chinese instruments? As for the latter, it’s easily the best track across both stages and would work really well on the Super Mario Galaxy stage. The original sounded quite techno so maybe going in that direction but with a more ethereal slant would be nice.

And while I’m talking about Super Mario Land anyway, let’s pivot to Wario Land. That’s also a series underrated in the Super Smash Bros. series with only a single song from Wario Land: Shake It! in the game. This is a good Wario Land game but when I think about the franchise and its music, it’s the bizarre and odd sounds of Wario Land 4 that first come to mind. That game has a lot of fantastic tracks but one that comes to my mind is Hurry Up!, the song that plays at the end of every level. It’s definitely because I’ve been playing a bunch of Pizza Tower this year, but that game’s main song is inspired by this Wario Land track, but done in a way that makes it much more catchy and enjoyable to listen to. ‘Hurry Up!’ is meant to create tension and unease, but if it gets into Super Smash Bros. then I would like it to be remixed to be more fun and upbeat.

Earlier on, Wolfman brought up the idea of bringing ready-made remixes to Smash more often. If that were to happen, I couldn’t think of a better choice than “Kaleidoscopic Core” from Xenoblade Chronicles 3, which turns an emotional song from the previous game into an exciting battle theme. If I were to pitch something similar for the crossover, I’d turn to “Agnus Castle (Day),” which accompanies one of the most important locations in Aionios. The track’s breathtaking and serene, which is appreciated given the events that take place on the castle’s grounds. At the same time, I could see its Japanese-sounding instruments and chanting being taken in a very different direction, one that suits an intense match in Smash. And since Agnus Castle itself has a very real shot at becoming a stage if Xenoblade 3 earns itself a newcomer, it’d only be right for its phenomenal melody to join it in some form.

Now, I’d take what I can get when it comes to Pokémon spin-off music in Smash, but I’ve gotta keep spreading the good word of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. The roguelikes’ soundtracks are fantastic, but since they were made to complement methodical treks through dungeons, they’d fit best in Smash as remixes. My mind immediately jumped to Rescue Team’s “Sky Tower” and Explorers’ “Temporal Tower,” but I’d rather go with something even more overlooked. Super Mystery Dungeon’s “Tree of Life: Roots” is a beautiful addition to the story’s climax, uplifting you with a somber, but hopeful take on the game’s leitmotif. Its succeeding track, “Tree of Life: Trunk,” is wildly abstract, even a bit unsettling at points. But it comes back with another take on the leitmotif that’s even more sincere as you approach the finale, so let’s include both of them. With the 3DS’s eShop out of commission, I can only hope this special corner of Pokémon’s history gets some of the attention it deserves in Nintendo’s greatest celebration.

To round out my nominations, let’s take a look at a series that already has some pretty decent luck in Smash regarding music. Although Mario & Luigi’s got two rearrangements under its belt, neither of them are for its most acclaimed entry, Bowser’s Inside Story. Sure, the iconic “In the Final” still made the cut (under its other name, “The Grand Finale,” though I much prefer the former), but this game’s way too good to settle for just ports when its predecessor and successor each got remixes. As usual, we’ll look past the stellar battle themes that’d do fine with ports and look to reimagine an overworld track. With that in mind, let’s go with “The Wind is Blowing at Cavi Cape.” Here’s a theme that can sound either whimsical or dramatic at the drop of a hat, which more than fits an RPG set in the Mushroom Kingdom. And since it accompanies the first time we got to play as Bowser in a full-fledged adventure, it definitely feels important enough to deserve this honor.

And there you have it! Of course, these are just a few possibilities. If there’s a song from a game you’d like to see Smash Bros. take another look at, why not tell us in the comments? As for songs we think could get added without an arrangement, be on the lookout for that SG Choice some point in the future.