song. Some personal favorites that are easily recognizable able are “Ghost House” — often accompanied by visuals of dark, ominous rooms and Boos gradually creeping closer — and “Coconut Mall” — a playful number laden with piano, steel drums, and saxophone that make it impossible not to dance while driving down escalators. Nintendo often takes their own themes from the original game and remixes them for new releases, creating a brand that injects nostalgia into every Mario game. The music across the whole franchise, whether it’s from a new game or an old one, contains a certain playfulness that anyone will recognize. Play an audio on TikTok and hordes of people will instantly have an association to the games. Use the coin sound effect in your song — as Charli XCX does in her song “Boys” (2020) — and listeners will be thinking of those gloriously shiny star coins. Remix the original “Overworld” theme — like Lucky Dube in their song “Different Colours, One People” (1993) — and create a mental link between lyrics about solidarity and the wistful, unifying tune of childhood. The history of Mario’s famous theme is a true testament, more than any other piece of media, to how you can perfectly use music to enhance stories and our experiences consuming them.
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