Suspiciously Similar Song / Super Mario Bros.

Suspiciously Similar Song examples in the Super Mario Bros. franchise.

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• Super Mario Bros.:
  • The ground theme shares a couple of notes with T-Square's "Sister Marian."
  • The Starman theme resembles Piper's "Summer Breeze.", along with having similarities to the main chorus line of "What's The Buzz" from "Jesus Christ Superstar".
  • The first half of the underground theme from Super Mario Bros. sounds identical to the bassline of "Let's Not Talk About It" by Friendship. When it re-appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3, its rhythm was modified slightly, bringing it into Suspiciously Similar Song territory.
    • Miles Davis did it even earlier with his track "Calypso Frelimo".
  • The castle theme sounds like Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee".
  • The underwater theme is very similar to the Waltz 5B section of Johann Strauss's "Blue Danube", and to a lesser extent Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers" from The Nutcracker.
  • The ending theme sounds a lot like the German Christmas song "O Tannenbaum", and both pieces even share the same song structure.
  • In the Super Mario All-Stars remakes of the first game and The Lost Levels, the final Bowser battle theme is similar to the Macbeth theme from Star Fox.
• Super Mario Bros. 2:
  • The overworld theme takes a few cues from classic ragtime/tin pan alley tunes and jazz standards such as "I’ve Got A Feeling I’m Falling", "Take the A Train", "Exactly Like You", and "Hello! Ma Baby".
  • The overworld theme also sounds like a very fast interpretation of "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin, while the middle part sounds like the guitar solo in "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" by The Beatles. The last section sounds inspired by a part of the ending theme from the first Legend of Zelda game.
  • The Invincibility Star theme found in the original version of Super Mario Bros. 2 (titled Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic) is suspiciously similar to a part of the Angel Land theme from Kid Icarus.
  • The cave theme was inspired by Teruo Nakamura's "Firefly".
  • Birdo's boss battle theme which originated from Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic is suspiciously similar to the castle theme from the first Super Mario Bros. game. This means that a rip-off became an official remix, making it somewhat meta.
  • Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic's credits theme sounds extremely similar to "Mary France" by Jean-Jacques Perrey. The ending theme of Super Mario Bros. 2 was in-turn a suspiciously similar version of the credits theme, making it a soundalike of a soundalike.
• Super Mario Bros. 3:
  • All of the world map themes are suspiciously similar versions of other songs:
    • The Grass Land map theme heavily resembles "Two Can Have a Party" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.
    • The Desert Land map theme is similar to the riff in "In the Eye of the Sun" by The Doors.
    • The Water Land theme is based on the song "Morning Glory" by citypop legend Tatsuro Yamashita. Later, Koji Kondo based The Legend of Zelda's Fairy Fountain theme on the same song.
    • A rather surprising example of this trope; The Giant Land theme sounds like it was based on “Romantic Ageru Yo”, the credits theme from the original Dragon Ball soundtrack released in 1986. It seems like it borrowed the first couple of notes and general rhythm, and went on from there.
    • The Sky Land theme begins with a drum roll that sounds identical to the one in "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley and the Wailers, while the rest of both songs are also a bit similar. That being said, the song is also suspiciously close to "54-46 Was My Number" by Toots and the Maytals.
    • The creepy Ice Land theme sounds very similar to John Carpenter's "Halloween" theme.
    • The Pipe Maze theme is nearly identical to "Baby's Tears Blues" by Mort Garson. After all, this wouldn't be the only time Koji Kondo "borrowed" from the Mother Earth's Plantasia album. It also less closely resembles a part of Queen's "Body Language".
    • The Dark Land map theme is pretty much a snippet of "Piece by Piece" by Slayer. It's pretty wild to find a song like that one in a Mario game...
  • The first ground theme is basically a speeded-up interpretation of "Sentimental Journey" (especially the Ringo Starr version).
  • The second ground theme heavily resembles the The Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star", especially the second half. This hook also appears as a Recurring Riff in the "Snowman's Land" music in Super Mario 64.
  • The music that plays when Mario/Luigi loses a life is basically the "E-I-E-I-O" portion of "Old MacDonald Had A Farm".
  • The spade minigame music has a lot of similarity to the iconic riff in "Powerhouse" by The Raymond Scott Quintette. This track was also ripped off by many video games and cartoons, such as Looney Toons.
  • The first 8-note part of the castle theme sounds very similar to the iconic The Twilight Zone theme song, more specifically, the closing notes.
  • The boss battle theme for the Koopalings is a lot like "Please Don't Touch" by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, an old Rock & Roll song famously covered in a collaboration between metal bands Girlschool and Motörhead.
    • The opening notes to the Koopalings' battle theme sound like they were ripped straight from the title and story theme from Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic. Interestingly enough, the Yume Kojo track continues after these notes with a rhythm very similar to the original Super Mario theme.
  • The Hammer Bros' battle theme sounds like a take on "Space Cowboy" by the Steve Miller Band, with elements of Barrett Strong's "Money (That’s What I Want)" thrown in.
  • The airship music is suspiciously similar to of Mars: The Bringer Of War from Holst's "The Planets" suite. The similarities are even more obvious in the orchestrated version from Super Mario Galaxy. But then again, "Bringer of War" is a pretty appropriate theme for those levels.
  • The fanfare for when the king is restored to normal starts with a melody very similar to "Mary France" by Jean-Jacques Perrey. This is probably more of a nod to the ending theme from Super Mario Bros. 2, which was based on the same song.
  • The Warp Whistle's theme is taken straight from the Recorder's theme from The Legend of Zelda. This is a deliberate easter egg!
  • The Warp Zone theme sounds like it was inspired by "The Lost Paradise" piece from the Castle in the Sky soundtrack composed by Joe Hisaishi.
  • Bowser's battle theme resembles a part of "Tarkus" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. After all, Koji has cited the band as a major influence on his work.
  • The ending theme has a section that has a very similar progression and melody to The Beach Boys' "Kokomo".
• Super Mario Land:
  • The first world theme's melody has a couple of notes that may have been inspired by "Mr. Blue Sky" by ELO.
  • The invincibility theme is straight up a remix of Can-can from the "Orpheus in the Underworld" operatta by Jacques Offenbach.
  • The underground theme and the Addams Family theme song are a bit similar.
  • The third world theme is close to "Brunch" by Toshiki Kadomatsu, from his "Weekend Fly To The Sun" album. It also sounds like the chorus of The Beatles' "Penny Lane".
  • The Marine and Sky Pop stages in Super Mario Land used a knockoff of the original Super Mario Bros. theme.
  • The game over tune sounds like the children's nursery rhyme "Rock-a-bye Baby".
• Super Mario World:
  • The first part of the castle theme (before it goes into the loop) sounds like Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain mixed with the SMW main theme. The loop section is similar to Bach's Prelude in C minor. It could also have been inspired by part of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
  • The Athletic theme sounds a lot like Dave Seville's "Witch Doctor." "Ooh eeh ooh ahh ahh bing bang walla walla bing bang ooh eeh ooh ahh ahh bing bang walla bing bang!" SiIvaGunner noticed. It also sounds like a sped-up version of "Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin (play it at 1.5x speed to hear the resemblance).
  • The crescendo part of Bowser's theme sounds a lot like the corresponding part in Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor".
  • Forest of Illusion from SMW uses a Suspiciously Similar Song to Mozart's 40th symphony.
  • The ending theme sounds a lot like the Tom and Jerry theme, particularly during the Enemy Roll Call.
  • The overworld theme sounds a lot like "Green Green" by The New Christy Minstrels, especially Hikaru Kataoka's cover of it.
  • The underwater theme sounds very similar to "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma! and "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music.
• Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins:
  • The first six notes of the Athletic Theme are known as the Minsky Pickup.
  • Tree Zone's Treetop Theme shares a few notes from Mario Bros. 3's Water Land, which itself is derived from Zelda's Fairy Fountain theme.
  • Interestingly enough, Pumpkin Zone's Haunted House track sounds eerily similar to the tuba skit from the television show, Family Guy. There's even a humorous video referencing the coincidence.
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island:
  • The regular level theme is a rather blatant takeoff of The Emotions' "Best Of My Love". Furthermore, compare "Make Eggs, Throw Eggs" to "Loco In Acapulco" by The Four Tops.
    • Compare that same song (14 seconds in) to the North American version of Sonic CD's Palmtree Panic Present music (17 seconds in).
  • The world theme music sounds pretty close to "Anywhere Is" by Enya. A mix that highlights the similarities.
  • Some levels also have a theme which is suspiciously similar to Francois De Roubaix's "Benedicte"
  • The Castle theme is similar to "Song of Storms" from Ocarina Of Time, to the point that there is an annoying number of comments about it on almost any YouTube video of the piece.
  • The series-standard athletic stages use a jazzy Benny Goodman-esque swing tune that's also quite reminiscent in places to "Mad About Me" from the New Hope soundtrack. the song's melody also sounds like a sped-up version of "A Spoonful of Sugar" from Mary Poppins.
  • Probably the most bizarre example in the game is the intro theme, which is suspiciously similar to, wait for it... the Soviet Union national anthem!
  • "Goal & Score" sounds like "Put On a Happy Face" from Bye Bye Birdie. it also sound very similar to "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"
  • The main melody of the "Powerful Infant" theme, as well as Super Mario 64's Wing Cap theme, uses pretty much the exact same melody as the opening of "Keynsham" by The Bonzo Dog Band.
• Super Mario 64:
  • Koopa's Road also sounds like a slower, more dramatic version of the Super Smash Bros. Melee menu theme.
  • "Ultimate Bowser" sounds like a mix of the previous Bowsers' theme and Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Said previous theme has its first four notes come right out of Freddy Krueger's theme.
  • Bowser's theme sounds similar to the Deep Purple's famous riff from Smoke on the Water.
  • The first minute or so of the ending credits sounds similar to "Somewhere Out There".
• The Delfino Plaza music in Super Mario Sunshine has portions that sound a lot like the jingle heard in Motel 6 commercials.
• Super Mario Galaxy:
  • The opening and star-getting fanfare sound like they were ripped off 'T.J. Hooker'''s theme tune.
  • Bowser's two themes from his boss battles are actually Suspiciously Similar Songs to "Imperial March" and "Duel of the Fates" (especially their harmonies) from the Star Wars films, respectively (possibly because they match his desire to control the universe).
  • The Comet Observatory theme apparently sounds like "Waltz of the Flowers" from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker suite, or a mix between the songs "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" and "Someday my Prince Will Come" from Cinderella and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, respectively. Also, the Lumas' theme sounds an awful lot like the song "When You Wish Upon A Star" from Pinocchio.
    • The music that plays when one first reaches the observatory can also remind some people of Mario Kart.
    • Alternatively, Comet Observatory can sound like an orchestrated version of the main theme from Clu Clu Land.
  • The Fire Flower theme sounds an awful lot like 2 Unlimited's "Get Ready for This." And the Ice Flower's theme sounds an awful lot like... the Fire Flower theme.
• Super Mario Galaxy 2:
  • The Spin-Dig and Boulder Bowl Galaxies start with a riff that is suspiciously similar to Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"...
  • Take a listen to Challenge Glider, and try to say that it doesn't remind you of Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures.
  • Parts of the "Boomsday Machine" battle music sound very similar to the "Primal Dialga" battle music from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky.
  • Also, the music for "Sky Station Galaxy", "Fluffy Bluff/Cloudy Court Galaxies", and "Bowser's Galaxy Generator" are actually Suspiciously Similar Songs to the music for "Good Egg Galaxy", "Gusty Garden Galaxy", and "Bowser's Galaxy Reactor" (especially the last two) from the first Super Mario Galaxy game, respectively.
  • Bowser's two themes from are actually Suspiciously Similar Songs to "Across the Stars" (possibly because of his obsession with Peach) from Star Wars and Carmina Burana (again especially its harmony), respectively.
  • The theme for Starship Mario is suspiciously similar to Christian Petzold's "Minuet in G Major."
  • The Flipsville and Chompworks themes closely resemble "Funkytown", as well.
  • The map theme for World 1 of sounds very similar to John Denver's "The Flower that Shattered the Stone", and World S's map theme sound a lot like Coldplay's "Viva La Vida."
  • The Fleet Glide Galaxy music sounds a bit like "Soul Man".
  • Melty Monster Galaxy's theme sounds very similar to the song "I'll Make a Man out of You" from Disney's Mulan.
• Super Mario 3D Land:
  • The first movement of the main theme sounds suspiciously similar to the New Super Mario Bros. ground music, while the second movement is all but identical to Super Mario Bros. 3's.
  • The World 4 map theme sounds a bit like Deep Purple's My Woman from Tokyo, especially the Special World variant.
• The bassline in the Super Mario 3D World main theme is essentially the one from Octopus Garden by The Beatles, transposed up one semitone.
• To Australians, the opening three notes of the Cascade Kingdom theme from Super Mario Odyssey sound unmistakably like the ABC's theme. This is most obvious when those three notes play repeatedly in the kingdom select theme.
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder:
  • The "Spikey Dance Number" bears a baffling resemblance to Handy Manny's "Hop Up, Jump In".
  • The intro to "A Very Special March" sounds a lot like the opening notes of The 20th Century Fox fanfare.
• Bizarrely, the "Fever" theme from the various incarnations of Dr. Mario appears to be a more upbeat Suspiciously Similar Song to The Beatles' "Lady Madonna." Here's a comparison video, and here's another with clips from the Super Mario World cartoon. Also, compare the main title theme to the Four Seasons' "Sherry".
• Also in Dr. Mario, the theme for “Chill” bears more than a few resemblances to Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”.
• Yoshi's Story's castle theme is suspiciously similar to "The Sugar Plum Fairy".
• The Mario Party series, particularly games composed close to one another, are prone to having similar versions of each other. Compare, for example, the original's soundtrack with that of Mario Party 2 or 3 with that of 4. It's especially noticeable when Mario Party Advance re-uses mini-game themes from both 3 and 4.
  • The music track "Faster than All" from Mario Party 1 sounds extremely similar to the tune used for Epona-based events in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. "The Blue Skies Yonder" from 2 was then a sound-alike of a sound-alike.
  • The intro of Mario Party 3's Story Mode map screen is very similar to the one of "Daydream Believer".
  • "Freshen Up" from Mario Party 9 sounds like a mashup of the Mario theme and the Tropical Resort Act 4 theme from Sonic Colors.
• Super Mario RPG:
  • "Still, the Road Is Full of Dangers" (the Bandit's Way theme) is a soundalike of the "Russian Dance" movement from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker suite.
  • "Beware the Forest's Mushrooms" was clearly inspired by "In the Hall of the Mountain King."
    • It also sounds like the end credits theme of The Storyteller, along with Bach's Concerto for Two Violins.
  • The music track for the mine cart mini-game is VERY similar to this excerpt from the soundtrack to Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey.
  • One of the two music tracks in Booster Tower (the theme for Booster himself, "And My Name's Booster"), sounds suspiciously similar to the '60s Surf Rock tune "Comanche" by The Revels, which it just so happens had only recently been re-popularized by its appearance in Pulp Fiction.
  • The music in the Nimbus Land castle before you beat Valentina is a Bach pastiche, in particular of Invention No. 4 In D minor and French Suite No. 1 In D minor.
• Super Mario Maker 2:
  • The new music for the Super Mario Bros. 3 snow style has a similar melody to The Addams Family theme song.
  • The snow theme for the Super Mario Bros. 1 style sounds similar to The Carpenters' "Top of the World".
• One of the leitmotifs in Mario Sports Superstars sounds a lot like the Back to the Future theme.
• Paper Mario 64:
  • The intro music is almost an exact replica of the song "Inchworm" from Hans Christian Andersen.
  • The drum beats in the intros of "Huffin' and Puffin'" and "State of Grace" by Taylor Swift sound a bit similar.
  • The Japanese version uses a song for meeting a new partner that sounds quite a bit like "America" from West Side Story. It was apparently too similar for Nintendo of America's localization team, because international versions use a completely different song. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door in turn uses a soundalike of a soundalike.
  • Although the theme Attack on the Koopa Bros is largely a remix of the Hammer Bros. theme, the beginning part does heavily resemble the theme of the Adam West Batman.
  • In yet another "same series" example, the music that plays during the first visit to Peach's castle in Paper Mario is almost, but not quite, the theme for Peach's castle in Super Mario 64. It's especially weird since the game uses plenty of other themes from across the Mario series verbatim.
  • "Koopa Bros’ Tricks" sounds somewhat like "Fever" by Little Willie John.
• The main melody of Overlook Mountain Overlook Mountain Occupied from Paper Mario: The Origami King sounds a lot like the one of "My Favourite Things" from The Sound of Music.
  • Also in Paper Mario: The Origami King, the melody of Stapler's battle music, "The Fanged Fastener", sounds oddly similar to Wade Barrett's most recent WWE entrance theme, "Rebel Son".
• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga:
  • The battle theme that Yoko Shimomura did has a remarkably similar structure to the one she did for Mario RPG. The Recurring Riff that appears in the title screen and battle themes in Dream Team also bear a similar cadence to the main riff of the song.
  • "Don't Dwell on Danger" sounds quite similar to Sancho de los Panchos from Live A Live, another game which had music composed by her.
    • It also sounds like it may have been inspired by the Peruvian song "El Condor Pasa", especially Los Incas' cover of it.
  • Similarly to the Mario Party 3 story mode opening mentioned above, the first few notes of Saga's credits tune sound like they were pulled from The Monkees' "Daydream Believer"
• "Dark Regions" in Bowser's Inside Story sounds strangely similar to Ganon's theme.
  • One section of the Cavi Cape music (Around the 0:46-1:05 mark) sounds jarringly similar to the first 15 or so seconds of Journey's "Wheel in the Sky".

• Gritzy Desert from Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time sounds a lot like Agrabah's theme(s) in Kingdom Hearts (especially the Brawl version). Again, Shimomura was the composer for both songs, so it's not surprising.
• Mario & Luigi: Dream Team:
  • The background music for Mount Pajamaja bears similarities to the music used on Mt. Koltz and Mt. Zozo in Final Fantasy VI.
• Super Mario Kart:
  • The song that plays when you win the gold not only sounds like the middle part of the aforementioned "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown", it also sounds a lot like "For Auld Lang Syne" and the Thomas & Friends song "Sir Topham Hatt".
• Mario Kart 64:
  • The Rainbow Road theme is similar to the Chariots of Fire theme song. The ending theme from the same game bears similarities to "To Far-Away Times", the ending theme of Chrono Trigger.
  • Also, the hook used in the opening of the theme used for the Main Circuit is almost identical to the one used in the opening for the Wacky Workbench Past theme in Sonic CD.
• The music for Shy Guy Beach in Mario Kart: Super Circuit for GBA is similar to "Theme from A Summer Place"... which was also featured in the NES RPG game based on the hit movie Willow.
• The theme for the Mario Kart Arcade GP 2's Waluigi Cup bears more than a passing resemblance to "Everybody In The Place" by The Prodigy.
• Mario Kart Wii:
  • Coconut Mall sounds like Ary Barroso's "Aquarela do Brasil", which has been recorded by many different artists.
  • Toad's Factory sounds a lot like "Powerhouse (B strain)" by Raymond Scott. Given that "Powerhouse" is a Standard Snippet used in many factory scenes across classic cartoons, this resemblance is almost certainly intentional.
• Mario Kart 7:
  • The theme for Rock Rock Mountain/Alpine Pass sounds ever so slightly like Deep Purple's Highway Star.
  • Part of the Battle Theme, sounds not too unlike Little Joe From Chicago.
• The Thwomp Ruins theme from Mario Kart 8 borrows part of the melody from "Apache", first recorded by The Shadows in 1960 and later covered by several other artists.
  • The music that plays after you complete all courses sounds similar to "Close To You" by The Carpenters.
• Hotel Mario:
  • The game's main theme sounds identical to the dancing theme from Little Women (1933).
• Mario Artist:
  • The "Cats" drawing theme from Mario Artist: Paint Studio takes heavy inspiration from the track "Cartoon Time" from Heavy Traffic.

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