How Nintendo HIDES secret melodies in their music

It's time for another round of Nintendo music easter eggs and secrets!
• Which two Mario Kart songs share the same melody - one in a minor key and one in major?
• Which Super Smash Bros song sounds the same forwards and backwards?
• Why doesn't Boo's voice sound like it used to?
• Which 2 Zelda songs have hidden, backwards melodies?
PATREON - / thomasgamedocs
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Thanks to Joshua Taipale for allowing me to use the video of the "doo" sound, and for providing more info about the sound's origin!
Check out Joshua's Twitter page: / atelierjoshua
SOURCES
Mario Strikers Charged
- www.mariowiki.com/Mario_Strik...
Boo voice
- web.archive.org/web/200703220... Inagaki interview
- web.archive.org/web/201210270... Sanae Uchida interview 1
- web.archive.org/web/200707031... Sanae Uchida interview 2
- www.ign.com/articles/2004/12/... Camelot interview
Super Mario Bros Wonder
- / 1671689022723293186 Joshua Taipale’s tweet
- www.spectrasonics.net/product... Omnisphere website
- www.spectrasonics.net/product... Vocal Planet website
Some game footage via World of Longplays, LongplayArchive

[@ThomasGameDocs]

Hi everyone, thanks for watching this video! In 2024, I've decided to really double down on Patreon - I've been making monthly bonus Patron-exclusive videos, along with regular update posts and behind the scenes peeks! KZbin's algorithm is really up-and-down, and supporting my channel on Patreon really helps make Thomas Game Docs sustainable. And it makes me less stressed out! If you want to join, here's the link: www.patreon.com/ThomasGameDocs

[@amazingfireboy1848]

Yes

[@quintonconoly]

Ok

[@Jelly_shy_guy_man]

3rd

[@Cliffordlonghead]

​@@Jelly_shy_guy_man ha you not first CRIMINAL BOT

[@Cliffordlonghead]

Awesome video

[@thetinyperson6237]

It's crazy to think Charles Martinet technically voiced Mario, Bowser, and Boo all in the same game. Kinda funny how him voicing all 3 even happened in the first place as well.

[@PauTheDeo]

Charles has voiced pretty much all Mario characters from Luigi to Wario to Donkey Kong, I wouldn't be surprised if at one point he voiced Princess Peach

[@LuckyLuckLuc]

Wouldn't this also include Wario and Luigi in the ds remake?

[@SianaGearz]

This isn't uncommon with voice actors. Reminds me of how Frank Walker is usually the majority of characters whenever he's hired. I think Martinet in spite of not being very widely known is one of the best really. In Shadow of Memories he salvaged a basically impossible role, while everyone else delivered horrible performances.

[@MarioKartSuperCircuit]

He voiced the bomb-omb in bomb omb battlefield

[@glitchyguru6468]

It's funny how Charles Martinet inspired the voices for both the bros. (Mario and Luigi) and their respective villains! (Bowser and King Boo)

[@shaydes-]

10:30 gave me chills I had no idea, zeldas lullaby has never sounded so triumphant

[@CubedWatermelon-uy6ok]

In the end of totk it sounds extremely triumphant and epic

[@shaydes-]

@@CubedWatermelon-uy6ok i haven't gotten to the end yet :(

[@chocokeeki]

NGL I teared up

[@SullySadface]

Imagine working at a place barely half a year and suddenly you are every ghost they will make from that point on

[@Nintendrew]

Genuinely never knew about The Ballad of the Goddess / Zelda's Lullaby thing. I'm stunned by such a deliberate connection between two of the most iconic Zelda themes hiding in plain sight!

[@alaeriia01]

Yes, and the Song of Healing is Saria's Song backwards, and the Twilight Princess Hyrule Field theme not only has Ilia/Colin's leitmotif in it, but also the main motif for the original's overworld theme.

[@user-ty3cq7nm8x]

I want Nintendo to compose Zelda's Lulliby just like how it sounds when Ballad of the Goddess is reversed. It's too epic to be an easter egg!

[@TSutton]

My favourite Mario musical Easter egg is that you can play the first phrase of “Rosalina in the Observatory” by pressing the right buttons in the pause menu on Super Mario Odyssey

[@dELTA13579111315]

​@7AshtonMintGamer7 the opposite of the left buttons

[@Reaktron88]

Go top options, and press twice.

[@TheEpicCat10]

It would make sense for Toad Circuit to be at both the beginning and the end as it allows the track to loop better

[@brycesonmoon655]

Why did he consider this a secret? It’s very obvious.

[@MarioMastar]

@@brycesonmoon655I think the Toad Turnpike may have been the most obscure part as while everyone knows Mario spin offs generally will remix songs like this across tracks , Toads turnpike likely wouldn't have been remembered by most people as it was known as a less than popular track (though I personally loved the music a lot, something about that night city highway groove just hit right). So Neo Bowser City using it is a fitting touch. Kind of makes me wish Neo Bowser city actually had traffic in it now that I think of it to really pay homage to Toad's turnpike. It's such an interesting track and kind of the start of Bowser having space themed stages.

[@banjokammu4261]

The coincidence with Charles Martinet is quite insane and it’s also amazing how much musical references they’ve put in Neo Bowser city’s track. Very interesting and well-edited video, keep up the great work !

[@link12313]

12:00 2000's CBC kids also used that sound as part of it's soundscape. Mario Wonder's 1-1 theme would in general not sound out of place if it played on CBC kids during that time.

[@SenshiSunPower]

I thought it was familliar!

[@lehungrybulborb]

Another cool thing to note about Maple Treeway's theme is that it is remixed and slowed down for the Tranquil Pipes Teahouse theme in Paper Mario Origami King! Pretty fitting, considering the area.

[@MarioMastar]

Those are the best musical secrets. when a familiar song from one game is played in a completely different game in a way that's almost unnoticeable. I honestly didn't notice Bowser's theme in Strikers was the Boom boom boss theme due to the pacing of it, and same for Dry bones being the Fort theme but with a hip hop beat. Really nice touch. Though it'd be really REALLY interesting if it turned out all the songs in Strikers were references to other Mario game's music, but I don't think so. They all sound like typical themes for the styles they were going for.

[@CreedoTheGamer]

Neo Bowser City is my favorite mk song and it immediately blew my mind playing 7 for the first time

[@MarioMastar]

It absolutely was an excellent track. Super cool giving Bowser this futuristic space city theme. Makes me wish they'd make a Bowser's castle theme like it in Mario bros games for once to change it up as gosh Mario hasn't platformed in a "space world" since Super Mario Land 2. Not counting Mario Galaxy/2 as the whole game takes place in space. Would love for Nintendo to play with new themes like this. Also, it's very similar to the theme for Bowser's castle in Mario Kart Arcade GP, which also sounds like a futuristic space lava castle. Though all that game's music has a charming techno sound to it. Just rare Mario games use it directly.

[@duebfofn]

Mario Kart has a lot of music motifs, Good Egg Galaxy melody is heard in Wii Rainbow Road, and Cloudtop Cruise has Gusty Garden and Sky Station, Rainbow Road 7 has N64 Rainbow Road, it's just so cool.

[@K0sMose]

MK7 RR not only features MK64's RR but also the credits theme. the arpeggio from MK7's RR is similar to the melody that plays at the start of MK64 credits theme.

[@sleet7773]

17:12 I think that one gap in neo Bowser city track that after toad curcit is actually the Wii mario cart menu music

[@chrisbeach423]

17:37 the 2nd big gap sounds like N64 rainbow road.

[@furizasan4331]

Fun fact: I watched a video about it today, so when I saw the notification I was like "Hey isn't that the maple treeway thing ?"

[@aratherbritishdinosaur]

lol

[@furizasan4331]

@@aratherbritishdinosaur what....what are you doing here

[@aratherbritishdinosaur]

@@furizasan4331 I watch this guy's videos too, duh.

[@furizasan4331]

@@aratherbritishdinosaur Damn, low probabilities tbh, I often don't leave comments on videos I watch

[@Fluorite-Fox]

​@@aratherbritishdinosaur *Woman

[@FSAPOJake]

I discovered Joshua Taipale's channel back in 2011 when I watched his original guitar cover of What I'm Made Of from Sonic Heroes, which was just the coolest thing. Glad to see Josh is still very much active in the community doing the same stuff.

[@frenchfry_man]

I've never heard anyone else mention it, but in the final cutscene of Bowser's Fury, part of the melody from Bowser Jr.'s theme in Super Mario Galaxy plays when Jr. approaches Mario seemingly to thank him for his help, but instead yelling at him like Bowser did.

[@HelpTheWretched]

Lorule Castle is a brilliant song aside from the Hyrule Castle callback. It does have some entirely original sections that use a few "accidental" notes to make major chords where you'd expect minor chords, the instrumentation changes and increases as you complete more of the castle, and once you're nearing the end, it adds some pretty grand-sounding key changes and a section with "Ganon's Theme" in the background.

[@nouras2765]

That "doos" from Mario Wonder also reminds me of the secret course song from Mario Sunshine. Maybe they're the same samples?

[@benschwartz6565]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they are

[@MarioMastar]

I was waiting for him to say that. Something like "They're also the same doos from the Mario Sunshine Secret courses". Very likely the same samples given the whole song is mostly "Doos and dahs" made to sound like accapella.

[@aerodacsome]

The idea behind the two tracks is that Bowser took over maple treeway and built his castle on it, which is why there are dead trees and lava geysers at the end where there would be live trees and roots to do tricks off of They're basically the same track, down to the similar layouts

[@scribblsquid]

fun fact: omnisphere was used a lot in most of the splatoon songs. the “doo bah” also appears in the last phase for the splatoon 2 boss battles

[@joshukaunarak]

Toad Circuit and Mario Circuit's main melody in MK7 is also just a slowed down version of the title theme. Gotta love Nintendo's compositions, they're genius!

[@redstonecommander5190]

Neil Bowser city seam is probably one of the only Mario kart tracks has a mashup of all the games from different console eras a really amazing piece

[@redstonecommander5190]

It’s almost like they have injected all the familiar seams and mix them together with new and not yet familiarized tracks for more interesting stuff

[@redstonecommander5190]

Neil Bowser city is probably one of the ultimate remixes ever made, and still being remembered to this day

[@chobies5383]

​@@redstonecommander5190 Bro made the same spelling mistake twice.

[@WahRizz]

Neil bowser 😂

[@user-se7jj4gl6q]

@@redstonecommander5190Bro, it’s “Neo”.

[@super-tian]

Also, the music played after winning a battle in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a reprise of music heard after beating a level in Super Mario World!

[@Evdafawth]

Conversely, Paper Mario 64's battle win jingle was (not intentionally?) copied for the 'end' of Baby Park's theme.

[@MarioMastar]

That is a nice touch! I didn't even notice that!

[@MarioKartSuperCircuit]

Fun fact, GBA Bowser Castle in the beginning is just SM64 Koopa's theme

[@erosHQVGM]

I'm not sure if anybody ever mentioned this, but I've noticed that the "main theme" from both Mario Sports Mix and Mario Hoops 3-on-3 share a very similar bassline. For comparison: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eaOmh4Obot6frKM And kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5qzYppvgdyol5o In fact I'd dare to say that the 3-on-3 probably would mix great with the Sports Mix theme right after the end with the 8-bit sounds and all.

[@erosHQVGM]

In fact, for those of you who don't know yet: MKW's Luigi Circuit's theme is also featured in the Title Screen from the same game! AND something even cooler is that MKW's Rainbow Road theme also features part of Good Egg Galaxy (from SMG)!

[@erosHQVGM]

And last, but DEFINITELY not least, the Mario Kart 7 Title Theme, which has to be one of my Top 10 Mario Kart themes because it mixes BOTH Mario Circuit from MKDS, and Luigi Circuit from Wii! kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqqueIiApMxqo7M kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqqueIiApMxqo7M And of course the well known Super Mario Kart title melody which is also inspired from the MKDS rendition of it in its Title Theme kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqqueIiApMxqo7M

[@bewearstar9462]

Both game were made by square enxi so it's probably intentional

[@erosHQVGM]

@@bewearstar9462 Most likely, they really put a lot of care into the soundtrack

[@valeilabaca4442]

maple treeway theme hides another secret, is actually the theme of gcn rainbow road

[@komi___]

Wait, really?

[@MarioMastar]

@@komi___Sort of, not in the same rhythm but if you line up the notes, they do have a very very similar progression. That's actually a nice touch and may explain why Maple Treeway's theme sounds so "Familiar".

[@flamingphoenix1425]

Someone pointed out that the end of Wii Bowser's Castle has a bunch of dead trees with the music hinting that Bowser may have destroyed Maple Treeway to make his castle. The theme was also remade for Super Nintendo World as the section right after the ride tutorial but before you get on the ride (MK Wii menu plays there)

[@CalebWillden]

That's amazing that Charles was also Boo in Mario 64 and other games! I had no idea. Bowser too! That's also amazing about the Ballad of the Goddess' Theme backwards! I forgot about that.

[@justinc.5591]

Maple Treeway’s theme is also used in Paper Mario: The Origami King, at the Shogun Studios tea house.

[@aundria7773]

Found this channel a few days ago and it’s already become one of my favorites. It’s always fascinating to dig into the history of video games and pull back the curtain to see behind the scenes.

[@JohnathanLaFey]

thought for sure the doo sound from wonder was smooth mcgroove 😂

[@NH1507]

that was my initial thought when i first heard it when it was revealed!

[@YourMomz07]

I'm sure that the musicians behind a lot of these secrets had some level of excitement in people discovering these. It would be so cool if they watched your video and commented. I love your videos

[@neonkapawn]

When Super Mario Bros Wonder was revealed I thought it Smooth McGroove doing the "Doo" sounds lol

[@221Prohunter]

I haven't even gotten a minute inand I'm loving this video concept. Please make mroe of these!

[@Evdafawth]

Koji Kondo used the Song of Storms melody for the castle / fortress music in Yoshi's Island. I think there was something about SMB3 Water Land too.

[@Syntax_Error15]

Thank you so much for your lovely videos Thomas! They always improve my days!

[@JasonHughes0-1]

Always excited for a new TGD video! Thanks Thomas!

[@DAVID-ANDERSON]

You forgot to mention that 'Village of the Blue Maiden' from Zelda: 4 Swords Adventure is a sped up version of Kakariko Village from Link to the Past / Ocarina of Time / A Link Between Worlds

[@MarioMastar]

I think that one may be more obvious, but always good to share! I feel like there should be a compilation of all these music references from the clear to the really obscure.

[@DAVID-ANDERSON]

@@MarioMastar Well I'm a huge Zelda fan and didn't know 'Village of the Blue Maiden was a sped up version of Kakariko Village until someone pointed it online, though mind you I was young when I found out

[@COlimar788]

Nice video! I only knew some of these hahaha. Love leitmotifs. One of my favorite leitmotifs in Nintendo was realizing that the Chozo Ruins music from Metroid Prime uses the item room theme from Metroid as its base.

[@goldensun1167]

I really love watching your videos. It opens your mind a lot to how much stuff is similar and how much stuff is actually knew you were really cool.

[@WumBuh17]

You always make content I thoroughly enjoy. THIS was one of my all time favorites by you so far! I enjoy your music content so much. keep it up my friend!

[@Chubby_Bub]

In general, I love how SSBU uses the different verses of "Lifelight" as leitmotifs for Light and Darkness across World of Light's soundtrack. Galeem and the Light Realm's tracks use the melody from the second and third verses, and Dharkon and the Dark Realm's use the fourth verse. The final boss themes in particular bring it all together, and use the chorus to represent both.

[@GegaSonicFan]

I love watching your videos because you always seem to tell me stuff that I never knew about Nintendo in this music one is really cool

[@courage1363]

There is a interesting song being played in Wii's Moonview Highway in which it plays Kirby's Adventure's Boss theme.

[@chris_t2020]

My favorite Mario Kart "easter egg" is Rainbow Road 64 in Rainbow Road theme on Double Dash for GameCube.

[@manuccu]

Thomas is back 🎉🎉🎉

[@DanielAnimationproductions]

Another great video with a lot of fun facts. Thank you :)

[@EggDoesAnimations]

This was an amazing video, I always use your videos to tell my brother little fun facts, thank you Thomas

[@d11ita]

Your work is always at the highest level 👏🫶

[@ChristinMilloy]

I like how, in addition to playing the original songs backwards and forwards, she then gives melody examples on the actual piano and then plays the video in reverse to demonstrate.

[@N7Dante]

Another amazingly researched and presented video, great work ^_^

[@albinwikstrand3686]

Did you know that the castle theme in New Super Mario Bros. Wii has a reference to the castle theme in Super Mario World

[@anjuju2]

Truly wonderfull how they keep getting these Mayor Musical Variances in Vibe & feel through such Minor Changes

[@NoshuHyena]

Your videos are always so heccin' cozy

[@novamarpo3]

The editing on these videos is so high quality!

[@bentbk]

I don't know if you saw my comment about the Maple treeway/Bowser's castle thing on the last video, but thank you for including it!

[@T12321H]

Such an awesome video! hope to see more like it :D

[@kpopfreak1359]

I just wanted to say that I love those videos with many small facts about games! I enjoy them as much as the videos the video where you talk about a big fact that has more depth

[@WahRizz]

I knew it was maple treeway just from the thumbnail xD Nice video as usual!

[@alexkay6676]

The maple treeway/bowser's castle one reminds me of the whole Augie's Great Municipal Band/Emperor's theme thing from Star Wars. Played in a minor at a different speed with different instruments.

[@Nawakooo0]

Omnisphere was notably used a lot in the Silent Hill series' soundtracks

[@Little-Dude]

Oh man, the Neo Bowser City easter eggs are so cool. I never noticed any of those but it sounded so quintessential Mario. Now I know why!

[@Purpie_Slurpie]

ahh I just love being able to see the way that sound devs play with their music, it's so much fun

[@xAstroBratx]

I love this channel so much

[@newsuperbowserworld]

16:00 I kind of wish you mentioned how it also sounded like Peach’s Castle from Arcade GP DX

[@kygigni]

Awesome video. I would definitely like you to analyze some of DKs music. Maybe you could look at the music of jungle climber or king of swing as well, maybe there are some references hidden. It surely would be interesting.

[@Nonamestudios101]

I like this style of video - how there's more than one topic in one video

[@supersavage1345]

New bowser city was my favorite MK7 course. I knew about roads turnpike, but not all the others songs

[@chrisrj9871]

3:00 - this music is flashing me back to the old MTV jingle when the announcer tells us what videos are playing next! Call me weird but that's what I heard! "That's one small step for Koopa... One... giant leap for koopa-kind!" 🎸🎶🎸🎶🎸🎶

[@tweer64]

8:56 Also, the section after that contains the "A theme" of Hyrule Castle (slightly modified).

[@diamondxmen]

The Lorule Castle theme being Hyrule Castle’s theme backwards is genius and if you really think about it, the name gives that away… the opposite of High is Low. High, Hyrule; Low, Lorule!

[@melsyoutube]

you’re finally back to regular uploads omgggggg 🥹❤️

[@arabidllama]

The Lorule Castle theme fact was really well-known when Link Between Worlds came out, but that was also... a decade ago now, wow.

[@keithmorrison8373]

Another virtual instument or sample source nintendo uses a lot is garage band i know multiple loops which are used in nintendo that come from garageband

[@joetri10]

What i've realized by watching these videos is one very crucial thing... If you want to be a composer for Nintendo; All you have to do is 'borrow' melodies from old obscure music from the 70's, barely change them, somewhat deviate from them, use assets from music libraries from bargain bin CD's and then milk that one same song for decades by either just changing it's key, it's tempo, or just reverse it. Do this and you're one of the most famous composers in all of gaming lol.

[@eyesistorm]

Yeah. While I think reusing older melodies can be a nice callback, you can only do it so many times before it gets stale. If Nintendo reuses the old smb1 underground theme from nearly 40 years ago one more time I'm going to lose it.

[@ignatiousmary8413]

This is the first time i heard Dry Bones theme from the game. I immediately knew it was a reference to New Super Mario Bros. I have played Mario kart 7 since 2015 and it took me a few years to find out the references to other Mario Kart games as i got myself more into Mario Kart.

[@Mykasan]

i love music, i already knew about the zelda ones because i listened to them so much!

[@SquidlyPoli1]

I knew that neo bowser city had references to toads turnpike and the wii circuit theme but i usually thought of the mario kart 8 version of it whenever I would think of it in my head and i did not expect the original 3ds version to sound as low quality as it does at all 😭

[@eiya2003]

Neo Bowser City has always been my favorite track! I love it even more now!

[@gamerdudeplayz2292]

12:50 onmisphere has the same logo font as the 2002 spider man movie logo and the old ps3 logo? also another music secret i found: the skyward sword save data update channel banner theme is similar to the animal crossing city folk/lets go to the city banner theme on the wii since the cursor is the same and also has unused animal crossing stuff in the files

[@keithmorrison8373]

The neo bowser city uses multiple fragments of other songs is likley meant to be a reference to dance melodies or dance mixes essentially a dj or artist will take very small parts of existing songs sometimes not even dance songs and remix all the songs together into something dancable the thing that sets it apart from most melodies is that most of the time only a tiny bit of the songs are remixed

[@Evdafawth]

It's funny in hindsight, if you know what Bowser's goal in SMB Wonder is.

[@KlutchKris45]

I knew I was hearing N64 vibes on the NeoBowser City. Toad’s Turnpike was the obvious sound, thank you!

[@WindowsGG]

THEY SURE DO USE THE SAME ONE! nice video bro!

[@JoeySmith-ed1xj]

as a bonus, Bowser's Castle is in C Minor, the relative minor of E-flat Major, the key signature of Maple Treeway!

[@rubixtheslime]

some of my favorite not-easter-egg easter eggs that my brain just connects anyways include Count Bleck's Theme/Team Rocket Hideout, and Death by Glamour/Gaurdia Millenial Fair

[@BinglesP]

Not Nintendo but my personal favorite is how the stage theme "Cyber Core/Zero Stage 2" from Mega Man X5 sounds like Reisen's theme "Lunatic Eyes ~ Invisible Full Moon" from Touhou Project, since I'm a hardcore fan of both franchises

[@randomname285]

the charles martinet one blew my mind

[@ShinoSarna]

I think Neo Bowser City being a futuristic stage, the fact that it's theme is basically a giant remix medley makes perfect sense.

[@LotsaSpaget]

in the Bowser City track after the Luigis circuit reference theres another reference to n64 rainbow road the way it fades is a nod the way the song faded in the beginning of the track on n64 rainbow road

[@Grizzlox]

Excellent video

[@Finch460]

Smooth McGroove is doing the Doo’s.

[@CarbonMoth]

I could hear that the lorule castle theme was the hyrule castle theme reversed, very cool!

[@LemonSoundLogos]

15:30 I immediately noticed this when playing Neo Bowser City when I got MK8 Deluxe.

[@SlyHikari03]

I love these music vids.

[@CountWolfy]

The new soup tower music is also the castle theme from smb3

[@RyanHaney55]

This is really interesting. I'm gonna share it.

[@mattzilla331]

Fantastic!

[@strawberrana]

Neo Bowser City also references one of the Rainbow Roads between Luigi Circuit and Toad Circuit

[@RahhmiPoofs]

you remind me of if my friend bob had a youtube channel. i love it. =]

[@jamesmcknight6812]

The “doo’s” are also very similar to that rendition of the ground theme in super Mario sunshine that plays in the “floodless” missions. Wonder if they recorded it using the same sample from that cd.

[@gloriamuniz994]

Love this channel