Of the many surprises and reveals atSuper Mario Odyssey’sE3 2017 showcase, perhaps the biggest surprise was the unveiling of the game’s main theme “I’ll Be Your 1-Up Girl”, a jazzy song that features vocals, a first for aMariogame. While the game is still a few months away from release, fans have taken a shine to the toe-tapping tune and this has resulted in a beautiful acoustic guitar treatment of the song from musical duo, The Team Players.
Armed with only two acoustic guitars, the talented duo, Dani and Mo., take the instantly-memorableSuper Mario Odysseytheme song and strip it right down, with one guitar handling the melody and the other taking care of the vocal line. The result is a distinct - yet still remarkably beautiful - take on “I’ll Be Your 1-Up Girl”, one that swaps out the energetic 1950’s jazz vibe for a more chilled out feel.
In addition to breaking new musical ground for theSuper Marioseries, “I’ll Be Your 1-Up Girl” is also a song that delves deep into the history of the franchise while expanding on the lore.Odysseyproducer Yoshiaki Koizumi revealed that not only is Pauline - the woman who was kidnapped byDonkey Kongin the originalDonkey Kongarcade game - featured as a prominent character in the upcomingMariogame, she is in fact the focus of the theme song.
Koizumi stated that as the team was developing Pauline as a character, it was decided that she was going to be a jazz fan and thatOdysseytheme tune was written as a way to express her love of the genre, as well as an “interesting” way to introduce the very first song in aMariogame that features vocals.
WithSuper Mario Odysseystill some months away from release, it will be interesting if the game’s soundtrack will contain any more songs similar to “I’ll Be Your 1-Up Girl”. Should this be the case, not only may we see more gorgeous acoustic guitar covers from The Team Players, but perhaps we could see legendaryNintendo producer Shigeru Miyamotodust off his guitar chops and share his own acousticMariosong treatments with everyone.
Super Mario Odysseyis scheduled for launch on July 25, 2025, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
