Keep your eyes peeled, and continue to let Nintendo know that you’d like to see these kinds of rewards on the North American Club Nintendo as well! While there isn’t current a soundtrack available, I’m fairly certain we’ll see it hit Club Nintendo in Japan at some point. It’s great to see them giving audio the attention it deserves. Nintendo has done a fantastic job with this soundtrack. Even the deep house music that accompanies the online waiting room is good! But don’t forget the powerful “Rainbow Road,” which combines electric guitar riffs, deep electronic bass, celestial bells, and sticky-sweet synth pop melodies right out of Ragnarok Online. Standouts from the original sections include the rock-fest that’s “Bowser’s Castle,” the majestic Super Mario Galaxy-esque “Cloudtop Cruise,” the funky electronic “Electrodrome,” a gorgeous rock ballad in “Mario Kart Stadium” with a fantastic chorus section, and the bright pop-flavored “Sushine Airport” and “Toad Harbor” (one of my favorites!). These range from the tropical “Cheep Cheep Beach” with its lovely steel drums and the upbeat and intentionally synthy “Wario Stadium” from the Nintendo DS, funky big band jazz in “Mario Circuit” from the Game Boy Advance, the strongly thematic dessert-flavored “Dry Dry Desert” and “Sherbert Land” from GameCube, a lovely jazz-organ infused “Donut Plains” from Super Nintendo, an energetic fiddle-laden “Moo Moo Meadows” from Wii, and a large host of tracks from the Nintendo 64 that includes the rambunctious “Royal Raceway,” the deep electro “Toad’s Turnpike,” and my favorite of the bunch, an explosive “Rainbow Road” with great use of brass and electric guitar. Not only are there many original courses with new music, but many old courses from past titles make a reappearance with arrangements of their original music. Nostalgia is a big element of this soundtrack.
There are elements of jazz, blues, and big band found throughout, but what really offered a pleasant surprise is a big brass rendition of the main theme from Super Mario Kart, a throwback that I found particularly special. Right out of the gate with the opening theme, there’s slap bass, wailing electric guitar, string stabs, and big brass. Given the time and attention that the large sound team at Nintendo put into the game, including contributions from Shiho Fujii, Atsuko Asahi, Ryo Nagamatsu, Yasuaki Iwata, and direction by Kenta Nagata, I thought we should dig in and take a look at what they’ve accomplished. I was mistaken, however, as Nintendo has really gone all out once again for this score. We’ve seen Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda get the orchestral treatment, but Mario Kart is a party game, so when Mario Kart 8 was announced, I didn’t expect anything new on the sound front. But it has heaped more scrutiny on the company in an already fickle climate.I always figured that Mario Kart would be the last hold out from Nintendo, doomed to host cheesy synth sounds for its soundtracks for all eternity. There isn’t anything wrong with it from a legal standpoint, either.
In the end, Nintendo taking down YouTube videos over copyright claims is standard practice. Namco, Square, Capcom and others have already seen the light, when will you? Please put your soundtracks on Spotify and/or other music streaming services. “Others have already seen the light, when will you?” It’s a sentiment that others share. “Please put your soundtracks on Spotify and/or other music streaming services,” said GilvaSunner.
Some believe the company isn’t doing anything wrong, and it’s fundamental intellectual property law.
I'll keep you posted if more claims come in. As of a few hours ago, the soundtracks for Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time and Mario Kart Wii have been blocked in its entirety on YouTube by Nintendo JP.