Listen to Galantis & Charli XCX’s Mario pop track “Born to Play”

Posted on January 15, 2020

As a music producer, I find the well of inspiration I keep coming back to is video games. The stories, the unique ambiance, the nostalgia of a chip-tune; they all make for a fertile soil of inspiration. When video game samples, or influence find their way into the cultural zeitgeist, there is no small amount of joy on my part. As such, you can only imagine my delight when I heard “Born To Play”. This track combines the dance music talents of Galantis, and the iconic vocals of Charli XCX, and weaves in some classic melodies from Super Mario. Check it out!

Oh, the glory. The square waves, the pipe *dun-dun-dun*. Charli XCX being rad at singing. This is *art*.

“Born to Play” is not only a radical, poppy, chiptune-infused gaming anthem, it’s also the theme tune to the Super Nintendo Land theme parks. The first park, an extension of Universal Studios Japan, will launch in Osaka. If all goes to schedule, Super Nintendo Land will open later this year, ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Similar parks will be set up in the US and Singapore at their Universal Studio sites.

Additionally, the trailer also teases some of the features coming to the park. Characters in the music video are all seen wearing Mario-themed watches. These watches will connect up to a smart-phone app that will bring some Alternate Reality Gaming fun to the experience of a theme park. It’s an interesting spin on proceedings, and hey if it makes wait times feel shorter for whatever rides there are, its a smart choice, and one that fits with the vibe. Recently, I had some interesting playtest experience of location-based ARG, and I’d be interested in how a AAA developer would change things. Let’s just say this could be an interesting little experiment.

As of yet, there has been no word on the health risks for patrons crushed by Thomp-Thomps.

There are so many wonderful things about video games gaining more popularity. More people are working on games and playing games, sharing the joy of our loved medium. With that more work is inspired by and incorporates the culture of video games into other mediums. This is by no means the first intersection of popular music and video games. CHVRCHES have made theme music for Mirror’s Edge Catalyst along with a featuring track for Death Stranding, and artists like GRIMES and Run the Jewels will feature in the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack, just to name two. Here’s to hoping there’s a lot more collabs to come.