Acapella Nintendo
April 15, 2005 1:17 PM   Subscribe

8 bit goes a capella A Madison Wisconsin a cappella group (Redefined) sings (and acts out) the greatest Nintendo backing tracks in this video of a live performance. The Zelda and Tetris ones are priceless. There's a Windows Media version as well.
posted by eljuanbobo (32 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
fantastic
posted by rxrfrx at 1:24 PM on April 15, 2005


is it just me? or does the mario theme song never get old. every time i hear it i'm all like 'yay'.
posted by Mach5 at 1:26 PM on April 15, 2005


That's it.
That's the greatest moment in human history.
We can all die now, knowing we've experienced it.
posted by dougunderscorenelso at 1:30 PM on April 15, 2005


Oh man, that was quite possibly the best thing I've seen all week. I remember many day spent sitting down in front of the old 8-bit Nintendo.

I think it was the little touches in the video that made all the differences. The guy pretending to blow out the cartridge at the beginning, the tetris miming, and the Zelda moves -- all hilarious. Not sure how they got all those people on board that goofy project, but I'm sure glad they did.

Or maybe everyone has a place in their heart for the original 8-bit.
posted by almostcool at 1:31 PM on April 15, 2005


Tetris was hilarious... It was great to hear the crowd rejoice at the Zelda theme. That game definitely affected a lot of people!
posted by knave at 1:34 PM on April 15, 2005


Great idea, really funny.
For me the "actions" were a bit cute and sort of over-sold the whole thing, like a giant WINK. (The Tetris one was funny, though.)
I would have liked it more if it was sung in less of a superwaspy-ManhattenTransfer-ish matching outfits kind of way. Jazz Hands!

Clever, though.
posted by chococat at 1:43 PM on April 15, 2005


That was soooooo good. Thank you, eljuanbobo!

(But our princess is in another castle.)
posted by Asparagirl at 1:50 PM on April 15, 2005


I would have liked it more if it was sung in less of a superwaspy-ManhattenTransfer-ish matching outfits kind of way.


Isn't that the whole point of college a capella?
posted by rxrfrx at 1:51 PM on April 15, 2005


Here's a direct link to the video. The URL has a nonce in it, so it may be time limited.
posted by Nelson at 1:52 PM on April 15, 2005


Awesome.

And on a side note, hubba hubba.
posted by GeekAnimator at 1:53 PM on April 15, 2005


That was insanely good. Everyone I know shall see this soon.
posted by WinnipegDragon at 1:59 PM on April 15, 2005


I loved the video, but why did the stick Mortal Kombat in there, of all the 8-bit classics? I mean, the theme is memorable, but it wasn't even around for the NES.

They shoulda had a Metroid one ... and had one of them scrunch up into a ball.
posted by i8ny3x at 2:02 PM on April 15, 2005


I wasn't even a Zelda player myself, but that was definitely the most evocative. Thanks, eljuanbobo!
posted by rustcellar at 2:11 PM on April 15, 2005


Of interest, the video game remixer and composer, Jake Kaufman, also has done some of this (alone!, no dancing).

Virt's Arrangements (bottom of page)

The Maniac Mansion one almost killed me...
posted by easyasy3k at 2:32 PM on April 15, 2005


I can't have been the only one of us with chills running down his spine when they started on Zelda. Oh, the memories...
posted by Evstar at 2:33 PM on April 15, 2005


I love this so much I'm crying watching it on repeat. thank you thank you thank you for perfecting my friday.
posted by Lizc at 2:53 PM on April 15, 2005


That really was fantastic - If I were Nintendo, I'd be hiring this group to do a few recordings right about now. Just imagine the new DS Mario or Cube Zelda game opening with an a capella rendition of the classic theme...
posted by terpsichoria at 3:03 PM on April 15, 2005


I agree the MK thing was out of place, but it had me laughing anyway because I couldn't *quite* place the music - until the guy yelled.

Hard to do a Metroid one, given the only recognizable theme would be one guy just going "doot... doot... doot... dooooot."

I think the point was more finding video game themes that most of the audience would still recognize after so many years. And there aren't that many which are that universal. (you might love the "Flash Man" theme from MegaMan 2, but how many people remember it?) I personally would've voted for the Castlevania theme, myself, as the other big one that most people would likely recognize.

One might also argue for Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior, but even those only appealed to a limited subset of gamers.
posted by InnocentBystander at 3:08 PM on April 15, 2005


This also had me pondering what would happen if Philip Glass composed the music for a video game.

But that led to very scary places.
posted by InnocentBystander at 3:10 PM on April 15, 2005


I would have liked it more if it was sung in less of a superwaspy-ManhattenTransfer-ish matching outfits kind of way.


Isn't that the whole point of college a capella?


unfortunately.

also, see:
mario theme on piano, guitar, and the minibosses, a band that plays game themes. A few of these have been mentioned on here before.
posted by chococat at 3:37 PM on April 15, 2005


This has made my evening. Especially the acting out of Tetris. Amazing.

It's been a horrible week, and, really, I needed this. Thank you so much, eljuanbobo.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 4:46 PM on April 15, 2005


That was absolutely, totally awesome.
What TGBM said.
posted by blacklite at 5:41 PM on April 15, 2005


Sorry to be a naysayer (and a Madisonian, at that), but NOTHING can redeem college a capella music, not even Nintendo. This is just too smarmy by half. Ugh.
posted by Dr. Wu at 5:48 PM on April 15, 2005


That really was fantastic - If I were Nintendo, I'd be hiring this group to do a few recordings right about now.

I think a television spot would be more appropriate...
posted by davejay at 6:26 PM on April 15, 2005


You made me, and everyone who's online that accepts links from me very happy. The Virt link is great too.
posted by furtive at 8:18 PM on April 15, 2005


Holy Crap! That complete orchestral opening to Star Wars done by one man is just too much!
posted by furtive at 8:21 PM on April 15, 2005


Furtive- that is pretty hot.

Reminds me of Dokaka
posted by papakwanz at 9:58 PM on April 15, 2005


It's kinda weird to be a member of the generation whose childhood is being mined for retro fun.

I mean, it's great and all, but it's making me feel old.
posted by Eamon at 10:46 PM on April 15, 2005


Thats pretty awesome. I'm glad the audience was enjoying it... I would have died of shame (for the human race) if they had not.

I know self-linking is frowned upon but as long as NES theme music is being discussed, I should disclose that stashed a fair amount here. For your original NES theme needs. For the record, The Advantage is a great cover-er of NES stuff too, and their website is tight as hell. Check out the minibosses and them as well.

On preview - yeah, Eamon, it is a little strange. The other day I was saying something about princess Zelda and this girl was like, princess who? I just frowned. I'm an old, old man.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 2:36 AM on April 16, 2005


Chiptunes a cappella style?

I'll buy that for a dollar!
posted by asok at 10:54 AM on April 16, 2005


i8ny3x: "but why did the stick Mortal Kombat in there"

Because someone wanted to dress in a ninja costume. In these kinds of things there's always someone who wants to dress in a ninja costume.
posted by Kattullus at 1:50 PM on April 16, 2005


Ninja Gaiden? Wasn't that like all over teh 8bit? I mean, i can't remember the theme song, but that and Contra, and Metal Gear took up large amounts of my formative years.

(But our princess is in another castle.)

That's hilarious.
posted by eljuanbobo at 7:15 AM on April 17, 2005


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