Original Super Mario soundtracks get high-quality remaster thanks to Gigaleak



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In 2020, many gigabytes of Nintendo’s internal data leaked onto the internet. Known as “Gigaleak”, it contained source codes and resources for many games. Using the data from this leak, a group of enthusiasts have come up with high-quality renditions of the original SNES Super Mario World (OST) soundtracks.

The job was made possible when the source code for the Gameboy Advance remake of Super Mario World was found in the leaked data. The source code included the names of the samples, which were the same as those used in the original SNES game. This allowed the team to find the original samples among the leaked gigabytes of files.

We wondered what would be done with all this code, speculating that it would be a poison pill for the emulator scene. This type of hacking was not even on our radar and we are delighted to see the project see the light of day. The songs reproduced have a quite different quality from the SNES soundtrack. Much of this is because samples don’t have to be squeezed or shrunk to fit on a cartridge and work with the console’s sound chip. Other variations in sound also stem from the fact that, unlike the game, the samples of these renditions do not match the playing times of the original game.

Regardless of the changes, it’s interesting to hear a more full and rounded sound of those classic video game tunes. It reminds us a bit of the last era of CD consoles, when sound designers were able to break free from the limitations of earlier hardware. Of course, we still incline to the chiptune alter, though – and this Gameboy MIDI mod is a great place to start if you’re curious. Video after the break.



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