Watching someone’s speedrun attempt of Super Mario Land on YouTube got me all nostalgic about the game.

I remember it was my favourite on the Game Boy, and perhaps one of the few so enjoyable I saw it through till the end, in spite of being a shamelessly sore loser. (I tend to quit games prematurely if they’ve proven too difficult to finish—which happens often.)

Most of all, one of the incentives to finishing the game was its surprisingly emotional ending theme.

It was different from other endings. Most were victory cries, testosterone-filled trumpet blasts, generic stuff. Think: Contra.

This, on the other hand, was gentle, uplifting and held the promise of many a future Mario game to behold.

Listen:

• The original: The theme kicks in proper at 00:47 into the video.
• A remixed version: A little more rockin’.
• A lush, cascading orchestral rearrangement: From the Super Mario Land OST, released in 1989.
• ^{just added} A midi version: Use it as your ringtone. I’m going to right now, in fact. (From a collection, where you’ll find more versions)

What’s your favourite retro video game theme?