Why is Mario Kart 8's music so good?

Hi everyone! If you enjoyed this video, you'll probably be interested in a post I've written with a selection of really great and important fusion music by T-Square and Dimension, which I've put up on my Patreon page! It's full of stuff I couldn't include in this video for copyright reasons, so go check that out if you're interested: www.patreon.com/posts/102211072 And if you enjoyed this video, and want to support my channel and help me make big, research-heavy videos like this one, then consider supporting my channel on Patreon! www.patreon.com/ThomasGameDocs It really helps me out a lot, and you get fun bonus content too! - Thomas :)

I didn't expect Mario Kart 8 music to have such a deep backstory

Discovering Jazz Fusion in late 2023 has single-handedly improved my quality of life… Didn’t realize how intertwined the genre was with video game music until later, but it’s really cool to see.

Kenta Nagata did an interview about MK8's soundtrack and said some things I really admire about the art of video game music. He said: “The music used throughout the Mario Kart series isn’t intended to be just background music. Instead we aim to produce pieces that will stick in players’ minds. We consider it a great success if the other production staff start unconsciously humming the tunes as they’re racing.” He also said that it must be able to be heard on a loop hundreds of times without getting old or annoying.

Missed opportunity to talk about Casiopea’s 1979 debut album which literally featured race cars as the album cover and has a song called “space road” which influenced rainbow road

Amazing video. The reason I am a sound designer for AAA game company is Mario Kart 64. It was the first game I ever had, and the credits theme remind me of sitting on the couch with my mom in the 90s. To this day I feel emotional hearing this soundtrack.

The main composer of T-Square also composed “Moon Over the Castle”, the long-standing theme song for Gran Turismo! As if that weren’t enough, the start of the original SMB theme’s melody was based on “Sister Marian” by T-Square.

Did you know that, T-Square inspired Kojo Kondo to compose the Super Mario Bros. Overworld Theme? Also, I LOVE JAZZ FUSION :D

Mario kart was one of the first games I ever played, so I LOVE THE MUSIC, so its fun to learn about the mario kart 8 music

5:17 isnt that the beginning of literally every rainbow road

MK8 is one of the best racing games I've played. Hoping we get some news on a new one soon

Having recently gone through the entire music catalogue of the Mario Kart series for a compilation, i have to admit that though every Mario Kart game has great music, Mario Kart 8 really is the most consistently great imo

Bold prediction: Mario kart 9 will have a eurobeat genre style.

Here in Brazil we have the "Tema da Vitória" that played on TV for the winners of the Brazilian Grand Prix from 1983 onwards. And then it became the theme of Brazil's victories in F1 and synonymous with Ayrton Senna. It sounds a lot like Mario Kart or the other way around haha

I'm glad they have a live band perform for the game, the F-Zero tracks sound so good!

Thomas Game Docs: Waltz in underwater music is totally arbitrary 8-bit Music Theory: hold my beer

Nintendo has some fantastic, consistent composers.

I've always been really impressed by the music MK8 has, but I had no idea about the incredible background of these musicians! Need more jazz fusion in the next MK...

I am so glad you are back safe and sound! :D Speaking of sound, I had no idea some of the music was written by you! That's amazing!

This video was so awesome! And your music sounded incredible!