hello dtoid,

recently, i had the urge to dust off my 64 and rock some pilot wings, conker's bad fur day, and of course super mario. now, i usually like to turn down the in-game music and leave only the sound effects, which can be heard on top of a playlist i'll have running through my stereo. this can often be much more gripping than the original game's themes, or in the case of Gary Numan meets Resident Evil 4: hilarious.

(i wanted to post that video of harrison ford on conan doing his 'intense' face to different music here but to no avail. use the power of yr IMAGINATION!)

last night, while whipping through a new file in mario 64, my playlist came across some popular music in my place, and completely changed the game, taking it to an incredible new level.

casino versus japan, also known as erik kowalski, is an electronic musician who knows how to make yr bones tingle. blending playful, catchy synth leads into a thick watery world of bubbling analog-ambience, kowalski forms this psychedellic-scuba-adventure, as each song takes you through what feels like some bizarro secret level in ecco the dolphin, where the developers got bored and decided to get stoned out of their faces.



now take mario 64, the lovable gem of early 3D games, the first stunning display of the analog control, full of playful, often intricate worlds that act as a playground for the beloved franchise to grow in. isn't it fitting then that it be paired with music that reflects that same care-free awesomeness?

i present you with a mystical, bubble-encrusted hyperlink to your entire childhood played back to you via underwater stereo, the sounds of 'whole numbers play the basics' by casino versus japan, which when combined with mario 64 creates this ping pong effect: the game far more enchanting because of the music, and the music enhanced by the giddiness of an old classic.

casino versus japan - whole numbers play the basics (2002)

i particularily love the track 'moonlupe' in any level that consists of a lot of swimming.

let me know what you think, comrades.

p.s i really want to add that the song 'ego tripping at the gates of hell' by the flaming lips is stellar when playing during lethal laval land.