Inside The Score – Super Mario RPG – Forest Maze / Beware of the Forest Mushrooms

Whimsical Lost Woods

Walking a fine balance between whimsical, regal and classical, the famous catchy track known as ‘Beware of the Forest Mushrooms’ from the score of Super Mario now in the form of a role playing game because of course omnipresent mascot Mario who goes from being a doctor to referee a Mike Tyson fight somehow also works with such a concept; it captures the feeling of getting lost in an enchanted fantasy forest looking for a sorcerer puppet.

This legend of the seven stars was born out of a curious one time partnership between Nintendo and RPG master developers Square, who magically made the wacky world of the Mario brothers work in a self aware role playing context which lampshades and plays around with tropes of both the Mario series and Square’s own RPGs, including an epic fight against an eldritch multiverse-threatening abomination straight from a Final Fantasy final boss fight (music from Final Fantasy IV included and everything). It introduced new characters and deeper characterization for Mario’s familiar cast, creating a compelling story and a soundtrack which pays respect to the rich music of the series while also passing the RPG litmus test of ambitious, high standard music. It kickstarted a brand new avenue for Mario and friends to explore, evolving into the Paper Mario series and the Mario and Luigi saga. To help the game fit with the Mario series, it was made to be more action and movement-focused compared to other RPGs; it is still all about the jump for the plumber once called Jump-man.

This soundtrack was the work of none other than Yoko Shimomura, who regards the Super Mario RPG score as one of the turning points in her career. She was also one of the early adopters of the video game medium, a medium whose infancy permitted some women composers to become household names in the industry unlike its classical or film music counterparts. In fact, Yoko, an avid gamer who learned to play piano at age five, had pushback from her family when deciding to apply for work in the field, abandoning a promising career as a piano performer and teacher after graduating from music college. She was accepted to Capcom where she scored the famous fighting game Street Fighter II.

While working for Capcom, Shimomura contributed to the soundtracks of over 16 other games. However, with her classical background and love for ambitious compositions, she thought the fantasy, expansive worlds created in the RPG genre suited her more than action oriented games. That is why she decided to leave Capcom and join the RPG makers Square. There she got the large scale projects she craved. The second of those was the famous Super Mario series alongside its storied music baggage.

She played around with classic tunes from the series and created brand new ones that sit comfortably in the Mushroom Kingdom sound but with the more enchanted, emotional side of the storytelling focused genre. Forest Maze, meant to sound in the own Lost Woods for Mario and friends has become famous due to its bouncy catchiness while at the same time maintaining the mysterious feeling of a magical setting. It also works as a theme for the sorcerer puppet Geno (whose real name is ♡♪!? and whom we only get a glimpse of his true form as a high dimensional being later—a Luma sent by Rosalina?), capturing the typical elements of witchcraft including the walking bassoons as popularized by classical pieces like ‘The sorcerer’s Apprentice’

Musical Analysis

The fantasy is initially captured by the Dorian profile of the melody played by the oboe alongside some classically inspired playful trills befitting a professional pianist; it uses all the notes from the mode right off the bat. They are accompanied by marching oom-pah bassoons and pizzicato strings that capture the walking pass of Mario and Geno throughout the wizardly forest. The melody is then taken by the violins while the oboe harmonizes with a lower voice. As you can hear this is all standard fare for mysterious forests in a fantasy setting; woodwinds and strings made from the trees, glockenspiel for the magical fairy dust, and mischievous pizzicatos. The horns are the only outsiders and add a regal nature to the piece.

Structurally, there is a main melody, an enigmatic interlude that serves as a recharging point for the theme to return transposed in a different key and then a coda that is more regal.

From the driving pizzicatos we can infer the harmony that points us to the Dorian profile initially:

(A)

Dbm – Gb – E – Gb, B – A – B – Abm

Dbm – Gb – E – Gb, B – A – B – Abm

The A stabilizes the key back to the standard minor

(Interlude)

Dbmadd9 – Bm6/9 – Db7(b9)

The glockenspiel playing arpeggios that add mist to the harmonic profiles. The Db chords serves as the bridge to jump into the new key, functioning now not as a tonic but as the dominant of the Gbm key. Fifth chords are usually the safest bridges to cross when transposing. We end up in Gb Dorian which is the sister key of the Db Aeolian/minor profile (as in, they use the same notes).

Thus the melody now sounds higher and more exciting after that period of hiding and recharge

(A) Transposed

Gbm – B – A – B, E – D – E – Db7

The triumph of the coda is anticipated by the last chord of the progression which is now major unlike in the first progression.

Coda:

Gbm – E – D – Db

Gbm – E – D – Db – Gb – Abm

A mini Andalusian cadence and the now major Gb puts us back into the Db dorian profile as the piece is ready to loop by way of the anacrusis set by Abm

The basses are, like usually, playing in fifths while the counterpoint like strings complete the triad allowing us to deduce the intended chord.

Yoko went on to achieve greater fame with the Kingdom Hearts series which did for Disney what this game did for the Mario series: unorthodoxly putting their characters in a fantasy JRPG setting. After all, arranging classic tunes from well known series while adding new ones for a fantasy setting was the specialty she achieved right here; so it is not surprising she was the right fit to take on Disney just like she did with Nintendo years ago. Not every composer can lay claim to have touched the two biggest mascots of media on the planet. Like your typical Square employee she then decided to go freelance and continues to be one of the premium RPG composers in the medium of video games.

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