This live Mario violin cover (with sound effects!) is lovely

A perfect Friday watch

To say that “Mario Level 1-1” is iconic is an understatement. I think I’ve seen more content based off of it than any other individual stage in history. Whenever there’s a new “level creator” game, there’s a 1-1: it’s just the circle of life. But so many of those creations are fantastic, as people slowly morph it into something of their own. That’s just what violin master and YouTuber teppei_sensei did with this Mario violin cover performance.

So this is from 2020, but as soon as I caught wind of it from our own CJ Andriessen, I had to share it. I mean, we just established that 1-1 is timeless! So if you haven’t seen this yet, pull up a chair and get ready to smile for two minutes straight. Right from the get-go, you’ll see what teppei_sensei has in store for you, as he serenades you with the Mario theme and then immediately takes you for a ride with live sound effects (right down to the last detail like the score noise at the end of the first level).

It’s safe to say that if I could hire someone to live score all of my playthroughs, I’d do it. An orchestra even! Someone make this happen with a SekiSoulsBorne entry. This Mario violin cover doesn’t just deal with level 1-1, either. Watch it!