Castle (theme)

"Castle" is a musical theme composed for Super Mario World by Koji Kondo. It is a slower, more foreboding arrangement of the Super Mario World "Ground Theme".

Composition
"Castle", titled initially 「砦BGM」 (Toride BGM, "Fort BGM") in the game's official soundtrack, is a slow arrangement of the "Ground Theme" that flattens most instances of the and  to put the melody in the. The theme is transposed to for the repeating bars.

Reuses
The following list does not include ports or remakes of Super Mario World.

Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
An arrangement of "Castle" can be heard in Game Boy Advance remake of Super Mario World, Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2. This version is much more compressed than the original version and uses different, lower-quality synthetic instruments.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
"Castle"'s motif is quoted in New Super Mario Bros. Wii's "Castle Theme."

This arrangement returns in New Super Mario Bros. 2, New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, Super Mario Run, and New Super Mario Bros. U-styled Castle courses in Super Mario Maker, Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, and Super Mario Maker 2.

Super Mario Maker
Super Mario Maker introduces Super Mario World style Airship levels, which were not present in the original game, along with a new theme for these levels. Like many other themes in Super Mario World, this arrangement integrates a variation of the main of this game's "Ground Theme", this time in a minor scale like "Castle". This arrangement is played on brass and string instruments.

Every piece of background music associated with a course theme has an original, more ambient arrangement for editing such a course in the Course Maker, using eight tracks that fade in and out randomly to create a dynamic mix, including "Castle" from Super Mario World, as well as the "Castle Theme" from New Super Mario Bros. Wii in the New Super Mario Bros. U style.

"Castle" also receives new percussion in the Super Mario World style when Mario rides a Yoshi, as this was impossible in castle level in the original game.

All of these new arrangements return in their original capacities Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS and Super Mario Maker 2.

Super Mario Maker 2
In Super Mario Maker 2, a arrangement of "Castle" from Super Mario World and "Castle Theme" from New Super Mario Bros. Wii play during the nighttime version of castle-themed levels in the Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros. U style, respectively.

Like in Super Mario Maker, these tracks are paired with bongo percussion when Mario is riding a Yoshi.

Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World
An arrangement of "Castle" is one of the themes that can play while playing the pinball arcade game Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World.

Mario is Missing!
The, SNES, and NES versions of Mario is Missing! all feature arrangements of "Castle". The MS-DOS and SNES versions each feature two arrangements that play in Bowser's Castle, and an additional arrangement that plays during boss battles. The NES version only has one arrangement of "Castle" which plays in Bowser's Castle. The MS-DOS and SNES arrangements are quite similar to each other, while the NES arrangement is noticeably different, using an 8-bit soundfont rather than a 16-bit one.

Mario's Time Machine
The SNES version of Mario's Time Machine features three arrangements of "Castle". The first arrangement plays on the game's title screen and is a mashup arrangement of "Castle" and the theme heard in Vanilla Dome in Super Mario World. The second and third arrangments play in Bowser's Castle.

Paper Mario
In Paper Mario, "Castle"'s motif is quoted on sine  in the theme heard in  Toad Town Tunnels, which is included in the track "Toad Town Variations" in the game's official soundtrack.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, an arrangement of "Castle" is featured at the beginning and end of the medley "Castle / Boss Fortress (Super Mario World / SMB 3)", with Super Mario Bros. 3's boss theme played in the middle. It was arranged by Yusuke Takahama. The song can be played on the Luigi's Mansion stage, as well as when encountering False Peach and/or Zelda in the Subspace Emissary. It was originally able to be played on the Delfino Plaza stage, but it cannot in the final game.

The arrangement returns in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, where it can be played on Luigi's Mansion stage as well as the Super Mario Maker stage, and in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where it can be on any Super Smash Bros.-series and Super Mario-series stage.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie
In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a brief arrangement of the beginning of "Castle" is featured in the song "World 1-1", and a full arrangement is featured in the credits song "Level Complete".

Super Mario World
The official soundtrack for Super Mario World includes an arrangement of "Castle" in the medley "Mario! Stay Alert!", composed by Soichi Noriki and performed by the Mario World Band, along with the underground and Ghost House themes.