Show HN: Wario Synth – Turn any song into Game Boy version • Hacker News Board

> Search a song, pick a MIDI source, hit Generate. The Wario Synthesis Engine analyses the MIDI and resynthesises it using Web Audio oscillators tuned to mimic the Game Boy's 4-channel sound chip. All processing runs in your browser.

Re: Show HN: Wario Synth – Turn any song into Game Boy version

#5

Post by ekipan » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 8:35 PM UTC

Cool enough I suppose, but the framing had me expecting the more farty twisted squarenoise instruments like in Wario Lands 1-3, and less smooth sines and squares. I tried out Kimi No Shiranai Monogatari and Daft Punk's Aerodynamic.

https://www.wario.style/s/yWHphmhO

https://www.wario.style/s/BSN15NEs

Maybe you could list examples for midis you thought sounded cool next time you share this, or in a comment.

Edit: though I guess a huge part of Wario flavor is the dissonant intervals in the music, as much as the farty instrumentation.

Re: Show HN: Wario Synth – Turn any song into Game Boy version

#6

Post by oersted » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 8:54 PM UTC

Ra Ra Rasputin! :)

https://www.wario.style/s/B4FB7uz3

Re: Show HN: Wario Synth – Turn any song into Game Boy version

#7

Post by turnsout » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 9:39 PM UTC

memalign wrote: post #4

calmworm wrote: post #3

It’s basically a midi search engine? “No MIDI files found. Try a different search” …

It looks like it requires a MIDI which it then converts to sound like it’s coming out of a Gameboy. Here’s what the FAQ says: > How it works > > Search a song, pick a MIDI source, hit Generate. The Wario Synthesis Engine analyses the MIDI and resynthesises it using Web Audio oscillators tuned to mimic the Game Boy's 4-channel sound chip. All processing runs in your browser.

Now just get Claude Code to build a hUGETracker exporter, and you could actually bring one of these songs into GB Studio!

Re: Show HN: Wario Synth – Turn any song into Game Boy version

#8

Post by nunobrito » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 10:24 PM UTC

Add a download button, this was fun.

Re: Show HN: Wario Synth – Turn any song into Game Boy version

#9

Post by CatMustard » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 10:41 PM UTC

After 5 or 6 misses I found gimme gimme gimme by ABBA worked pretty well:

https://www.wario.style/s/owplrJi2

(first 20 seconds are junk but then it sounds a bit like a castlevania song)

Re: Show HN: Wario Synth – Turn any song into Game Boy version

#10

Post by ekipan » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 10:50 PM UTC

CatMustard wrote: post #9

After 5 or 6 misses I found gimme gimme gimme by ABBA worked pretty well: https://www.wario.style/s/owplrJi2 (first 20 seconds are junk but then it sounds a bit like a castlevania song)

Wanted features: (1) a way to preview the original MIDI again from a share link like this so I could still compare. Searching "ABBA Gimme Gimme Gimme" found one with the title "ABBA Gimme Gimme Gimme L" so I can't be 100% sure it's the same. And (2) a seekbar for the preview as well.

Kinda weird that search results seem hard-capped at 5. I guess it keeps things simple.