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This year marks the 25th anniversary of videogame behemoth Pokémon, and while a virtual Post Malone gig might be grabbing the headlines, we’ve got the only Pokémon guitar content you need right here.
You might remember tap-happy Marcos Mena as the guitarist behind the fruitiest guitar playthrough of 2020, but here he’s joined by Standards bandmate – and Covet drummer – Forrest Rice for a lightning-fast rehearsal run-through of Pokémon’s intense battle theme.
To channel the song’s frantic 8-bit arrangement on a single guitar, Mena straps on an Ernie Ball Music Man St. Vincent HH and deploys a barrage of tapped chords, alternating fret-hand basslines and mad chromatic runs.
The performance is really one in Charmeleon – and you better Bayleef it.
This isn’t the first time the fruity duo have tackled a Nintendo track, either. Earlier this month, the pair also tried their hand at the similarly madcap theme tune to Kirby’s Dream Land.
Standards’ latest album, Fruit Island, arrived last year, and while it doesn’t feature any videogame covers, it is full of next-level tapping skills and feelgood guitar hooks.
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Mike has been Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com since 2019, and an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict for far longer. He has been writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist for over 15 years, and recording and performing in original and function bands for two decades-plus. During his career, he has interviewed everyone from John Frusciante to Chris Cornell, Matt Bellamy and Billy Corgan. His writing also appears in The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock as Maebe.
