And now we're at Day 13. I've kind of been dreading this one, because it's definitely one of the more challenging items.
For those of you just joining us, this is Day 13 of a 30 Day Video Game Music Challenge; if you missed the first twelve days, they're all grouped together in the same category, at the top of the article. Each day consists of a different category of music, and I respond with a song that I feel fits it well, in terms of being one of my favorites of that category. Hard mode: I can't repeat games. Challenge mode: I can't repeat franchises either. (Repeat characters appearing in other franchises are fine.) In each entry, I've also been providing an honorable mention, a song that fits the bill quite well; in order to avoid removing other franchises from the running, I've been keeping these honorable mentions within the same franchise as the original item. Got it? Good!
Day 13's theme is "Music you like from a game you don't like". This is a huge challenge for me, because typically if I don't like a game, I don't play it. Thus, I rarely remember what music it might've had. Additionally, music often features into whether or not I like a given game; if it's got good music, it's rare I'll outright dislike it.
Ooh, you know what? I think I've got it. Pokemon Sword / Shield was so catastrophically bad overall; it had a crap story, terrible characters, awful new Pokemon designs, one of the worst Pokedexes ever, and categorically refused to allow Pokemon outside its base Pokedex to be present in the game. But, you gotta admit, the Gym Leader theme is pretty banging. This was the one element of the game I actually looked forward to, facing the gym leaders. Because then I got to listen to this amazing song.
For an honorable mention, you know it's gonna have to come from this game again; while I also didn't much care for Pokemon Sun / Moon, Pokemon Diamond / Pearl, or their relevant "special" versions, fact is, I don't believe any of their music was all that wonderful either. But, Sword / Shield at least had a few other hits: Case in point, Marnie's battle theme. Marnie is one of the only well-developed characters in the game, and her theme is definitely rocking. No wonder she's got her own hooligan squad! (And check out this animation! It's super-fun!)