Oof, Day 14. We're cruising along, but I'm pretty wiped today. Still gonna try to get something out!
For those of you just joining us, this is Day 14 of a 30 Day Video Game Music Challenge; if you missed the first thirteen 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 14's theme is "Music featuring vocals". Not many game soundtracks have songs that feature vocals, much less more than one within a given franchise! (Guitar Hero is cheating!) But ah, how could I forget the iconic opening sequence to Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. I remember first seeing this credits sequence a few short years after the game came out—I wasn't a Playstation player for a very long time—and absolutely loving it. It perfectly fits the style of Maurice Binder's classic James Bond openings (minus the scantily-clad women, of course), and the song itself is so wonderfully bombastic, it's hard to hate it!
An honorable mention is going to be tricky here, though... Unfortunately, I must admit a general lack of knowledge of the Metal Gear Solid series. While I know (and love) the general story, I've not played much of any of the games. As such, I'm going to deliberately choose a title that's often neglected: Portable Ops. This game's theme song, "Calling To the Night", is beautifully emotional, befitting a game series with such a beautifully emotional story.