30 Days of Video Game Music: Day 14 -- Music Featuring Vocals

Check out the Day 1 post for the full challenge list.

“Snake Eater” – Norihiko Hibino

Vocals: Cynthia Harrell
Game: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004, PS2)
Original: YouTube
Instrumental: YouTube
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate remix: arr. FILM SCORE LLC, Arr. Supervisor Nobuko Toda (YouTube)
Cover: Jillian Aversa (YouTube)

What a thrill indeed! While Hibino’s “Snake Eater” has a goofy lyric or two, it’s one of the absolute best video game main themes ever. Harrell’s vocals are quite good, and the musical accompaniment nails that Bond sound perfectly. The games title card does not drop in until a few hours into the game, after a significant encounter, and its cinema-style opening credits rightly instill a feeling that there’s a hell of a game awaiting the player. Metal Gear Solid 3 is arguably the finest entry in the series (I can never pick between it and its two immediate predecessors), and Jillian Aversa’s Bond intro style video does a great job of recapping some of its best moments.

In some ways, “Snake Eater” is a microcosm of the Metal Gear series. It’s high effort, over the top, occasionally silly, heavily film-influenced, and endearing in its sincerity. Oh, to still be in a dream.