Mother 3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mother 3 | |
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| Developer(s) | Nintendo SPD Production Group No.3, HAL Laboratory, Brownie Brown |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Shigesato Itoi |
| Release date(s) | JPN April 20, 2006 |
| Genre(s) | RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | CERO: All Ages |
| Platform(s) | Game Boy Advance |
| Media | 256 megabit Cartridge |
Mother 3 (マザースリー Māzā Surī?) is a role-playing video game developed by HAL Laboratory and Brownie Brown, and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance video game console. It was released in Japan on April 20, 2006.
It is the third video game in the Mother series of video games, known as EarthBound outside of Japan. Details of its development were kept secret since it was announced in June 2003 during a Mother 1 + 2 television commercial in Japan. The game has remained near the top of Famitsu's Most Wanted Games list since its announcement, only once falling below number 10 to number 11. Immediately before its release, Mother 3 was the Most Wanted Game in Japan according to Weekly Famitsu.[1]
According to the lead designer of the Mother series Shigesato Itoi on his blog, they have no plans to create a Mother 4.[2]
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[edit] Plot
Mother 3 is set in a land called the Nowhere Islands. Chaos ensues in the Nowhere Islands after an invasion by the Pig Mask Army, humans in uniforms that resemble pigs. The Pig Mask Army is named for its creator, Pokey Minch. The Pig Mask Army slowly constructs a police state, while performing bizarre experiments on the land's flora and fauna. The invaders also introduce new technology and infrastructure to the islands. The story unfolds in different chapters. The various chapters of the story record the trials and tribulations of a a boy named Lucas, his family, and friends, who reside in Tazmily Village and band together to rid Nowhere Island of the Pig Army's influence.
Unlike the first two games, the focus is no longer on a group of children. Some chapters put completely different characters in the protagonistic role: In one chapter the player controls a 30-ish, limping thief named Duster, in another chapter the main character is Salsa, a monkey who is constantly suffering abuse by a rich travelling merchant named Yokuba. The only child character the player gets to control is Lucas, who is about nine to ten years old in the first three chapters and 12 to 13 years for the remainder of the game. Further controllable characters include Kumatora, a tomboyish Princess from a strange country, Lucas's father, a middle-aged cowboy named Flint, and Lucas's family dog, Boney.
True to the game's slogan "Strange, Funny and Heartrending," Mother 3 sheds the more lighthearted and quirky plotlines of the previous games in favor of a far darker and more emotional story. The plot involves quite a few tragic and saddening events. However, the game still retains many humorous and bizarre elements that are common to the series.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Gameplay
Mother 3 starts out very differently from the first two Mother games. The game is set up into eight different chapters, much like Dragon Quest IV. Instead of focusing on a group of children, it chronicles the story and adventures of Lucas and his family, and the story switches perspective during each chapter. (For example, the first half of the game is played as Flint, Duster and Salsa, but the rest of the game is played as Lucas.) Nowhere Island also changes dramatically due to the influence of the Pig Army, transforming from a simple low-tech rural society to a more modern 21st Century infrastructure that's similar to the first two Mother games. (Hence the game's theme of nature vs. technology) The game also features a more traditional top-down RPG perspective, instead of the oblique projection used in the first two games.
Once again, the game retains the Dragon Quest-style battle system Mother and EarthBound had (although this time at a much quicker pace), but Mother 3 adds an extra twist in the form of the Music combo system. Depending on how well the player presses the A Button in-sync to the lead enemy's "theme" (each enemy has their own respective beat, some even possessing variable tempos), he or she can perform up to 16 hits of damaging combos on the game's enemies. (The game also has an option of letting the player practice Music combos on enemies they have already fought, once they gain a certain item. Tempos can also be more easily heard in the form of a "heartbeat" when the enemy is asleep.) Enemies are still visible on the field, and can still be approached from behind for a surprise attack (along with the extra added detail of seeing behind an enemy.) The game also retains the rolling HP/MP odometers from the previous game, enabling the player to heal before the counter rolls to 0. In Mother 3, the HP odometer scrolls more slowly than previous games and can be slowed further by defending. Another new addition is the ability to run, by holding and releasing the B Button the player can not only reach areas quicker, but also smash into breakable objects and also stun enemies significantly weaker than the party, replacing the previous game's ability to instantly defeat weak enemies without entering battle. Mother 3 also abandons saving the game by phone in favor of Save Frogs, which are abundant and appear at various areas in the game. Currency (which doesn't come into play until Chapter 4) comes in the form of DP (Dragon Points), which the player can deposit/transfer from Save Frogs.
[edit] Background
Mother 3 was originally announced in 1996 for the Nintendo 64. Development soon moved to the Nintendo 64DD, where it was to be a launch title, but after many delays caused by the inexperience of the development team with the hardware and 3D graphics, it was cancelled in August 2000. The project was revived in 2003, now with 2D graphics on the Game Boy Advance.
[edit] Marketing
Beginning in February 2006, lead designer Shigesato Itoi initiated a systematic divulgence of Mother 3 information on the official Mother 3 website. The additions are documented below:
- On the week of February 7, the Mother 3 slogan and theme song, "Strange, Funny, Heartrending" and "We miss you ~Love Theme~ respectively, were revealed.
- On the week of February 14, the first screenshots of the title were revealed and a special ringtone of the Mother 3 Love Theme was offered. It is only available in Japan.
- On the week of February 21, three additional screenshots were revealed along with the Mother 3 Deluxe Box.
- On the week of February 28, screenshots featuring a dungeon area and a typical battle screen were revealed. Itoi also stated that, like the first two Mother games, it would be a typical RPG with traditional RPG elements, but with a unique world and story. Two character names were also revealed: Flint and Boney.
- On the week of March 7, a rendition of the world map was revealed.
- On the week of March 14, two more main characters were revealed: Lucas and Claus, Lucas being the younger twin brother and Claus being the older. Itoi also released Mother 3-themed cell phone backgrounds, but only for those with Japanese phones.
- On the week of March 21, Lucas and Claus's family are revealed: their father Flint, their mother Hinawa, and their dog Boney.
- On the week of March 28, the sprites of 14 enemies were presented, and two computer wallpapers, one with the world map and another with Boney the dog walking through a grass background.
- On the week of April 4, various screenshots of many locations were revealed.
- On the week of April 10, along with 12 new screenshots, the game is revealed to be setup into different chapters.
- On the week of April 18, two days before Mother 3 was released, Itoi released a final message about the game.
This information, which was rationed out on a weekly basis until the April 20 release date, can be found at the Official Mother 3 Website.
[edit] Connections to Mother 1 and 2
- Ness, Paula, Jeff and Poo never appear physically in the game, since Mother 3 takes place far beyond Ness' time period, although they are referenced many times in the game. Also, a few screenshots of the canceled N64 version may have hinted at Ness' appearance. Another screenshot from the aforementioned version depicts a devastated Onett (and what appears to be Fourside).
- Later in the game, the player visits areas in New Pork City that contain many references to EarthBound. A theater shows a movie that chronicles Ness and Co.'s adventures in EarthBound. And later the player visits a boat ride that displays many recognizable things from EarthBound.
- Pokey Minch is revealed to be the leader of the Pig Army and the true enemy of the game.
- Many of Mother 1's enemies that weren't in EarthBound return, such as the Scrapper, Ghost Armor and Titany.
- Dr. Andonuts appears in the game and he is forced to invent things for Pokey and the Pig Army.
- At the game's climax, the player fights Pokey in a machine very similar to the Spider mech he had at the end of EarthBound.
- At one point in the game, the player visits a Saturn Valley. It is eventually attacked by the Pig Army.
- Much of the soundtrack contains many recognizable songs from Mother and EarthBound.
- The Violent Roach from EarthBound appears as an enemy in Osohe Castle.
- The Putrid Moldy Men from EarthBound appear as enemies in the sewers of New Pork City.
- The Ramblin' Evil Mushroom from EarthBound appears as an enemy at the Tazmily train track in Chapter 4.
[edit] Mother 3 Deluxe Box
A limited release version of Mother 3 version was sold in Japan in addition to the basic title. This "Deluxe Box" included a copy of Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance, a Special Edition Game Boy Micro and a Franklin Badge for ¥18,000. Pre-Orders began on March 1, 2006, continuing until the release of the game on April 20 of that year. Due to unexpected demand, only a small fraction of the Deluxe Boxes were shipped by the release date of the game.
[edit] Reviews
Famitsu scored Mother 3 with a 35/40, providing the first public review of the game. [3]
[edit] Sales information
On April 27, 2006 it was confirmed that Mother 3 sold 205,914 copies in its first 3 days on sale in Japan.[4]
On June 21, 2006 it was confirmed that Mother 3 sold 338,382 copies on sale April 20-June 25 in Japan.[5]
In September, 2006 it was confirmed that Mother 3 sold about 400,000 copies on sale in Japan.[citation needed]
[edit] Demand for an international release
Since the original, scrapped, Nintendo 64 version's announcement in 1996, many fans of the Mother series (and, furthermore, EarthBound) have been pleading for Mother 3 to be given a global release. A cult following has formed around the franchise, and many petitions and demands have been made towards Nintendo of America; however, there do not appear to be any plans to release Mother 3 in the United States. In response, two groups of fans (Starmen.net and Mother3.org) have been working on their own unofficial English translations for the game.
Rumors in the August 2006 issue of EGM suggested the possibility that Nintendo may compile all three Mother titles onto one Nintendo DS cart, and could possibly bring this compilation to the US. [6]
In November of 2006, Planet GameCube interviewed Nate Bihldorff, the Nintendo of America Localization Producer/Manager, about the localization process he and his team must go through for a videogame. When Planet GameCube mentions Mother 3, Bihldorff mentions that he and his team are not working on Mother 3. However, he does mention some of his writers are not under him, so discussions of the game may be going on. He also mentions that he does not plan on working on it in the immediate future.[7]
No, me personally, I'm not working on Mother 3. I don't have all the writers under me, so there may be other people in discussions going on with it, but I wouldn't look forward to it in the immediate future, no. Sorry, I know! There's a big Mother fanbase, there is. At least everyone can go back and play Melee to get your Ness on. [Laughs]
– Bihldorff
[edit] MOTHER3+
On 2006-11-02, MOTHER3+ was released in Japan. It was also released in the iTunes Music Store in the United States on April 1st, 2007. This is a CD containing arranged songs by performed by Crazy Ken Band as D.C.M.C. and a vocal track by Taeko Onuki. The tracks of the CD are as follows (translations of the Japanese parts of the titles added in brackets):
1. We miss you 〜愛のテーマ〜＜大貫妙子＞ [~Love Theme~ Taeko Onuki]
2. D.C.M.C.のテーマ [D.C.M.C.'s Theme]
3. サンバ・デ・カンボ [Samba de Cambo]
4. ボンボヤージュ・アミーゴ [Bon Voyage Amigo]
5. おえらいさんのテーマ [Great Person's Theme]
6. タイム・パッセージ [Time Passage]
7. だれかさんのおもいで (Pollyanna) [Somebody's Memories]
8. スノーマン [Snowman]
9. 16メロディーズ（はじまり） [16 Melodies (Beginning)]
10. We miss you 〜愛のテーマ〜 (Inst.) [Love theme]
Mother3+ is also available for download via iTunes and Napster, and features an additional bonus track not available on the CD release.
[edit] MOTHER3i
MOTHER3i was released on the 6th of February, 2007 in the iTunes Music Store and Napster in Japan, as well as a few other online music services. On April 1st, 2007, it was released in the iTunes Music Store in the United States. The track list for the album (as given on iTunes Japan) is as follows:
1．Welcome to MOTHER3 world (3:48)
2．舞台はタツマイリ (2:44) [The Stage is Tatsumairi]
3．Twist And Battle (4:33)
4．どうすることも (4:59) [Gentle Rain]
5．哀愁のマンボ (3:40) [Mambo & Battle]
6．ダスターのテーマ (3:22) [Theme of DUSTER]
7．オソヘ城にて (4:59) [The Castle of OSOHE]
8．奇妙なダンス (4:39) [Funky Monkey Dance Dance]
9．嗚呼、ブタマスク (3:14) [Oh, Pig Mask]
10．タツマイリの思い出 (4:21) [Memory of Tatsumairi]
11．マジプシーと (3:26) [With Magypsy]
12．じゃまをしないでくれ (4:47) [Do Not Disturb]
13．Flowers (4:22)
14．Bad Boyのテーマ (7:10) [Theme of Bad Boy]
15．行きどまりの街から (5:51) [From Utopia]
[edit] References
- ^ Earthbound 2 / Mother 3: Mother 3 is THE Most Wanted in Weekly Famitsu! (2006). Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
- ^ Gantayat, Anoop (2006-05-03). No More Mother. IGN. Retrieved on May 4, 2006.
- ^ Famitsu Scores for the Week of 04/13/2006. GameBrink (2006). Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
- ^ Japan: Weekly software sales for 4/17 - 4/23. GamesAreFun (2006). Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
- ^ MOTHER3、2006年上半期までの累計販売本数は338,382本. www.Mother-jp.net (2006). Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Day of Twilight NOA Treehouse Interview. Nintendo World Report (2006). Retrieved on December 19, 2006.
[edit] External links
[edit] Official sites
- (Japanese) Official site
- (Japanese) 1101.com (Shigesato Itoi's website): Mother 3
- (Japanese) SpaceWorld 1999: Mother 3
[edit] Press coverage
[edit] Fan sites
[edit] Information/other
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Mother / EarthBound video games
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Mother • EarthBound • Mother 1 + 2 • Mother 3 |
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