EarthBound (series)
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EarthBound, known in Japan as Mother (MOTHER Mazā?), is a role-playing game series created by Shigesato Itoi for Nintendo. The series started in 1989 with the Japan only release of Mother for the Famicom, and was then followed up by a sequel, released in the U.S. as EarthBound for the Super NES in 1995, and followed up again much later with the Japan only release of Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance in 2006.
The EarthBound games are not a sequential series, but rather three "stand alone" games that feature some common characters, themes, and settings. All three games are tied together with the final bosses.
Although most RPGs depict knights and wizards in pseudo-medieval settings, the EarthBound series takes place in more modern present-day, mostly Western settings told from a Japanese perspective. Mother is set in suburban America, while EarthBound is set in Eagleland (an allusion to the United States) and Mother 3 is set on Nowhere Island (with some Western overtones). Enemies consist of everything from aliens, to possessed guitars, to evil hippies. Instead of swords and shields, weapons consist of household items, from Yo-yos to frying pans (Though there are some cases of swords being used as weapons, but they are often rare). The series became extremely popular in Japan, and merchandise for the game was produced, including shirts, handbooks, and even a fully-orchestrated and performed soundtrack.
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[edit] Games
[edit] Mother
Mother tells the story of a young boy who has to journey around the world to save the planet from an evil race of mind-controlling aliens. Along the way he is joined by several friends, and meets many unusual characters and visits strange settings before ultimately confronting the leader of the aliens. The game was a smash hit in Japan, and gamers appreciated its unorthodox and refreshing take on the often formulaic RPG genre.
Nintendo of America translated and planned to release the first Mother game in the United States under the title EarthBound. Although the game's localization and translation was finished a year earlier, the game was ultimately deemed unprofitable for a Fall 1991 US release, and the planned release was canceled after the game had already been translated and all packaging and advertising was ready.[1]
It was confirmed by former Nintendo employee Phil Sandhop, that Nintendo chose not to release EarthBound in the U.S. because the Super Nintendo was to be released at the same time originally planned in the country and it thought that insufficient customers would notice a new NES game in favor of the new Super NES console and its games.[2] Furthermore, the cost of releasing the game with the extensive manual and hint book planned would have not been economical without significant sales.
All of Sandhop's changes in Mother appear in the Game Boy Advance Mother 1+2, such as the B Button run command. These features were original ideas of improvement in Mother by Sandhop or the development team. The reason for these changes appearing according to Sandhop, is that "with games produced by NCL, the development teams continued to work and tweak their projects that they knew would be localized and produced in other territories. Often they would address their own desires that were not completed due to time constraints or not completed to their satisfaction and also address issues raised by Japanese consumers as that release hits the street."[3] Eventually, a copy of the unreleased NES EarthBound cartridge was auctioned and the game code was extracted from it and circulated for download on the Internet. To avoid confusion, the game was dubbed EarthBound Zero by fan translation group Neo Demiforce, as Nintendo had since released the SNES sequel to Mother (Mother 2: Gyiyg Strikes Back!) in the United States under the title EarthBound. This copy was shipped over to a relative of one of the members in Neo Demiforce. Soon after, fans of the series and other video game enthusiasts, at first, debated as to the origin of the original development cartridge.
Today, it is generally agreed that the cartridge is legitimate, as Mother 1 + 2 contains most of the changes found in the NES cartridge.
[edit] EarthBound
EarthBound (known as Mother 2 in Japan) is a distant sequel to the original Mother, with many characters, themes, and tunes borrowed from its predecessor. Many of the characters and settings are very similar, but the only explicitly returning character is Giygas, who swears revenge at the end of the first game (evidenced by EarthBound's Japanese subtitle: Gyiyg Strikes Back!).
Though Mother never saw the American marketplace, its sequel for the Super Famicom/SNES, EarthBound, did, and stars a young psychic boy by the name of Ness. It sold well in Japan, but did not in the US.
[edit] Mother 3
Mother 3 is the third long-awaited (and according to Shigesato Itoi, final) game in the EarthBound series. Beforehand the game was in development for Nintendo 64, but the project was cancelled due to the release date being near the end of the system's life span (and possibly with issues with the 3D engine and other production problems) The project picked up again for the Game Boy Advance (which was announced on a commercial for Mother 1 + 2). The game was finally released on April 20, 2006, and retained the traditional EarthBound artstyle and the general story and characters that were introduced in the cancelled N64 version. Unlike the first two games, the story focuses on a boy named Lucas and his family on Nowhere Island. Their home is invaded and the peace is disrupted by the mysterious "Pig Mask Army" who dramatically changes Nowhere Island by introducing technology and infrastructure and performing bizarre experiments on the flora and fauna in their takeover. The game chronicles the trials and tribulations of Lucas and his family and friends as they fight against the Pig Mask Army threat.
Currently, the game is only available in Japan, although many EarthBound fans are hoping for a U.S. release. There were rumors from the United Kingdom's Official Nintendo Magazine of a possible European release, although nothing is confirmed yet.
[edit] Other games
A compilation for the Game Boy Advance, called Mother 1 + 2, was released in Japan Q3, 2003. The game was meant to promote the upcoming Mother 3 (also for Game Boy Advance) as the rebirth of the franchise. Mother 3 had been in development for the Nintendo 64, but it was cancelled due to production problems. The game's story had already been developed, along with the main characters, but at one point, the game's creator reported in a series of interviews that he had written a new script. However, it seems that the original N64 storyline in Mother 3 has remained intact.
Mother 1 + 2 and perhaps Mother 3 are not expected to be released outside of Japan.
There are also rumors, according to Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine, of a compilation of the three EarthBound games for the Nintendo DS, but nothing has been confirmed.[4]
Ness, the main character from EarthBound is a playable character in all three installments of Super Smash Bros.. In both Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he is an unlockable character by default. Super Smash Bros. Melee features the EarthBound locations Onett and Fourside arenas to battle in, as well as a Mr. Saturn item from EarthBound. In Brawl, Ness is joined by the Mother 3 character Lucas (readily available at the start), and the EarthBound item representation has been expanded to include the new Franklin Badge. With the introduction of Assist Trophies in Brawl, Jeff from EarthBound is one of the many characters that briefly appear on the battlegrounds in the game. A stage set in New Pork City, from Mother 3, and the return of Melee's Onett stage exist in Brawl as well.[5][6]
Ness and Lucas appear in the game's Adventure Mode, Subspace Emissary, as well. During the events of the story, Lucas is attacked by Porky until Ness eventually comes to the aid of Lucas. The two battle and defeat Porky, but Wario confronts them both and attempts to turn them into trophies. Eventually, seeing that Ness is too hard of a target, Wario ends up after the weaker Lucas, who Ness saves at the sacrifice of being trophified. Lucas runs, but after meeting the Pokémon Trainer and remembering Ness's sacrifice, he works up the courage to fight the Subspace Army. He goes to the ruins with the Pokémon Trainer, where they defeat Wario and capture Ivysaur and Charizard. They arrive at a hall, where a robot called Galleom appears. They defeat it and it grabs them before taking off into the sky. Lucas frees himself and the Pokémon Trainer from Galleom's grasp before it detonates a Subspace Bomb in its head. They are rescued by Meta Knight and are inducted into his team. They arrive at a mountain, at which point Meta Knight leaves the team to retake the Halberd, leaving Lucas and the others to deal with the Subspace Army. Soon, all of the remaining heroes come together and go into Subspace, but they were defeated by the diabolical Tabuu.
Meanwhile, Ness had been rescued from Wario's captivity by King Dedede, who gives him a badge that will revive him after a certain amount of time, which happens to be after the other heroes were defeated. Ness and his cohorts then rescue the others, which includes Wario, Bowser, and Ganondorf, and they all head off to defeat Tabuu.
In May 2008, EarthBound was added to the ESRB database, listed with an E rating for the Wii platform, making it clear that plans to release the game on Virtual Console are in the works.[7]
[edit] Other releases
There were also EarthBound strategy guides, manga comics, apparel and the EarthBound soundtrack.
[edit] External links
[edit] Japanese
[edit] Major site
[edit] Official links
- Official Mother Website
- Official Japanese EarthBound Website
- Official Mother 1 + 2 Website
- Official Mother 3 Page
- Itoi's Mother 3 website
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