EarthBound: Difference between revisions

''EarthBound'' is the second of a series of Japanese role playing games known as ''[[Mother]]'', an experiment in storytelling in a different medium by Japanese essayist [[Shigesato Itoi]]. It's known as ''MOTHER 2: [[Revenge of the Sequel|Gyiyg Strikes Back]]'' in Japan and serves as a loose sequel to ''[[MOTHER 1]]'', since the setting of ''MOTHER 1'' and ''MOTHER 2''/''EarthBound'' are essentially the same ([[Eagle Land|an affectionate homage]] to 1950s America). ''EarthBound'' is the only game in the series to receive an official release in North America (as Nintendo has [[No Export for You|no plans for a North American release]] for ''[[Mother 3]]'').

For a long time, ''EarthBound'' was the only game in the series to receive an official release in North America, as Nintendo had [[No Export for You|no plans for a North American release]] for ''[[Mother 3]]''. ''MOTHER 1'' [[What Could Have Been|was originally planned for North American release]] and was originally titled ''Earth Bound'' itself, but Nintendo of America scrapped release plans after work on its translation was completed, since the [[Super Nintendo]] had already launched (making it Nintendo's major focus). A prototype of the translation game surfaced years later in the hands of a collector; this ROM was dumped and eventually released as ''[[MOTHER 1|Earthbound Zero]]''. A official translation version of the game (based in the [[Updated Rerelease]] for Game Boy Advance) was released in the Nintendo e-shop under the name ''Earthbound Beginnings''. As of November 2021, there are ''still'' no plans for a North American release of ''Mother 3''.

''EarthBound'' is best known for its unusual gameplay: fantasy monster-slaying gives way to a modern-day urban setting, with slingshots, frying pans, and baseball bats taking the place of swords, axes, and magic staffsstaves. Rather than goblins and orcs and other fantasy creatures, Ness and his friends battle drunks, hippies, angry taxicabs, a cult dedicated to worshipping the color blue, and ''a giant circus tent''. Most of ''EarthBound's''its humor humor focuses on how the West is viewed by other countries (Asia/Japan in particular), with references to [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]] and The [[Blues Brothers]] scattered throughout the game. ''EarthBound's''The sheer level of [[Nightmare Fuel]] is perhaps more famous than itsthe game's quirky humor; amongst the major sources of terror are a ''profoundly'' disturbing final dungeon and a final boss whose [[Nightmare Fuel|genuinely chilling]] [[Mind Screw]] horror has led to tons and tons of [[Memetic Mutation]].

The North American release of ''EarthBound'' is notable for including an official [[Strategy Guide]] with every copy, despite costing as much as other games of its day (a sign of how much faith Nintendo had in the game's ability to sell). Due to an odd -- and failed -- [http://earthboundcentral.com/2009/01/earthbounds-marketing-campaign/ advertising campaign], a simplistic visual style (considering this is when everyone was fawning over the advanced graphics of ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'s'' advanced graphics), and a general lack of interest in RPGs (at the time), ''EarthBound'' didn't sell anywhere near enough copies to pay back Nintendo's significant advertising investment. In the intervening years, however, ''EarthBound'' has become a [[Cult Classic]] (to say the least) which is fondly remembered (and recommended) for its diverse soundtrack, unique gameplay, and undeniable charm -- aspects covered by [[The Happy Video Game Nerd]]'s half-hour ''EarthBound'' review (which can be watched at [https://web.archive.org/web/20140328224836/http://retrowaretv.com/happy-video-game-nerd-earthbound-reedit/ Retroware TV] or [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ4AictvRdU YouTube]).

As a side note: Ness and Lucas (the protagonist of ''[[Mother 3]]'') [[Marth Debuted in Smash Bros|are probably best known to Western audiences via their appearances]] in the ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' games.

*:* Enemies don't "die", they:though what happens to them varies; see [[Non-Lethal KO]] below.

* [[Non-Lethal KO]]: Somewhat justified by the fact that the message you receive depends on the type of enemy defeated: wild animals turned evil by Giygas' influence "become tame," inanimate objects like vinyl records and coffee cups "stop moving," mobile plants also "stop moving," human enemies possessed by Giygas "return to normal," and so on. When you encounter the undead and {{spoiler|''ghosts of past enemies''}}, it's pretty clear some of them do die. Undead enemies "return to the dust of the earth," and {{spoiler|ghosts}} "melt into thin air.". Other enemies simply get "defeated" or "disappear" when beaten in battle, so it's tough to tell what really happens to them.

* [[Non-Linear Sequel]]{{context}}

* [[Parental Abandonment]]: Ness's father communicates over the phone often enough, but is never home. Jeff's father hasn't seen him in ten years despite living fairly near his boarding school (and this is a twelve to fourteen year old boy) and seems to think nothing of it; his mother is [[Missing Mom|never mentioned]]. Poo's parents are nowhere in sight--affairs of state, perhaps? Paula is the only one of the four protagonists to have parents that are both alive and present.

* [[Say My Name]]: One of {{spoiler|Giygas}}'s attacksattack dialogues has him saying the hero's name over and over., Whichwhich can lead to a hilarious or disturbing results if one abused the [[Hello, Insert Name Here]] feature.

* [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]]: Mostly played straight, but for a moment at the beginning when {{spoiler|Giygas}}, in a moment of being [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]], decides to [[No-Nonsense Nemesis|just kill Ness]] before he becomes a nuisance by sending a [[Warmup Boss|Starman Jr.]] atafter them at the start of the game. Thankfully, the good guys were equally smart and sent in [[Crutch Character|Buzz Buzz]] too, thus canceling each other out.

* [[Spikes of Villainy]]: The Starman Deluxe and the Final Starman, which are respectively stronger versions of the Starman and the Super Starman [[Recycled in Space|WITH SPIKES!]].

* [[Spinning Out of Here]]: Like in ''[[MOTHER 1]]'', teleporting requires rapid, uninterrupted acceleration before zooming off to the destination, so areas with limited space to build speed require moving in circles to avoid crashing. One teleport ability requires the player to turn manually, while the other one automatically makes the party move in a tight spiral.

* [[Sudden Downer Ending]]: ItsThe horrifying final level is probably what it's best known for. The actual ending once {{spoiler|Giygas}} is out of the way definitely doesn't fall into this, though.

** Or theThe one Poo gets in the form of a 'Message that has stat gains written on it.'

* [[Undisclosed Funds]]: Played straight in ''MOTHER 2'', but not in ''EarthBound''. During localization, for some reason, a couple of vague references meaning roughly "a bajillion dollars" were changed to real numbers (Ness' family's debt to Porky's family is "a hundred thousand dollars or more" and the Diamond "could pay off a million dollar debt easily").

* [[Unobtanium]]: The Phase ConverterDistorter runs on this: it's called Zexonyte and you get it {{spoiler|backtracking to the meteorite}}.

* [[Video Game Caring Potential]]: Take care of those Flying Men. [[You Bastard|You don't really want to use them all up.]].

* [["Wake-Up Call" Boss]]: Frank Fly and his robot, Frankystein Mk II.

* [[You All Look Familiar]]: A few NPC sprites, including whatone who some gamers call "[[Mr. T]]".

* [[Zombie Apocalypse]]: Happens in the town of Threed., Sortsort of.