EarthBound

EarthBound (known as Mother 2 in Japan]]) is a role-playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the second title in the Mother series. It is known for its characteristic cartoon-like graphics, soundtrack (that, uniquely for its time, incorporates sampling), irreverent humor, portrayal of the Western world as seen by Japan, and quirky, almost caricatured characters.

The game is often dubbed a "sequel" to the original Mother, an NES title released only in Japan. In practice, however, the games largely exist as "stand alone" titles, with similar themes and storylines, but no direct plot or character continuity.

Plot
EarthBound is set in the year "199X" in the small town of Onett, part of Eagleland. The main character, Ness, wakes up when a meteor falls close to his house in the middle of the night. He heads out to investigate the meteor, but not before his mother reminds him to change out of his pajamas. At the crash site he meets an insect named Buzz Buzz from ten years in the future who sends him on a quest to destroy the intergalactic destroyer Giygas in this time, because he is too powerful in the time period that Buzz Buzz came from. Ness must then journey through the world, seeking his eight "sanctuaries" where the Earth's power is strongest in order to unite his own powers with the Earth's and gain the strength needed to confront Giygas. This somewhat clichéd plot is intentionally so; the unremarkable story only augments the game's humor. This is evident in the campy dialogue (such as when Ness' mother tells him to be careful while he's out saving the world) and some of the plot elements. One noteworthy moment is Buzz Buzz's demise, a rather unspectacular end for a sturdy creature who travelled ten years in the past and can block powerful psychic attacks.

Perhaps the greatest difference between EarthBound and other console RPGs is the remarkable silliness of the game, which often seems less interested in a gripping story than making jokes and puns, constructing absurd subplots and goals (for instance, traveling through a cave full of monkeys in search of a "trout-flavored" yogurt machine), and poking fun at Western culture.

EarthBound breaks the escapist, fantasy-oriented tendencies and themes of most RPGs by placing the action in a modern day world, much like Shin Megami Tensei but without the dark overtones of that series. These changes to typical RPG stories are often taken to an absurd extreme in EarthBound, such as the inclusion of baseball bats and yo-yos as weapons instead of swords or magical staves.

One of the most unusual elements of EarthBound may be the fourth-wall-breaking inclusion of the player as an active participant within the story itself, which is in great contrast to the plots of other console RPGs that usually never reference the player behind the controller, let alone incorporate him or her into the story.

Gameplay
Many of the RPG elements featured in EarthBound are very traditional. In towns, players can purchase items, recharge energy, or gather information from various NPCs. Battles are not random because the enemies are visible in the navigation portion of the game. When the characters come in contact with an enemy, a battle starts. Depending on from which angle in which the characters make contact with the enemy, the player can be at an advantage or disadvantage when the battle starts. If the enemy is approached from behind, the player get an extra turn at the beginning of the battle and vice versa. As Ness and his friends become stronger, battles with weaker enemies are eventually won immediately, skipping the entire battle sequence altogether.

The battle system is very similar to the Dragon Quest series, in the sense that the characters are not shown onscreen. Once all actions are inputted, the protagonists and the enemies perform the actions depending on character speed. Once the battle is won, players receive experience points in order to level up their characters and improve attributes. Naturally, as the game progresses, it becomes necessary to increase levels in order to cope with stronger enemies.

One traditional RPG element not present in EarthBound is an overworld. Instead, players follow a path, occasionally branching off in some areas. Later on in the game, teleporting spells help players return to previous areas quickly.

Another non-traditional element is the perspective used for the world. The game uses oblique projection, while most RPGs use a top down view on a grid or an isometric perspective.

Japanese release
The game was released in Japan on August 27, 1994. Known as Mother 2: Gyiyg Strikes Back!, the game is the sequel to Mother, released for the Famicom. This game became a phenomenal blockbuster, so much that it soon matched Dragon Quest in popularity.

The next game in the series, Mother 3, is still in development. It continues to be in the Famitsu Most Wanted list, only falling below No. 10 twice, to No. 11. The title Mother 3 was originally planned to be a game designed for the Nintendo 64. According to Nintendo of America, the game was scrapped due to a lack of time, and an eventual public lack of interest in the Nintendo 64. However, according to Shigesato Itoi, the reality was that they couldn't run the 3D graphics in the game very well at all due to the development team's complete inexperience at 3D graphics. The new "Mother 3" is being developed for Game Boy Advance.

EarthBound follows the same basic plot as its predecessor, but Giygas (or Gyiyg) is the only returning character.

The Japanese release of Mother 3 is officially announced for April 20, 2006]] with no American date confirmed as of yet.

U.S. release
Releasing the game in the United States was considered somewhat of a gamble, as the game's graphics were very simple, especially compared to other role-playing games of the time, such as Final Fantasy VI. Additionally, the humor of the game is tied to its quirky portrayal of the West, which may not have translated to that region. In an attempt to increase sales, the game was also extensively promoted within Nintendo Power, with various special offers, including a contest involving scratch-and-sniff stickers, as well as a Nintendo Power-published player's guide that was included as a pack-in with the initial American release to boost sales and assist players. Ultimately, EarthBound was not very commercially successful in the United States at the time of its release, although it has since spawned a large cult following among its loyal fans.

Other appearances (cameos)
Ness also appears in the video games Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64 and Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo GameCube. In addition, the Onett and Fourside cities are battle stages in SSBM, and there are several 3D renderings of EarthBound characters in the form of trophies in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and EarthBound ' s Mr. Saturn also appears as one of the items. Ness' PK attacks are mentioned as PK and not PSI because the attacks were PK in the Japanese version.

Mr. Saturn appears in Kirby Super Star as a treasure in the game mode "The Great Cave Offensive", which was also developed in part by Hal Laboratory.

Playable characters

 * Ness' PK Kiai/PSI Rockin' attacks take the name of "your favorite thing", defined at the game's beginning. "Kiai" is the default in Mother 2 & "Rockin" is the default in EarthBound.

Special Features

 * Many of the animated backgrounds of the fight sequences in EarthBound are actually mathematical graphs that employ dynamic variables.
 * Because of the unusually orderly structure of the game's memory, it is rather easy to modify in ROM format.
 * The game used the Super Nintendo's special "Mode 7" graphics.
 * ROM hackers of EarthBound discovered a debug menu featuring a Kirby cursor sprite and a hidden BGM track not present in the game itself. The debug mode can only be accessed through a Game Genie (or equivalent), or by modifying the ROM.

Cuts and changes
As with any Japanese property, EarthBound underwent a number of changes in translation.
 * Several names of towns are different:
 * Threed was originally Threek.
 * The Dusty Dunes Desert was originally the Doko Doko Desert/Dokodoko Desert.
 * Dalaam is known as Ramma. It is unknown whether or not this was to prevent confusion with anime property Ranma 1/2.
 * Scaraba is known as Scarabi.
 * All references to alcohol were removed. Jackie's Cafe, for example, was originally known as Boruhesu's Bar. Coffee is uniformly substituted in place of alcohol.
 * In the original Japanese version, the hospitals all had red crosses somewhere on the building. They were removed from the English version, presumably because of possible copyright conflicts with the Red Cross.
 * All the "PSI" abilities in English are known as "PK" abilities in Japanese.
 * In the Japanese version, Ness is nude in Magicant wearing only a hat. In the English version, he is wearing his pajamas.
 * There are many other cuts. See the link below.
 * There are many other cuts. See the link below.

In the Player's Guide

 * On page 17, Killer Instinct is mentioned as being one of the games available in Onett's Arcade.
 * On page 111, there is an image of Ness in the nude on the bottom left of the page. This is an oversight on the part of NoA, as Ness was nude in Magicant in Mother 2.