Mother / Earthbound

I was looking for a thread for Earthbound AKA Mother 2 as quite a few of us I think downloaded the game. But couldn't find anywhere or general VC chat thread but as VC games are retro, why not go here.

Only reason I bring up Mother is I seen this and I know Jay is a fan of the series & likes his soundtracks. So thought he might want to checkout and of course the rest of you.

And maybe about the game series as well.

Mother (NES) has aged pretty horrendously. Some might argue Earthbound has as well, but I really love that game. My personal favourite in the series is Mother 3 - a more focused (and really really sad) plot, improved battle system and far and away my favourite soundtrack of the series. It's in my top 10 games, easily.

Nintendo should do more with their Earthbounds: it's beyond time that the three of them were released as a compilation. The more I read about the third one, for example, the more I want to play it. It's time to ring Nintendo again!

EarthBound - or Mother 2 - is a fine game, in my opinion. The aesthetic is unusual, at best, and the gameplay is so old that it knew God when He was a lad. However, for me, EarthBound is much more than the sum of its parts. I was glad that I played it and sad when it ended: a mild recommendation, maybe, but you can't ask much more of a game.

Earthbound is brilliant. That's all I have to say.

Nah, I'll try a bit harder - I've probably said this elsewhere, but it's the only turn-based RPG I've properly finished. It's genuinely funny, it's so subversive and jumpy that I bet you can't remember the complete story without looking it up, and it holds up so well that a game that tried to ape it (Citizens of Earth) looks like a shit sandwich in comparison. It even does the post-end sequence bit well.

I couldn't really into the game but would like to see Nintendo use the IP and see what they can do with it now.

I don't think Itoi wants to return to the series. I'm not sure if a Mother game without Itoi would really feel like a Mother game. Having said that, there is a fan-made Mother game very close to release, so it'll be interesting to see if it can retain the same feel and sense of humour that makes Mother special.

I've seen bits of "Mother 4". I think they'll struggle to get the balance right between "trying too hard to be quirky" and "a bit too normal". It's a hard balance to strike.

As for the general topic, I played Mother 3 before Earthbound, and that might well have ruined the latter for me. Yes it's charming, but it just feels so old and clunky. Everything about the game is good apart from playing the game, which is a pretty big flaw.

Yeah, I can't help but have the same concerns. I'll still play it, but I'm not sold on its quality.

And re: going from Mother 3 to Earthbound, I can totally understand where you're coming from. I played Earthbound and then Mother 3, and Mother 3 is such an improvement in terms of design that it would be really difficult to go back to it. I still like Earthbound, but Mother 3 is the superior title, no doubt.

Awww, man! Stop telling us how ace Mother 3 is!



Is it too much to hope for it to appear on the Wii U one day?

Have you not considering emulating it Zero? I know it's hardly ideal, but it's the only way us Westerners can even play it right now. I'd buy a localisation in a heartbeat, but I'm honestly not sure it'll ever come.

The localisation may never come, you're totally right. I hold a tiny flicker of hope in my heart but emulation will probably not be possible at the mo, given that my laptop is slower than a snail marathon. When I'm able to get a new computer, I'll get right on it!

GBA emulation isn't very intensive whatsoever, so you might be able to manage it as is. I played it back on my dusty old laptop and managed just fine.

I found this as well - not an official localisation, but an option, I suppose.

Wow, that's intense! Obviously someone is keen on getting it out to the masses. Sorely tempting, too...

It really is a game anyone with a passion for storytelling in videogames should play. It's one of the most profoundly sad and deep experiences in videogaming. I really should write up something for the site about it - maybe once my dissertation is out of the way.

On another, more cheerful note, here's a really goofy ad for the original Mother on the Famicom.

Also, here's a gameplay trailer for the Mother 4 fangame. After seeing this, I'm a little more confident in the game. The 60s/70s setting is a really good fit for the Mother series, and I love the character designs.

Mother 1 or Earthbound Begins was confirmed in the Pre-NWC Treehouse to becoming to the VC in the west.

I said this in the Skype chat - Mother/Earthbound Zero is a bit of a dated game. It's really grindy, even by JRPG standards and it's convoluted at points too. Earthbound is essentially a remake of it. Having said that, I hope it sells well and leads to Mother 3 making it over.

Knowing me, I will be picking it up regardless at some point. At the minute, though, there are too many games on my plate.

That's something I would only ever buy to give Nintendo my money and show that I want more of that sort of thing.  Couldn't care less about actually playing it. Not without a significant gameplay overhaul.

Just hope with 1 & 2 now in the west (well easy to get now for 2) that 3 does come to make up the set, also I might play 3.

I hope it sells well despite it being a bit of a ropey game - I can see Nintendo thinking "Oh, well this nearly thirty-year old, mechanically dated RPG hasn't sold very well so obviously there's no demand for this modern masterpiece with one of the most finely crafted stories in videogaming, nope".

Although, part of me thinks hopes prays we're getting a Mother 3 reveal at the actual big Digital Event, hence why this was only announced on the NWC preshow.

I did call that in my HD article, I wonder if any will come true part from the most obvious one.

I initially thought with how people were reacting to it that it was a complete overhaul of the first game so you can imagine how I felt when it was just a VC release.

Turn-based RPG's on the NES are as dodgy as they come - has anyone tried FF1? *shudder*

JayMoyles wrote:

I hope it sells well despite it being a bit of a ropey game - I can see Nintendo thinking "Oh, well this nearly thirty-year old, mechanically dated RPG hasn't sold very well so obviously there's no demand for this modern masterpiece with one of the most finely crafted stories in videogaming, nope".

Although, part of me thinks hopes prays we're getting a Mother 3 reveal at the actual big Digital Event, hence why this was only announced on the NWC preshow.

Hmmm... all of this I agree with. Still getting Mother though

JayMoyles wrote:

Although, part of me thinks hopes prays we're getting a Mother 3 reveal at the actual big Digital Event, hence why this was only announced on the NWC preshow.

Hey, remember how last year there was a skit with an angry fanboy demanding why there wasn't Starfox or Mother being shown off, and then Starfox was shown off?