279: Homeward (Earth)Bound
- Thread starter Brendan Main
- Start date
Unfortunately I think the only way you're ever going to be able to play them is with an emulator. Damn copyright laws.beema said:
Edit: I should point out that they are effectively abandonware now; if you buy a copy off ebay then exactly none of it will go to Nintendo.
Torn between this and Golden Sun.
But without a doubt one of the best series of games I've ever played.
But without a doubt one of the best series of games I've ever played.
I'm really glad for his presence in Smash Bros., as it can inspire people to learn more about the characters and play their games of origin. Lucas in Brawl got me to play Mother 3, and Smash Bros. is also the reason I first tried playing the Fire Emblem series. I'm sure other people have done the same with Ness and Earthbound, even if the majority only know him as a Brawl character.Tim Latshaw said:
Hopefully if Costume Quest does well, Nintendo might be inspired to re-release Earthbound (or perhaps do an updated remake!) That would be awesome. I think the market is there, now. We're not dealing with the same, deviation-hating demographic anymore.
To anyone who was a fan of Earthbound (or thinks they might be a fan of Earthbound if they tried it), I highly recommend checking out the latest storyline on http://www.mspaintadventures.com/ It's not a retelling so much as it's an insane, profanity-laden, proudly aliased love letter to the game and to middle school neuroses.
To anyone who was a fan of Earthbound (or thinks they might be a fan of Earthbound if they tried it), I highly recommend checking out the latest storyline on http://www.mspaintadventures.com/ It's not a retelling so much as it's an insane, profanity-laden, proudly aliased love letter to the game and to middle school neuroses.
Earthbound is probably my most fond of JRPG, the entire series is a gold mine of genius writing and American parody..especially Mother 3 which imo is as close as games have gotten to books. I urge everyone to try and play Earthbound or any of the the other two Mother games. 
I discovered EarthBound through Ness in the original Smash Bros. (who, incidentally, was perfectly suited to me; that jump!).
Does anyone else remember how sad they were when they realized we were never going to get EarthBound 64? T_T
EarthBound's music, of course, added to its appeal, and a fine group of folks have made an excellent remix project: Bound Together [http://www.wushuplaya.com/boundtogether/].
Does anyone else remember how sad they were when they realized we were never going to get EarthBound 64? T_T
EarthBound's music, of course, added to its appeal, and a fine group of folks have made an excellent remix project: Bound Together [http://www.wushuplaya.com/boundtogether/].
Great article! There are good games, there are great games, then there's that four or five games in my collection that I've gone back to again and again countless times throughout my life. Just a little perspective, but I'm definitely not the type to replay games I've beaten, so this says something.
Earthbound is one of those games. I can practically start the game anew the moment I've beaten it. I still have fond memories of lugging home the ginormous SNES box from the local (whatever was before Wal Mart. K-Mart? Probably K-Mart).
In case anyone's curious, some of the other games are the original Tomb Raider, and Planescape: Torment.
Earthbound is one of those games. I can practically start the game anew the moment I've beaten it. I still have fond memories of lugging home the ginormous SNES box from the local (whatever was before Wal Mart. K-Mart? Probably K-Mart).
In case anyone's curious, some of the other games are the original Tomb Raider, and Planescape: Torment.
I owe my love of Earthbound to Ness' cameo in Smash Bros. He was the only character I didn't recognise, and as I loved him so much I sought out the game. Earthbound is one of the few JRPGs I've ever completed and loved.
The ending was especially moving. The power of praying and faith winning over aggression (may I add before someone berates me, NOT faith in religion or God, I won't spoil who they're praying to), the wonderful walk with Paula back to Twoson, then home to Onett as you talk with everyone you've saved. Then that wonderful end credits sequence where you finally find out what that strange spinning cameraman was doing, completely with a beautiful theme tune that's making me teary-eyed just typing this and remembering it.
A wonderful experience. If you have to get it on an emulator do so, that's the only way you can and it's fine. I did and I love it.
The ending was especially moving. The power of praying and faith winning over aggression (may I add before someone berates me, NOT faith in religion or God, I won't spoil who they're praying to), the wonderful walk with Paula back to Twoson, then home to Onett as you talk with everyone you've saved. Then that wonderful end credits sequence where you finally find out what that strange spinning cameraman was doing, completely with a beautiful theme tune that's making me teary-eyed just typing this and remembering it.
A wonderful experience. If you have to get it on an emulator do so, that's the only way you can and it's fine. I did and I love it.
You're quite right. But for every person like you who knew how to find Mother 3, there are several more who don't know how or think it's too much of a hassle/illegal/etc. Everyone else in Brawl, at least as I can recall off the top of my head, has a present-day standard method for people to play their games, whether through current generation titles or Virtual Console. Ness and Lucas don't have that in North America.Pseudopod said:
To all the "BLEH! JRPGs Suck because it's all emo spikey hair teenagers with creepy old dudes hanging around them and hyper-sexy-make-no-sense happy happy kawaii girls saving the world and saving the princess that always gets abducted" ignorant and uneducated gamers who are about as ignorant as those who're saying "Every FPS are the same".
Earthbound...
Case closed.
Don't get it? Go screw yourself since it's obvious you've killed what's left of your childhood innocence and started that healthy diet of brainfucking yourself with a taser every night just to ensure your brain damage remains constant.
And that no amount of attempts at enlightening you at the variety of story, style, gaming system, unlinear open and linear closed worlds and innovative concepts (to such an idea that has rarely ever been done such as multi-generational stories with multiple main characters who happen to be the offspring of your own character... SaGa Frontier 2, I'm looking at you) will ever make you change your mind about how superior your lack of knowledge in gaming is to everyone else's ignorant abundant amount of factual knowledge of games.
[Edit]
PS. To those who're saying "Every FPS is the same!".
Deus Ex, and in a way. Killer 7.
Case closed.
Earthbound...
Case closed.
Don't get it? Go screw yourself since it's obvious you've killed what's left of your childhood innocence and started that healthy diet of brainfucking yourself with a taser every night just to ensure your brain damage remains constant.
And that no amount of attempts at enlightening you at the variety of story, style, gaming system, unlinear open and linear closed worlds and innovative concepts (to such an idea that has rarely ever been done such as multi-generational stories with multiple main characters who happen to be the offspring of your own character... SaGa Frontier 2, I'm looking at you) will ever make you change your mind about how superior your lack of knowledge in gaming is to everyone else's ignorant abundant amount of factual knowledge of games.
[Edit]
PS. To those who're saying "Every FPS is the same!".
Deus Ex, and in a way. Killer 7.
Case closed.
I f*cking love Earthbound. It is the under-appreciated gem of the JRPG genre IMO. I will never forget Saturn Valley or that final boss...
Well spoken friend, well spoken.
Well spoken friend, well spoken.
No, they were gonna give it a chance... if some obscure Brownie Brown DS game (Brownie Brown helped make Mother 3) that received almost no promotion in the states sold well. Way to be, Nintendo.Sylocat said:
That said, I do love the Mother series. Still haven't finished the first one. (Fun fact: Nintendo WAS going to release Mother 1 to the States. They even translated it and everything. But poor sales of Dragon Quest made them think that a game that's essentially a parody of Dragon Quest wouldn't do well here.) And I would buy Mother 3 if it was brought Stateside, even though I shamefully pirated it for the sake of using the fan-translation patch.
Also!
A friend of mine has just pointed out a scanned version of the original EarthBound strategy guide that came bundled with the game. A portion of it is done up as a travel guide, describing the game in terms of hot spots and tourist vistas. It also contains some of the quirky clay art that came in the instruction booklet as well.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/8476/Earthbound-Nintendo-Players-Guide
A friend of mine has just pointed out a scanned version of the original EarthBound strategy guide that came bundled with the game. A portion of it is done up as a travel guide, describing the game in terms of hot spots and tourist vistas. It also contains some of the quirky clay art that came in the instruction booklet as well.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/8476/Earthbound-Nintendo-Players-Guide
Great article. Not beeing american, I can`t really relate to most of what you said, but it`s good to know that it feels like that for you americans. For me it was more like of a fable book about the perfect childhood, and that inconscious travel realle put me in the mood, at the time, to remember my own childhood.
I love the entire letter, describing perfectly what Earthbound and the Mother series are really about. You encapsulated many, many parts of what makes the game amazing, from the fact that you encounter deranged hippies to the chaotic sense of depth the game offers. Remember when you first step into Giygas' lair, and that twisted, dying version of the french anthem plays for a few seconds, giving that sense of darkness and turmoil? Or getting the signed banana? Or the Pencil statues?Brendan Main said:
Though, I do have a small issue, and it is thus:
The Gently Weeping Guitar (to say nothing of the Jealous Bass) was in Mother 3, not in Earthbound, I'm afraid. And including the soul-searching depth and bizarre caricatures of everything in that game would be another column all on it's own, and that's not even discussing being attacked by your own lamp in the first entry of the series.
Though, I did find it odd that most of the PSI that Ness and Lucas have in Brawl doesn't belong to them...