Earthbound

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KingofOldSchool

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I hear all of this ballyhoo over this game, yet never played it or really even heard of this in my life.

Please fill me in on what the game play is like and such.
 
And you call yourself KingofOldSchool :shame:

Earthbound is a RPG for the SNES. Called "Mother 2" in Japan, Earthbound is technically the second game in the "Mother series" however its the only one to make it to the states. Gameplay is comparable to the Dragon Quest series with turned-based battles. But what sets this game apart from other JRPGs is the quirky, cartoony style and pop-humor. There's really nothing else to say, it's plays like your typical RPG. The main character from Earthbound "Ness" has made an appearance the Smash Bros. games.

Due to it's cult following it's one of the more sought after games for the SNES and complete copies could reach up to $100 on ebay. Other games in the series are Mother (NES) & Mother 3 (GBA). Nintendo also released a compilation for the GBA of the first two games called Mother 1+2.
 
[quote name='Rodimus Donut']Earthbound is an RPG by Square for the SNES. Called "Mother 2" in Japan, Earthbound is technically the second game in the "Mother series" however its the only one to make it to the states. Gameplay is comparable to the Dragon Quest series with turned-based battles. But what sets this game apart from other JRPGs is the quirky, cartoony style and pop-humor. The main character from Earthbound "Ness" has made an appearance the Smash Bros. games.

Due to it's cult following it's one of the more sought after games for the SNES and complete copies could reach up to $100 on ebay. Other games in the series are Mother (NES) & Mother 3 (GBA). Nintendo also released a compilation for the GBA of the first two games called Mother 1+2.[/quote]
Square had nothing to due with Earthbound.
 
[quote name='Mattte']Square had nothing to due with Earthbound.[/quote]

You're absolutly right. I have no clue why I said Square. I just wrote it without thinking. Anyways it's fixed.
 
[quote name='KingofOldSchool']Blech turn-based game play = no interest from me[/quote]

Yeah if you look at it just for its turn-based gameplay it can seem a bit boring....the battling is very basic and the oldest of school. But its charming characters, world, and story are what I believe make it the good series it is.
 
it had a really fun story but I hated the fighting and the walking around was tedious. I sold my copy for 100 bucks on ebay. thank god for emulation. the same game but only 43 mb and free.
 
I can't get enough of the game. I played it the first year it came out, and I've played it through about once every year since (minimum).

My friend's mom back in elementary school bought it for him, and we thought it was totally gonna suck from looking at the case, book, and art. She was kind of notorious for not so good game selections (what would you expect from a non-gamer?). Hell, the scratch and sniff stuff in the book was the most entertaining part at first. We tried it out though, and we realized we were stupid for judging it simply by those standards. But yeah, it's an awesome game and I'm glad I still own it.
 
This thread actually convinced me to give it a try. I love the art and writing. So far so good!
 
Maybe I need to give it another spin but I HATED Earthbound. I tried playing it a few years ago and I just couldn't get in to it. The battle system was awful(it felt like a cross between Mystic Quest and RPG Maker) and the dungeons were boring. *braces for impact*
 
i liked the first game (earthbound zero.. or mother) it was very enjoyable.. i have yet to play the SNES version.. hoping to eventually "score" one for its native system (i'm a traditionalist that way)
 
[quote name='GogoTheMimic']Maybe I need to give it another spin but I HATED Earthbound. I tried playing it a few years ago and I just couldn't get in to it. The battle system was awful(it felt like a cross between Mystic Quest and RPG Maker) and the dungeons were boring. *braces for impact*[/quote]

I have the same problem, the classic dragon warrior combat screen just doesn't appeal to me.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']Thinking of Mario RPG perhaps?[/quote]

Not really I just had a brain fart. When I think SNES + Great RPG I think Square.
 
Earthbound was the main reason I had to get homebrew up and running on my DS. I have the cart of this, but to be able to play it portable is a whole other beast. I'm attempting to play through it again, and I had forgotten how amazing it was. The dialog is great, I love the battle system, and the music.. it's just.. perfect. I don't really know why. FF2, FF3, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger and Illusion of Gaia.. the years pass, the games get shinier and more expensive.. but I keep coming back to these five, year in and year out.

My favorite location and theme on Earthbound has to be winters.

[media]http://youtube.com/watch?v=RQ69BOGIjfo[/media]

And, of course, "snowman".

[media]http://youtube.com/watch?v=AzlhLX-4AW4[/media]
 
[quote name='Scorch']Earthbound was the main reason I had to get homebrew up and running on my DS. I have the cart of this, but to be able to play it portable is a whole other beast. I'm attempting to play through it again, and I had forgotten how amazing it was. The dialog is great, I love the battle system, and the music.. it's just.. perfect. I don't really know why. FF2, FF3, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger and Illusion of Gaia.. the years pass, the games get shinier and more expensive.. but I keep coming back to these five, year in and year out.

My favorite location and theme on Earthbound has to be winters.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RQ69BOGIjfo

And, of course, "snowman".

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AzlhLX-4AW4[/quote]

All of the music, scenery, characters....anything from Earthbound is excellent. Its such an amazing game.

...this emulation you speak of...it wouldn't happen to be running full speed and feel as if you were playing the actual thing, would it? Because that would be great and convince me to keep my DS.
 
[quote name='GogoTheMimic']Maybe I need to give it another spin but I HATED Earthbound. I tried playing it a few years ago and I just couldn't get in to it. The battle system was awful(it felt like a cross between Mystic Quest and RPG Maker) and the dungeons were boring. *braces for impact*[/quote]

That's because you can't appreciate humor. You are just a JRPG fanboy and can't handle anything other than Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger! You can't handle Earthbound! You don't deserve it! YOU CAN ROT IN HELL FOR ALL I CARE!!

Yes, Earthbound provokes strong feelings.
 
[quote name='Halo05']Um, Earthbound/Mother is a JRPG.[/quote]

I also consider it a JRPG. The only element it lacks from the traditional JRPG is the anime look.
 
The game series tie itself going to the world inside you know vagina mind shadow ( which is the real feature of Earthbound. )

the point is it is practically Dragon Quest with the power of the New kid's on the block with a dash of Michael Jackson. It takes place in present date 1950's , 1990's ' and in the begining/end of time.

search Far East of Eden to understand more.


I have no clue why I said Square
Click to expand...

Your too addicted to FF sydrome.

KingofOldSchool
Click to expand...

Your no KOOS to be asking what Mother is
 
I just bought this game from another CAG for $55 shipped. So far, my neighbor's mom killed my bee. You can see I haven't gone that far yet, but I like it... the quirky music too! :)
 
[quote name='Redie']The game series tie itself going to the world inside you know vagina mind shadow ( which is the real feature of Earthbound. )

the point is it is practically Dragon Quest with the power of the New kid's on the block with a dash of Michael Jackson. It takes place in present date 1950's , 1990's ' and in the begining/end of time.

search Far East of Eden to understand more.




Your too addicted to FF sydrome.



Your no KOOS to be asking what Mother is[/quote]

What the fuck are you talking about?
 
[quote name='Mattte']..this emulation you speak of...it wouldn't happen to be running full speed and feel as if you were playing the actual thing, would it? Because that would be great and convince me to keep my DS.[/quote]

The emulator itself is buggy.. but you know what's funny? The only game that I can get to run close to 100% is Earthbound. It's full speed and feels like I'm playing the actual thing, there's only two bugs with it, both related to graphics. Chrono Trigger and Mario RPG run slow, Mega Man X and X2 run slow, X3 has missing sprites, FF2 and FF3 have missing sprites.. but Earthbound is damn near perfect.

When you walk behind trees, it still shows you as on top of the trees instead of hidden behind the tree like in the normal game. No biggie.

In boss battles, because of the overlay of graphics used (see here), the bosses don't show up on screen. There's an option to mess around with the graphics, and you can get it to where you can see the boss, but all the other colors are distorted. Normal battles are fine. Everything else runs 100%.

If you have more questions about it, please feel free to PM me. I don't think the mods like rom discussions, even if I do legitly own this amazing game.
 
[quote name='Scorch']The emulator itself is buggy.. but you know what's funny? The only game that I can get to run close to 100% is Earthbound. It's full speed and feels like I'm playing the actual thing, there's only two bugs with it, both related to graphics. Chrono Trigger and Mario RPG run slow, Mega Man X and X2 run slow, X3 has missing sprites, FF2 and FF3 have missing sprites.. but Earthbound is damn near perfect.

When you walk behind trees, it still shows you as on top of the trees instead of hidden behind the tree like in the normal game. No biggie.

In boss battles, because of the overlay of graphics used (see here), the bosses don't show up on screen. There's an option to mess around with the graphics, and you can get it to where you can see the boss, but all the other colors are distorted. Normal battles are fine. Everything else runs 100%.

If you have more questions about it, please feel free to PM me. I don't think the mods like rom discussions, even if I do legitly own this amazing game.[/QUOTE] I actually have the cartridge and prefer playing on the emulator cause you can jack up the speed 4x. I remember playing this game and thinking "They walk so damn slow. they fight so damn slow. they talk so damn slow. it's so sloooow!" so now, it's so much better. You can also save at any point which is a plus. cause you will die a lot. so i basically run around and fight monsters at 4x but when a big event comes i lower it back to regular speed to get the whole experience.
 
Ahhhhh such a great game and one of the major reasons I put CFW on my PSP. I will put my life on hiatus when the starmen.net crew finishes up the Mother 3 translation.
 
To hell with translations. Just make it up as you go along. I just say the game was sappose to repeat itself in the end.
 
EarthBound is a JRPG as far as the gameplay, but the gameplay is not what makes it the best game ever. The oddly sincere storytelling of Shigesato Itoi, the bizarrely stylized graphics and music, the dryly self-referential infusion of pop culture, and some of the most loving and creative localization work in video game history are what make it the best game ever. It is, by the way. No argument.

It's more than a game to me, actually. It's... uh... an essay on the realities and fantasies of Americana and modern adult life as seen through the imaginative, incorruptible eyes of a child. In video game form.

When on your way out
Be sure that you say goodbye
Then lock the door tight
 
[quote name='destro713'] Blah blah blah EarthBound is the best RPG in the world blah blah blah I love stomping enemies to the beat of 1950's rythm n' blues blah blah it has commercial and stereotype ideas. Best game evarrrr
[/quote]


There is no fantasy about Americana. It is just like Far East Of Eden Zeriam but you have to use the power of love to save the day. It can also be considered introductory to American life or life in the west while having a good all around story.

There is other games that have the Americana ( made in the USA ) feel to it like Beyond Good And Evil, Dreamfall, System Shock, Alice in Wonder Land, Blade Runner, and other games but Mother is made specific for the Japanese audience.

Your probably still stunged by it when I first played it a couple of times considering the events is realistic and unamazing or well known but after playing
other RPG games the stung will die down.
 
[quote name='Scorch']Earthbound was the main reason I had to get homebrew up and running on my DS. I have the cart of this, but to be able to play it portable is a whole other beast. I'm attempting to play through it again, and I had forgotten how amazing it was. The dialog is great, I love the battle system, and the music.. it's just.. perfect. I don't really know why. FF2, FF3, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger and Illusion of Gaia.. the years pass, the games get shinier and more expensive.. but I keep coming back to these five, year in and year out.
[/quote]

I am the same way, while I love how far gaming has gone, I always love going back to the classics. My favorite are Soul Blazer, Shadowrun, FF2, FF3, Xenogears, Star Ocean Second Story and Bushido Blade 2.

My favorite game of all time is Destiny of an Emperor, I played it when I was eight years old and will always consider it the game that got me into gaming period. It was light years ahead of anything else I've ever played and that includes the original FF which had nothing on it.:cool:
 
Man, I feel dumb. My friend got Destiny of an Emperor and Final Fantasy for his birthday back when he was like 10 and we were utterly stumped by "Destiny". Thankfully we had the NP guide for Final Fantasy.
 
It's not for everyone, truth be told I played it about two hours before I realized you needed to manually equip armor and weapons. Suddenly the hardest game ever became not so frustrating. Questions of "why the hell am I only doing 1 damage" became "take that Yellow Scarves!!"

I never finished the game until years later, but it always stuck with me and brought me into gaming instead of comic books. I've beaten the game at least a dozen times and I'm hoping to get a translated copy of part II on a NES cartridge soon.
 
[quote name='Redie']There is no fantasy about Americana. It is just like Far East Of Eden Zeriam but you have to use the power of love to save the day. It can also be considered introductory to American life or life in the west while having a good all around story.

There is other games that have the Americana ( made in the USA ) feel to it like Beyond Good And Evil, Dreamfall, System Shock, Alice in Wonder Land, Blade Runner, and other games but Mother is made specific for the Japanese audience.

Your probably still stunged by it when I first played it a couple of times considering the events is realistic and unamazing or well known but after playing
other RPG games the stung will die down.[/quote]

Yes, surely the stung will die down soon.

Wait, what?
 
[quote name='Redie']There is no fantasy about Americana. It is just like Far East Of Eden Zeriam but you have to use the power of love to save the day. It can also be considered introductory to American life or life in the west while having a good all around story.

There is other games that have the Americana ( made in the USA ) feel to it like Beyond Good And Evil, Dreamfall, System Shock, Alice in Wonder Land, Blade Runner, and other games but Mother is made specific for the Japanese audience.

Your probably still stunged by it when I first played it a couple of times considering the events is realistic and unamazing or well known but after playing
other RPG games the stung will die down.[/QUOTE]

Uhhh...
 
[quote name='Rodimus']

Due to it's cult following it's one of the more sought after games for the SNES and complete copies could reach up to $100 on ebay. Other games in the series are Mother (NES) & Mother 3 (GBA). Nintendo also released a compilation for the GBA of the first two games called Mother 1+2.[/quote]

Either that's wrong or it has dramatically changed in the last month. Complete copies with Guide (which is the only way it's truly complete) go for $250+ on Ebay. Cart onlys are $100. Go look.
 
The thing about the east is it never changes so these JRPG games allways has a homish feel to them. Our RPG games ( Americana ) and DAD games allways shows our violence, Sound bites, Self Promotion, Cheap Commericial, and not even accurate features of our world on aadvertised basis.

Only few games ever reach such magnitude in our own society and is on a universal scale.

One game I really wish to see a second of is Beyond Good And Evil on the GCN.
On the GCN since many people own a Wii which can play GCN games. No enhancement at all. I vote this game on the year in terms of Americana gaming.
 
All you need to know is that the main enemy Giygas was partly inspired by the time Itoi (the main guy behind Earthbound) accidentally watched the wrong movie in a movie theater and saw a disturbing rape scene as a young child. Wow.

Also the music is great. To me it seems like the music in this game was waaaaay ahead of its time. I could imagine updated versions of it being used in today's games. Check this out if you want to listen to the emulated soundtrack.

Overall, I think Earthbound is a really unique and interesting game to play. I haven't really seen anything else quite like it.
 
HOLY SHIT! I just finished this game! after 13 years I did it! I bought this back when it was in the bargain bin and could never get into it cause I was too young and didn't understand it. Years later I took it out of storage and remember it being kinda cool but they walked too slow for me to play so I sold the cartridge. Now with 4xspeeed emulation I finally beat it and I can't believe how much I missed out on. This game was soooo ahead of it's time. It was an unbelievable game experience and the kudos were well deserved. All I need is phase time distorter so I can go back in time as a robot and stop myself from selling this game.
 
I was too young and didn't understand it
Click to expand...
This is why the game was never realeased in the USA. It is a Japanese game to begin with and compared to our appreciation to the idea of the Evil King and this creature that grew to emense power. People would be like WTF when this came out since most users of RPG games was the DAD bunch who would most likely turn down a Letter Box game ( comic/adventure game ) to begin with. What is even funnier is how the following statments is the exact reason the NES game was never released along with the self promotion of the SNES.

I was too young and didn't understand it
Click to expand...
4xspeeed emulation I finally beat it
Click to expand...
This game was soooo ahead of it's time.
Click to expand...
What is even more funnier is how after 15 or so years some random person on the net in the west said exactly what a Japanese ( most likely a man ) was thinking 20 years ago:whistle2:#

It is like a ripple of the same statments going threw time or those clams in the Little Mermaid who ay the same thing and react the same way. Thank you for proving the wapanese guy in the "2020 future Special" right

tyhtdygdj5.jpg
 
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