Mother 2: Gîgu no gyakushuu

All in all, Earthbound is a high-quality game. Okay, so the graphics weren't mindblowing. I didn't find a problem with them in the numerous times I played it. Some of the enemies are done pretty well. The game storyline is also quite extensive, traveling all over the "world" to 8 important sites. Good characters and some interesting tangents (Moonside, Ness's Mind. . .) make the game even more interesting. My main two gripes: The item storage is extremely limiting, compared to other RPG's, and going through the pyramind/the desert/dungeon man is tiresome. But that doesn't make it uplayable, so I'm going to get up, erase some erasers, and kick some alien butt.

I first got Earthbound in 2016. I got a Wii U. And I wanted games. So I was scrolling through the EShop and found Earthbound Beginnings (Mother, Earthbound Zero) and Earthbound (Mother 2). What I didn't know was that the game was a huge frickin Cult Classic. This game holds a special place in my heart. And I want an animated series and 3D Reboot.

At first glance, 1995's Mother 2/Earthbound might seem like a childish game that wouldn't keep a more seasoned gamer occupied. But if someone was brave enough to pay 20$ for a brand new, discounted copy of this game around the time that the 4th generation of video game consoles were fading out, they would've bought a cult classic...and a profitable product - Original, good condition copies of this game top $200 in value in online auctions.

Set in the '90s, Earthbound is the story of a young boy named Ness, who is gifted with Psi powers and is thrust into a quest in the middle of Eagleland (A fictional take on the U.S.A.) to save the world from the evil Giygas.

First of all, This game is loaded with cultural references to a lot of things, from Religion to the Beatles. It rejects Swords in favor of Baseball Bats as weapons, and rejects Potions in favor of Hamburgers for regenerating health. It requires a mind abundant with thought about what to do, but a sense of humor that can determine what is funny and what isn't. And there is lots in the game to laugh at. From the "Parents Opposing Obsession Plan" to the guy who wants to make "Pretty girl paper" and then eating the cake in summers, and finally, fighting master belch, a big pile of barf.

But to look at the game from a different perspective, When you were a child, you would've seen lots of things that didn't make sense that you would see again as an adult, that finally did. This game is a take on that. You are playing as Ness, who is seeing the world for the first time and since he is a child, most of it doesn't make sense at all. This is particularly evident in "Happy-Happy Village" in which all of the members want to paint the world blue. As the player, you realize that part of the game represents a cult that has a goal that seems sensible. But to a child, It looks like a bunch of morons who want to waste their time doing a pointless task.

Thankfully, Nintendo made this game available for $10 on their eShop on the Wii U. That's definitely the best legal option to play this classic...or you could do it the way everyone's been playing SNES games for the last 15 years or so by downloading it for free and playing it on an Emulator.

Either way, go play it. It's definitely worth a few days of your time.

Awsome Awsome GREAT Game. Too great for words. The best part is the story line and the way it moves along smoothly, giving suspense, mystery, comedy, and action all at once. All those so-called gamers that HAVEN'T played it and say it's stupid have no right to call themselves game players. Not violent and graphic, yet not supporting child like graphics, it keeps the flow. I don't know why this didn't become so popular. It was a major hit in Japan. Probably because they are more open minded and don't judge things before they see or get to know them like we have a tendancy to do. (No offense to all who are reading)

Earthbound, AKA Mother 2, proves that you don't need great graphics to have a great game. (Although the backgrounds in the fight scenes look pretty cool...) The game is very fun, and has a lot of ORIGINAL humor, which is definitely a plus in my book. And in the English version, they even kept the characters' original names. Well, King the dog was originally "Chibi," but oh well. In Earthbound, you'll face off against lots of goofy bosses, like a pile of barf named Master Belch, and a giant mushroom called... well, "Shrooom!" There are also characters like the chubby inventor, Apple Kid, or the blues band called the Runaway Five. Or how about enemies like evil hippies or demonic petunias?

This game didn't sell well when it first came out, because people cared more about graphics, and avoided the game because of how it LOOKED. If you can find this game on EBay or your local pawn shop, get it. You'll be glad you did. Oh, and be sure to get the Player's Guide, which was packaged with Earthbound, because it's very helpful, and has a lot of funny reading material in it, plus Earthbound scratch-n-sniff cards!