EARTHBOUNDThis series stinks!Genres: Role-playing video games
Developers: APE Inc., Brownie Brown, HAL Laboratories, Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Creator: Shigesato Itoi
EarthBound, known in Japan as Mother, is a role-playing video game series created by Shigesato Itoi for Nintendo. The series started in 1989 with the Japan-only release of Mother (planned to be released in North America as "Earth Bound") for the Famicom, and was then followed up by a sequel, released in North America as EarthBound for the Super NES in 1995, and followed up again 12 years later with the Japan only release of Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance in 2006. Itoi stated in an interview that the name "Mother" was greatly influenced by the John Lennon song "Mother".
In stark contrast to the sword-and-sorcery settings of many Japanese role-playing games, the EarthBound series takes place in more modern USA-esque settings, although their stories are told from a Japanese perspective. Mother is set in suburban USA, EarthBound is set in Eagleland (an allusion to the United States), and Mother 3 is set on the Nowhere Islands (with some Western overtones). Enemies can be a variety of quirky and strange people, creatures and inanimate objects, such as aliens, possessed guitars, or evil hippies. Weapons include unconventional household items, from yo-yos to frying pans, with swords being rarely used. The series became extremely popular in Japan and is lauded as a cult hit internationally. Merchandise for the game was produced, including shirts, handbooks, and even a fully orchestrated, arranged soundtrack.
Mother
Mother (マザー Mazā?) is a role-playing video game developed by Nintendo Tokyo Research and Development Products in cooperation with Ape. The game was published for the Family Computer (Famicom) video game console. It was designed and directed by Shigesato Itoi and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, with music by Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka. It is the first game in the Mother video game series (otherwise known as the EarthBound series), and was never released outside of Japan. In 2003, the game was re-released in Japan as a compilation with its sequel EarthBound as Mother 1+2, containing the changes found in the unreleased English prototype. The game's taglines are "No crying until the ending" and "Guaranteed Masterpiece".
Mother tells the story of a psychic boy from Mother's Day (Podunk in the English Prototype), a fictional town. The boy, whose default name is Ninten, sets out on a journey to discover the cause of the mysterious phenomenon that occurred in his home one day. As the story develops, he meets friends along the way, and they fight their way to the source of all their troubles. At the time, most role-playing games took place in similar overall settings; worlds modeled after the Middle Ages and focusing on swords and magic, with very few exceptions (among them Square's Tom Sawyer). Mother takes place during a more modern time (1980s) in the United States and has equipment like baseball bats instead of swords and psychic powers (PK/PSI) instead of magic.
Mother was scheduled to be released in North America as Earth Bound in the fall of 1991, but marketing delayed and eventually removed the game from the release schedule, putting it on indefinite hold. The game was again considered for release in 1994, shortly before the release of its sequel, Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushū. However, it was decided to pass on the release of Earth Bound and to localize Mother 2 under the title EarthBound. An official localization prototype of this "Earth Bound" made its way to the internet via a fan-translation group, Demiforce. The ROM binary data from the prototype was extracted and circulated under the original title and as "EarthBound Zero" on January 15th, 1998.
EarthBound
EarthBound, originally released as Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushū (MOTHER2 ギーグの逆襲 Mazā Tsū: Gīgu no Gyakushū?) in Japan, is a role-playing video game co-developed by Ape and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. Both releases have semi-alternate titles identified in the game's attract demo: "EarthBound: The War Against Giygas!" for EarthBound and "Mother 2: Gyiyg Strikes Back!" for Mother 2. It was designed by Shigesato Itoi, who also developed its predecessor, the Japan-exclusive Mother. EarthBound was released in Japan on August 27, 1994, and in North America on June 5, 1995 as a stand-alone title. Despite the poor sales figures, the game has been lauded by gamers for its humorous depictions of American culture and parody of the role-playing video game genre, and has since become a cult classic.
A sequel to EarthBound for the Nintendo 64DD, titled EarthBound 64, was in development for many years before finally being canceled. This project eventually resurfaced as a Game Boy Advance title called Mother 3 and was released only in Japan. Like Mother, Mother 3 has only a loose connection to EarthBound, starring new characters, though it does include several returning characters. A collection of Mother and EarthBound was released in Japan under the title Mother 1 + 2.
Mother 3
Mother 3 is a 2006 role-playing video game developed by Nintendo, Brownie Brown and HAL Laboratory and published for the Game Boy Advance handheld game console. The game has only been released in Japan, though it has a cult following among English-speakers. It was written by Shigesato Itoi, the creator of the series, and directed by Nobuyuki Inoue. The music was composed by Shogo Sakai. While Mother 3 is the sequel to EarthBound and is the third game in the series, the story focuses on a new, unrelated cast of characters.
Mother 3 is set on the "Nowhere Islands", a series of sparsely inhabited islands on Earth. The game switches perspectives between the main characters, who are all people (or animals) who live on the islands. The game focuses on twins named Lucas and Claus, their family, and the friends who join them to fight against the mysterious Pigmask Army. The game's story is a tragedy: its main themes involve coping with the loss of family members and the perils of consumerism. The game also has many comedic elements, such as parody of other video games. The game was advertised as "funny, strange, [and] heartrending".
Mother 3 had a very long development cycle: it began development in 1994 as a Super Famicom title, but development transitioned to the Nintendo 64DD, then to the Nintendo 64, and finally to the Game Boy Advance. Although Nintendo of America has not announced plans to localize Mother 3, a fan translation group has released a patch to translate the game into English. According to Itoi there are no plans to create a fourth Mother game, and has announced not to create another installment. However, he may continue making other games besides Mother.
Mother 1+2Mother 1 + 2 (MOTHER 1+2 Mazā Wan Tsū?) is a port release of Mother and EarthBound (Mother 2 in Japan) of the EarthBound series for the Game Boy Advance. Released exclusively in Japan on June 20, 2003, by Nintendo, a bonus cell-phone strap of Mr. Saturn was included for pre-ordered packages of the game. Though the strap was originally intended only for those who had pre-ordered the game, its popularity caused it to be sold briefly on amazon.co.jp. A cost-reduced version of the game was later released for around 2,600 yen, which was packaged with a Club Nintendo serial card. It was re-released as one of the Value Selection games on February 2, 2006.
Mother 4What?! There's a Mother 4?!
Yes. Well, soon.
Mother 4 is a fan-made game in development. It's being developed by Azure Studios, going to have similar Mother elements, and is going to be a stand-alone computer application, not a ROM.
Learn more about it
here.RESOURCES:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EarthBoundhttp://starmen.net/http://earthbound.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
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