Mother 1+2

Mother 1+2 is a compilation of  and Mother 2 developed by HAL Laboratory and Creatures Inc. (under the name of Ape, Inc.) and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It was released exclusively in Japan on June 20, 2003, with a second re-release on February 2, 2006, with a value selection label on the box art. The game was rumored by Electronic Gaming Monthly to have an international release after its Japanese release, though it has not happened. The games are mostly unaltered versions of the originals, though graphical changes had to be made to fit the Game Boy Advance's small screen size and the sound is not up to par with the originals. Nothing else major has been added or changed, although the Japanese version is more or less a Japanese translation of the English version of EarthBound Beginnings. The game's Japanese slogan is "Kids, grownups, and even young women! All over again!"

Changes
Mother 1+2 went through a few technical changes while being ported to the Game Boy Advance. For instance, the sound in Mother 2 was very different from the original Super Famicom version of the game. Controls also had to be changed in order to match the Game Boy Advances button scheme.

Changes to Mother
The Mother 1+2 version of was more so a translation of the then English prototype of EarthBound Beginnings for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This can be seen through the censorship changes and the addition of the "new" (to Japanese fans) ending that was included in the then-unreleased English version. Moving on the overworld map is also not tile based in this version, allowing more fluid movement similar to EarthBound, and some minor changes, such as the SMAAAASH!! icon using a fixed palette, rather than one which changes depending on the enemy Ninten is currently facing. Unlike in the original Mother, the sing command is only usable in the final battle with Giegue, where, in the original, it can be used in any battle as long as Ninten's party has sung the Eight Melodies to Queen Mary.

The new screen resolution caused text with a dakuten or a handakuten to become a part of the letter font itself, rather than a separate graphic to be placed above the text. The text window was shortened three rows because of this. Additionally, when Ninten's party is entering the lab containing Eve, the screen scrolls slowly downward; a behavior not present in the original.

Changes to Mother 2
Not too many changes were made to Mother 2 other than technical issues with being ported, such as music and controls. The new, smaller screen resolution caused some issues with the HUD, and many of the windows were made smaller, with the cash display window and scrolling-HP windows taking much more noticeable changes. A few bugs, such as the Rock Candy/Condiment glitch and the Shattered Man glitch were fixed, while a new glitch was introduced that allows the player to exit the Cave of the Past by using an Exit mouse in the final room where Giygas resides. After doing this, Ness's party are no longer robots, and appear in the entrance to the dungeon where the mouse was obtained. Doing this, the maps are already prepared for the ending, playing the music used during the prayer sequence. If the player chooses to return to Saturn Valley, they can reenter the Phase Distorter. If this is done, the events proceed mostly as normal; however, the scene in which Dr. Andonuts pulls Ness aside is skipped, instead skipping directly to the sequence in which the party is transformed into robots.

Sleep Mode
At any time while playing Mother 1+2, pressing the Select, L, and R buttons will activate a battery-saving sleep mode feature. This can be canceled by pressing the three buttons again.

Trivia

 * On the game select screen, if the player has completed the Mother 2 side of the game, the text instructing the player to select a game will permanently use the Mr. Saturn font.

Mother 1 + 2