EarthBound Beginnings

Mother (Japanese: ＭＯＴＨＥＲ, sometimes rendered in katakana as ) is an RPG released on the Famicom in 1989, developed by Ape Inc. and published by Nintendo. It is somewhat well-known in Japan, spawning two sequels, though neither of them features the same protagonist as Mother.

The game was translated into English by Nintendo of America in 1990 and slated for a 1991 release, but marketing delays prevented the translated game, rebranded as Earth Bound, from ever seeing release. The fan group Demiforce, who had been working on a translation of the game at the time, discovered that a prototype cartridge had been sold to Kenny Brooks, a game collector, and made a deal with him to release a ROM of the game to the public in 1998. The ROM featured minor alterations to get around the copy protections Nintendo had placed on it, as well as the addition of "Zero" to the title screen to differentiate it from its sequel, which had received an English release in 1995. Since then, four other prototypes have been found, one of which resides in Nintendo of America's headquarters.

Plot
'''Note: This summary is based off of the English prototype's plot, as depicted in Clyde Mandelin's fan translation of the GBA re-release, which is meant to better follow the Famicom version in terms of graphics and text, hence the usage of the Famicom version's names. Also note that the game is mostly non-linear, and that the plot follows the intended sequence of events.'''

In the early 1900's, a strange cloud appeared over Holy Loly Mountain. With the cloud's appearance, several people began disappearing and then reappearing, with no recollection of where they had been or what they'd been doing. George, editor-in-chief of the Mother's Day Times set out to investigate this phenomenon with his wife, Maria. However, the day their results were to be published, they mysteriously vanished as well. In reality, they were abducted by a race of aliens capable of psionic powers, abbreviated as PSI. These aliens tasked George and Maria with raising Gyiyg, an alien of great potential. While Maria raised Gyiyg like how a mother would raise her son, George illicitly studied the aliens' PSI and fled back to Earth. He then began to continue researching PSI in seclusion, while Maria was left with the aliens. Though George and Maria were not mistreated while in captivity of the aliens (because they took care of Gyiyg), the aliens sought revenge on George for stealing the secrets of PSI, and subsequently planned to launch an invasion of the planet Earth. When Gyiyg matured, he was tasked with invading Earth and stopping PSI from being used against the aliens, and Gyiyg obeyed reluctantly, conflicted with the fact that Earth was the home of his only family...

The story then fast-forwards to 1988 (198X in the English prototype, for the sake of ambiguity), in the rural American town of Mother's Day. Here, the tale focuses on a 12-year-old American boy named Ninten. His story begins when his home is attacked by a poltergeist, who possesses two lamps and a doll. after exorcising the ghost, Ninten's father calls him, explaining that George, now revealed to be Ninten's great-grandfather, studied PSI. Ninten's father then tasks him with investigating a series of strange phenomena occurring across America, leaving Ninten to go out on his own.

After rescuing and befriending a 7-year-old girl named Pippi from the local cemetery, Ninten is sent to investigate the escaping and sudden hostility of the animals in the local zoo. There, he discovers the phenomena are the work of an invading alien race. Ninten is then warped to the world of Magicant, where the land's ruler, Queen Mary, has recently started to experience horrible nightmares. When she meets Ninten, she asks him to find her song, the Eight Melodies, and play them to her, as she has forgotten the song and desperately needs to remember it. After returning to the real world, Ninten visits an elementary school in Thanksgiving (Merrysville in the prototype) and meets an 11-year-old boy named Lloyd (Loid in the prototype), who is constantly bullied for being a weakling. Ninten befriends Lloyd, and joins Ninten on his adventure to find the Eight Melodies. The two then travel to the town of Snowman to deliver a lost hat to a 12-year-old girl with PSI powers, referred to as Ana, who tells Ninten that she saw him in a dream, and joins the party in hopes of finding her missing mother. The group then continues their investigations in the town of Easter, where all but two of the adults were abducted by a U.F.O. Having learned this, they decide to continue onward and further investigate these coinciding phenomena.

After finding five to six of the melodies (three of which Ninten found in Mother's Day, prior to his first visit to Magicant), Ninten, Ana, and Lloyd wind up in the city of Valentine, where they learn that strange, black clouds have appeared over Holy Loly Mountain. However, during the trio's invesigations, they are harrassed by members of the Black Blood Gang, a powerful street gang who attacks anyone that provokes them. After overcoming these thugs, the trio performs karioke at the Live House. However, their performance is interrupted by the Black Blood Gang's leader, who is angered by the fact that the trio was beating up his lackies. The leader then challenges Ninen (the trio's leader) to a duel, only to quickly realize how powerful of an opponent Ninten is. Swearing defeat, the leader introduces himself as Teddy, and explains that his parents were killed by wild animals on Holy Loly Mountain. Seeking vengance, he joins Ninten's party, replacing Lloyd, who rests up at the live house. Teddy then instructs the group to climb Holy Loly mountain and avenge his parents.

The trio then treks up the mountain, facing numerous formidable foes along their way. Eventually, they rest at a cabin, the only place where they can currently find safety. There, Ana drags Ninten into a secluded room, where the two dance and confess their love for each other. However, Teddy interrupts them, pointing out strange noises coming from outside. When they look out the window to investigate, they are immediately attacked by R7038, an upgraded version of a similar robot encountered earlier on in the game. R7038 brutally devestates the trio, and escapes by tearing a hole through space. Lloyd then arrives in a tank borrowed from a man in the Advent Desert, having hoped to save the trio from the robot. Lloyd then transports the trio back to the cottage, where Teddy is critically damaged (possibly dead in the Famicom version) from the fight. Teddy realizes that one cannot win all battles simply using brute force, and stays in the cottage to heal. Lloyd then rejoins the party in Teddy's stead.

Continuing their trek up Holy Loly Mountain, the trio is sucked into a whirlpool while trying to cross a lake in the center of the mountain path. The whirlpool brings the trio to George's abandoned underground laboratory, where they find a large robot named EVE. EVE explains that she was built with the purpose of protecting Ninten in his time of need, and joins the trio on their adventure. The glass windows in the lab then give way, flooding the lab and whisking the trio (now a quartet, with EVE supporting them) back to dry land. The quartet then continues their trek, learning that EVE is so powerful that she can kill enemies in a single blow. However, she is soon challenged by R7038XX, an upgraded variation of R7038. R7038XX and EVE then duel on the mountain, R7038XX gaining the upper hand. However, as a last resort, EVE self-destructs, destroying R7038XX in the process. The remaining trio then finds a chip in EVE that plays the seventh of the Eight Melodies. They then continue up the mountain until they reach a cliff near the peak, where they find a cave barricaded by several immovable rocks. Along with the cave, they find George's gravesite, where his spirit contacts Ninten and relays to him the final melody. Ninten and co. then head back to Magicant, where they relay the full song back to Queen Mary. Not only does Mary remember the song, but she also remembers that her true identity is Maria, George's wife and Gyiyg's former caretaker from 80 years ago. She explains that she sang the Eight Melodies to Gyiyg as a lullaby, and that she and Gyiyg loved each other very much, akin to a mother and her son. Realizing her true identity, Maria ascends to heaven to join George, as Magicant slowly disappates, as it was only a figment of Maria's imagination...

When Ninten, Ana, and Lloyd return to the real world, they find that the rocks blocking the cavern are gone, allowing them to enter. Inside, they find a room filled with alien pods containing numerous adults, many of whom were abducted from the town of Easter. One adult recognizes Ana from her hat, and explains that her mother is being held in a room in the back. However, it is also explained that it is impossible to free anyone without defeating Gyiyg first. With this in mind, the trio then continues through the cavern and reaches the summit. There, Gyiyg appears in his mothership and attacks the trio, explaining his backstory all the while, and expresses his gratitude for Ninten's family, as Maria raised Gyiyg when he was but a child. While he initially reprimands Ninten for obstructing his plans, Gyiyg offers to spare Ninten's life, should he board the mothership with him. However, Ninten refuses, and an angered Gyiyg then attacks the trio further, stating that they can "fall into a long sleep with the rest of the ugly Earth people". When the trio tries to fight back with force, they are unable to defeat him, no matter how much they attack. However, upon checking the alien, Teddy's realization from before comes into place: Maria's spirit explains that Gyiyg cannot be defeated with brute force, and can only be defeated by the singing of the Eight Melodies. With this in mind, the trio repeatedly tries to sing the Eight Melodies, yet are attacked by Gyiyg, who hopes to silence him to escpae his old conflictions. However, after ten failed attempts, one member of the trio (determined by the player's actions during the battle) manages to sing the entire lullaby. Unable to bear the pain of the memories induced by the melodies, Gyiyg is defeated, and flies back to the cosmos, swearing that he will have his revenge. In the Famicom version, the game ends at this uncertain point, as the characters turn to the player while the credits scroll behind them, leaving the player to assume that all is well again. However, the English prototype and Game Boy Advance re-release add an extended, clarified ending, as shown below:

After Gyiyg's defeat, the adults in the cavern are freed and brought back to their families in Easter, while Ana reunites with her mother and returns to Snowman. The group then parts ways, and each member continues with their own life. Lloyd is given a hero's welcome back in Thanksgiving, and is no longer bullied by his peers. Teddy, now fully recovered, changes his ways and becomes a live performer at the Live House in Valentine. In Snowman, Ana recieves a letter from Ninten, and eagerly hopes to meet him again. Back in Mother's Day, Ninten is greeted by his family, who infer that Ninten must be famished after his long journey. Now that the earth's crisis is finally over, Ninten decides to lay down and go to sleep. This extended ending finishes off with a cast of all the characters who appared in person in the game (minus Gyiyg, standard enemies, and bosses), a new credits sequence, and a post-credits scene: Ninten's father tries to call Ninten, apparently with urgent news, implying that a new problem has arose for investigation...

Playable
Ninten is the protagonist of Mother. He is sent by Queen Mary of Magicant to locate the Eight Melodies. Ninten can use special PSI abilities only him can use like 4th-D Slip and Quick Up. He can also use various baseball bats to attack opponents.

Lloyd is a boy from Merrysville. He joins Ninten's quest to locate the Eight Melodies. Although lacking PSI, Lloyd can attack enemies using various types of guns and explosives.

Ana is a girl from Snowman. Ana joins Ninten to look for her missing mother. She has many powerful PSI powers. Additionally, Ana can use frying pans as weapons.

Teddy is the boss of the Bla-Bla Gang. Teddy joins Ninten to avenge his parents, which were killed at the mountains. He is unable to perform PSI attacks, but can use deadly blades to attack.

Major Characters
Queen Mary, the queen of the mysterious land of magicant. The game is focused on learning her song.

Maria is married with George, but she never returned. She is Ninten great-grandmother.

George is Maria husband, but the only one to return. He is also Ninten great-grandfather.

Laura will sing one of the parts of the melody, after you find her son. The Dragon holds part of the melody. He can be battled in the Magicant Underground later in the game.

Eve is a robot created by george to defend Ninten. It also has the seventh melody.

Gallery



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Trivia

 * Mother was named after the John Lennon song of the same name.
 * Unlike the original release of Mother, the unreleased North American version contained detailed enemy descriptions, some redesigned areas, an ability to run, among other differences. A few of the changes were requested by Nintendo of America producer and script writer Phil Sandhop, who stated that there were plans to release the game with an 80 page instruction manual and a separate release of the game's soundtrack, but the production costs ended up having the game cancelled. Most of the alterations later saw official release in Mother 1+2.