EarthBound


 * For the series as a whole, see Mother (series).

EarthBound (Japanese: ＭＯＴＨＥＲ２ ～ギーグの逆襲～ Mother 2: Strikes Back, occasionally rendered as マザー２) is an RPG released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995; it was developed by Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. It is a sequel to the original, which did not see an official English release; rather than featuring the protagonists who appeared in Mother, EarthBound features a different set.

Meteor crash
The story of EarthBound starts with a young boy named Ness from the city of Onett, who wakes up late one night when a meteor lands in the nearby hills. He immediately sets off to investigate, but upon reaching the site, he finds the police have already closed the area off and is told to turn back and come later. Later that night, Ness is woken by his neighbor, Pokey, who requests Ness' help in finding his brother, Picky. They find Picky near the meteor, but as they are about to leave, a small bee flies out of the meteor. The bee introduces himself as Buzz Buzz, and tells Ness that he comes from a future where an evil alien named Giygas has destroyed the world. He also speaks of a prophecy that states that three boys and one girl are the key to defeating Giygas before this future can come about. Buzz Buzz tells Ness that he believes Ness is one of the three boys and decides to journey with him in his quest to save the world. After Buzz Buzz joins Ness, the group heads back so Picky and Pokey can get home. Shortly before they arrive, they are accosted by an alien known as the Starman Junior, who states that he was sent back in time by Giygas to prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled. A fight ensues, but the Starman Junior is powerless against Buzz Buzz, who protects the others with PSI Shield while completely overpowering their opponent. After the group emerges victorious, Picky and Pokey finally manage to get home, where they are promptly grounded. As Ness prepares to leave, Pokey's mother notices Buzz Buzz and, mistaking him for a dung beetle, swats him. Mortally injured, Buzz Buzz gives Ness the Sound Stone and tells him to use it at each of the eight sanctuaries; doing so will allow Ness to use the power of the entire world in his battle against Giygas. After passing on his final instructions, Buzz Buzz dies; Ness then returns home, tells his mother about his adventure, and takes off. Ness shortly finds himself in downtown Onett, which is currently being terrorized by a gang known as The Sharks. As the path to Giant Step, the first of the eight sanctuaries, is closed off, Ness decides to help the citizens with their gang problems. He fights and defeats the Sharks, including their leader, Frank, and his pet robot, the Frankystein Mark II. After saving the town, Mayor Pirkle allows him to go to Giant Step as thanks. Along the way, Ness battles and defeats the Titanic Ant, the first of the eight sanctuary guardians that will stand in his way. Finally, Ness reaches the first sanctuary and records the first piece of the melody.

A companion
After he leaves the Giant Step, he is stopped by cops. The cops attempt to kill him, though he beats all but one, which chickens out. He then defeats Captain Strong, who takes the place of that cop. Strong then opens up the path to Twoson for Ness. In the town, he goes through the rummage sale, and meets (and fights) Everdred. He then stops by Polestar Preschool, and finds the parents of a girl named Paula. They say that she was supposed to meet with him, receiving a dream saying something about a boy named Ness. She's gone, and Ness goes to the hotel to rest. She contacts him in a dream, asking for help. The only clue Ness is giving is water running in the distance. To find her, Ness goes east through a small cave into Peaceful Rest Valley. He then explores more, and goes through another cave. At the end is a happy place, known as Happy Happy Village. Many cultists chase Ness and he meets Mr. Carpainter and pays $50 to stay in the village and convert of Happy-Happyism. He then goes out of the cave he went through earlier, goes into a house, and sees Paula locked up. He tries to open the door, but learns that Mr. Carpainter has locked it. To help defeat Carpainter, Paula gives Ness a Franklin Badge. Ness exits the house, and sees cultists and Pokey, who was made an important person in Happy-Happyism. Being who he is, he makes the cultists and a crow fight Ness. Ness beats them, and Pokey runs away. He then faces many more cultists, and eventually Carpainter himself. To apologize, Carpainter gives Ness the key to release Paula. When he exits, he sees only 3 of the thousands of the cultists remaining, and then Pokey too. Pokey apologizes to Ness, but it was a lie. Ness then frees Paula, and she joins him to save the land. The duo then go into Lilliput Steps, and take it back from Mondo Mole.

Zombie town
The duo then go back to Twoson, and go to the Chaos Theater. They find the Runaway Five here, who want to leave but can't due to having a debt to Poochyfud. Ness pays the debt, and to thank Ness and Paula, the band takes them to Threed. At Threed, Ness and Paula save the town from zombies. Soon, the duo reach Milky Well, the third sanctuary.

A second new companion
Soon, a boy named Jeff Andonuts goes on a journy from Winters to join Ness and Paula.

Playable
Ness is the protagonist of EarthBound. A boy from the town of Onett, Ness uses his psychic abilities to perform PSI Flash and PSI Rockin' attacks. In addition to PSI, Ness uses various Baseball bats as weapons.

Paula is a girl from Twoson. She is able to perform PSI Freeze, PSI Fire, and PSI Thunder attacks; she can also use a special ability known as Pray, which creates random effects in battle. Paula uses various Frying pans as weapons.

Jeff is a boy from Winters. He is unable to perform PSI attacks -- instead, he relies on his high IQ to help the team. He can also Spy on an enemy to learn about its stats. Jeff is able to repair certain items that would otherwise be unusable and then use them in battle. To attack, he uses various types of Guns. He is the son of the famous scientist Dr. Andonuts.

Poo, the prince of Dalaam, is the oldest member of the team and a martial arts master. He is able to perform PSI Freeze, PSI Thunder, and PSI Starstorm, and he can also use his Mirror ability to transform into an enemy during battle. Poo specializes in a sword known as the Sword of Kings.

Trivia

 * The ESRB, the American rating system for video games, rated EarthBound for the Virtual Console. This rating, however, was a mistake and there are no announcements from Nintendo regarding the VC status of EarthBound.
 * EarthBound is somewhat infamous because of Nintendo's odd marketing campaign, which included the tagline "This game stinks!" (a reference to the included scratch-and-sniff cards). This may even have contributed to its lack of success in America.
 * All of the game's areas are connected to each other. Using a glitch to walk through otherwise impassable objects and off the map, players can literally walk to Giygas's lair in the Cave of the Past.

Gallery

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