EarthBound Beginnings

EarthBound Beginnings (Japanese: ' Mother, stylized as ＭＯＴＨＥＲ'), is a 1989 roleplaying video game originally released on the Famicom. It was developed by Ape Inc. and was published by Nintendo, and is the first game in the EarthBound trilogy. Originally created by Japanese copywriter Shigesato Itoi, EarthBound Beginnings follows the travels of four children — Ninten, Lloyd, Ana, and Teddy — and their attempts to stop an intergalatic alien's invasion of Earth. Gameplay takes place within an overworld consisting of Americana themes and tropes, where random encounters trigger turn-based battles with menu interfaces.

Mother was released to positive reception and commercial success in Japan, although some noted its difficulty. In 1990, Nintendo of America commenced and completed localization of the game under the name Earth Bound. However, the release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and other difficulties resulted in the game not being released for the NES. Prototype cartridges of the localized version were discovered and uploaded to the Internet in 1998. Mother would later be succeeded by Mother 2 and Mother 3, of which only Mother 2 would be released internationally as EarthBound. Mother was later part of the Game Boy Advance compilation Mother 1+2, and would finally be released in North America on the Wii U Virtual Console as EarthBound Beginnings, following the original prototype version.

Plot
During the 1920s, a cloud forms over a small American town, during which a couple, George and Maria, are abducted. Years later, George quietly returns, and begins a study of powers called PSI.

In the year 198X, Ninten, a young boy north of the city of Podunk, has his house wracked by a doll, which holds a tune that he memorizes. His father calls and instructs him to go on an adventure to realize his PSI skills. In the town, he rescues Pippi, a girl missing in the graveyard, and calms the Zoo, where animals had gone crazy due to the influence of a cosmic Starman. Heading east, Ninten comes across an entryway to Magicant—a mystical world ruled by Queen Mary. She explains the importance of finding eight melodies to complete a song. Returning to the normal world, Ninten finds a boy named Lloyd, who joins Ninten's party. They head to the wintry town of Snowman, where a psychic girl named Ana joins the party. The children find the melodies along canaries, haunted houses, a talking cactus, and dragons beneath Magicant.

Ninten, Lloyd, and Ana arrive in Ellay. The leader of the Bla-Bla Gang, Teddy, attacks the group, but soon becomes amiable after losing to Ninten. At the base of the nearby Mt. Itoi, Ninten and Ana profess their love. A large robot attacks their cabin, and the party is saved by Lloyd. Teddy is severely injured. The party continues to climb Mt. Itoi, and meet George's benevolent robot, EVE. Their quick ascent ends after EVE sacrifices herself to defeat a large robot. After learning the final melody at the summit of the mountain, the party is teleported to Magicant. Queen Mary, recalling the Melodies, tells the party of her adopted young alien child named Giygas, and reveals herself as Maria. Magicant, a result of her own conscience, disappears, along with Maria herself, leaving the children to face the alien threat at the peak.

At the top, Giygas reveals himself, telling how George stole the ability of PSI, unknowingly "betraying his people". Giygas attempts to unleash an attack on the party, but the children sing the Eight Melodies to him. Giygas, recalling Maria and her motherly love, is overwhelmed in emotion, and departs from the Earth. Lloyd, Ana, and Teddy return to their normal lives, while Ninten returns home. His father calls, and while waiting for Ninten to answer, states that "something has come up".

Characters

 * Ninten is the game's protagonist. A young boy from the town of Podunk, he is sent by Queen Mary of Magicant to locate the Eight Melodies. Ninten can use special PSI abilities like 4th-D Slip and Quick Up. He can also use various baseball bats to attack opponents.
 * Lloyd is a weak and nerdy boy from Merrysville. 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 possesses many powerful offensive PSI abilities. Additionally, Ana can use frying pans as weapons.
 * Teddy is the boss of the Bla-Bla Gang. Teddy joins Ninten to avenge his murdered parents. Although he lacks PSI, Teddy excels in physical combat, especially with blades.
 * Maria is Ninten's grandmother. She and her husband were abducted by aliens in the 1900s. Her consciousness appears in Magicant, where she rules as Queen Mary.
 * George is Ninten's grandfather. While abducted by aliens, he studied and stole the knowledge of PSI.
 * EVE is a robot created by George to defend Ninten. Residing at the base of Mt. Itoi, EVE possess the seventh melody.
 * Giygas is an vengeful alien that was sent to retrieve the information of PSI. He is the main antagonist of the game.

Gameplay
The game utilizes random encounters, similar to other early RPGs, such as the Final Fantasy series. When Ninten takes a certain number of steps, the screen will transition to the battle screen, displaying a random enemy. In battle, Ninten must defeat the enemy simply by attacking or using PSI, short for Psionics. Additionally, Ninten has the option to run if the enemy is too powerful to fight. If Ninten defeats the enemy, he and any members in his party will gain EXP. Once Ninten gains a certain amount of EXP, his level increases, allowing for greater stats and new PSI powers. A high level is mandatory to finish the game, as the enemies progressively get more and more powerful as Ninten progresses.

Status ailments
Status ailments are conditions that hinder the player or an enemy in battle. They can usually be cured with certain items.
 * Asleep - renders the player unable to do anything.
 * Asthema - renders the player unable to attack. This ailment is exclusive to Ninten.
 * Blindness - decreases the accuracy of an attack.
 * Bound - similar to paralysis, can only be afflicted with a rope.
 * Cold - causes the player to lose 1 HP for every 8 steps in the overworld.
 * Confusion - confuses the player, making them able to attack anyone, even those in their party.
 * Faint - occurs when the player's HP reaches zero. The player gains a Game Over if their entire party has this ailment.
 * Paralysis - renders the player unable to do anything.
 * Poison - same as Cold.
 * PSI Block - renders the player unable to use PSI
 * Puzzled - causes the player to daydream.
 * Stone - renders the player unable to do anything.

Statistics

 * HP (Short for "Heart Points") - Shows the amount of damage Ninten can withstand. Any healing item replenishes this.
 * PP (Short for "Psychic Points") - Shows how much PSI Ninten can use.
 * Offense - Shows the maximum amount of damage Ninten can deal with a normal attack.
 * Defense - Shows how much damage Ninten can resist from an enemy attack.
 * Speed - Determines how fast Ninten can attack. If he has the greater speed, he attacks first.
 * Strength - Determines how much HP is gained when a character levels up.
 * Fight - Determines the likelihood of an attack being successful, as well as the likelihood of it being a hit.
 * Wisdom - Shows how likely a status ailment can be inflicted on an enemy.
 * Force - Determines how much PP is gained when a character levels up.

Release
Mother was originally released in Japan for the Famicom in 1989.

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, to be titled Earth Bound in English, from ever seeing release. The fan group Demiforce, who had been working on their own 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 released ROM featured minor alterations from the prototype cartridge 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 cartridges with the prototype have been found, one of which resides in Nintendo of America's headquarters.

Unlike the original Japanese release of Mother, the prototype English translation contains detailed enemy descriptions, some redesigned areas, and an ability to run, among other differences. A few of the changes were requested by Nintendo of America producer and scriptwriter 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.

On June 14, 2015, Nintendo announced and released Mother for Wii U Virtual Console, in Japanese as well as its first ever English release, under the title EarthBound Beginnings. While the English version is the same as the unreleased English prototype, the Japanese version had several changes from Mother 1+2 backported to it. Notably, the Crow's cigarette was removed and a line in Twinkle Elementary School that mentioning Dragon Quest 4 had the reference to that game removed.

Reception
Mother was a commercial success in Japan, receiving the "Silver Hall of Fame" score of 31/40 from Weekly Famitsu. According to a Famitsu poll, it was considered the 9th best Famicom game and the 38th best game of all time. EarthBound Beginnings also received strong positive reception in the west, similar to its successor. It was one of the most bought NES game on the Wii U Virtual Console during its lifespan, and was the only NES game with a 5 star rating during the first few months of the release. Critics praised its originality, music, and artstyle, while saying how it "parodies" other more "serious" RPG games such as the Dragon Quest series.

Balance issues
However, the game has recieved criticism, one of the most noted is the balancing problems. Many parts of the game give the enemies a sudden increase in difficulty (most infamously Mt. Itoi) which causes many players to go through long periods of level grinding in order to progress, other complaints also include the random encounter rate. Nevertheless, EarthBound Beginnings remains one of the most popular downloadable games on the virtual console behind its successor.

Gallery
For the subject's image gallery, see Gallery:EarthBound Beginnings

Trivia

 * Mother was named after the John Lennon song of the same name.
 * It took 26 years for Mother to get an English release, making it only the second game in the series to be released outside of Japan.
 * Prior to its official English release, the game was commonly called Earthbound Zero.