EarthBound Beginnings

Mother (Japanese: ＭＯＴＨＥＲ, sometimes rendered in katakana as マザー) 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.

Plot
Mother begins by telling the story of a young married couple named George and Maria who disappeared in the early 20th century. The game starts 80 years later in 1988 in the town of Podunk. A 12 year-old boy named Ninten experiences a poltergeist in his home, taking control of inanimate objects and attacking him and his sisters. After getting rid of the poltergeist, Ninten's father calls and tells him that his great grandfather studied PSI. Ninten decides to go out and solve the mystery of the poltergeists invading homes in Podunk.

Eventually he finds a strange rock formation in a cave just outside his hometown. Using his power of Telepathy, he is warped to a mystical place called Magicant, where seashells are homes and people wear strange attire. After exploring a bit he finds a castle. Inside he meets the queen of Magicant, Mary. She asks him to find the Eight Melodies hidden throughout the land. Ninten finds his way out of Magicant through Crystal Cavern and begins his search.

Playable
Ninten is the protagonist of Mother. He is sent by Queen Mary of Magicant to locate the Eight Melodies. Ninten uses PSI abilities and 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 powerful PSI powers. Additionally, Ana can use frying pans as weapons.

Teddy is a member of the Bla-Bla Gang. Teddy joins Ninten to avenge his parents. He is unable to perform PSI attacks. Teddy is able to attack using various swords and knives.

Trivia

 * Mother was named after the John Lennon song of the same name.