EarthBound (series): Difference between revisions

The series' Japanese title, ''Mother'', was inspired by a song of the same name by {{wp|John Lennon}}. The lyrics of "Mother" deal with Lennon's experience of growing up without a father. EarthBound creator Shigesato Itoi chose this name for his project because his own father was absent through much of his life. This theme is addressed in the first two ''Mother'' games, in which the main protagonist's father is never seen and only makes an appearance as a voice on a telephone. Itoi also felt the title of ''Mother'' was especially fitting as this game series is more feminine than other RPGs. <ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UOLj1-q67U&ab_channel=DidYouKnowGaming%3F EarthBound - Did You Know Gaming? Feat. Chuggaaconroy]. ''YouTube''. Retrieved June 12, 2020.</ref>

The origin of the name "''EarthBound''" came from ''Mother'''s localization team in 1990 when its head, [[Phil Sandhop]], thought of the name "''Earth Bound''" (stylized as ''EARTH BOUND'') while on a bullet train to Kyoto. Beforehand, the team considered using the ''Mother'' moniker for the English localization, even going so far as to trademark the name in America on November of 1989 <ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UOLj1-q67U&ab_channel=DidYouKnowGaming%3F EarthBound - Did You Know Gaming? Feat. Chuggaaconroy]. ''YouTube''. Retrieved June 12, 2020.</ref>, but Phil Sandhop thought that it wouldn't work well as a title for the game in America; after coming up with ''Earth Bound'', the team ultimately decided upon it after the name stuck. <ref>https://vimeo.com/ondemand/mothertoearth</ref> Later on in 1995, the team behind the English translation of ''Mother 2'' decided to carry over the ''Earth Bound'' (now changed to a one-word "''EarthBound''") moniker in their English translation, as the english translation for ''Mother'' was never released in America by Nintendo until 2015 when they released it under the name "''[[EarthBound Beginnings]]''".

[[File:Phil.png|thumb|left|330px|The localization team for ''Mother'' in 1990. The head, [[Phil Sandhop]], is in the middle, along with translator [[Saori Kumi]] on the right.]]

The series was created by an influential Japanese copywriter, actor, and minor television celebrity named [[Shigesato Itoi]], who took part in Nintendo's video game industry in the late 1980s. After forming his own subsidiary [[Ape Inc.]] with then-Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi, he began working on the franchise starting with ''{{vg|Mother}}'', later released internationally as ''[[EarthBound Beginnings]]''. Released in July of 1989, the game took on a different theme opposed to the medieval sword-and-sorcery theme found in most RPG games at the time. Instead, the game was set in modern-day [[America]] with the cast consisting of average children with [[PSI|psychic powers]], using average everyday items such as [[baseball bat]]s and [[frying pan]]s as weapons. ''Mother'' was a commercial success in Japan, and so the game was then planned to be translated and released internationally with the title '''Earth Bound'''. Though the English localization was fully completed in 1990 [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rebecca-Carlson-9/publication/336936912/figure/fig2/AS:820321233944576@1572591231564/A-page-from-the-1990-November-December-issue-19-of-Nintendo-Power.ppm and was scheduled to release in the fall of 1991] <ref>http://www.lostlevels.org/200407/200407-earthbound2.shtml</ref>, it was cancelled for a multitude of reasons, the largest one being the upcoming [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]], which was thought to overshadow the English release of the game. Thus, the game was decided too costly to market and produce (despite all of the packaging materials for the game being finalized and ready for production <ref>https://vimeo.com/ondemand/mothertoearth</ref>) and was indefinitely shelved with no plans for a future release, with a {{wp|Canada}}-only release being briefly considered in 1994. <ref>http://www.lostlevels.org/200407/200407-earthbound2.shtml</ref>

With the success of ''Mother'', Shigesato Itoi began to work on a sequel for the Super Famicom, ''Mother 2''. However, the game endured numerous internal delays, with the game’s total development taking 5 years; at one point, the game faced the prospect of cancellation. However, the project was saved when veteran programmer Satoru Iwata joined the development team, making the ''Mother 2'' project now a joint effort by Ape and [[HAL Laboratory]] (HALKEN at the time), separate studios based at separate locations (employees would regularly have to travel between studios to work). The game was then completed and released in Japan in August 1994. It was then released in North America on June 5th, 1995. While the game was a critical and commercial success in Japan, it received poor reception in America. During the time of ''EarthBound''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s release, the RPG genre was generally unpopular in the west (this eventually changed with the release of ''{{wp|Final Fantasy VII}}''), and the game was criticized by multiple gaming sources and magazines for having simple, cartoonish graphics as opposed to the advanced graphics that were more appealing at the time in games such as ''{{wp|Killer Instinct}}'' and ''{{wp|Chrono Trigger}}''. ''EarthBound''{{'}}s unusual, expensive, off-kilter, and bizarre marketing campaign, "This Game Stinks", is also thought to be one of the leading causes for the game's failure in America, which was styled after the slime-based gross-out humor of the 90s primarily displayed in {{wp|Nickelodeon}} shows such as ''{{wp|The Ren & Stimpy Show}}'' and which many fans felt did not complement the unique and wacky style of the game; gaming magazine ''GamePro'' also received numerous complaints about the ad campaign and its foul-smelling scratch-n'-sniff stickers than any other ad campaign that year alone. ''EarthBound''{{'}}s poor American sales prevented the game from being released in PAL regions.

Despite this, the game began to receive recognition because of Ness, the protagonist of ''EarthBound'', receiving representation in the 1999 [[Nintendo 64]] title ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' and its successors. Because of this, the game began to receive a large following on internet fan sites such as Starmen.Net (originally EarthBound.Net) and EarthBound Central. In addition, a copy of the English version of ''Mother'' was found on {{wp|eBay}} and was eventually dumped online by the hacker group Neo Demiforce in 1998 under the name "EarthBound Zero" (17 years before the game would be officially released by Nintendo as ''EarthBound Beginnings''), bolstering the [[EarthBound fan community|''EarthBound'' fan community]] even further and simultaneously popularizing the concept of preserving unreleased video games with one of the first unreleased first-party "prototype" titles. Retrospectively, ''EarthBound'' became a massive success, with critics calling it not only one of the best RPGs of all time, but also the most original. The game received praise for its quirky humor and its many parodies of American culture. The Wii U Virtual Console release of the game was the first time the game was released in PAL regions, it was one of Nintendo's most popular downloadable games of all time.

However, after the success of the [[Super Smash Bros. (series)|''Super Smash Bros.'' series]], encouragement from fans eventually led to Shigesato Itoi returning to development on ''[[Mother 3]]'' for the [[Game Boy Advance]]. To promote the revival of ''Mother 3'', ''Mother'' and ''Mother 2'' were ported to the Game Boy Advance in June 2003, being the compilation cartridge ''[[Mother 1+2]]'', released only in Japan. The Mother portion featured [[Regional differences in EarthBound Beginnings|all the changes]] that were made in the then-unreleased English prototype of EarthBound Beginnings, while most of Mother 2 remained the same aside from the drop in audio quality due to hardware limitations. A commercial for the game featuring Mr. Saturn ended with the caption "''We're making '''Mother 3''' for the [[Game Boy Advance]] too. Dakota!''". On April 20th, 2006, Mother 3 was finally released in Japan on the Game Boy Advance, featuring the same story, characters, and settings as its Nintendo 64 counterpart. The Game Boy Advance version returned to the 2D pixelated art style that was used in the previous games. ''Mother 3'' received strong critical acclaim in Japan with praise to the rhythm-based RPG combat, but more so on the storyline and tragic events that were rarely seen in its predecessors.

With ''Mother 3'' finally complete, Shigesato Itoi decided that ''Mother 3'' was the official conclusion of the series, and has stated he has no plans in creating a fourth ''Mother'' installment in the future.

The gameplay of the series involves the player traveling through an overworld screen. They can travel in any direction, provided the path isn't blocked, and will be challenged by enemies, most of which will move toward the player. A new screen appears in fight, with there being many options. Also listed is the amount of HP the character has left. If they beat the enemy, the fight will end and the game will return to the overworld screen.

|Also known as ''{{vg|Mother}}'', ''[[EarthBound Beginnings]]'' is the first game to be released in the ''EarthBound'' series. It follows the adventures of [[Ninten]], [[Lloyd]], [[Ana]], and [[Teddy]] trying to find the [[Eight Melodies]]. It was released in Japan on July 27, 1989. It was released via the Virtual Console on the Wii U on June 14, 2015.

|Also known as ''Mother 2'', ''[[EarthBound]]'' is the sequel to Mother in which [[Ness]], [[Paula]], [[Jeff]] and [[Poo]] team up to defeat [[Giygas]] and save the world. It was released on August 27th, 1994 in Japan, it is also the only game to be released outside of Japan, being released in North America on June 2nd, 1995. It was released on July 18, 2013 on the Virtual Console for the Wii U.

|The final game in the ''Mother'' series, ''[[Mother 3]]'' follows the adventures of another group of heroes as they attempt to save the world from a strange [[Pigmask Army|pig-themed army]]. It was released on April 20, 2006 in Japan, however, it was never released anywhere else. Despite its Japan-only release, a fan translation was created. Since Mother 3's release, it has seen a very strong fan effort to try to get the game released outside of Japan. It was re-released on December 17, 2015 on the Virtual Console for the Wii U.

|''Mother 1+2'' is a port of ''Mother'' and ''EarthBound'' on the Game Boy Advance, containing various tweaks to audio and graphics to suit the Game Boy Advance's style. It was released in Japan on June 20th, 2003 to hype players for the release of ''Mother 3''. It was never released outside of Japan, likely due to the original ''Mother'' being unreleased outside of Japan at the time.

*The first two games in the ''Mother'' franchise have paper clay models of the main protagonists, some side characters (only for ''Mother 2''), and most of the main enemy roster for each respective game.