EarthBound (series): Difference between revisions

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 as 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 September of 1990<ref name="lostlevels">http://www.lostlevels.org/200407/200407-earthbound2.shtml</ref> and was scheduled to release in the Fall of 1991,<ref>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</ref> it was canceled 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 name="mother2earth" /> and was indefinitely shelved with no plans for a future release, with a dual U.S. and Canadian release being briefly considered in 1994.<ref name="lostlevels" /> On June 15th, 2015, the game was released for the first time internationally to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series in North America, with the game being given the official title ''EarthBound Beginnings''. Similar to Japan, the game received positive reception, with critics praising the game's originality, story, and music. However, the game did receive criticism for its difficulty and balance issues, especially the difficulty at [[Mt. Itoi]] and the game’s high random enemy-encounter rate.

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. ''Mother 2'' was then localized and released in North America on June 5th, 1995 as ''EarthBound''. 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 more than any other ad campaign that year alone. ''EarthBound''{{'}}s poor American sales prevented the game from being released in PAL regions.

After the release of ''Mother 2'', Itoi began on a sequel to the game, ''Mother 3'' (named ''[[EarthBound 64]]'' by western fans, and ''Mother 64'' by Eastern fans). The subtitle used in the Japanese game was changed several times during development, with the first being ''Forest of the Chimera'' (森のキマイラ), but the most common (and last) one being ''Fall of the Pig King''. Initially developed for the Super Famicom (and planned for its [[Super NES CD-ROM|CD-ROM add-on]] before it was canceled), development was halfway completed before moving to the [[64DD]] disk drive add-on for the [[Nintendo 64]], where it was planned to utilize the add-on’s advanced capabilities; it was also planned to be a launch title for the add-on in {{wp|Japan}}. When the disk drive's repeated delays made its future as a viable commercial accomplishment uncertain, the development moved to the N64 console with its cartridge-based format. ''EarthBound 64'' featured 3D graphics as opposed to the 2D art style from the previous 2 games. However, the development team faced many difficulties, forcing the game to have numerous delays across the years of the N64 lifespan. One of the biggest difficulties was how Itoi and his team were inexperienced with developing 3D video games, which was eventually alleviated with outside help and the assistance of the team which worked on HAL's ''{{bp|Pokémon Stadium}}''. While development was steadily progressing along at a healthy pace, with a fully playable demo even appearing at {{wp|Space World}} 1999, further developmental progress would have meant taking away much-needed resources from Nintendo's upcoming console, the [[Nintendo GameCube]]. Additionally, the team also struggled with reducing the scope of the game to fit the Nintendo 64's hardware limitations, with Itoi considering reducing entire sections of the game’s story into a series of images and music. After more delays, the 30-60% game was officially canceled on August 22nd, 2000, with Itoi citing that he did not want to make anything other than "something truly special" in addition to the project becoming too complex with its interest in 3D graphics.

''Mother 3'' remained exclusive to Japan without an official localization, making it the only installment in the series without an official English release to this day. Despite this, the fan website Starmen.Net created a [[Mother 3 fan translation|fan translation]] led by Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin, which released on October 17th, 2008 along with a full-color, lavishly illustrated 272-page Handbook to accompany the translation in the vein of the [[EarthBound Player's Guide|''EarthBound'' Player’s Guide]]. The fan translation received strong positive reception from fans, receiving 100,000 downloads within the first week of its release.  ''Mother 3'' received strong critical acclaim in the west with praise to the rhythm-based RPG combat, but more so on the storyline and tragic events that were rarely seen in its predecessors.