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Difference between revisions of "EarthBound (series)"
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The '''''EarthBound''''' series, also known as the '''''Mother''''' series in Japan ('''マザー''' ''MOTHER''), is a series of role-playing video games published by [[Nintendo]]. There are three games in the series. ''[[Mother (video game)|EarthBound Beginnings]]'', ''[[EarthBound]]'', and ''[[Mother 3]]'' have been released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Game Boy Advance respectively. Only Mother 3 has been released exclusively in Japan. ''Beginnings'' was released in Japan in 1989, and was re-released in the west on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2015. ''[[EarthBound]]'' was released in North America in 1994, and re-released on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2013. ''[[Mother 3]]'' was released in Japan in 2006, and has yet to gain a western release. Characters, music, weapons, and locations from the series also appeared in the Super Smash Bros. series, with Ness and Lucas being playable characters. | The '''''EarthBound''''' series, also known as the '''''Mother''''' series in Japan ('''マザー''' ''MOTHER''), is a series of role-playing video games published by [[Nintendo]]. There are three games in the series. ''[[Mother (video game)|EarthBound Beginnings]]'', ''[[EarthBound]]'', and ''[[Mother 3]]'' have been released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Game Boy Advance respectively. Only Mother 3 has been released exclusively in Japan. ''Beginnings'' was released in Japan in 1989, and was re-released in the west on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2015. ''[[EarthBound]]'' was released in North America in 1994, and re-released on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2013. ''[[Mother 3]]'' was released in Japan in 2006, and has yet to gain a western release. Characters, music, weapons, and locations from the series also appeared in the Super Smash Bros. series, with Ness and Lucas being playable characters. | ||
==Franchise history== | ==Franchise history== | ||
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'''. It was scheduled to release in 1991, however it was cancelled because the upcoming [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] was thought to overshadow the English release of the game, thus the game was decided too costly to market and produce, and was shelved with no plans for a release in the future. | 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'''. It was scheduled to release in 1991, however it was cancelled because the upcoming [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] was thought to overshadow the English release of the game, thus the game was decided too costly to market and produce, and was shelved with no plans for a release in the future. | ||
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Despite this, the game began to recieve recognition because of Ness, the protagonist of EarthBound, recieving representation in [[Super Smash Bros.]] and its successors. Because of this, the game began to recieve a large following on internet sites such as Starmen.Net. Retrospectively, the gane 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 recieved 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. | Despite this, the game began to recieve recognition because of Ness, the protagonist of EarthBound, recieving representation in [[Super Smash Bros.]] and its successors. Because of this, the game began to recieve a large following on internet sites such as Starmen.Net. Retrospectively, the gane 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 recieved 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. | ||
After the release of Mother 2, Itoi began on a sequel to the game, Mother 3 (named [[EarthBound 64]] by western fans). The subtitle used in the Japanese game was changed several times during development, with one being "Forest of the Chimera" (森のキマイラ), but the most common one being "Fall of the Pig King". Initially planned for the Super Famicom, development actually began on the [[Nintendo 64]], where it was planned to be a launch title for the system in the west. Development then moved onto the Nintendo 64 disk drive expansion to use the expanded features. When the disk drive was seen as a commercial failure, the development moved back onto the N64. 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. Development continued to struggle, with fears that the upcoming [[Nintendo GameCube]] would overshadow the release of the game. After more delays, the game was officially cancelled in August 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. | |||
However, after the success of the [[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. Each commercial of the game ended with the caption "''We're making Mother 3 too!''". On April 20th, 2006, Mother 3 had finally released in Japan on the Game Boy Advance. This version returned to the 2D pixelated art style that was used in the previous games. Mother 3 recieved strong critical acclaim in Japan with praise to the rythm-based RPG combat, but more so on the storyline and tragic events that were rarely seen in its predecessors. | |||
Unfortunately, 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 fansite Starmen.Net created a [[Mother 3 fan translation|fan translation]] led by Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin, which released on October 17th, 2008. The fan translation recieved strong positive reception from fans, recieving 100,000 downloads within the first week of the release. | |||
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 fourth Mother installment in the future. | |||
==Gameplay== | ==Gameplay== | ||
